Goldfish learned how to drive during about a dozen 30-minute lessons.
November 14, 2022 4:18 PM Subscribe
In a new experiment, six goldfish learned to drive a tank of water on wheels around a room. This feat of steering suggests that fishes’ navigational abilities hold up even on land. Illustrated by cartoonist JoAnna Wendel as part of the Wild Things series for Science News Explores.
Don't tell Elon.
posted by mollweide at 4:31 PM on November 14, 2022 [13 favorites]
posted by mollweide at 4:31 PM on November 14, 2022 [13 favorites]
Seriously, though, it's pretty interesting. And I'm always amazed that birds can navigate through an environment full of branches and other obstacles at the speed they do. Brain size isn't everything.
posted by mollweide at 4:33 PM on November 14, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by mollweide at 4:33 PM on November 14, 2022 [2 favorites]
What amazes me about this is that the fish can notice things outside their tank. I know they'll react to things happening right on the other side of the glass, but an entire room's distance away? (I'll admit I kind of halfway thought the inside of the aquarium was mostly a mirror surface to them.) Also novel is the idea that the movement of the tank wouldn't cause them to freak out and rush away from the direction of movement. (Ah, reading the study, it turns out they only half-filled the tanks to reduce waves.) Neat!
posted by mittens at 4:45 PM on November 14, 2022 [7 favorites]
posted by mittens at 4:45 PM on November 14, 2022 [7 favorites]
Did the fish really drive though? It sounds more like the "smart aquarium" was conveniently programmed to roll in the same direction the fish tended to swim at any moment. That's not analogous to driving, where there's tool use e.g. for humans, a steering wheel and pedal, and humans mentally converting that information.
posted by polymodus at 4:59 PM on November 14, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by polymodus at 4:59 PM on November 14, 2022 [1 favorite]
Uber just found it's way out of paying drivers as employees.
posted by briank at 5:25 PM on November 14, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by briank at 5:25 PM on November 14, 2022 [3 favorites]
How can we get the fish driving their bowls to cooperate with the snakes driving their robot legs?
posted by clew at 5:27 PM on November 14, 2022
posted by clew at 5:27 PM on November 14, 2022
American Dad... is real?
posted by Apocryphon at 6:54 PM on November 14, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Apocryphon at 6:54 PM on November 14, 2022 [1 favorite]
Yeah, well they're in for a shock when they get that thing on the freeway.
posted by credulous at 7:11 PM on November 14, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by credulous at 7:11 PM on November 14, 2022 [2 favorites]
came in here for Far Side cartoon, was not disappointed
posted by daisystomper at 8:16 PM on November 14, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by daisystomper at 8:16 PM on November 14, 2022 [3 favorites]
Goldfish learned how to drive during about a dozen 30-minute lessons.
faster than me
posted by emmling at 9:30 PM on November 14, 2022 [2 favorites]
faster than me
posted by emmling at 9:30 PM on November 14, 2022 [2 favorites]
What amazes me about this is that the fish can notice things outside their tank.
Not surprising to those of us who keep fishtanks. Fish commonly swim up to people or start looking for food when they see their owner approaching.
Many fish can even recognize their owner and distinguish between different people.
I'm NOT saying fish are super smart or sentient. Just that the fine-tuned predator detection they evolved can do surprising things from a human point of view.
posted by mmoncur at 10:52 PM on November 14, 2022 [3 favorites]
Not surprising to those of us who keep fishtanks. Fish commonly swim up to people or start looking for food when they see their owner approaching.
Many fish can even recognize their owner and distinguish between different people.
I'm NOT saying fish are super smart or sentient. Just that the fine-tuned predator detection they evolved can do surprising things from a human point of view.
posted by mmoncur at 10:52 PM on November 14, 2022 [3 favorites]
This is super fascinating, but it would be interesting to address two topics in the article:
First, how is this different from a room-sized tank of water with the pink board inside the tank? The tank moves with the fish. From the perspective of the fish, how is this different from just swimming towards the target in a large body of water? Apart from some optical distortion through the water/glass separation?
Second, would the term navigating not involve a complex path, or at least a destination that you can't directly see at all times? Even with moving the board around and the decoy boards, it is still basically locking onto a visual target and swimming there in a line. Which fish presumably do all the time.
posted by uncle harold at 1:35 AM on November 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
First, how is this different from a room-sized tank of water with the pink board inside the tank? The tank moves with the fish. From the perspective of the fish, how is this different from just swimming towards the target in a large body of water? Apart from some optical distortion through the water/glass separation?
Second, would the term navigating not involve a complex path, or at least a destination that you can't directly see at all times? Even with moving the board around and the decoy boards, it is still basically locking onto a visual target and swimming there in a line. Which fish presumably do all the time.
posted by uncle harold at 1:35 AM on November 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
I've been predicting this for about a decade now, albeit in the form of a dad joke.
posted by pipeski at 2:45 AM on November 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by pipeski at 2:45 AM on November 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
So they taught the goldfish how to drive a tank?
I'll be impressed when they teach it how to fire the main cannon and hit another tank at 1km.
posted by AzraelBrown at 7:45 AM on November 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
I'll be impressed when they teach it how to fire the main cannon and hit another tank at 1km.
posted by AzraelBrown at 7:45 AM on November 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
I mistakenly read this as a school of six goldfish, which would be even cooler -- the hivemind (schoolmind?) deciding together where to go and what to do.
posted by vverse23 at 9:07 AM on November 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by vverse23 at 9:07 AM on November 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
They might be able to drive, but can they remember where they were going?
posted by rhizome at 1:01 PM on November 15, 2022
posted by rhizome at 1:01 PM on November 15, 2022
Good to know that other animals can be taught to drive as well.
Won't somebody please think of the Underpeople? Funny how the future turns out to be more Cordwainer Smith than Philip K. Dick.
And I'm always amazed that birds can navigate through an environment full of branches and other obstacles at the speed they do.
Like this for instance?
posted by y2karl at 4:59 PM on November 15, 2022 [3 favorites]
Won't somebody please think of the Underpeople? Funny how the future turns out to be more Cordwainer Smith than Philip K. Dick.
And I'm always amazed that birds can navigate through an environment full of branches and other obstacles at the speed they do.
Like this for instance?
posted by y2karl at 4:59 PM on November 15, 2022 [3 favorites]
From Fishes Have Feelings, Too by Jonathan Balcombe
“At low tide, frillfins hide in rocky tide pools. If danger lurks — a hungry octopus, say — the goby will jump to a neighboring tide pool, with remarkable accuracy. How do they avoid ending up stranded on the rocks?
A series of captive experiments dating from the 1940s found something remarkable. They memorize the tide pool layout while swimming over it at high tide. They can do it in one try, and remember it 40 days later. So much for a fish’s mythic three-second memory.”
The whole article was breathtaking to me - it covers the mirror test, tool use, cooperation, and even cortisol reductions from petting. Highly recommend, and apologies for the NYT paywall.
posted by puffinaria at 11:32 AM on November 16, 2022 [6 favorites]
“At low tide, frillfins hide in rocky tide pools. If danger lurks — a hungry octopus, say — the goby will jump to a neighboring tide pool, with remarkable accuracy. How do they avoid ending up stranded on the rocks?
A series of captive experiments dating from the 1940s found something remarkable. They memorize the tide pool layout while swimming over it at high tide. They can do it in one try, and remember it 40 days later. So much for a fish’s mythic three-second memory.”
The whole article was breathtaking to me - it covers the mirror test, tool use, cooperation, and even cortisol reductions from petting. Highly recommend, and apologies for the NYT paywall.
posted by puffinaria at 11:32 AM on November 16, 2022 [6 favorites]
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I've been telling a partner recently that I think they should train rats to drive all the NYC subway trains — it seems only fair, since the subway tunnels are the rats' domain anyways. Good to know that other animals can be taught to drive as well.
posted by wesleyac at 4:26 PM on November 14, 2022 [8 favorites]