A scientist has seen his research become an internet hit after a video of his work was set to the Benny Hill theme music.
David Scholnick, who works at Pacific University in America, was using a treadmill to assess the health of shrimps. Healthy shrimps should run fast, unhealthy shrimps should run slower.
“The healthy shrimp ran and swam at treadmill speeds of up to 20 metres per minute for hours with little indication of fatigue,” he says (Daily Mail). “[A] shrimp dealing with an infection is less active and limited in its ability to migrate, find food, and avoid being eaten. As far as I know this is the first time that shrimp have been exercised on a treadmill and it was amazing to see how well they performed.”
Then someone leaked a video of the running shrimp onto the internet. This was way back in 2006 so it’s not quite clear why a number of newspapers are covering this story now. Still, the video is amusing enough to be its own justification.
The video of the running shrimp has become a smash hit, with many versions being set to music. Embedded above is one of the most popular, with over half a million people watching it since November 2006.
“’So many people have logged on to see it which I suppose is kind of funny – I guess people are fascinated,” Scholnick told the Mail. “I guess people find the prospect of watching a shrimp exercise on a treadmill amazing.”
More shrimp videos