Sheep Cyclone
January 31, 2012 2:15 PM Subscribe
Good lord, what is the cause of this bizarre behavior.
But then, at work -- a college -- some kid told me today that his professor is a global-warming denier, so.
posted by angrycat at 2:32 PM on January 31, 2012
But then, at work -- a college -- some kid told me today that his professor is a global-warming denier, so.
posted by angrycat at 2:32 PM on January 31, 2012
The cyclone is spinning counter-clockwise, so these are northern hemisphere sheep.
posted by longsleeves at 2:38 PM on January 31, 2012 [9 favorites]
posted by longsleeves at 2:38 PM on January 31, 2012 [9 favorites]
Good lord, what is the cause of this bizarre behavior.
there's a part in Microcosmos where the camera is drifting over a bunch of dung beetles or something and they're traversing the desert in a very tightly packed single file line, head to ass... and the narrator is saying how each beetle knows to follow the beetle in front of them. Then the camera pulls out to reveal that, tragically, at some point the front of the line collided with the rear of the line and they have been going in a circle for god knows how long. So I guess what I'm saying is sheep are fucking dumb.
posted by nathancaswell at 2:44 PM on January 31, 2012 [5 favorites]
there's a part in Microcosmos where the camera is drifting over a bunch of dung beetles or something and they're traversing the desert in a very tightly packed single file line, head to ass... and the narrator is saying how each beetle knows to follow the beetle in front of them. Then the camera pulls out to reveal that, tragically, at some point the front of the line collided with the rear of the line and they have been going in a circle for god knows how long. So I guess what I'm saying is sheep are fucking dumb.
posted by nathancaswell at 2:44 PM on January 31, 2012 [5 favorites]
Maybe thier favorite soccer team just won the finals or something.
posted by The Whelk at 2:52 PM on January 31, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 2:52 PM on January 31, 2012 [2 favorites]
"There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable.
There is another theory which states that this has already happened."
-- Douglas Adams
posted by celacanto at 2:58 PM on January 31, 2012 [4 favorites]
There is another theory which states that this has already happened."
-- Douglas Adams
posted by celacanto at 2:58 PM on January 31, 2012 [4 favorites]
I'm having fun imagining a second car with it's own sheep cyclone colliding with this one ...
posted by Kabanos at 3:02 PM on January 31, 2012
posted by Kabanos at 3:02 PM on January 31, 2012
The result would be infinity sheep
posted by deanklear at 3:04 PM on January 31, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by deanklear at 3:04 PM on January 31, 2012 [1 favorite]
I'm having fun imagining a second car with it's own sheep cyclone colliding with this one ...
It's like the turtle shells in Mario Kart.
posted by Trochanter at 3:06 PM on January 31, 2012
It's like the turtle shells in Mario Kart.
posted by Trochanter at 3:06 PM on January 31, 2012
I thought it was just a knitting technique, but I think this is how those infinity scarves are made.
posted by This_Will_Be_Good at 3:30 PM on January 31, 2012
posted by This_Will_Be_Good at 3:30 PM on January 31, 2012
Sheep centipede .....
There, that ruined dinner for ya, eh?
posted by HuronBob at 3:48 PM on January 31, 2012
There, that ruined dinner for ya, eh?
posted by HuronBob at 3:48 PM on January 31, 2012
Emergent behavior is funny. Set up a few simple rules for a number of individuals to follow blindly and you end up with complex and awesome things things like a school of fish, a murmuration of starlings or a creepy slime mold taking over a rotten log.
We used to get lots of leaf-cutter ants at my house. They lay out a chemical trail for others to follow, and that is how you end up with these long meandering lines of ants going from the base of the tree to the nest.
One can carefully lay a long strip of toilet paper on their path, as flat as possible. At first they get confused and start walking at random, but after a while they re set their chemical markers on the toilet paper. At this point, one can take the end of the strip of toilet paper and carefully re arrange it into a circle, with a small path leading in. Like a letter 'Q'.
After 20 minutes or so one has thousands of ants walking in circles, climbing over each other, all the time carrying bits of leaves 10 times their size. They look like tiny red hulled green sailed boats in a lake in the park.
One can carefully lift the whole circle and take it to a sunny spot, and, like an angry god, rain fire from the skies with a magnifying glass to smite any and all ants that strays from the narrow path, leaving behind pillars of ashes and salt.
That old testament God did not have any moral high ground compared to a bored 7 year old boy.
posted by Ayn Rand and God at 4:18 PM on January 31, 2012 [7 favorites]
We used to get lots of leaf-cutter ants at my house. They lay out a chemical trail for others to follow, and that is how you end up with these long meandering lines of ants going from the base of the tree to the nest.
One can carefully lay a long strip of toilet paper on their path, as flat as possible. At first they get confused and start walking at random, but after a while they re set their chemical markers on the toilet paper. At this point, one can take the end of the strip of toilet paper and carefully re arrange it into a circle, with a small path leading in. Like a letter 'Q'.
After 20 minutes or so one has thousands of ants walking in circles, climbing over each other, all the time carrying bits of leaves 10 times their size. They look like tiny red hulled green sailed boats in a lake in the park.
One can carefully lift the whole circle and take it to a sunny spot, and, like an angry god, rain fire from the skies with a magnifying glass to smite any and all ants that strays from the narrow path, leaving behind pillars of ashes and salt.
That old testament God did not have any moral high ground compared to a bored 7 year old boy.
posted by Ayn Rand and God at 4:18 PM on January 31, 2012 [7 favorites]
It's from the same studio that's bringing you "Metal Tornado".
Greg Evigan and Lou Diamond Phillips in the same direct-to-video movie? I'm impressed.
posted by evilmidnightbomberwhatbombsatmidnight at 4:35 PM on January 31, 2012
Greg Evigan and Lou Diamond Phillips in the same direct-to-video movie? I'm impressed.
posted by evilmidnightbomberwhatbombsatmidnight at 4:35 PM on January 31, 2012
Flock/herd behavior can exhibit such things. I remember once when I was in college, watching a flock of blackbirds who collectively couldn't decide if they wanted to fly down and drink from a puddle or fly up and sit in a tree. It was the same kind of loop: birds were constantly flying down and then up again. It's because a bird on the ground saw other birds taking off, and the instinct is to do the same. Likewise a bird in the tree saw other birds going down to the puddle, and followed.
It went on like that for several minutes.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 4:45 PM on January 31, 2012
It went on like that for several minutes.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 4:45 PM on January 31, 2012
GOOGLE SHEEP, SHEEPLE
posted by cmoj at 4:56 PM on January 31, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by cmoj at 4:56 PM on January 31, 2012 [1 favorite]
They just want that car to turn around and baaaaaaaaaaaaaaack.
posted by vrakatar at 6:39 PM on January 31, 2012
posted by vrakatar at 6:39 PM on January 31, 2012
They need a Border Collie to cut that loop w a stare.
posted by RuvaBlue at 7:38 PM on January 31, 2012
posted by RuvaBlue at 7:38 PM on January 31, 2012
Growing up, I lived in a place where you could loop through the kitchen, living room, and dining rooms in a circle. If I'm not mistaken, my brother and I chased each other numerous times in a similar fashion.
posted by Metro Gnome at 9:22 PM on January 31, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by Metro Gnome at 9:22 PM on January 31, 2012 [1 favorite]
Wow, that car is really taking a bleating.
posted by kinnakeet at 7:04 AM on February 1, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by kinnakeet at 7:04 AM on February 1, 2012 [2 favorites]
World record holder for consecutive ewe turns.
posted by Kabanos at 11:21 AM on February 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by Kabanos at 11:21 AM on February 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
WTH? The video has been taken down, and this message appears: "This video has been removed as a violation of YouTube's policy on depiction of harmful activities."
Harmful activities???? It's sheep running around a car!
posted by davidmsc at 11:09 PM on February 3, 2012
Harmful activities???? It's sheep running around a car!
posted by davidmsc at 11:09 PM on February 3, 2012
NO SHEEP NO PEACE
posted by The Whelk at 11:22 PM on February 3, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 11:22 PM on February 3, 2012 [2 favorites]
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