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."
Duh. How much did we spend on this? (Score:0)
Re:Duh. How much did we spend on this? (Score:3)
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.
Re:Duh. How much did we spend on this? (Score:2)
Re:Duh. How much did we spend on this? (Score:2)
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?
Re:Duh. How much did we spend on this? (Score:2)
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.
Re:Duh. How much did we spend on this? (Score:3)
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...
Re:Duh. How much did we spend on this? (Score:0)
Don't tell them a rat is the chef.
Re:Duh. How much did we spend on this? (Score:2)
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.
Re:Duh. How much did we spend on this? (Score:2)
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]
Re:Duh. How much did we spend on this? (Score:2)
However as you point out TFA is not informative as to the point of the study and how it was funded. Having had some small experience with research being reported by the media the odds are pretty good that the reporter and/or editor mangled the point of the research quite badly and if one wants to know why mice were being trained to distinguish wine you'd need to read the original research paper published in Chemical Senses [oxfordjournals.org]. The last paragraph of the introduction of scientific paper usually tells you why the researchers are doing their thing, and quoting that paragraph:
"Most naturally occurring odors are complex blends of volatile compounds. The way in which they are perceived depends upon the interactions between mixture components at the level of olfactory receptors (Derby 2000) as well as the way that component signals are processed in the olfactory bulb and olfactory cortex (Wilson and Stevenson 2003; Tabor et al. 2004). Because most of these inputs are irrelevant at any given moment, it should be more efficient to focus neural resources on a subset of the available information and ignore the rest (Luck 1998). However, to our knowledge, few papers have reported experimental evidence for selective attention in odor discrimination. In the present paper, we report behavioral evidence for selective attention in odor discrimination of mice. We found this evidence in the course of behavioral studies on the discrimination of liquor odors in mice using a Y-maze. Our initial interest was to assess if mice could discriminate different brands of liquors just by taking a sniff of them like an expert flavorist. Additionally, we also demonstrate that selective attention in the olfactory system of mice could be modified through their learning experiences."
Now as for how important and novel this is, it was published in 2008 and according to google scholar has been cited by other papers four times since. It's definitely not a huge paper but neither is it an embarrassment. If you've been doing science for more than 10 years chances are pretty good you'll have a paper with as low a citation rate as this.
As for weirdness, it pales compared to this: homosexual necrophilia in mallard ducks [guardian.co.uk]. You can get the Ig Nobel-winning research paper here [google.com], complete with pictures of the deed. If you really want to.
Re:Duh. How much did we spend on this? (Score:2)
Re:Duh. How much did we spend on this? (Score:1)
Wine is supposed to be a good accompaniment to cheese, after all...
Re:Duh. How much did we spend on this? (Score:2)
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.
Re:Duh. How much did we spend on this? (Score:2)
Re:Duh. How much did we spend on this? (Score:2)
This could have been done very cheaply. Just leave their cages sitting in a room with the movie Sideways playing on auto-repeat.
Re:Duh. How much did we spend on this? (Score:0)
1.Train mice to smell the good stuff
2. Sell the mice
3. Profit.
Your tax dollars at work (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Your Japanese tax dollars at work (Score:0)
there *Fixed* the subject for ya...
Re:Your Japanese tax dollars at work (Score:0)
I am Japanese, you insensitive crod!
Re:Your tax dollars at work (Score:2)
"My name is Mickey Mouse, and I'm an alcoholic."
"Hi Mickey!"
Re:Your tax dollars at work (Score:3)
Re:Your tax dollars at work (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Your tax dollars at work (Score:0)
good point
Re:Your tax dollars at work (Score:3)
Re:Your tax dollars at work (Score:3)
"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!!!
Re:Your tax dollars at work (Score:0)
Surely just Mickey? He doesn't want to blow his anonymity.
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.
What for? (Score:0)
What is this sort of research good for?
Really, I'm curious. All it seems to prove is that yes, mice have a sense of smell, and they can use it to smell things and distinguish between different smells. Don't tell me we didn't know that before.
I'm concerned by this, too, because in the end, mice are still animals. I'm not against experimenting on animals if it's necessary and if there's no alternatives, e.g. for drug tests, but what does this accomplish? The mice are suffering for no good reason. (And yes, as lab animals, they are suffering. Again, this can be justified in other cases, but what is the justification here?)
Re:What for? (Score:2)
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
Re:What for? (Score:3)
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 recently saw a blurb on the news specifically talking about small rodents being used to sniff luggage at airports.
Re:What for? (Score:2)
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.
Re:What for? (Score:2)
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."
Re:What for? (Score:2)
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.
Re:What for? (Score:2)
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...
Re:What for? (Score:2)
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)
Re:onion (Score:2)
No doubt this is worthy ... (Score:2)
... of an IgNobel prize. Maybe two: Chemistry and Biology.
Re:No doubt this is worthy ... (Score:2)
... of an IgNobel prize. Maybe two: Chemistry and Biology.
Oh hell, throw in Behavioral Psychology too. Make it a trifecta.
Re:No doubt this is worthy ... (Score:0)
Why? We use animals to detect bombs etc. Should we not understand this process better?
Re:No doubt this is worthy ... (Score:2)
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, "My expert here, will just take a quick scamper through your wine cellar, and find the best wine."
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)
Meanwhile... (Score:0)
Still no cure for cancer.
Next up for researchers: (Score:2)
Still more evidence that I'm in the wrong line of work...
Re:Next up for researchers: (Score:2)
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.
Re:in other news (Score:0)
Hopefully you're trying to use humour drier than a nice Merlot, but hopefully everyone realises that there's no live dolpin eating going on in Japan or any other country.
This reminds me of the most godawful thing... (Score:0)
...I've ever eaten. On the shinkansen going to Hiroshima, the snack cart had some regional flavors. So I decided to try Hiroshima Wine Pocky.
It was, coincidentally, like chewing on rat poison.
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...
what a scam...wish I'd though of it! (Score:0)
Hey Wing... how can we get a good supply of nice wine and other alcoholic drinks? I don't know, Yoshi, I can't even afford enough wine to get my pet mouse Meeka drunk! Your mouse drinks wine?! Well, yeah, the last bottle I had, I fed him a teaspoon of it. He got all happy and started bumping into things, so I didn't give him any more. Think he'd do it again? He likely would, yeah. Cool, lets get the school to buy a bunch of booze...I mean wine and other stuff... Meeka can have his teaspoon full from each bottle, and we can have the rest. :)
Side Effect (Score:0)
Weirdly, scientists also found that the mice showed a group affinity toward various products made by Apple like the iPad and iPhone. Even stranger, many of the mice started wearing little black turtleneck shirts in their cages.
Editor thinks a wine snob... (Score:1)
is someone who can differentiate white, rose, and red wine.
My, oh my.
Re:Editor thinks a wine snob... (Score:1)
Re:Editor thinks a wine snob... (Score:0)
Do a blind test with a glass of chilled red wine and a white wine at room temperature.
Most people guess that the chilled wine is white.
Re:Editor thinks a wine snob... (Score:3, Insightful)
Right. Because in point of fact, wine snobs can't do so [astrocyte-design.com]:
You're better off with the trained mice.
Re:Editor thinks a wine snob... (Score:2)
Not true wine snobs... (Score:0)
Yes, but have they have trained to believe that wine tastes better from a thin glass?
And in other news... (Score:2)
Re:And in other news... (Score:0)
Oh yeah, aight. Aight, I put on my robe and wizard hat.
How about the other way around? (Score:2)
Now, if only they could turn wine snobs into mice...
Re:How about the other way around? (Score:2)
Now, if only they could turn wine snobs into mice...
Peter Pettigrew is that you?
I wonder (Score:0)
I wonder how many crates of French Grand cru wines that they spend on this project.
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)
Difference doesn't mean better (Score:0)
I can tell the difference between two wines. That doesn't mean that one of those wines is 'better' than the other.
The mice have not been trained to be wine snobs. In order to do that the mice would have to insist that one wine was special, that it was worth dying for, and that it was well worth the $3000 price tag. They would also have to adopt a thoughtful expression while drinking and learn to raise an eyebrow when some other mouse claimed that there was no difference. There is a lot to being a wine snob beyond merely being aware of a difference. Being able to tell the difference requires sensitivity and judgement. Being a wine snob requires acting skills and low self esteem.
No mouse is that stupid.
I can see a lot of potential for a cheese and wine party though.
Mice have a sense of smell? (Score:1)
It would have been funnier (Score:0)
the other way around.