Flocking Behavior
The highly coordinated movements of flocks of birds or schools of fish are among the most fascinating phenomena to be found in nature. The group seems to turn and maneuver as a single unit, changing direction almost instantaneously…
…Research by Wayne Potts, published in the journal Nature in 1984, helped explain how flock movements are initiated and coordinated. Potts, through a frame-by-frame analysis of high-speed film of sandpiper flocks, found that any individual can initiate a flock movement, which then propagates through the flock in a wave radiating out from the initiation site. These “maneuver waves” could move in any direction through the flock, including from back to front. 1
This same behavior is also displayed by a common American species, the Yellow-Bellied Wingnut. The wingnuts are currently engaged in a “maneuver wave” to shed their longstanding association with She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Naturalists are studying the phenomenon with great interest.
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7 Responses to “Flocking Behavior”
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Paul Tergeist says:
ANN, I LOVE YOU, ANN! INVADE THEIR COUNTRIES AND MAKE THEM BECOME CHRISTIANS! RIGHT ON, ANN!
BTW, I did not write the following story, nor did I transmit it in any way, nor do I know anything about it whatsoever. Don’t ask me.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/e.....617023.htmJune 14th, 2006 at 2:46 pm EST -
Txfeminist says:
Hehe.
On a side note, have you ever heard of those fireflys in southern Asia that all light up at the same time? Apparently, you can take a boat down this particular river while they are in season, and all their little tail-lights flash off and on together.
Wow. I want to see that.
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Violet says:
I love the way Ann is no longer “a real conservative.” That’s what they do whenever someone strikes the wrong note or drops in the polls — ditch ‘em! She was never one of us in the first place!
The Poorman outdid himself a few weeks ago analyzing how the wingnuts have now decided that Bush was never really a conservative after all.
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Alon Levy says:
Well, I guess it’s better than embracing what Coulter says.
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Paul Tergeist says:
The most interesting behavior I have ever seen in nature is cuttlefish. Didja hear that Dumbya sneaked over to Iraq to see how democracy was working out? Yep. I guess everything’s fine because gas is going up again and the Fed is raising interest rates.
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Violet says:
What the hell was the point of that trip?
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Paul Tergeist says:
To promote the common defense? To serve the soldiers more turkey? Something to get him out of the house for an afternoon?
