Feds spend $395K to study duck penises

[Tom]

Though the sequester is cancelling White House tours and bringing down democracy and so forth, the National Science Foundation shook the couch cushions and found $384,949 to fund a Yale study called "Sexual Conflict, Social Behavior and the Evolution of Waterfowl Genitalia." If you're interested, it turns out that yes, age, environment and breeding changes can affect the penis length of certain breeds, including the Mandarin duck and the Laysan teal. So there's that. The grant abstract tells us that "Broader impacts of the research will be international, national, local and personal," to which we can unequivocally respond, on behalf of everyone in the country, "No. No they will not."

Well, thank God somebody is finally studing this!:rofl:

 

[tonka]

Have you ever seen a duck waddle? That ass can move!!!

That's what really affects duck dick.

 

[trencherman]

Duck penis is fascinating. They look like corkscrew.

 

[alphacock]

I never seen one. Maybe i should google it =)

 

[Sinnerr]

I never seen one. Maybe i should google it =)

or go to nearest river and catch one! :rofl:

 

[tonka]

Any sexual assaults on ducks....and I'm turning you boys in!

 

[gb2000ie]

When did academia become "the feds"? That's a pretty loaded term, in fact, the whole post is pretty loaded - do I need to get on my "defending science from ignorance" soap box?

B.

 

[tonka]

The National Science Foundation is, in fact, a federal agency.
In another life, I was an electron microscope technician, and made my living off NSF grants. The NSF was more adventurous than the other funding agency , the National Institutes for Health. Both agencies have had their budgets cut in the sequester.

Some things can be both good science, and funny. Duck penises qualify, at least for me.

 

[Stoic]

What's wrong with studying duck vagina? :thinking:

 

[ihno]

Though the sequester is cancelling White House tours and bringing down democracy and so forth, the National Science Foundation shook the couch cushions and found $384,949 to fund a Yale study called "Sexual Conflict, Social Behavior and the Evolution of Waterfowl Genitalia." If you're interested, it turns out that yes, age, environment and breeding changes can affect the penis length of certain breeds, including the Mandarin duck and the Laysan teal. So there's that. The grant abstract tells us that "Broader impacts of the research will be international, national, local and personal," to which we can unequivocally respond, on behalf of everyone in the country, "No. No they will not."

Well, thank God somebody is finally studing this!:rofl:

Yes, I've heard of such studies, though from Europe. Don't know how that is realted but the European studies have to do with poisons from argiculture and ultimately can infect the fertility of humans too. So sometimes silly sounding researches have a good reason after all.

 

[trencherman]

Duck penis is fascinating. They look like corkscrew.

As it turned out, my youthful observation of duck penises has been confirmed by this scientific study. They are equally fascinated by it.

"Well that study, it turns out, yielded some interesting results, including new information about the evolution of duck vaginas into the shape of clockwise corkscrews, to fend off forced copulation by male ducks, which have counter-clockwise, corkscrew shaped penises. Fascinating!"

 

[Cerno]

I read about duck's reproduction in Science Illustrated. Duck's penis is weird. It's long and spiral!