Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Study: "Mice Run For Fun"

"If an exercise wheel sits in a forest, will mice run on it?"
Every once in a while, science asks a simple question and gets a straightforward answer.

In this case, yes, they will...

“When I saw the first mice, I was extremely happy,” said Johanna H. Meijer at Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands. “I had to laugh about the results, but at the same time, I take it very seriously. It’s funny, and it’s important at the same time.”

Dr. Meijer’s day job is as a “brain electrophysiologist” studying biological rhythms in mice. She relished the chance to get out of the laboratory and study wild animals, and in a way that no one else had.
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"It is a simple game. Really! - Well, maybe for programmers that is. The idea of the game is to have a mouse navigate through a random maze for the cheese that it is hungry for."

10 comments:

AllenS said...

All I know is if one gets into the drawer where you keep your silverware, it will shit in a spoon.

bagoh20 said...

Well yea, we all do that, but a fork is something virtually nobody admits to, for obvious reasons.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

Commenting on blogs is a lot like running on a wheel.

Unknown said...

Any animal kept in a small cage might want to go for a jog after a while.

ricpic said...

Good but not as good as girls on trampolines.

Amartel said...

We always think of running and other forms of physical exertion as "exercise" or "work" when physical exertion is actually a natural function and feels good!

AllenS said...

You should see how fast the little fuckers can run when they see me.

It's all fun and games until AllenS catches you shitting in the spoon.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

And here I thought Mice ran to beat cancer like everybody else.

What kind of sic individual would set about collecting little critters just so they can run run run for lab people's entertainment.

I mean, don't get me wrong, I think they are funny too, running until they give out.

But maybe those PETA people are right. Labs are torturing the little animals. I have been so naïve. I've been deceive, we all have.

Where is the outrage?

Methadras said...

Herzog for the win.

Dad Bones said...

A farmhouse I lived in had some of the toughest angriest mice I've seen. They'd move into the house in the winter and wake me up in the middle of the night making a terrible racket in the kitchen. They'd tip things over, push silverware into the sink as if they just liked the noise they were making. I finally had enough and got two cats.

One day the cat, Spike was his name, cornered a real tough one. The mouse seemed to know his time was up and leaped at the cat with all the rage he could summon. Spike was so surprised he took one step back before pinning the little warrior.

I wonder if mice don't do all that running just to stay in shape and try to avoid the innumerable animals and birds that are always trying to eat them.