Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Elephants and Beached Whales
New research on elephants suggests that they may memorialize their dead more than previously thought. The experiment consisted of presenting herds with elephant, buffalo, and rhino skulls and seeing in which one they seemed most interested. Aside from striking me as a bit mean, this is an interesting idea, but doesn't really address the research question as well as I'd like it to: if there's no surprise that elephants can distinguish their own species skulls from others', seeing that they're more interested in them is no shock. I hope people follow up on this with real observational research (like tracking a herd through a death), because now I'm curious.
On the other end of the spectrum, McDonald's is finally planning to print nutrition (term used loosely) information on their food packaging. Because, apparently, the people stuffing their faces with daily BigMacs and fries have no idea that it's making them fat. Seems moot, now that they can no longer sue.
On the other end of the spectrum, McDonald's is finally planning to print nutrition (term used loosely) information on their food packaging. Because, apparently, the people stuffing their faces with daily BigMacs and fries have no idea that it's making them fat. Seems moot, now that they can no longer sue.
