Scientists unravel secret of cube-shaped wombat faeces.

"Scientists who find themselves intrigued by the phenomena have made little progress beyond ruling out the nagging suspicion that the animals possessed square anuses. “My curiosity got triggered when I realised that cubical feces exist,” said Patricia Yang, a postdoctoral fellow in mechanical engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta."

Blimey, the stuff we wouldn't know if there weren't scientists to enlighten us, eh? How could we manage without them??

https://www.theguardian.com/science...s-unravel-secret-of-cube-shaped-wombat-faeces

 

I want them to find out how homing pigeons find their way back home since the other biological means that other animals use is not the explanation when it comes to homing pigeons. Since it does not appear to be the usual suspects, perhaps there is something brand new to be discovered?

 

You mean apart from the fact this research could lead to new manufacturing processes in a similar why additive manufacturing is copied from nature.

New techniques come along like this all the time, additive manufacturing can now produce car wheels with almost most no waste material insted of the usual 80% wasted material producing a wheel from a billet of material

 

Pigeons have been released with tracking devices and according to the data received they follow the roads and rivers. It is speculated that they can remember large numbers of landmarks particularly nearer to home.
They also take a bearing from the position of the sun.

 

And yet I can't remember directions that someone tells me if it has more than 3 turns. LOL

 

That's the kind of science I find interesting too. But what about migrating birds that know how to get to their wintering destinations . . . and back home again? Wish that I had a wintering destination! And if May was still prime minister the following year I wouldn't wanna come back home!! But don't get me started on politics.

 

lol Whenever I stop and ask someone for directions, and they end up with 'You can't go wrong!' I always reply 'Wanna bet??' Even my satnav has given up on me . . . it got fed up with saying 'Make a U-turn when safe to do so.'

 

Exploring knowledge is like exploring an unkown territory beyond the horizon. There is no way you will say "I will discover a river after this horizon" or "I will discover a gold mine", because you can't know. You have to explore just, without real exceptetions on what you will find.

 

What does any of that have to do with the shape of animal faeces?

 

If I understand it correctly, we know how migrating birds navigate. Has something to do them sensing the earth's magnetic field. Not the case with these pigeons.

 

I think your key word was..speculation. And that is where the science is on this issue, right?

 

One source claims that magnets attached to the pigeon mess up their navigation according to strength of the magnet and proximity to the head.

Watch a homing pigeon when released from a distant unfamiliar locale.The bird circles many times before heading off on a vector. Supposedly a comparison to the imprinted home magnetic pattern is being evaluated.

 

Who's that for?

 

Just read a history of the dark ages in Europe. That is how we would manage without them.