Rats on cocaine love Miles Davis, and other dumb animal research paid for with tax dollars

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**Frazzled**

After reading these, Dr. Venkman's studies on the use of electrical shock to stimulate ESP in humans should be determined as "mainstream."

Rats on cocaine love Miles Davis, and other dumb animal research paid for with tax dollars
In Defense of Animals group spotlights inquiry into the sex habits of hamsters
Comments (29)

By Lindsay Goldwert / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Wednesday, April 18, 2012, 11:52 AM
Rats were found to respond well to Miles Davis’ music when hopped up on cocaine.Taxpayers may feel kind of blue when they discover their dollars went to fund a study to determine rats like to bop to the music of Miles Davis while hopped up on cocaine.

The study, which was performed at Albany Medical College, drew jeers from the animal rights group In Defense of Animals and landed it on its top ten list of Real Ridiculous Research.

The research found that sober rats don’t really like music that much. After the silence, the rats liked Beethoven’s “Fur Elise” more than Miles Davis’s iconic jazz tune “Four.”

But when the rats were given doses of cocaine, their tasted shifted and they gravitated toward the jazz.

MOST AMAZING CHIMPS!

The studies, which were funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, were aimed at analyzing the links between pharmacology and neurology in drug abuse.

“These experiments... show that your tax dollars and animals’ lives are frivolously wasted on research that adds nothing to medical progress and tells us nothing we care to know — or didn't know already,” In Defense of Animals wrote in its introduction to the list.

Albany Medical College protested its spot on the list of ridiculous research.

“The ultimate goal of this research is to find medications that can help diminish drug cravings in humans,” Jeffrey R. Gordon, spokesman for the medical school, told The Pulse.

The group, which only focused its ire on National Institutes of Health experiments that involved research on animals, had issues with a few other studies, including one about the sex habits of hamsters.

Lehigh and University of Minnesota researchers found that putting hamsters on a diet didn’t increase their appetite for the opposite sex.

The animal rights group dubbed the study another example of wasteful tax dollars spending and “white-coated welfare.”

A Lehigh University spokesperson begged to differ.

"This study is part of a line of research that seeks better understanding of behaviors essential to survival, including seeking food and reproduction,” university spokesman Jordan Reese told Lehighvalleylive.com. “How the brain regulates these behaviors is relevant, for example, to understanding the effects of commonly prescribed drugs, including those used to treat attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder and related drugs used to control appetite.”

Other studies that made the group’s list included the effect of lemon scent on monkey erections, contagious yawning in chimpanzees and the role of single mothers in the prairie vole community.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/rats-cocaine-love-miles-davis-dumb-animal-research-paid-tax-dollars-article-1.1063528#ixzz1sZvML8po

**KingCracker**

Part of me wants to get incredibly angry. The rest just rolls its eyes and says "Yea, our government is full of idiots, and this is proof"

**Kilkrazy**

Go and read something about successful research and it will restore your mood.

**reds8n**

Must take a while to train the rats to roll the banknotes correctly.

**Frazzled**

reds8n wrote: Must take a while to train the rats to roll the banknotes correctly.

Not to mention using the razor and mirror properly. Its like they're creating some sort of super rat -armed with razors- to support their gvernment grants.

Gentlemen, this is how freedom dies, to the sound of rats snorting cocaine.

**Vitruvian XVII**

So many better things to spend cash on. Focus you're attention on actually useful things please scientists.

Although the one with the chimps at least sounds like it has a scientifically or medically useful goal.

**Scorpionov**

wow..study something useful such as more space programs or curing diseases

**KingCracker**

Vitruvian XVII wrote:So many better things to spend cash on. Focus you're attention on actually useful things please scientists.

Although the one with the chimps at least sounds like it has a scientifically or medically useful goal.

Lemons on a penis? Really? Care to draw me a picture, because Im not getting it

**Frazzled**

KingCracker wrote:
Vitruvian XVII wrote:So many better things to spend cash on. Focus you're attention on actually useful things please scientists.

Although the one with the chimps at least sounds like it has a scientifically or medically useful goal.

Lemons on a penis? Really? Care to draw me a picture, because Im not getting it

No no, thats ok, illustrations are not needed thank you very much.

**KingCracker**

I meant more for a line from how that could be used medically

Not a crayon based picture with a monkey's wang all covered in lemon juice

**Vitruvian XVII**

At least their goal was admirable....

Maybe that was a slight case of tl;dr skimming...

**KingCracker**

If that question were asked I answer "Its simple, if the person in question likes it really sour, then lemons on your lads is a good idea. If they are into sweets, then its a bad idea" Then proceed to take their how ever many year grants for myself

**Mr Hyena**

Whats worse is the Research problems that slip through the net rather than obvious stuff like this. Far far too much Research budget is spent on Cancer and Malaria. Psychology is the biggest culprit.

A lot of neglected diseases don't receive proper funding for this reason, even though they infect far more people. Including Schistosomes.

**Vitruvian XVII**

A lot of neglected diseases unfortunately dont affect enough people, or if they do they dont affect people with money.

Its a well known fact that drug companies back those projects that have a good chance of making them heaps of money.

**Mr Hyena**

A lot of neglected diseases unfortunately dont affect enough people, or if they do they dont affect people with money.

Its the latter. Shistosomes and some other tropical diseases affect much more than Malaria does, yet get pretty low funding. Of course, you need to have money to be worth saving.

Though, considering how expensive drug development is, its not surprising.

**Vitruvian XVII**

Yeah im doing pharmacology at the moment, pretty interesting tbh. But creating one successful drug that gets to the market is in the order of many millions iirc. (cant remember if it got to billions, meh, its a lot of money either way)

Its a crime really that everything is driven by profit, especially when we're talking about human lives.

**Frazzled**

Vitruvian XVII wrote:Yeah im doing pharmacology at the moment, pretty interesting tbh. But creating one successful drug that gets to the market is in the order of many millions iirc. (cant remember if it got to billions, meh, its a lot of money either way)

Its a crime really that everything is driven by profit, especially when we're talking about human lives.

Why? Whats more important, a cure for cancer or a cure for something that impacts 20 people worldwide.
If you don't like it don't whine, elect people who will spend more on important projects like....rats snorting cocaine and jamming to the mellow vibes of Pachelbel.

EDIT: For the record Frazzled is down in a big way with pure medical and science research. Its projects like those noted above that give this a bad name.

**KingCracker**

I dunno Frazz, grooving to some music and snorting lines everyday does sound tempting

**Frazzled**

KingCracker wrote:I dunno Frazz, grooving to some music and snorting lines everyday does sound tempting

Why should the rats be allowed to party, when I have to work. Mankind didn't invent shoes and brooms so that rats could take over. SMACK!

**Vitruvian XVII**

Oh dont get me wrong, im all for all of that. Its just that smaller drug companies and independent research groups cant often justify researching the lesser diseases or get funding to do so.

**Mr Hyena**

Shistosomasis: 600-700 million worldwide at risk, 20 Million infected with severe disease.
Cancer: 12.7 million (in 2008) diagnosed cancers.

Depends how you look at it.

**KingCracker**

Frazzled wrote:
KingCracker wrote:I dunno Frazz, grooving to some music and snorting lines everyday does sound tempting

Why should the rats be allowed to party, when I have to work. Mankind didn't invent shoes and brooms so that rats could take over. SMACK!

Your wise mind is humbling. So your saying we should teach rats and monkey's to do the manual labor, while we party hardy?

**Frazzled**

Mr Hyena wrote:Shistosomasis: 600-700 million worldwide at risk, 20 Million infected with severe disease.
Cancer: 12.7 million (in 2008) diagnosed cancers.

Depends how you look at it.

And whats so awesome is that its irrelevant to the US

http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/usa/homicide

Top 15 Causes of Death1. Heart Disease

2. Cancer

3. Stroke

4. Chronic Lung Disease

5. Accidents

6. Alzheimer's

7. Diabetes

8. Influenza and Pneumonia

9. Nephritis/Kidney Disease

10. Blood Poisoning

11. Suicide

12. Liver Disease

13. Hypertension/Renal

14. Parkinson's Disease

15. Homicide

**Vitruvian XVII**

Hmmm, a very interesting proposal KC.

**Frazzled**

KingCracker wrote:
Frazzled wrote:
KingCracker wrote:I dunno Frazz, grooving to some music and snorting lines everyday does sound tempting

Why should the rats be allowed to party, when I have to work. Mankind didn't invent shoes and brooms so that rats could take over. SMACK!

Your wise mind is humbling. So your saying we should teach rats and monkey's to do the manual labor, while we party hardy?

YES! None can stand before the awesome power of BROOM.
Here is the order of priority

Wiener Dog Superior, Man inferior
Man superior, animals (especially cats and squirrels) inferior

**KingCracker**

That site tells me two things. Stay the feth out of DoC, and stay out of Louisiana

Automatically Appended Next Post:
Wait now your Soundwave? SOUNDWAVE HAS A LAWN?!?!?!?!

**Frazzled**

KingCracker wrote:That site tells me two things. Stay the feth out of DoC, and stay out of Louisiana

These are good lessons.

**Mr Hyena**

And whats so awesome is that its irrelevant to the US

Of course that is...until the time is right, for the right Snails to arrive in the US...and for the climate to change to a more Asian climate.

They are silent and they are waiting.

**Frazzled**

KingCracker wrote:Wait now your Soundwave? SOUNDWAVE HAS A LAWN?!?!?!?!

SHHH ixnay on the soundwavay or you'll alert the autobotsnah

**sirlynchmob**

the research on rats matter because the theory of evolution is true and their brains are a lot like ours. Anything learned about drug addiction can lead to new treatments and ways to help people.

Before I get upset over money spent on science, there's the matter of 40 billion tax dollars getting paid to the big oil companies from our tax dollars yearly, because they just don't make enough money. not to mention that trillion dollar gift to the banks.

Now that 40 billion yearly would go a long way to help fund disease research and make a down payment on a new space shuttle to get us to mars.