Why Are These Scientists Making Poor Little Shrimp Run On A Treadmill? (Video)


Everyone loves to complain about how much money the government wastes.  But did you know that your tax dollars have been used to study how long a shrimp can run on a treadmill?

It’s not a joke.

Of course, its more complicated than it might seem at first glance, just like almost every other question about how the government operates.

According to a report on NPR, Republican Senator Tom Coburn issued a scathing report against the National Science Foundation, which is a major funder of science research in the US. The report blasted the foundation for basically throwing money at pointless studies. You know, like how long and how fast a shrimp can go on a treadmill.

The phrase “shrimp on a treadmill” went viral as a symbol of government waste. There are dozens of videos on YouTube, including the one below where GOP goofball Mike Huckabee does a wonderful Forrest Gump impersonation.

But if you dig into the research just a little bit, what you find is that it is not only legitimate, it is clearly important work being done to protect a valuable food source.

The researcher who actually did the study insists that his work is serious, and that the amount of money he received has been hugely exaggerated. Dr. David Scholnik wrote an article in The Chronicle of Higher Education saying:

“My name is David, and I am the marine biologist who put a shrimp on a treadmill—a burden I will forever carry. To be clear, the treadmill did not cost millions of taxpayer dollars, the goal of the research was not to exercise shrimp, and the government did not pay me—or anyone else—to work out shrimp on treadmills.”

He went on to explain that the study was ready designed to assess who changes in seawater quality and temperature could impact the amount of bacteria retained in the bodies of marine animals. Including shrimp.  The idea, of course, is that it is important to keep track of the health of a food that so many of us eat.

Dr. Scholnik hit back at the critics of his work:

“It is disingenuous for the Republican-controlled House Committee on Science, Space and Technology to promote the idea that scientists are wasting millions of taxpayer dollars to run shrimp on treadmills based on a 30-second video clip. Given that every teaspoon of seawater can contain millions of bacteria, it does not take a mental giant to understand that the health of marine organisms and the safety of the seafood we eat are closely related.”

So call me crazy, but I say, “Keep those shrimp running on that treadmill.” I’d rather pay to keep my food safe than to fly drones over villages.

Featured image screengrab via YouTube.

https://youtu.be/KsSABV9iprQ

Karen is a retired elementary school teacher with many years of progressive activism behind her. She is the proud mother of three young adults who were all arrested with Occupy Wall Street. To see what she writes about in her spare time, check out her blog at "Empty Nest, Full Life"