11 Most Pointless Scientific Studies Ever

4. "An Analysis Of The Forces Required To Drag Sheep Over Various Surfaces"

In 2002, no fewer than seven scientists from Australia devoted their time and effort to ascertaining which surface is best for dragging sheep over, testing a variety of textures and slope.

The troupe published their findings in Applied Ergonomics, vol. 33, in case you fancied giving it a read (it's pretty stirring stuff). They concluded that the best floor is one that "sloped at 1:10 constructed of timber battens oriented parallel to the path of the drag, which resulted in a mean dragging force 63.6N (15%) lower than the worst combination".

In fairness, this study probably doesn't seem as pointless if you're a sheep farmer with a bad back. It is unclear how the sheep felt about it.