Scientists Defend $682,570 Taxpayer Funded 'Shrimp On A Treadmill'...

[paulitician]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHh-C84mCSY]Scientists Defend $682,570 Taxpayer Funded 'Shrimp On A Treadmill'.mp4 - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Lovebears65]

Outrageous, There are so many other things our tax dollars could have went too..

 

[paulitician]

Outrageous, There are so many other things our tax dollars could have went too..

Yea the study was ridiculous but if they had to do it,couldn't they have done it at a much lower cost?

 

[Dutch]

Scientists want money to develop a thing called GPS. We don't need that we already have maps.

Money for a thing called the internet. It will never lead to anything.

If thats the attitude you guys have we might be looking at another Dark Ages.

 

[paulitician]

Scientists want money to develop a thing called GPS. We don't need that we already have maps.

Money for a thing called the internet. It will never lead to anything.

If thats the attitude you guys have we might be looking at another Dark Ages.

Not quite the same now is it?

 

[Big Black Dog]

I think studying shrimp on a treadmill is a huge waste of taxpayer's money. However, shrimp on a trampoline might be a worthwhile study.

 

[Conservative]

I think studying shrimp on a treadmill is a huge waste of taxpayer's money. However, shrimp on a trampoline might be a worthwhile study.

now if they want to study girls on trampolines, I'm all for it...

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTc5oUKS6xg]two cute girls jumping on a trampoline - YouTube[/ame]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mc0sMBDgOYw]YouTube Girls on Trampolines - YouTube[/ame]

 

[ladyliberal]

I've commented before on this forum that cns news seems dedicated to propaganda at the expense of information. In this clip, which purports to show scientists defending their research, no actual arguments defending their research are shown, presumably because such arguments would probably prove effective. The clip of the scientist speaking begins with the word "hence", suggesting that her actual argument began earlier. A visual of a report flashes on the screen for a few seconds but cuts off before the part defending the report can appear.

The CNS report also grossly overstates the expense of the treadmills. The announcer references "hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars being spent in order to put shrimp on treadmills". In fact, the number appears to be about one hundred times lower ('Shrimp On A Treadmill' And The Politics Of 'Silly' Science Studies : NPR) with the bulk of the money allocated to the study going to other things.

 

[Iridescence]

I could see the legit reasoning for such a study... I don't so much understand the cost, but then I am not in the field of science where things that likely cost mainstream $5.00 are sometimes necessarily multiplied for whatever miscellaneous reasons.

Scientists put shrimp on a treadmill - Technology & science - Science - LiveScience - msnbc.com

A sluggish, sick human is easy to spot. But it's harder to tell when a shrimp is under the weather. So one scientist put the little crustaceans on a tiny treadmill to examine how diseases impact their performance.

Humans fighting an infection typically sleep more and are not at top physical performance. "The situation is much more critical for a sick marine crustacean, such as a shrimp, where a decrease in performance may mean the difference between life and death," said David Scholnick, a biologist from Pacific University.

The shrimp treadmill, invented and built by Scholnick, allows researchers to measure the activity of an exercising shrimp for a set period of time at known speed and oxygen levels.

"As far as I know this is the first time that shrimp have been exercised on a treadmill and it was amazing to see how well they performed," Scholnick told LiveScience. "Healthy shrimp ran and swam at treadmill speeds of up to 20 meters per minute [66 feet per minute] for hours with little indication of fatigue."

To further challenge the healthy shrimp, the researchers designed a small backpack made of duct tape to add extra load to the shrimp. With the extra weight and lowered oxygen, they were active for up to an hour.
Sick shrimp, however, had reduced aerobic performance. They also had elevated blood lactate levels. Lactate is produced during exercise as a by-product of metabolizing glucose. Infected shrimp are unable to remove it from their tissues efficiently and therefore could not recover from exercise as well as healthy shrimp.

Shrimp dealing with an infection would be less active and might be limited in their ability to migrate, find food, and avoid being eaten, Scholnick said. "These studies will give us a better idea of how marine animals can perform in their native habitat when faced with increasing pathogens and immunological challenges."


Again, while it does make sense to me why this would matter, I'm wondering a bit why it doesn't matter to everyone... as it obviously would come to affect everyone, even those of 'us' who choose to not eat bottom-dwelling entities.

 

[paulitician]

I think studying shrimp on a treadmill is a huge waste of taxpayer's money. However, shrimp on a trampoline might be a worthwhile study.

Man,don't give em any ideas. Please.

 

[J.E.D]

As ladyliberal already pointed out, the money used for the "shrimp on a treadmill" study was just a small portion of a much larger grant. I'm no scientist, so I'm not going to try and explain the science behind the study; but you can be rest assured that it was a legit study, and not merely to see how shrimp behave on a treadmill. Get your facts straight before faux-outraging.

'Shrimp On A Treadmill' And The Politics Of 'Silly' Science Studies : NPR

Burnett says the senator's report linked that work to a half-million-dollar research grant. But that money actually went to a lot of different research that he and his colleagues did on this economically important seafood species.

The treadmills were just a small part of it, a way to measure how shrimp respond to changes in water quality. Burnett says the first treadmill was built by a colleague from scraps and was basically free, and the second was fancier and cost about $1,000. The senator's report was misleading, says Burnett, "and it suggests that much money was spent on seeing how long a shrimp can run on a treadmill, which was totally out of context."

 

[Meister]

My best TM impersonation:


Why do you hate shrimp?

 

[Conservative]

My best TM impersonation:


Why do you hate shrimp?

scary good

 

[Zoom-boing]

I prefer my shrimp in a cocktail for $12.95. But hey, that's just me.

 

[Conservative]

As ladyliberal already pointed out, the money used for the "shrimp on a treadmill" study was just a small portion of a much larger grant. I'm no scientist, so I'm not going to try and explain the science behind the study; but you can be rest assured that it was a legit study, and not merely to see how shrimp behave on a treadmill. Get your facts straight before faux-outraging.

'Shrimp On A Treadmill' And The Politics Of 'Silly' Science Studies : NPR

Burnett says the senator's report linked that work to a half-million-dollar research grant. But that money actually went to a lot of different research that he and his colleagues did on this economically important seafood species.

The treadmills were just a small part of it, a way to measure how shrimp respond to changes in water quality. Burnett says the first treadmill was built by a colleague from scraps and was basically free, and the second was fancier and cost about $1,000. The senator's report was misleading, says Burnett, "and it suggests that much money was spent on seeing how long a shrimp can run on a treadmill, which was totally out of context."

why? Because a mouth breather like you says it was, immediately after stating you are not a scientist?

Here... drink some more...

 

[paulitician]

Pollution bad for sealife? Really? Whodathunkit? $682,570 to come to that conclusion? Man,sign me up for some of them Big Gub grants.

 

[J.E.D]

As ladyliberal already pointed out, the money used for the "shrimp on a treadmill" study was just a small portion of a much larger grant. I'm no scientist, so I'm not going to try and explain the science behind the study; but you can be rest assured that it was a legit study, and not merely to see how shrimp behave on a treadmill. Get your facts straight before faux-outraging.

'Shrimp On A Treadmill' And The Politics Of 'Silly' Science Studies : NPR

Burnett says the senator's report linked that work to a half-million-dollar research grant. But that money actually went to a lot of different research that he and his colleagues did on this economically important seafood species.

The treadmills were just a small part of it, a way to measure how shrimp respond to changes in water quality. Burnett says the first treadmill was built by a colleague from scraps and was basically free, and the second was fancier and cost about $1,000. The senator's report was misleading, says Burnett, "and it suggests that much money was spent on seeing how long a shrimp can run on a treadmill, which was totally out of context."

why? Because a mouth breather like you says it was, immediately after stating you are not a scientist?

Did I offer my own opinion on the science involved? Nope, I sure didn't. I provided a quote from the SCIENTIST involved in the study. And that SCIENTIST debunked Coburn's ridiculous lie about the study. Care to prove him wrong?.....Didn't think so.

God, you are stupid.

 

[rdean]

I remember when Republicans laughed at money being spent trying to find out why the honeybees were disappearing. Over 15 billion dollars in crops only happen due to honeybee pollination and Republicans were calling it a waste of money.

Since those right wing Christian universities teach "natural" science and not science, I would have thought they knew the value of honeybees and crops. "Honeybees" can cover a whole semester in right wing "science" classes.

Seems every time they point out one of these "issues" and I go read up on it, I realize how ignorant they are. Either they don't understand or they lie.

 

[paulitician]

Pollution is bad? Who knew? Why didn't they just give me that cash? I could have told them that? Cut me off a slice of dat Gubmint Cheese.

 

[J.E.D]

I remember when Republicans laughed at money being spent trying to find out why the honeybees were disappearing. Over 15 billion dollars in crops only happen due to honeybee pollination and Republicans were calling it a waste of money.

Remember this one?

Jindal Versus The Volcano

With Monday's massive volcano eruption in Alaska likely to leave Anchorage and Gov. Sarah Palin's hometown covered in ash, a Democratic strategist sends over the reminder that just a month and a half ago, another up-and-coming Republican star, Gov. Bobby Jindal, mocked the very notion of volcano monitoring.

Speaking in the non-State of the Union rebuttal, the Louisiana Republican said that instead of spending $140 million "for something called 'volcano monitoring,'" Congress "should be monitoring is the eruption of spending in Washington, D.C."

It was a comment not well received among geological experts and one that now seems to pit Jindal against Palin on a minor but important spending provision.

Then and now, the U.S. Geological Survey, which will receive the stimulus money for volcano monitoring, had been keeping track of several active volcanoes across the Pacific Northwest, Hawaii and, of course, Alaska.

And the agency's efforts seemed to pay off. As early as February 6, indeed, residents of cities near Mt. Redoubt were preparing for a volcano eruption because of information gleaned from early monitoring systems. As reported by USA Today, taxicab drivers were replacing air filters more frequently and local citizens began purchasing dust masks and preparing to be stuck inside their homes for lengthy periods of time.

Some cons are just plain stupid.