A New England university biology...
Illustration
A New England university biology professor studying horseshoe crabs discovered something very interesting. Their metabolism has a measurable and adaptable rhythm.
Horseshoe crabs live in shallow tidal pools along ocean coasts. When the tide comes in, they feed. When the tide is out, they rest. As one might expect, their metabolic rates spike at the time of high tide. They are quiet when the tide ebbs. This metabolic rhythm remains constant even when the crabs have been captured and live in the laboratory aquarium.
The professor doing this study moved from the East coast to Chicago. Naturally, he brought his experimental animals with him. He discovered that the rhythm of life for those horseshoe crabs adjusted to the move. In a matter of a few days, their metabolic rates increased at the precise hour the tide would reach Chicago -- if Chicago had a tide!
The moral of the story: Even crabs have enough sense to recognize that life requires a rhythm and when one's circumstances change, one must adjust. Everyone still needs a time for work and a time for rest.
-- Cueni
Horseshoe crabs live in shallow tidal pools along ocean coasts. When the tide comes in, they feed. When the tide is out, they rest. As one might expect, their metabolic rates spike at the time of high tide. They are quiet when the tide ebbs. This metabolic rhythm remains constant even when the crabs have been captured and live in the laboratory aquarium.
The professor doing this study moved from the East coast to Chicago. Naturally, he brought his experimental animals with him. He discovered that the rhythm of life for those horseshoe crabs adjusted to the move. In a matter of a few days, their metabolic rates increased at the precise hour the tide would reach Chicago -- if Chicago had a tide!
The moral of the story: Even crabs have enough sense to recognize that life requires a rhythm and when one's circumstances change, one must adjust. Everyone still needs a time for work and a time for rest.
-- Cueni
