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A Whale's Virtual Reality
sciencehabit writes "A surfacing whale is a sight to see, but it would be even more dramatic to watch one ply the ocean depths. Researchers have taken a step closer to doing just that with sophisticated radio-tagging technology and a new computer program that uses the data to recreate a whale's path underwater. The results, which look a bit like a whale riding a roller coaster (see video), are helping scientists understand how the school bus-sized beasts are able to take in enough food to sustain their great girth, and how underwater noises, such as sonar, might affect their well-being."
Virtual reality was way cooler in 90s. That wasn't even first-person.
Help fight poverty: Punch a poor person.
I wonder what it would be like if, against all probability a sperm whale had suddenly been called into existence several miles above the surface of an alien planet... I wonder if it will be friends with me... thud.
girth ..
Kind of interesting, but not at all virtual reality. It's a simple data visualization.
My first impression: Lousy whale icon. :-(
My 2nd: Gosh, that location-pin looks like a bloody harpoon! :-(
LEAVE the WHALES alone!
"Captain, there be whales!" /spock sucking on a salty sucker
Interestingly killer whales don't actually kill humans (unless they're really pissed off) but they do exhibihit intelligence, so much so that fishermen that have been competing with whales for the catch have said the whales were suprised and elated to see humans displaying intelligence in competing with them as the whales had until that point considered they were the only intelligent life on earth. In the same way that us humans get excited when we see a chimp sign something and stuff.
This is Slashdot. The FOX NEWS of tech.
It's a ha-ha-but serious, but several SF authors have speculated about a future where cetaceans are carried on space combat ships because of their instinctive understanding of such zero-G tactics. It took me months of real-time game play to try to get these tactics efficient ; and the whales have developed very similar tactics too. I think that's cool.
In fact, I think that's so cool that I'm going to pass the link (and this comment) to an evolutionary science blogger I subscribe to.
In other news, the energetics of rorqual whales have been under study for a time, with several results being published in the last year or so. Imagine how you'd feel if you fed by running forward at full speed, opening your mouth, and having around your body weight of water slammed into your lower jaw. Sounds like fun? Next time I'm in company with a whale skeleton (hopefully cleaned!), I'm going to be looking at that mandible joint with a new appreciation for what they actually do. Verily, blind chance and disinterested elimination of the comparatively inefficient from the population can perform wonders of pseudo-design!
Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"
Noah: Not that it’s any of your business, but I plan to teach.
Archer: Anthropology.
Noah: What? Yes!
Rip: To, uh, anthropology majors?
Archer: Thus continuing the circle of “Why bother?”
How do they measure the weight of the swallowed water from a suction cup on the whale's back?
For fucks sake, this is a tech site made by techies.
What kind of incompetents are there who can't add some spam detection algorithm to filter out the nigger frist psot crap from ACs???