University Scientific Study – Do Birds Slur Their Singing When They Get Drunk?
Not many people count getting zebra finches drunk as their job. But researchers at the Oregon Health and Science University did just that to study how alcohol affects the birds’ ability to sing—and to learn more about how it affects the human brain, Smithsonian reports. Birds are a great case study for how people use language, and zebra finches in particular are well suited, adds New Scientist. Each male zebra finch has a signature tune, which helps them in the mating game. “We just showed up in the morning and mixed a little bit of juice with 6% alcohol, and put it in their water bottles … They seem(ed) to tolerate it pretty well and be somewhat willing to consume it,” researcher Christopher Olson tells NPR.
Researchers found the birds loved to sing while drunk—at a BAC of .05% to .08%—but didn’t do so well. Their songs were “slurred, quieter … and disorganized,” addsSmithsonian. Olson calls it their “husky bar voice.”
Sort of the template for the nanny state to come. Put alcohol in our juice and just let us be more complacent. Wasn’t there a story earlier about Russia lowering the cost of vodka just for this reason? I see a tie-in here.
I can’t wait for that study to come out on the effects of hitting “researchers” in the head with ball-peen hammers.
“People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals white courtesy phone…People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals white courtesy phone.”
So, we paid zillions to find out that alcohol will get pretty much any animal drunk, they slur their “speech,” and they like to drink it.
Why didn’t they just do their study a few blocks from the White House on DC’s skid row? Would have got the same results and would have cost a bit less because, just like the birds, those bums are drinking on our dime too.
Politicians are drunk on taxpayer money.
When I’m President I will commission a great bunch of studies:
Do those on Grant Monies Dispersal Boards react the same to Tar and Feathering as do other Useless Government Workers?
How far can a Tenured Professor of Social Justice and Racial and Gender Inequality Studies run when being hunted by a pack of angry Parents armed with brooms and tire irons?
And that’s why they had to close the National Monuments?!
As a side note, researchers also found that female zebra finches became more beautiful later on in the evening.
I dunno if they slur when drunk…I know I do
I do know they taste good….whether fried, baked, or smoked
from a purely scientific standpoint that’s really interesting actually.
There’s no commercial or practical use for that information, so it would never have been done by the private sector.