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Give Zebrafish Some Booze and They Stop Fearing Robots
Zothecula writes "With some help from a robotic fish, scientists have discovered that zebrafish are much like humans in at least one way – they get reckless when they get drunk. OK, 'drunk' might not be technically accurate, but when exposed to alcohol, the fish show no fear of a robotic version of one of their natural predators, the Indian leaf fish. When they're "sober," they avoid the thing like crazy. The researchers believe that the experiments indicate a promising future for robots in behavioral studies."
Slashdot headline of the century...
I wonder if people come up with these research projects by going to a party and then asking for a) the name of an animal, b) a noun, and c) a liquid.
Have gnu, will travel.
The researchers believe that the experiments indicate a promising future for robots in behavioral studies.
The lesson here is clear: simply inebriate (or medicate) the populace and our nature aversion to robots that are too lifelike becomes a thing of the past. Voila; "uncanny valley" problem solved! :p
Hey, it works for fat chicks...
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
No. That's the moped effect. They're fun to ride as long as no one sees you.
The researchers believe that the experiments indicate a promising future for robots in behavioral studies.
Wait, what? I was sure the moral of the story was gonna be a new Prohibition for our fishy friends.
Alcohol is a depressant. Unlike LSD, it has a history of promoting unsafe and stupid actions in a high percentage of human users. Again, mostly unlike LSD, even people who are highly experienced, stick to reputable sources, have used alcohol regularly and are familiar with its general effects, and consume it only with organized social safety nets in place to protect them from the worst risks, may still have medical problems relating to alcohol, and there is evidence for some of these problems never, ever getting better once they develop. In fact, there are several side effects of alcohol known to persist for the abuser's entire life (see: Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, Alcohol'ism' (apparently, from the word construction, this is a religious or philosophical belief in the divinity of alcohol, how bizarre), and Liver-looks-like-someone-stuck-a-fork-in-itosis). Other alcohol related problems may be treatable or curable, but often only at great expense (see: marriage, paternity). In fact, the only reasons I would not recommend LSD to most adults is that it may have some small chances of triggering a few of the same problems alcohol produces so much more often, plus some of them look really stupid driving down the interstate at four miles an hour talking to polka-dot Cthulhu.
Who is John Cabal?
I did not RTFA (this is Slashdot you insensitive clod) but maybe the poor Zebrafish were just blinded by all the booze and therefore couldn't see the threat, which is not a behavioral change at all.
I do not respond to cowards. Especially anonymous ones.
http://www.improbable.com/ig/miscellaneous/nominate.html
A pizza of radius z and thickness a has a volume of pi z z a
He gets drunk on vodka and says, "Bring on the cat!"
"Alcohol'ism' (apparently, from the word construction, this is a religious or philosophical belief in the divinity of alcohol, how bizarre)"
It's actually the religious doctrine that says that the creator made (at least some, possibly all) people in such a way that a single drink of anything alcoholic will inevitably lead to alcohol abuse and self-destruction which they are completely powerless to stop. Adherents consider each day they manage to go sober a miracle - and also, unsurprisingly, often fall off the wagon and validate the other side of their belief as well.
See also "Twelve Steps to Hell."
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Friends don't let friends enable ecmascript.
It should invalidate this study. Alcohol is toxic to fish, so they most likely didn't lose their fear, they were probably just extremely sick. When fish get sick, they tend to not move much and ignore most of their surroundings.
I have had to euthanize a few of my old, terminally ill zebra danios before. The method I use is to put the sick fish into a small container and add a little bit of clove oil, which causes them to become lethargic and go into sleep mode. Afterward, alcohol is added, vodka or whatever, and the fish never wakes up.