17 replies to this topic

[Still Waters]

Scientists have solved the mystery of the ‘flight of the bumblebee' by attaching tiny little antennae to the insects and tracking them as they visit thousands of flowers each day.

Bumblebees will buzz around flowers throughout the day in a seemingly random manner.

But a study by British universities have discovered that in fact bees are constantly working out the quickest route to collect the most amount of food.

Despite having brains the “size of grass seeds”, bumblebees are able to calculate the most efficient route from flowers back to the nest.

http://www.telegraph...-bumblebee.html

[ouija ouija]

ANNOUNCEMENT: If I hear of one more instance of humans attaching stuff to non-humans so that they can 'discover' what anyone with an ounce of intelligence would know anyway(information that makes absolutely no difference to human lives), I am going to top myself.

[Coffey]

It doesn't explain once how the "mystery" is solved?! I thought the point of this was to understand how it flies?!


All this does is explain it's "flight pattern" which is nothing new and nothing that common sense would have solved.

[Junior Chubb]

Well it looks like making a 'Bee-Line' for something is exactly what the saying means, going there quickly in a straight line!

I wonder if the 'quickest route' is something learn't by an individual Bee or more of a collective effort as I would expect from a community of insects.

ouija ouija, on 21 September 2012 - 02:29 PM, said:

ANNOUNCEMENT: If I hear of one more instance of humans attaching stuff to non-humans so that they can 'discover' what anyone with an ounce of intelligence would know anyway(information that makes absolutely no difference to human lives), I am going to top myself.

Do you mind if I attach a mini-cam to you so we can discover how and why you decided to 'top yourself'?  

Edited by Junior Chubb, 24 September 2012 - 12:59 PM.

[Hawkin]

Do scientist think that just because something has a small brain that it doesn't have intelligence. The bee may have a brain the size of a grass seed but for its body size one would think it's sufficient.

[ouija ouija]

Junior Chubb, on 24 September 2012 - 12:55 PM, said:

Well it looks like making a 'Bee-Line' for something is exactly what the saying means, going there quickly in a straight line!

I wonder if the 'quickest route' is something learn't by an individual Bee or more of a collective effort as I would expect from a community of insects.



Do you mind if I attach a mini-cam to you so we can discover how and why you decided to 'top yourself'?  

Re. the mini-cam: you seem to be implying that I am a non-human life-form, o chubbular one ...........

[Junior Chubb]

ouija ouija, on 24 September 2012 - 03:43 PM, said:

Re. the mini-cam: you seem to be implying that I am a non-human life-form, o chubbular one ...........

Sorry Ouija

For some reason though I imagine you as a beautiful white horse with a golden mane running along the beach...  

Edited by Junior Chubb, 24 September 2012 - 04:37 PM.

[Idano]

Junior Chubb, on 24 September 2012 - 12:55 PM, said:

Well it looks like making a 'Bee-Line' for something is exactly what the saying means, going there quickly in a straight line!

I wonder if the 'quickest route' is something learn't by an individual Bee or more of a collective effort as I would expect from a community of insects.



Do you mind if I attach a mini-cam to you so we can discover how and why you decided to 'top yourself'?  

I too wondered if it's collective learning?  But from what I understand of the article it's seems bees learn individually and don't share info such as ants do.  The article seemed to imply they take several routes before they find the most direct route...interesting, or I'm reading the article wrong.

I think the camera mounted to the horse on the beach is a great idea..hehehe and what is topping?

[Neognosis]

I like when we do things like this to animals, as I think we have a lot to learn from them, and I would rather our science moved forward in a more organic manner, rather than away from the natural world.

[Kasey2601]

Coffey, on 21 September 2012 - 04:20 PM, said:

It doesn't explain once how the "mystery" is solved?! I thought the point of this was to understand how it flies?!

Glad I'm not the only one who thought this, Coffey. I was hoping they'd solve the real mystery of how something so large with such tiny wings manages to fly. Alas it is beyond human ken.

[Junior Chubb]

Idano, on 25 September 2012 - 11:08 AM, said:

I too wondered if it's collective learning?  But from what I understand of the article it's seems bees learn individually and don't share info such as ants do.  The article seemed to imply they take several routes before they find the most direct route...interesting, or I'm reading the article wrong.

I think the camera mounted to the horse on the beach is a great idea..hehehe and what is topping?

I would say you read the article correctly, maybe there is more to it than we realise as we may not have considered all the involved factors in their 'learning' of the quickest route.

Oh and also, 'Topping yourself' is a slang term for suicide...

[ouija ouija]

Idano, on 25 September 2012 - 11:08 AM, said:

I too wondered if it's collective learning?  But from what I understand of the article it's seems bees learn individually and don't share info such as ants do.  The article seemed to imply they take several routes before they find the most direct route...interesting, or I'm reading the article wrong.

I think the camera mounted to the horse on the beach is a great idea..hehehe and what is topping?

'Topping' yourself means committing suicide. I am only partly speaking in jest; I really do find this type of physical intrusion into other species very depressing and upsetting.

[ouija ouija]

Neognosis, on 25 September 2012 - 12:50 PM, said:

I like when we do things like this to animals, as I think we have a lot to learn from them, and I would rather our science moved forward in a more organic manner, rather than away from the natural world.

We can learn a lot by observation, but it seems as if just consciously looking at the world around us has gone out of fashion. It seems as if research is only valuable these days if it has had a lot of money thrown at it and a lot of equipment is used.

Two things: firstly,why do you think it's okay for humans to do this? (We certainly wouldn't accept such behaviour from another species! We wouldn't even do it to another human without their consent). Secondly: what we learn as a species from all this intrusion mainly seems to be ways in which we can further exploit the natural world. Where is the respect for our fellow inhabitants on this earth? Another point to remember is: when bad things are done to animals, it usually follows that bad things are done to humans ........ it's a matter of habit of attitude.

[Idano]

ouija ouija, on 26 September 2012 - 12:37 PM, said:

'Topping' yourself means committing suicide. I am only partly speaking in jest; I really do find this type of physical intrusion into other species very depressing and upsetting.

Thanks for the definition.  

Zoos', Seaworld .... wild animals (is that an oxymoron?) in captivity makes me sad. I'm trying to teach my Grand daughter about animals and why zoos' hurt Grandmas heart, but I don't act, my bad! It sounds like you do though so NO TOPPING!! We need your ilk.

Tagging, gee i'm still on the fence...we learn so much to help animals, where they go, what they eat, how we can help them  withstand our never ending push for land (whole diff thread). On the other hand I'm sure that individual animal is harmed (pain of the tag, ostracized by the pack for being diff. because of human interaction) but they are not confined and may go back to a normal animal life.

[ouija ouija]

Idano, on 26 September 2012 - 01:17 PM, said:

Zoos', Seaworld .... wild animals (is that an oxymoron?) in captivity makes me sad. I'm trying to teach my Grand daughter about animals and why zoos' hurt Grandmas heart, but I don't act, my bad! It sounds like you do though so NO TOPPING!! We need your ilk.

You will act when the time is right