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Herrings Use Farts To Communicate

unassimilatible writes "According to University of British Columbia scientists, herrings use farts to communicate. Biologists know that herrings can hear sounds of this frequency, while most fish cannot. This would allow them to communicate by Fast Repetitive Tick (FRT) without alerting predators to their presence. There is a .wav sound file available of the fish farting. Don't tell me the scientists didn't purposely choose an acronym that sounds like "fart.""

69 comments

  1. Chop down the largest tree in the forrest with.... by Nutcase · · Score: 4, Funny

    This adds a whole new level to the Monty Python Knights who say NI! sketch. I am not entirely sure what that level is, but I am sure that it's there somewhere.

  2. Re:Chop down the largest tree in the forrest with. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Here, let me fart in your face, you fooking FP troll. I call it communication.

  3. Maybe... by KDan · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...that's how women communicate? That would explain all the misunderstandings, and why they'd get offended if you let out a big one.

    Must be an insult or something...

    Daniel

    --
    Carpe Diem
    1. Re:Maybe... by Noofus · · Score: 1

      I dunno about that - my GF makes fun of me cause I cant fart nearly as loud as she can. She calls me incapable...

    2. Re:Maybe... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0


      Just wait until you realize that it isn't bad breath, but your GF has an ass for a face!

  4. I tried to think of something funny. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    I really did try to think of something that would get me modded to Score:5 Funny
    You know, the usual "In Soviet Russia farts fish for YOU" or the old standby about hot grits and whatshername, but the story is just funny enough that it doesn't need anything else.
    I wish I was a Biologist doing fun stuff like this and not a Comp Sci. major doing Win2003 installs. ...sigh...

    1. Re:I tried to think of something funny. by g0hare · · Score: 1

      fun job = a) very scarce or b) real low paying or c) both of the above. Install Win2003, collect your check, and go do something fun after work.

      --
      Vote Quimby!
  5. I've done that by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    I once communicated my love for garlic to an elevator full of co-workers. From both ends as a matter of fact. Let me see a herring do that!

    1. Re:I've done that by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      I once communicated my love for garlic to an elevator full of co-workers.

      Don't you mean EX-co-workers? When a round of layoffs are needed, I don't think Mr. Garlic Cheeks will stay low on such list.

  6. Idea for a new Star Trek alien race! by Picass0 · · Score: 4, Funny
    Now that this has been demonstrated in nature certainly there would be aliens who speak "Fartese".


    Archer: "Welcome on board the Enterprise. This is the turbolift, and it will take us to the bri...


    Alien Leader:FfffffffffRIPPPP!!!


    Archer: Um, the bridge, *cough* where we control...


    Alien #2: (slow squishy sound)


    Archer: Goddamn! I mean, Perhaps I should show you something closer. Here's th...


    Alien #3: (High pitched sqeaker)


    Archer: *gag* Fuck me! *choke* No wonder you guys don't get more visitors! I alr...


    Aliens (all): Faaaaaarttttttt.....


    Archer: Red Alert! Target alien ship!

    1. Re:Idea for a new Star Trek alien race! by pmz · · Score: 2, Funny


      They aren't aliens. They're the people who watch Monday Night Football.

    2. Re:Idea for a new Star Trek alien race! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nitpicking: There is no 'Red Alert' in Archer's time (yet?).

  7. I dunno, guys... by zurkog · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...Something smells fishy about this.

    (ouch. Sorry, had to be said).

    Made me think about the Dr. Who and the Curse of the Fatal Death, though.

    1. Re:I dunno, guys... by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 3, Funny

      ...Something smells fishy about this.

      Don't worry, these results are just a red herring.

      --
      My God, it's Full of Source!
      OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
    2. Re:I dunno, guys... by dacarr · · Score: 1

      OK, notional moderation, -1e+06, pun. =^_^=

      --
      This sig no verb.
    3. Re:I dunno, guys... by jazman · · Score: 1

      oh no, not the fish jokes, not in this plaice...

  8. next thing you know.. by viniosity · · Score: 2, Funny
    From the article:

    Fish are known to call out to potential mates with low "grunts and buzzes"

    Isn't this similar to how man started communicating? Except with grunts and whistles. Next thing you know those fish will have suburban sprawl and SUVs..

    Eat 'em while you can!

    1. Re:next thing you know.. by azav · · Score: 1

      Yes, it is.

      The noise is just coming out the wrong end.

      --
      - Zav - Imagine a Beowulf cluster of insensitive clods...
    2. Re:next thing you know.. by Carnildo · · Score: 1

      Of which? The humans, or the fish?

      --
      "They redundantly repeated themselves over and over again incessantly without end ad infinitum" -- ibid.
    3. Re:next thing you know.. by Randy+Wang · · Score: 1

      Does it matter?

      Suffice to say: Sucks to have to go to a parliamentary debate if you're a herring - you'd think there'd be enough hot air as is...

      --
      --- Egads, I glow in the dark!
    4. Re:next thing you know.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Isn't this similar to how man started communicating? Except with grunts and whistles. Next thing you know those fish will have suburban sprawl and SUVs..

      What do you mean started? My wife claims I still communicate mostly in this way.

    5. Re:next thing you know.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Genius! This man has just perfectly described a linear evolution path. Darwin must have been wrong about his theories!

  9. wav trouble by Catskul · · Score: 1

    Anyone else having trouble with that wav file ?
    Xmms refuses to enqueue it, and play gives a really distorted sound.

    --

    Im not here now... Im out KILLING pepperoni
    1. Re:wav trouble by JamesP · · Score: 1

      and play gives a really distorted sound.

      How d'ja know? Have you ever heard a fish farting IRL???

      --
      how long until /. fixes commenting on Chrome?
    2. Re:wav trouble by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's not a standard RIFF wav file. Some moron ADPCM compressed it. Oh well.

  10. Of course by Strange+Ranger · · Score: 3, Funny

    > "Schooling behavior in herring is exploited by several top predators with complex hunting behaviors. Squid encircle herring schools and dart in to prey on the corralled fish."

    > "...would allow them to communicate by Fast Repetitive Tick (FRT) without alerting predators to their presence."


    Silly scientists! Everybody knows... ticks are for squids.

    --

    Operator, give me the number for 911!
    1. Re:Of course by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      brain.. hemmoraging...

  11. Help me.. by schnits0r · · Score: 1

    Maybe I need a different codec. When I play it in winamp and media player I don't hear a lot, jsut a bunch of fast reptitive ticks.

    1. Re:Help me.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      maybe you need a different brain.

    2. Re:Help me.. by c.emmertfoster · · Score: 1

      Is this a troll?

      The "fast repetitive ticks" are what you are supposed to hear.

      --
      We can neither love nor pity nor forgive. If you make a slip in handling us you die!
  12. listen up as I bend over by wud · · Score: 0, Troll

    *PLTH BRUUUUUUUU FRRRRRRRR*

    --
    wud
    1. Re:listen up as I bend over by pmz · · Score: 1


      fffffFFFFFTT..blurp..ggrrrrrrr! rrrrrrr...frump!

  13. Next they'll tell us by DuckDuckBOOM! · · Score: 1

    that they also tap dance.

    --
    Life is like surrealism: if you have to have it explained to you, you can't afford it.
    1. Re:Next they'll tell us by mad.frog · · Score: 1

      "A flying saucer creature named Zog arrived on Earth to explain how wars could be prevented, and how cancer could be cured. Zog brought the information from Margo, a planet where the natives conversed by means of farts and tap-dancing. Zog landed at night in Connecticut. He had no sooner touched down than he saw a house on fire. He rushed into the house, farting and tap-dancing, warning people about the terrible danger they were in. The head of the house brained him with a golf club."

  14. Where do they get the gas from? by TheLink · · Score: 1

    If they do it a lot wouldn't they run out of gas?

    --
    1. Re:Where do they get the gas from? by BrokenHalo · · Score: 1
      Natural selection putting a limit on unnecessary conversation?

      Maybe Slashdot needs something like this, oh wait...

  15. Oh man, what a great opening line by NanoGator · · Score: 4, Funny

    "Biologists have linked a mysterious, underwater farting sound to bubbles coming out of a herring's anus."

    Man I thought I was reading the Onion for a moment.

    --
    "Derp de derp."
  16. Re:Chop down the largest tree in the forrest with. by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 1

    That's the French Taunter scene, knucklehead.

    --
    My God, it's Full of Source!
    OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
  17. burried the lead by jannesha · · Score: 1

    The headline should have read:

    Longstanding controversy settled: Fish DO fart.

  18. Yet another reason... by azav · · Score: 1

    Yet another reason why Herring will never be considered a superior life form.

    Better keep them away from my chili or they'll keep the whole North Sea up all night.

    --
    - Zav - Imagine a Beowulf cluster of insensitive clods...
  19. What's next? by HotNeedleOfInquiry · · Score: 0

    IP-over-farts...

    --
    "Eve of Destruction", it's not just for old hippies anymore...
  20. true for RedHerring's too... by ubiquitin · · Score: 1

    Not sure about you but the first thing I thought of when reading this headline was that it applies to the RedHerring's mode(s) of commucation as well. phphhhhht! What was that? Smells like a money-grubbing silicon valley "journalist"-come-lately to me.

    --
    http://tinyurl.com/4ny52
  21. Ob William S Burroughs quote by Net_Wakker · · Score: 1

    "Did I ever tell you about the man who taught his asshole how to talk?"

    1. Re:Ob William S Burroughs quote by BrokenHalo · · Score: 1
      No, but I used to know a tuba player who could play "the Teddy-Bears' Picnic" by farting into his instrument.

      Honest, it's true. Yech.

    2. Re:Ob William S Burroughs quote by The_great_orgazmo · · Score: 1

      Yea you did, last thing i heard that guy made it to president of the united states.

  22. DOH!!! by Xiaotou · · Score: 2, Funny

    The biologists initially assumed that the swim bladder was also producing the high-pitched sound they had detected. But then they noticed that a stream of bubbles expelled from the fish's anus corresponded exactly with the timing of the noise

    I dunno 'bout you, but that's the first thing I would have suspected if I heard a "high-pitched" sound coming from a fish. Where are these scientists from? Wales?

    And, bye the bye, just exactly where is the anus located on a fish?

    1. Re:DOH!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > where is the anus located on a fish

      right under the nuts. Durr.

    2. Re:DOH!!! by rockola · · Score: 1

      i just exactly where is the anus located on a fish?

      Pretty close to the sphincter.

      --
      Those who don't know Lisp are doomed to reimplement it.
    3. Re:DOH!!! by Xiaotou · · Score: 1

      In Nautical terms, I suppose we should say Aft, right?

  23. Wow, Darwin's theory in action.... by StressGuy · · Score: 2, Funny

    Probably played out something like this:

    1) Herring is confronted by big nasty predetor, darn near shits himself
    .
    2) Aroma causes said predetor to lose appetite
    .
    3) Other herring, alerted by noise, flee to safety
    .
    4) Soon, herring learn to fart to warn other herring of impending doom.
    .
    5) Herring's whose fart do not also alert the predetor are highly prized and get first pick of the female herring.
    .
    6) "Quiet farting" passed on the future generations.
    .
    . ....at the institute, they said I was mad....

    --
    A goal is a dream with a deadline
  24. Do your holiday shopping now ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
  25. Re:Chop down the largest tree in the forrest with. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Forest" has one "r" you dumb ass.

  26. Much better (worse?) abbrev. by Bowling+Moses · · Score: 1

    The six genes specifying the utilization of L-fucose as a carbon and energy source are known as the "fuc" genes. Among them is L-fuculose kinase, also known as "fucK." The abstract of the paper where the genes were cloned (and I think named) can be found on PubMed.

  27. The perfect virus headline! by Cragen · · Score: 1

    What /.'er could ever keep from clicking on that .wav file link, even if it might have a virus?? "nonononono, I gotta!!!!" #click#
    "#$%@! I knew it!"

  28. Fish Farts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Wow... Didn't know fish had ears.
    Always thought they were hard of herring.

  29. Re:Chop down the largest tree in the forrest with. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    No it isn't, you ass. The Knights Who Say Ni told them to cut down a tree with herring. RTFP...no matter how retarded it is.

  30. Re:Chop down the largest tree in the forrest with. by Thoth+Ptolemy · · Score: 1

    String Theory as applied to Monty Python?

  31. Oooold news by Mathness · · Score: 1

    Explore the fish in interactive mode here (click on "Prik til fisken"), you need flash though :|
    Just keep poking it :)

    Note: The site is in Danish, so might need Babelfish or similiar ;p

    --
    Carbon based humanoid in training.
  32. Re:Chop down the largest tree in the forrest with. by Josh+Booth · · Score: 3, Funny

    "Then, you must cut down the mightiest tree in the forest wiiiiiiiiith, A FARTING HERRING!"

  33. Dubya knew! by skahshah · · Score: 2, Funny
    He said it:
    "I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully."
    Everybody knows that farting has always been a great way to socialize. See gatherings of young men, where there is a lot of farting competition.
  34. No trouble at all by Ignis+Flatus · · Score: 1

    In fact, I understood that herring perfectly. He said "Guess what I had for dinner?!"

  35. Bah by KjetilK · · Score: 0, Troll

    They're just very scared when they're chased by Tux!

    --
    Employee of Inrupt, Project Release Manager and Community Manager for Solid
    1. Re:Bah by haggisman · · Score: 1

      Look for SCO to claim IP rights over the fart generation technology. It *is* a derivative technology of Unix after all.

  36. Dr Who Reference by Burb · · Score: 1

    In the Whoniverse, this would suggest that herring are in fact natives of the planet Tersurus - the most kindly and peace-loving race ever encountered by the Doctor, but also the most shunned and abhorred species because they communicated by precisely-modulated gastric emissions. 'Oh no, the planet of the bottom burpers'

    --

  37. Up until 2 minutes ago... by dos4who · · Score: 1

    ..I was actually quite proud to be a British Columbian... ~m

    --
    "Yes, I have a Disaster Recovery Plan. It's called my Resume"
  38. MODUP! by lommer · · Score: 1

    Goddamn somebody needs to write this RFC, it'll be more famous than that damn carrier pigeon one!

  39. final discovery by Tablizer · · Score: 1

    To round this off, scientists need to find a fish that picks its nose and eats its own boogers.

  40. Does a large school of herring have the.. by annisette · · Score: 1

    /.ing effect? It muct be confusing, go left, no right no, who is humming, I need an answer not a joke, there I was had my chance tried to fart but.., will wverybody please shut up I am trying to think!

    --
    I eat my grapes at room temperature, cuz the cold ones hurt my teeth