AUDIO: BUGS FEEL PAIN
Ever wondered whether bugs feel pain? A recent study is the first to prove that not only do insects feel pain from an injury, but they suffer from chronic pain after recovering from one. Researchers from the University of Sydney in Australia say that bugs can sense and avoid dangerous stimuli that we perceive as painful, like heat, cold, or physical injury. For the study, the authors damaged one leg on fruit flies and then allowed them to fully heal. They found that even after the fruit flies recovered, their uninjured leg grew more sensitive, a reaction likened to chronic pain in humans. The leg is hypersensitive and the fruit flies try to protect themselves for the rest of their lives. The study is published in the journal Science Advances.
* So if you, or someone you know, likes to torture insects, there’s a job waiting for you at the University of Sydney in Australia. Just ask for the SWAT Team.
* PETA’s gonna need to hire more people.
* How did they break the little fruit fly’s leg? Was it like the hobbling scene in “Misery”?
* The chronic pain part is sad ’cause bugs have a really hard time trying to open a tube of Aspercreme.
* Do the fruit flies get to live the rest of their lives – which is, like, a week – on government disability?
CLIP: Our classic “Black Flog Bug Spray” parody spot.
