Researchers Turn Mice Into Wine Snobs 80
Unsatisfied with the number of reasons people have to hate rodents already, scientists at Japan's Hiroshima University have taught mice to be wine snobs. After being trained to pick red wine over other kinds the mice were taught to distinguish between brands. From the article: "We examined performance of mice in discrimination of liquor odors by Y-maze behavioral assays. Thirsty mice were initially trained to choose the odor of a red wine in the Y-maze. After successful training (>70% concordance for each trained mouse), the individual mice were able to discriminate the learned red wine from other liquors, including white wine, rosé wine, sake, and plum liqueur."
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Not only that but the proximity of the olfactory bulbs to the amygdala allows the pairing of scent with emotion and reward learning to be very effective.
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Re:Duh. How much did we spend on this? (Score:4, Informative)
How much did we spend on this?
It depends.
Are you Japanese? If not, then "we" spent nothing on this.
If you are, then a lot of it depends on how the study was funded, and why it was performed. TFA is not very informative on that point.
Was this a grad student project that a few grad students needed to get some lab time under their belts, or a government-funded study? If it's a grad student study, then the expected result of the study was to spend a few dozen hours in the lab (the presence of alcohol probably made the boredom of the study more manageable) and get a passing grade on a research report. That there was any interesting science that emerged from a student's work is purely coincidental. If there's a use for this behavioral information, it would be a bonus.
Not every grad project is going to cure cancer, or even set out to cure it.
If this is a government-funded study, there may (or may not) be a larger goal at work. Perhaps it was a cheap way to see how sensitively mice could discern chemical scent patterns, without actually asking the scientists to work with Sarin ingredients or explosives? Maybe the school administration was doing a mouse study to pattern the behavior of undergrad students when they learn alcohol is in the building?
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Wasn't there some research a while back about training mice to sniff out explosives? I'm guessing it never went anywhere because people don't like the idea of a swarm of mice crawling over their luggage every time they fly.
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people don't like the idea of a swarm of mice crawling over their luggage every time they fly.
I'm sure they'll like the idea of a swarm of mice crawling over their table when they dine even less...
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people don't like the idea of a swarm of mice crawling over their luggage every time they fly.
I'm sure they'll like the idea of a swarm of mice crawling over their table when they dine even less...
Waiter, this mouse is corked.
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I don't think mice are smart enough for that sort of business. Rats, on the other hand, been trained to sniff out land mines, and even TB.
bbc story [bbc.co.uk]
mines [apopo.org]
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Wine is supposed to be a good accompaniment to cheese, after all...
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But mice do not really seek cheese. I have kept both mice and rats as pets and they far prefer nuts and breads to cheese. If you want to trap mice peanut butter is really the best bait, as it sticks to the trap and they love it.
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This could have been done very cheaply. Just leave their cages sitting in a room with the movie Sideways playing on auto-repeat.
Your tax dollars at work (Score:5, Funny)
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"My name is Mickey Mouse, and I'm an alcoholic."
"Hi Mickey!"
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Re:Your tax dollars at work (Score:5, Funny)
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"My name is Mickey Mouse, and I'm an alcoholic."
Mickey, what the HELL did you do to Britney Spears? Look at what she's turned into, you filthy rat!!!
What a wonderful aroma (Score:4, Funny)
Fruity, with a dash of buck-toothed pretentious asshole. Yes, yes, a wonderful vintage indeed.
headline change... (Score:3)
Researchers turn mice into winos
Fixed that for them.
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Additionally it prooves that differnt alcoholic drinks have different aromas.
So nothing new at all.
IMHO wine snob would have been right if they taught mice to prefer _expensive_ wines
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If I were to guess, its for the war on terror and the war on drugs.
Most people don't realize that if we were serious about either, you wouldn't see dogs at airports and in the back of squad cars. In fact, you would see pigs. Pigs are more easily trained, have a better sense of smell, and have been proven to do the job equally, if not better. Pigs are also thought to be smarter than dogs and as such, learn faster; which in turn drives down training costs.
Along these lines, which brings us full circle, I rece
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Pigs are more easily trained, have a better sense of smell, and have been proven to do the job equally, if not better. Pigs are also thought to be smarter than dogs and as such, learn faster; which in turn drives down training costs.
Besides, Muslim extremists hate pigs so much they wouldn't want to fly if that meant being smelled by a pig.
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Extremists - any sort of extremists - don't care. They're going to heaven anyway, no matter what they do, and everyone else is going to hell. This is why Christian extremists violate the golden rule and Muslim extremists frequent strip clubs and consume alcohol. They believe they already are on the bullet train to Paradise, so it won't matter if they eat some pork.
The faithful that obey every stricture and commandment are the same ones that obey "You shall not kill."
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Just fyi, I'm not sure why this was modded funny. The post is serious. Pigs are very trainable, are on average smarter than dogs, and have a better sense of smell. Not to mention, rodents are being trained and studied to sniff luggage at airports.
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The chemicals in wine might be different to the ones that mice have evolved to distinguish through natural exposure.
So the fact that they can learn a new domain, for want of a better word, could be new.
Re:What for? Its for making poor article summaries (Score:2)
I bet a human with no experience in wines could easily tell red wine and sake apart- their odor is completely different. One is made from grapes and the other made from rice!
Yes, I would be impressed if the mice could differentiate between two competing brands, say a Merlot from competing wineries...
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Another example (Score:1)
of Mickey Mouse research?
Isn't this some form of twisted animal cruelty? (Score:2)
Or did they get the wine snob genes from PETA activists? Hmmm......
onion (Score:1)
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No doubt this is worthy ... (Score:2)
... of an IgNobel prize. Maybe two: Chemistry and Biology.
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... of an IgNobel prize. Maybe two: Chemistry and Biology.
Oh hell, throw in Behavioral Psychology too. Make it a trifecta.
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Why? We use animals to detect bombs etc. Should we not understand this process better?
Of course. But, as the IgNobel website says:
The Ig Nobel Prizes honor achievements that first make people laugh, and then make them think.
Look, this is funny. Let's just enjoy the laughing part for now.
This sounds like an Ig Nobel to me (Score:2)
So what are you up to, professor number 1? "Oh, I'm cooking up some cold fusion, in my basement." And you, professor number 2? "Oh, I'm making gasoline from algae." Now to professor number 3, what is your area of research? "I'm training mice to become wine connoisseurs. Hey, don't laugh, my mice gave a Château Mouton Rothschild five squeaks!"
So the next time that I'm in a expensive restaurant, and they ask if I want to look at the wine menu, I'll just pull a mouse out of my pocket. And say, "M
hasn't Douglas Adams already addressed this? (Score:2)
The Universe is neither friendly nor hostile; it is merely absurd. This story's set-up for a thousand wiseacre Slashdot comments is yet more proof that Adams was on the right track, after all.
In Soviet Russia ... (Score:2)
wine snobs are turned into mice.
snob mice (Score:1)
Next up for researchers: (Score:2)
Still more evidence that I'm in the wrong line of work...
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That sounds easier than when I tried to train gangsta mice. Their little paws just weren't strong enough to hold their pistols sideways.
in other news (Score:3)
Lucky they didn't train them to use Macs. The Japanese are sadistic bastards who eat dolphins alive but that would be going too far even for them.
Try beer! (Score:2)
[11:40am] Mousey Are you a wine snob? :P
11:40AM no, i'm a beer snob
Training? booooring.. (Score:1)
I was hoping they implanted some DNA from Robert Parker and gave it a typewriter...
Editor thinks a wine snob... (Score:1)
is someone who can differentiate white, rose, and red wine.
My, oh my.
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Right. Because in point of fact, wine snobs can't do so [astrocyte-design.com]:
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And in other news... (Score:2)
How about the other way around? (Score:2)
Now, if only they could turn wine snobs into mice...
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Now, if only they could turn wine snobs into mice...
Peter Pettigrew is that you?
A ratcist article (Score:2)
Wine and Cheese (Score:2)
They're the ultimate snobs now.
Ahh, but still.... (Score:1)
the individual mice were able to discriminate the learned red wine from other liquors, including white wine, rosé wine, sake, and plum liqueur
But still can't tell the difference between Diet Dr. Pepper and regular Dr. Pepper.
This is a ridiculous research project. (Score:1)
Researchers Turn Mice Into Wine, Snobs (Score:1)
Wait, wait... you're saying that mice can SMELL? (Score:2)
Mice have a sense of smell? (Score:1)