Shrimp on a Treadmill Helps Scientists Study Climate Change Effects
November 27, 2008 · Print This Article
By now you may have seen the strange YouTube video that shows a shrimp inexplicably running on an underwater treadmill to the tune of ‘The Final Countdown’, the Benny Hill theme, the Rocky theme and several other humorous and inspirational anthems. Funny as it may be to see this little guy running with all its might, the shrimp on a treadmill is actually part of a serious science experiment. Researchers are studying how climate change will affect marine species; specifically, how shrimp might adapt to higher bacteria levels in the water from climate change and polluted runoff. They wanted to see whether a bacterial infection would affect the shrimp’s endurance and thus its ability to survive.
From MSNBC:
Just as with sick people, “we found that the diseased shrimp have a more difficult time performing on the treadmill,” said Burnett. “The difference is, when you get a cold or an infection, no one tries to eat you.”
At first, Burnett and Scholnick weren’t sure the little critters would actually run on the rotating belt in their aquarium, or whether they’d last for more than a couple of minutes even if they did.
To their amazement, they found that, like the Energizer Bunny, healthy shrimp just kept going and going and going — just as a sample shrimp did in an aquarium that Burnett and Scholnick brought along with them to Studio 1A.
“We thought they would pedal along, swim and walk for a few minutes, and [instead] just hours and hours went by,” said Scholnick. “We just stopped the experiment because they’d just go on and on.” Some were still going strong after more than four hours.
The shrimp used in the experiments were bred for research and were not taken from the wild. The research was funded by a National Science Foundation grant.
Now that they know how disease affects shrimp, the researchers plan on applying their treadmill research method to other creatures.
It’s easy to feel sort of sorry for the little shrimp as it furiously tries to keep up with the treadmill, but as was said on the Today Show (I can’t believe I’m about to quote a Kathie Lee Gifford quip), “That shrimp would rather be on a treadmill than on a barbie.”
Link [MSNBC]
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I’m not entirely sure their neural ganglia even count as brains. They basically operate like little robots with programmed input and reactions. Hence the endless treadmill running.
I guess they’re more sophisticated than a flatworm. Flatworm nervous systems are simple enough to be completely simulated by clever computer scientists.
But those projects never produced any useful science while I was reading about them… at least nothing as immediately useful as these clever environmental researchers.