Salmon exposed to cocaine and its main byproduct roam more widely
30 points
4 hours ago
| 3 comments
| science.org
| HN
somenameforme
1 hour ago
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Could this not have been simply an instinct to find cleaner waters? I'm surprised they didn't add another control group which injected something unpleasant that could be naturally found in an area, but would be undesirable - ammonia, some sort of acid, or something along those lines.
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anthonj
13 minutes ago
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The title ie a bit misleading:

The study want to prove that cocaine is yet another polluter thar alters the fish behaviour even in the small quantities that can be found in the wild in polluted areas. Not that something is special or different about cocaine pollution.

So the control group in this case are fishes with an implant with no drug at all.

https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(26)...

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pixelpoet
13 minutes ago
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Shine on you crazy salmon
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zhouzhao
2 hours ago
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If that is not one good argument to start producing cocaine locally, then I don't know!

Save the fish.

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HPsquared
2 hours ago
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Roaming more widely may not be healthy for the salmon.
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parodysbird
1 hour ago
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Whether it is or is not, is not a function of the cocaine though, but rather idiosyncrasies of the wider ecologies the salmon are in.

If roaming more widely introduces them to more productive food opportunities (or, lower predation) than their closer ecology, then it would be beneficial for them. If it does not, then it wouldn't be. Neither context is determined in the basic finding that cocaine causes them to roam more widely.

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grebc
23 minutes ago
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They’re in a better mood though.
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finghin
1 hour ago
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I think another study is in order examining how cocaine affects breeding habits.
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