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> no, it might lead to better surgery robots, search and rescue robots, No, that's extremely optimistic, at best. We've learned that cats seem to use their kno

> no, it might lead to better surgery robots, search and rescue robots, No, that's extremely optimistic, at best. We've learned that cats seem to use their knowledge of their height but not width when choosing to go (or not) through a hole. That's it. We're promised follow-up research because it might be that, other than height, they also know and use their additional characteristics, like weight. That's all. Are you seriously suggesting this knowledge might be helpful in building "surgery robots"? > and countless things that I'm not even capable of imagining. Maybe. Are the chances of that enough to justify the expense? Couldn't this work be done more cost-effectively (it's about cats - the world is filled with guys who would do all the experiments for free, given instructions, just for their cat(s) to be in a scientific study...)? Especially since we're talking about Hungary, which is not a super-rich nation. In any case, allocating funds for research is probably a very hard problem, and I know nothing about it. Still, questioning the expenses is something any taxpayer should be able to do. Just give me good reasons why it had to cost $120k to feed 30 cats for a few weeks, and I'll be happily on my way.

exe34 2y ago
have you tried asking them? researchers are often happy to explain their work!
- klibertp 2y ago
  I'm not that interested - I'm not from Hungary, if for no other reason. However, the guy who started this thread did. While I don't think the authors of this particular study are on HN, I'd bet we have some scientists here who could respond because they are working in a similar area and have some insider knowledge. Unfortunately, such guys won't see the question because the post is flagged and dead. I even vouched for that post, yet someone came and decided to flag it again. I have no idea why - as I said, questioning the cost-efficiency of a study should be something anybody can do.
  - exe34 2y ago
    > I'm not that interested You've put a lot of effort on here which could have been used to get the information from the horse's mouth.
    - klibertp 2y ago
      What effort? I just wrote two short comments. I also have no idea where to even begin getting the info from the horse's mouth in this case. Just getting ahold of a proper communication channel would be 1-2 orders of magnitude more effort than my comments here... EDIT: again, I'm not that interested in the cost of this particular study - what made me comment was the negative reaction of many commenters to a legitimate, in my opinion, question at the start of this thread. I can both believe the question is legitimate and not be very interested in its answer, right? That's how it is.

exe34 2y ago

have you tried asking them? researchers are often happy to explain their work!

klibertp 2y ago
I'm not that interested - I'm not from Hungary, if for no other reason. However, the guy who started this thread did. While I don't think the authors of this particular study are on HN, I'd bet we have some scientists here who could respond because they are working in a similar area and have some insider knowledge. Unfortunately, such guys won't see the question because the post is flagged and dead. I even vouched for that post, yet someone came and decided to flag it again. I have no idea why - as I said, questioning the cost-efficiency of a study should be something anybody can do.
- exe34 2y ago
  > I'm not that interested You've put a lot of effort on here which could have been used to get the information from the horse's mouth.
  - klibertp 2y ago
    What effort? I just wrote two short comments. I also have no idea where to even begin getting the info from the horse's mouth in this case. Just getting ahold of a proper communication channel would be 1-2 orders of magnitude more effort than my comments here... EDIT: again, I'm not that interested in the cost of this particular study - what made me comment was the negative reaction of many commenters to a legitimate, in my opinion, question at the start of this thread. I can both believe the question is legitimate and not be very interested in its answer, right? That's how it is.