They say it takes a car driver about 650 milliseconds to hit the brake after seeing the traffic light ahead turn red. Over half-a-second? Against a quarter-second for the mole?
Googling around, 500 to 1200 (!) ms seems to be a number commonly used by car accident forensic folks. Other research, though, shows times as low as 200ms for simple visual stimuli, rising roughly with log(N) where N is the number of possible options the subject has to choose from.
Thanks for that image, which quickly lead my brain to remember "they continually survey their environment by repeatedly touching the objects around them with their star appendages," which made me think about the possibility of it burrowing underneath the covers to cuddle with its master at night.
The most interesting thing about moles is that the way the touch sensors on their snouts are organized is very similar to the way nerve bundles from our retinas are organized. Moles get as much sensory input from their tentacled noses as we get from our eyes, and it's organized like peripheral vision vs. data from the fovea is organized in us.
I think it's lovely. And naked mole rats are dead cool. If it wasn't for Dollo's Law of Loss, they'd be my bet for the species to take over the planet after WWIII.
"Star-nosed moles depend upon small organisms for its food, and to minimize the caloric output of collecting that food, the moles have the fastest eating habits of any known mammal. Now it's a matter of comparing the feeding speed of star-nosed moles to that of a hungry pack of Cub Scouts..."
Where are its eyes?
...does it have eyes?
You can tell the reporter felt this way as well - "The star-nosed mole, operating in the Stygian darkness of its burrow..."
hooray for the molemen!!!
They say it takes a car driver about 650 milliseconds to hit the brake after seeing the traffic light ahead turn red. Over half-a-second? Against a quarter-second for the mole?
Is it just me, or do those numbers seem wrong?
Must... not... look... at... picture.
It's just you.
Googling around, 500 to 1200 (!) ms seems to be a number commonly used by car accident forensic folks. Other research, though, shows times as low as 200ms for simple visual stimuli, rising roughly with log(N) where N is the number of possible options the subject has to choose from.
... and of course these response times are very fast considering that the driver might need to first hang up and set aside the cell phone.
I wonder if you could housetrain that thing and, if you did, if it would playfully wrap those tentacles around your fingers.
*chills*
Thanks for that image, which quickly lead my brain to remember "they continually survey their environment by repeatedly touching the objects around them with their star appendages," which made me think about the possibility of it burrowing underneath the covers to cuddle with its master at night.
Thanks, but I'll stick with my cat.
why waste a housetrained cthulhoid tentaclefest on your fingers? mmmm...
That episode was hilarious
that one was pure gold
Now that hentire train of thought is wrong.
Besides, you would run into problems coordinating said mole with the schoolgirls.
Oh wait...that's not what you meant is it?
You meant...ew!
BWAHHHHHHAHAHAHAHA! *rotflmao*
The most interesting thing about moles is that the way the touch sensors on their snouts are organized is very similar to the way nerve bundles from our retinas are organized. Moles get as much sensory input from their tentacled noses as we get from our eyes, and it's organized like peripheral vision vs. data from the fovea is organized in us.
Really? I never realized that. How very cool.
Ooh, I love star-nosed moles. (I suppose that comes as no surprise to you.) But I am partial to Naked Mole-Rats.
SHIT THAT'S CREEPY!
This is why I live in a city. I really want to minimize my odds of ever seeing something like this in person.
My front yard is literally a swamp. There's a decent chance those things are out there right now.
Waiting.
I hear them scratching... listen... quietly... can you hear it?
And now, thanks to you, my friends page is disgusting as well.
Oh great, that's all we need, is for nature to evolve into goatse.
He's SO CUTE!!!
*hugs the mole*
can I have one????
Yes! It's not just me! Hurrah!
I think it's lovely. And naked mole rats are dead cool. If it wasn't for Dollo's Law of Loss, they'd be my bet for the species to take over the planet after WWIII.
Funny, I was just reading <lj user="sclerotic_rings"> and there was a post about star-nosed moles.
"Star-nosed moles depend upon small organisms for its food, and to minimize the caloric output of collecting that food, the moles have the fastest eating habits of any known mammal. Now it's a matter of comparing the feeding speed of star-nosed moles to that of a hungry pack of Cub Scouts..."
Is it just me or does this thing remind you of Dr. Zoidberg of Futurama?
bahaha. indeed it does.
holy fuck! lol