INTERESTING: If I was an impala, I’d be called “Lunch” or maybe, if lucky, “Lurch”

Saturday, August 3, 2024

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20240724-what-olympic-athletes-can-learn-about-running-from-cheetahs?ICID=ref_fark

What Olympic runners can learn from cheetahs
Sophie Hardach

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Cheetahs are famous for being the fastest land animals – but research suggests there’s much more to their athleticism than just speed.

Imagine you are an impala, racing across the African savannah to try and escape a cheetah – the world’s fastest land animal, which can reach a running speed of more than 100 km/h (62 mph). It may seem like a hopeless effort, but in real life, impalas do sometimes manage to get away. Which running strategy do you think would give you the best chance of beating the cheetah?

A. Fast and in a straight line

B. Fast and zig-zag

C. Slow and in a straight line

D. Slow and zig-zag

A growing body of research on wild cheetahs and their prey not only reveals the answer to this quiz – more on this below – but also offers wider insights into why exactly cheetahs are so fast, and what we might learn from them to help our own athletic pursuits.

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If it was me, I’d have to fight.  No change for this fat old white guy injineer to run or doge.  Of course, YMMV and faiwwypfi (Free Advice Is Worth What You Pay For It! ?zero?) ! ! ! 

I found this very interesting and well written.  I needed a choice “E. None of the Above”.  Which we should also have in elections, imho.

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INTERESTING: Mama dolphin smack the leader of a human diving group?

Thursday, November 25, 2021

https://www.futilitycloset.com/2021/11/23/lodging-a-complaint/

Among the most compelling anecdotes suggesting that dolphins have concepts of ‘wrong’ behavior is Thomas White’s description of how a human snorkeler observing Atlantic spotted dolphins off the Bahamas went outside the bounds of the norms of behavior expected by the dolphins of human observers at that site. The swimmer approached a calf engaged in learning to fish with its mother, a no-no in the rules of engagement between swimmers and these dolphins built up over years. When this happened, the mother then swam not to the hapless trespasser but to the leader of the group of swimmers, whom she could identify, and tail-slapped, her displeasure apparently directed at the leader who had not controlled the behavior of those being led.

— Hal Whitehead and Luke Rendell, The Cultural Lives of Whales and Dolphins, 2015

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Fascinating!

Speechless.

Nearly human?  Maybe better than human.  The was some humans act in traffic, for sure.

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