Science News

[brownie55]

Mouse lovers check this out in The Onion:

Science news (http://www.theonion.com/news/index.php?issue=4049&n=1)

[pcar]

interesting...now is this something real, or just a fabrication to get laughs?

[Skye]

The Onion is a "joke newspaper" - very funny, but don't take any of it seriously. They do write some quite clever articles from time to time

[pcar]

huh...this is the first time that I have heard of it. Thanks for the info Skye

[brownie55]

Skye got it, it's a joke, though they would probably prefer "satire". It's the only thing that I can count on to brighten my Wednesday.

[Skye]

satire - yes - that's the word I was looking for - thanks Brownie!! :)

[pcar]

it was quite a laugh though. but I wonder what the scientists that work with them really think. My dad worked in the reptile building at college when he was in school, and his job was to take care of the lab rats that were raised for feeders. He hates mice and rats with a passion, yet he raised them. Kind of funny when you think about it.

[Itsnowingcorns]

At first I found that really disturbing until I realised it was a joke! Our world is so crazy it's so easy to believe something like this.

[brownie55]

Guess it's my fault for not giving a humor alert in the posting. I know The Onion so well I assusmed everyone did. Well, we all know what happens when we assume....

But to discuss PCAR's observation, there is probably a a huge dichotmy of emotion regarding the raising of the little vermin. I recall reading a funny definition of mice that went along the lines of "a amll rodent, that when killed in sufficent numbers under controlled conditions yields a doctoral thesis." There is a lot of truth under that humor, and my guess is that most scientists do see them as a means to an end. My snakes just see then as meals...

[DAND]

The closing statement was a dead give away it was fiction.

[Cindy]

The Onion is well know in the UK and very funny, I love it... thanks xx

[cornman1979]

It's the first time i've heard of it but it's gone in my favorates.
Thanks for sharing it, I'll keep an eye out on future editions and articles.