Friday, January 25, 2013

Move over Magellan; study proves that dung beetles use celestial navigation

Guess it's time we abandoned our anthropocentric conceit that the great explorers of history were somehow unique in using the stars to determine their course.

They are now officially in the company of the vermin first made famous by Franz Kafka; the dung beetle.

University researchers in Sweden led a study that involved afixing tiny cardboard hats to some dung beetles and not to others...

Wait a minute... In Sweden they have money to spend on researchers who are fashioning wee cardboard hats for dung beetles?

Ya gotta be shittin' me...

But here you go! Over here we can't get money for cancer research but in Sweden they have teams of scientists making hats for dung beetles?

What are they, mini toques? Fedoras? Baseball caps?

Do the coolest of the happening dung beetles wear their hats sideways? Do the researchers knit matching scarves for the dung beetles?

And why hats instead of turbans?

Anyway, turns out the dung beetles can chart a course with the best of the old-time explorers.

Kafka must be impressed, wherever he is.

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