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View Full Version : Feds Fund $880,000 to Study Benefits of Snail Sex




green73
03-28-2013, 06:31 AM
https://www.zazzle.com/rlv/happy_cartoon_snail_with_flower_print-r81ef036ce8224e33aa21c6f84f02c2c5_wad_400.jpg


The National Science Foundation awarded a grant for $876,752 to the University of Iowa to study whether there is any benefit to sex among New Zealand mud snails and whether that explains why any organism has sex.

The study, first funded in 2011 and continuing until 2015, will study the New Zealand snails to see if it is better that they reproduce sexually or asexually – the snail can do both – hoping to gain insight on why so many organisms practice sexual reproduction.

cont
http://cnsnews.com/news/article/feds-fund-880000-study-benefits-snail-sex

WM_in_MO
03-28-2013, 06:34 AM
Conclusion: its slow and slobbery.

KrokHead
03-28-2013, 06:44 AM
Feds Fund $880,000 to Study Benefits of Snail Sex

YES!!!!

Slugs can also fuse together


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_i0bInJWKcw

Smart3
03-28-2013, 06:47 AM
What they should focus on is helping humans to have pig-like orgasms. (the best orgasms in nature)

Philhelm
03-28-2013, 06:57 AM
Sarah Conly approves.

green73
03-28-2013, 07:02 AM
What they should focus on is helping humans to have pig-like orgasms. (the best orgasms in nature)

Been there, done that. Turned into a tyranny.

https://gs1.wac.edgecastcdn.net/8019B6/data.tumblr.com/tumblr_lx3dn23Ro51qkwbyvo1_500.jpg

Origanalist
03-28-2013, 07:08 AM
Hey, this is important stuff. And you should pay for it. This too......

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?408574-“Sexual-Conflict-Social-Behavior-and-the-Evolution-of-Waterfowl-Genitalia”

RockEnds
03-28-2013, 07:17 AM
I'll donate my aquarium to the research if they'll develop snail birth control.

jkr
03-28-2013, 07:41 AM
ok...
i want all my debts cancelled NOW!

they dont need our money
they only want to limit our options

fisharmor
03-28-2013, 08:17 AM
I'll donate my aquarium to the research if they'll develop snail birth control.

I haven't even been doing this six months, and unfortunately I can say I'd donate mine too....

RockEnds
03-28-2013, 08:25 AM
I haven't even been doing this six months, and unfortunately I can say I'd donate mine too....

Right? I mean, I didn't even buy a snail. I figure, if I switch tanks and boil the gravel from this one, I can have lots of pretty little snail shells in my gravel. It's one of my spring projects.

Ranger29860
03-28-2013, 08:36 AM
I believe in doing any science that is possible no matter how weird or off beat it may be. Because half of the really cool stuff we discover is usually by accident and you can't really say where the next big discovery will come from. I also believe in public funding for the sciences but not from taxes :(. Because what ends up happening is this. We see the crazier (as we perceive them) studies and demand oversight on the money spent so next thing we know we have governments dictating what is or is not science and what is or is not worth doing and not the scientist.

I say get rid of the tax funded science projects and just pout a little donation option on tax forms like we do with presidential election funds. Hell I would gladly pay 5 dollars every year to fund projects. I just want the oversight and control out of the hands of bureaucrats who some still think the earth is 6000 years old.

fisharmor
03-28-2013, 09:12 AM
I believe in doing any science that is possible no matter how weird or off beat it may be. Because half of the really cool stuff we discover is usually by accident and you can't really say where the next big discovery will come from.

The issue here is that if funding came from market sources, the market for studying snail sex is probably going to be limited to genus helix, because there's a market demand for them. And they apparently don't reproduce asexually (though some species do self-fertilize).

The other thing to recognize here is that the stated reason to study this is to attempt to bolster the evolution argument. They're starting with the hypothesis that sex has to be a factor in natural selection: that despite many apparent disadvantages, there has to be a big advantage to outweigh them, since it's the dominant mode of reproduction.

So this study actually is in direct opposition to what you're saying. This isn't being done because it's "doing any science that is possible". It's being done with a specific goal in mind: be the ten-millionth shitty argument in favor of evolution. If they were interested in "doing any science that is possible" they'd be studying sexual vs. asexual reproduction and not attempting to make other inductive arguments. By tying it to evolution from the start, they're intentionally attempting to cut off any other science that might be done with their research which argue contrary to evolution.

Ranger29860
03-28-2013, 09:21 AM
The issue here is that if funding came from market sources, the market for studying snail sex is probably going to be limited to genus helix, because there's a market demand for them. And they apparently don't reproduce asexually (though some species do self-fertilize).

The other thing to recognize here is that the stated reason to study this is to attempt to bolster the evolution argument. They're starting with the hypothesis that sex has to be a factor in natural selection: that despite many apparent disadvantages, there has to be a big advantage to outweigh them, since it's the dominant mode of reproduction.

So this study actually is in direct opposition to what you're saying. This isn't being done because it's "doing any science that is possible". It's being done with a specific goal in mind: be the ten-millionth shitty argument in favor of evolution. If they were interested in "doing any science that is possible" they'd be studying sexual vs. asexual reproduction and not attempting to make other inductive arguments. By tying it to evolution from the start, they're intentionally attempting to cut off any other science that might be done with their research which argue contrary to evolution.

wow, you start off wrong and just went from there. Sexual reproduction is nowhere close to the dominate form of reproduction. There are a few billion single cell organism in your lower colon that would take offense to the idea that they are reproducing wrong :P.

All science is done with a goal in mind. If it wasn't it would not be science. The goal may vary from experiment to experiment but there is always a goal. It honestly looks and sounds like you just wanted to go on a rant about evolution and needed to shoehorn your way into this thread.

green73
03-28-2013, 09:30 AM
All science is done with a goal in mind.

To get grant money.

fisharmor
03-28-2013, 09:41 AM
Sexual reproduction is nowhere close to the dominate form of reproduction.

“Despite this and other costs, nearly all organisms reproduce sexually at least some of the time. This means that sex must be associated with profound advantages, while asexual reproduction must have significant evolutionary consequences.”

Ok, so "dominant" is only my translation of this sentence which is attributed to the people doing the work. Forgive my chimpanzee intelligence here. :rolleyes:


All science is done with a goal in mind. If it wasn't it would not be science. The goal may vary from experiment to experiment but there is always a goal. It honestly looks and sounds like you just wanted to go on a rant about evolution and needed to shoehorn your way into this thread.

All anything is done with a goal in mind. Their goal - their stated goal - is to bolster evolution.
Not to study sexual vs. asexual reproduction and find out whether there is an advantage to sexual reproduction.
To study sexual vs. asexual reproduction and find out whether there is an evolutionary advantage to sexual reproduction.


“This project will use a different organism, Potamopyrgus antipodarum, a New Zealand snail, which has both sexual and independently-derived asexual lineages that make it ideally suited to address fundamental evolutionary questions of how genes and genomes evolve in the absence of sexual reproduction.”

I didn't shoehorn anything: they did. I'm merely calling them out for it.

mello
03-28-2013, 10:22 AM
This may be a good idea for a new thread where we find a bunch of these stupid, wasteful studies & keep a running total of how much taxpayer money is wasted. I bet we could probably find 10+billion in a short amount of time.

ninepointfive
03-28-2013, 10:28 AM
NSF funds some decent projects (politics aside) - but snail sex?

RockEnds
03-28-2013, 10:42 AM
NSF funds some decent projects (politics aside) - but snail sex?

Well, I don't know about their sex, but I must admit their reproduction is amazing. I've been studying it in amazement for months now. That said, I think I'm doing it all wrong. Apparently, I should apply for a grant.

ninepointfive
03-28-2013, 10:52 AM
Well, I don't know about their sex, but I must admit their reproduction is amazing. I've been studying it in amazement for months now. That said, I think I'm doing it all wrong. Apparently, I should apply for a grant.

need a new career? apply to work at the place that is doing the grant! =)

RockEnds
03-28-2013, 10:56 AM
need a new career? apply to work at the place that is doing the grant! =)

Oh no. The purpose of my grant will be to learn the best and most efficient manner to utterly slaughter the little devils despite their amazing ability to reproduce out of thin air. Er, um, water. My hypothesis is boiling water on the stove top. Mmm Hmm. Yep.

dannno
03-28-2013, 11:07 AM
Salt: Totally ruined orgasm.

kcchiefs6465
03-28-2013, 11:09 AM
Oh no. The purpose of my grant will be to learn the best and most efficient manner to utterly slaughter the little devils despite their amazing ability to reproduce out of thin air. Er, um, water. My hypothesis is boiling water on the stove top. Mmm Hmm. Yep.
Lmao.

ninepointfive
03-28-2013, 11:13 AM
Oh no. The purpose of my grant will be to learn the best and most efficient manner to utterly slaughter the little devils despite their amazing ability to reproduce out of thin air. Er, um, water. My hypothesis is boiling water on the stove top. Mmm Hmm. Yep.

Looking forward to some snail pornos

RockEnds
03-28-2013, 11:19 AM
Looking forward to some snail pornos

lol. This aquarium started as a homeschool project. Ecosystem. Controlled environment. Little bit of chemistry with the water. Now my daughter asks, "Where did all those snails come from?" And I mutter in response, "I don't know...." Our first betta ate one and died. It's been quite a learning experience for both of us. :toady:

ninepointfive
03-28-2013, 11:28 AM
lol. This aquarium started as a homeschool project. Ecosystem. Controlled environment. Little bit of chemistry with the water. Now my daughter asks, "Where did all those snails come from?" And I mutter in response, "I don't know...." Our first betta ate one and died. It's been quite a learning experience for both of us. :toady:

sounds kinda cool, actually.

HOLLYWOOD
03-28-2013, 11:34 AM
Escargot = business profit of restaurants
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bf/Escargotbordeaux.jpg/300px-Escargotbordeaux.jpg (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Escargotbordeaux.jpg)

RockEnds
03-28-2013, 11:38 AM
sounds kinda cool, actually.

It is. We have a frog, a betta, and a few neon tetra. We lost a some tetra when the power went out overnight in an ice storm. They don't take tank changes very well. But overall, we've had really good luck, and it's been a fun project.

Origanalist
03-28-2013, 07:19 PM
Escargot = business profit of restaurants
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bf/Escargotbordeaux.jpg/300px-Escargotbordeaux.jpg (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Escargotbordeaux.jpg)

I'm going to pass, thank you.

Carson
03-28-2013, 07:24 PM
They will need to get some snail sex audio.

I had a play by play of some tortoises doing it at the San Diego Zoo and the sound recreation was the best part. Also I'm told they are real slow.

angelatc
03-28-2013, 07:49 PM
Conclusion: its slow and slobbery.


Is there video?

angelatc
03-28-2013, 07:51 PM
Oh no. The purpose of my grant will be to learn the best and most efficient manner to utterly slaughter the little devils despite their amazing ability to reproduce out of thin air. Er, um, water. My hypothesis is boiling water on the stove top. Mmm Hmm. Yep.

Heh! I've never had the pleasure but I hear that snails can be a b*tch to get rid of. Congrats on the tetras - those things are the fussiest damned freshwater fish I ever had.

Origanalist
03-28-2013, 07:51 PM
Originally Posted by WM_in_MO

Conclusion: its slow and slobbery.


Is there video?

That sounds better than fast and er, um, unslobbery.

RockEnds
03-28-2013, 08:29 PM
Heh! I've never had the pleasure but I hear that snails can be a b*tch to get rid of. Congrats on the tetras - those things are the fussiest damned freshwater fish I ever had.

I've had really good luck with the tetra, and it was unexpected. I get the fish at a little hole-in-the wall pet shop not far from me. I swear they don't own a vacuum, but the tanks are clean, and I've had good luck with the fish. I think I got the snails from petco. The nearest one is 100 miles from me. We were up there about a year ago, and my daughter decided she wanted a frog. I love the frog. He's hillarious, but they had snails in the tank, and I didn't know enough at the time to pass. I won't make that mistake again. They just. keep. breeding.

fisharmor
03-29-2013, 02:52 AM
I've had really good luck with the tetra, and it was unexpected. I get the fish at a little hole-in-the wall pet shop not far from me. I swear they don't own a vacuum, but the tanks are clean, and I've had good luck with the fish. I think I got the snails from petco. The nearest one is 100 miles from me. We were up there about a year ago, and my daughter decided she wanted a frog. I love the frog. He's hillarious, but they had snails in the tank, and I didn't know enough at the time to pass. I won't make that mistake again. They just. keep. breeding.
Yeah when our first clutch hatched I thought they were baby mystery snails, since we had one in the tank.
So I was intentionally feeding them. Then some of the babies started bumpin' uglies, and it occurred to me that they probably weren't mystery snails... and when I figured everything out I found out that I had several DOZEN new clutches in the tank. I spent a couple days removing clutches and snails and got it under control.
I don't feed anywhere as much as I used to, but the thing I'm really kicking myself for is getting new mystery snails after my original died. I really should have gotten an assassin snail instead. I hear tell that's the way to go if you don't have a big enough tank for a clown loach.