Scientists have trained cows on toilets to fight global warming

The world’s best minds have been hard at work trying to stop global warming. As Spiegel online reports, German scientists have been working for weeks on… getting a herd of cows used to the “pot.” The goal of the experiment was to reduce nitrogen gas emissions from the waste produced by cattle farming.

The cattle eventually learned how to go to the toilet in a “civilized” rather than a “remote” way. Well, British scientists, of course, couldn’t resist publishing this remarkable discovery in the journal Current Biology.

“This is no joke,” says the report from the University of Auckland in New Zealand, whose experts collaborated with German colleagues from the Institute of Farm Animal Biology. They selected 16 calves for the experiment. Their stalls were painted a striking green to reduce the animals’ stress. Each time they went to the bathroom in a designated stall, the calves were given their favorite barley porridge or a sweet drink as a reward. But when they were too lazy to “go potty,” their collars suddenly began to vibrate uncomfortably. The careless students can also be cooled down with a light shower. However, zoologists assure that the training, code-named the “Moo-Moo Method,” caused neither physical suffering nor mental anguish to the young cows.

After 15 days, we found that not only did the animals understand what humans wanted them to do, but they could even be patient enough to use the toilet. At least 11 participants in the experiment were conscientious. The others probably just need more time. “I had no doubt that they would learn how to use the toilet! Why not?” – Zoological psychologist Jan Langbein says proudly of his protégé. He dreams that cows around the world will one day practice conscious hygiene measures to reduce the greenhouse effect on our planet. “We understand why people sometimes call us mad scientists,” joked one of his colleagues.