Watch the Government’s $1,000 Shrimp Treadmill Video

Look at him go!

Most of the time, when you see a headline about the Government wasting money on some scientific study, there’s *usually* more to the story. Don’t get me wrong, the government spends money on a lot of dumb shit — but usually, that just takes the form of various private companies massively overbilling for basic services. Their scientific funding is usually relatively straightforward, so long as you’re willing to look past a paper’s headline.

For example, back in the mid-2000s, some researchers did a study to determine how shrimp respond to changes in water quality. Part of this research involved putting shrimp on tiny treadmills, then seeing how their behavior differed in different water conditions.

As shrimping is a multi-billion dollar industry in the U.S., and we have a tendency to just throw all of our shit into the ocean, this research could be important. Plus, the whole thing only cost around $1,000 to build, if that.

However, people just saw shrimp on treadmills and thought it was bullshit. Some people also lied and claimed it cost millions.

Anyway, no matter how we got here, it *is* fun to watch them run on the little things!