Omni - where are they now? (July 1991)

Two more Continuum articles.

• Why Dogs Bark: Hampshire College biologist Raymond Coppinger, who has spent 30 years studying dogs, teamed up with fellow linguist Mark Feinstein to figure out why dogs bark. (One cocker spaniel, under observation barked 907 times in ten minutes). Their conclusion: Dog barking is a pointless, energy wasting activity. Dogs bark for the same reason teenagers hang out in shopping malls. That's what adolescents do. There is a similar report online.

  "When dogs bark, they are doing the same kind of thing they do when they chase balls or their own tails," Coppinger and Feinstein report. "Whilst these behaviours serve no real function, the dog is likely to repeat them over and over."

  Barks can mean anything - let me in, let me out, feed me, pet me - or nothing at all. "Unlike other wild animal calls, the bark has no built-in biological meaning," Coppinger says.

  Well maybe, but from my short up-close-and-personal experience with our dog Dusti, I firmly believe that each time she barks she is trying to tell us something, rather than emitting meaningless barks. I will admit she chases her tail for no apparent reason at all, apart from giving enjoyment to the people who are watching. Especially when she then starts doing it in the opposite direction. I gotta get that on video.

  I've been unable to find any conclusive evidence to back up the theories of Coppinger and Feinstein though. The latest reasoning behind all this can be seen online. I didn't like some of the "quick fixes" suggested here. I also found it interesting that the 1991 article claimed 52 million dogs in the U.S. and this 2004 articles claims the same number.

• COSTAR Comes Through: COSTAR (Corrective Optics Space Telescope Axial Replacement) is the leading contender is a number of plans to correct the Hubble Space Telescope's (HST) faulty vision. In effect, fitted the telescope with "spectacles".

  A team of astronauts will spend about three days installing the corrective device, in addition to replacing the telescope's gyroscope and its solar array to correct the "bump" that disturbs the telescope as it passes between day and night.

  Dennis McCarthy, NASA deputy program manager for the HST estimates that the repair mission, slated for 1993, will cost between $20 million and $30 million.

  From googling around, I found out that the actual repair was done in December 1993 with a second servicing mission in September 1997. And yes, it was the COSTAR solution that was used. From various reports though the cost was a lot more than the quoted price above.

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( Jan 18 2005, 06:02:15 AM PST ) [Listen] Permalink