Live Stoner Chat Effect of drugs on spider webs

[AndyBotwin]

During this experiment, spiders were exposed to a variety of drugs to help determine their effect on the brain.

Spiders who had been given marijuana started out well enough, but were unable to maintain focus. :blues Bubbles:

Benzedrine (speed) produced spiders who spun enthusiastically, though no great thought or care was put into the web design.

Caffeine, one of the most common stimulants taken by humans, produced an erratic web.

Chloral hydrate, an ingredient in sleeping pills, made the spiders doze off after barely getting started on the web.:stight:

http://scienceblogs.com/startswithabang/files/2013/07/NASA_Tech_brief.jpg

 

[SkatterBrayne]

Very interesting. Spider webs being unique, I assumed the process was to some extent a free form and creative. I expected to see unique but functional designs. Perhaps the process isn't necessarily creative, but more dependant on clarity to perpetuate a pattern, without deviation.

How does one measure dosage for a spider, anyway? I know if I over smoke, my writing resembles some of those incomprehensible spider webs. But then a few drinks gets me back"Stirring"

 

[SkatterBrayne]

Wake and baked this morning, and this has been stuck in the back of my mind. Uniquely stimulating discovery Andy (Love the name, btw). This isn't exactly directed at the article, but rather one of the possibilities this type of research may inevitably uncover.

It raises the question about drugs on living creatures, as a whole. Do any of the benefits of drugs manifest in a creature which lacks sentience, ego, or analytical reasoning skills beyond the scope of evolutionary survival decisions? It is more likely that the drugs would do little more than disorient, and confuse a creature, as it fruitlessly attempts to recreate all of the days that preceded it.

On the other side of the sword, there is question of whether these abilities and perspectives can actually be attributed to repeated exposure (over many generations) to these mind altering drugs, which grant us an awareness of alternate perspectives and states of consciousness.

Anything, when left in space for long enough, will eventually ask "Why"? It's interesting to contemplate the role psychoactive compounds may have had in expediting this process, from an evolutionary perspective.

 

[AndyBotwin]

Hard to say with something like a spider, but some more complex creatures actually seek out mind altering substances:

http://www.cracked.com/article_17032_7-species-that-get-high-more-than-we-do.html

 

[SkatterBrayne]

Another awesome article. I nearly spit out my coffee as it described the reindeer circle of piss

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Another awesome article. I nearly spit out my coffee as it described the reindeer circle of piss

 

[epenguin]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=sHzdsFiBbFc

Sorry guys, this is a long standing April fool. The above is soooo funny. Don't feel bad. I believed it at first. I mean, c'mon how do you dose a spider?

cheers, eP.

 

[epenguin]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=sHzdsFiBbFc

Sorry guys, this is a long standing April fool. The above is soooo funny. Don't feel bad. I believed it at first. I mean, c'mon how do you dose a spider?

cheers, eP.

 

[Eyes on Fire]

I know they have done experiments on various bugs n what have ya.they laced the sponge for the spiders water with certtain chems.dunno what they are,but I know they did an exp like that some time ago.LOL!hilarious vid though.I wonder how the THC spider is doin.LOL!building webs is fa sukaz.LOL!

 

[AndyBotwin]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=sHzdsFiBbFc

Sorry guys, this is a long standing April fool. The above is soooo funny. Don't feel bad. I believed it at first. I mean, c'mon how do you dose a spider?

cheers, eP.

These studies have been going on since the 1940s and have been published in Nature, Science, and New Scientist magazine, and the article is a real NASA tech brief:

http://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19950065352

It did come out on 1/1/95, but there is no indication that it's a joke, nor is there a retraction from NASA (it's still on the official site, after all). As for how you dose a spider, here is more info:

"The drugs were administered by dissolving them in sugar water, and a drop of solution was touched to the spider's mouth. In some later studies, spiders were fed with drugged flies. For qualitative studies, a well-defined volume of solution was administered through a fine syringe."

The Wikipedia page has references: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effect_of_psychoactive_drugs_on_animals

The video is funny though.

 

[epenguin]

THC Spider came to our zoo and asked the meerkats for a job.He "worked" for half an hour, demanded a smoke break then passed out. I have put him on latrine duty! We will see if he lasts the week. (Doubt it!) eP.