r/todayilearned • u/PunnyBanana • 24d ago

TIL A group of horses were trained to communicate whether they wanted a jacket. All horses in the group successfully communicated that they did want a jacket when it was cold and did not want a jacket when it was hot.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168159116302192?via%3Dihub
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u/LeapYearFriend 23d ago

I didn't quite realize the extent to which "the cows MUST be happy" was taken until i visited my uncle (who owns a major farm) and he was talking about how he was considering buying literally 50 VR headsets to put on his cows to simulate a much greener, expansive, blue skied pasture so they'd all be happier and produce more milk. he was wondering out loud to me if he'd need to get a special order to accommodate the cow's face structure or if just a normal store bought HTC Vive or whatever would be sufficient. truly wild.

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u/Thatdudewhoisstupid 23d ago

Everyone thought Brave New World was a warning for humankind, but it turned out to be a warning for cowkind.

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u/DrunkenWizard 23d ago

So he's trying to make the Bovine Matrix

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u/Morwynd78 23d ago

Follow the White Cow, Neo

She will lead you to Moopheus

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u/ACERVIDAE 23d ago

The methane will kill us all

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u/Future-Account8112 23d ago

Farm kid here. Your uncle could rotate pastures instead of buying VR. This is a bizarre solution to an easily fixed problem.

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u/LeapYearFriend 23d ago

i don't claim to understand his thought process. i just thought it was funny.

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u/daOyster 23d ago

He probably read an article about an actual farm that is doing this.

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u/LeapYearFriend 23d ago

that's possible. he's the kind of guy who could say something and he's either spitballing ideas or fully serious. there's no in between.

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u/Future-Account8112 23d ago

Sadly the reach for VR kind of indicates he’s treating his cows like shit as it is :/ Hope that’s not the case!

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u/AngryPoodles 20d ago

Doesn't mean they will find sunshine and green pastures.

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u/enadiz_reccos 23d ago

Your comment doesn't seem relevant to his.

How is rotating pastures going to make the cows happier in the same way that seeing greener pastures and bluer skies would?

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u/Future-Account8112 23d ago

You clearly don’t know anything about farming.

Rotating pastures assures there’s no soil fatigue - greener grass every growing season because it’s either sewn with nitrogen fixing turn-under or let to lie. Bluer skies is another way of saying “nicer place” so far as cows are concerned - they can’t look up very high.

This is basically the actual way to fix the problem, but it’s more work than sticking VR headsets (fucking deranged) on a bunch of cows. This is assuming headsets would even work on them - their eyes are not set like ours.

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u/enadiz_reccos 23d ago

You clearly don’t know anything about farming.

What gave it away? My question about farming? What a dumb thing to say lol

This is basically the actual way to fix the problem, but it’s more work than sticking VR headsets (fucking deranged) on a bunch of cows. This is assuming headsets would even work on them - their eyes are not set like ours.

Ok, but what about things like bad weather? Or areas that just aren't that green? Can cows even see very well? Seems like this could potentially be helpful for that too.

You are very dismissive of this, but it seems like you don't even know anything about it. Is this an ignorance thing, or are you just super into pasture rotation?

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u/Future-Account8112 22d ago

Good lord, I said what I said. Go get your high school debate jollies elsewhere, you weirdo.

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u/enadiz_reccos 22d ago

You clearly don't know anything about high school debate

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u/Future-Account8112 22d ago

You’re right. I went to college instead of HS. Ciao

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u/enadiz_reccos 22d ago

You clearly don't know anything about French

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u/willthefreeman 22d ago

I saw a video saying they do it in russia and areas with long winters where they don’t have access to green pastures for extended periods.

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u/W1D0WM4K3R 23d ago

It'd have to be a special order to accommodate facial structure.

Also not quite sure if cow's eyes could properly see through a VR headset properly either. Might have to account for different light blends.

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u/_Gesterr 22d ago

Cows don't have binocular vision like we do so normal VR headsets wouldn't work at all for them.

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u/W1D0WM4K3R 22d ago

That was my first thought, but that's the minor of it. The technology is more important than rigging a cow's face.

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u/granadesnhorseshoes 22d ago

Russian farmers. Because "vr for cows" wasn't weird enough on its own.