"A sluggish,
sick human is easy to spot. But it's harder to tell when a shrimp is under the weather. So one scientist put the little crustaceans on a tiny treadmill [
video] to examine how diseases impact their performance. Humans fighting an infection typically sleep more and are not at top physical performance. "The situation is much more critical for a sick marine crustacean, such as a shrimp, where a decrease in performance may mean the difference between life and death," said David Scholnick, a biologist from Pacific University. The shrimp treadmill, invented and built by Scholnick, allows researchers to measure the activity of an exercising shrimp for a set period of time at known speed and oxygen levels."
Shrimp treadmill. Snicker. Tee hee. Ha. Hahaha.
"To further challenge the healthy shrimp, the
researchers designed a small backpack made of duct tape to add extra load to the shrimp. With the extra weight and lowered oxygen, they were active for up to an hour."
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! SNORT! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Hoo....Oh my. Whew. Hee.
"Shrimp dealing with an infection would be less active and might be limited in their ability to migrate, find food, and avoid being eaten, Scholnick said."
SICK SHRIMP. It's what's for dinner.