cobblepxt

A wheeled rover disguised as a penguin chick is allowing zoologists to read the heart rates of king penguins in Antarctica.

Most wild animals are understandably wary of humans. Which can make studying them hard for zoologists and documentary makers alike. That anxiety may be increased after they’ve been captured and fitted with monitors as some of the penguins of Adelie Land have been. Unfortunately, to read the monitors Dr Yvon Le Maho of the University of Strasbourg needed to get within 60cms of the penguins, or find a way to get a reception device in to that distance.

To achieve this, Le Maho reveals in Nature Methods heput an antenna on a four wheel drive device and sent it into colonies of several local species. Unsurprisingly, the elephant seals were entirely unperturbed, barely noticing the device. King penguins pecked at the rover, but once it stopped they calmed down and their heart rates rapidly returned to normal. “Upon immobilization, the rover—unlike humans—did not disorganize colony structure, and stress rapidly ceased,” the paper reports.

Emperor penguins, despite their great size, are shyer than their smaller cousins, so Le Maho decided  it was time to take a step up by adding a fiberglass penguin chick. Things did not go smoothly however. The first chick was unconvincing, and possibly fell into the penguin version of uncanny valley, leading to some frightened emperors. 

Only after five variations was the chick sufficiently feathered up to stop scaring the locals. At this point, the response shifted entirely. Baby penguins, undeterred by the wheels, huddled up against the chick.

The adults even sang to it. ”They were very disappointed when there was no answer,” Le Maho said. “Next time we will have a rover playing songs.”

DAY 3:  They have accepted me as one of their own.

He spoke dryly eyeing the bag.

❝ I'm glad you're a better thief than courier. Do you moonlight for FedEx? I'm surprised you didn't drop kick the bag. ❞☂

[[ hello everyone! i said i would be back and i am, but there are going to be some massive changes to this blog. i have recently come to realize that the further gotham goes on, i feel less and less connected with this version of oswald. i have always been a dear fan of the character himself, in all versions, but i don’t think i can go on playing this specific incarnation. 

i made the decision(along with consulting some dear friends) that i will be keeping this an oswald blog, but he will be my own. he will be more realistic, perhaps someone who would fit in the nolanverse setting. over the next couple of days and weekend, the changes will be taking place. 

i want to sincerely thank everyone who has followed me on this version. this was my first tumblr role play blog and it was a blast to run it from march/april until the show premiered. thank you to everyone who gave me a chance, helped me grow, and all the fun we had. 

[[ hello everyone! i’ve been meaning to post this for a little bit - this blog is going on a hiatus. i’m not sure when i’ll be back, but i’m not completely ditching it nor all the lovely people who follow it and have threads with me. i feel like i really need this break from oswald. 

thankfully another gotham character has caught my eye. i will be on bullxck from now on if you’d like to find me. come play, plot, or simply chat! 

[[ hello everyone! i’ve been meaning to post this for a little bit - this blog is going on a hiatus. i’m not sure when i’ll be back, but i’m not completely ditching it nor all the lovely people who follow it and have threads with me. i feel like i really need this break from oswald. 

thankfully another gotham character has caught my eye. i will be on bullxck from now on if you’d like to find me. come play, plot, or simply chat!