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Or you could look out of my window. I have never seen the cows in the field at the end of my garden aligning themselves north/south. They're usually in a random jumble of alignments.

And - here's a thing - they move around.

Isn't it slightly suspect to use a small number of Google Earth images as data points, instead of testing the hypothesis with real animals?

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Wed Aug 27th, 2008 at 06:33:59 AM EST
[ Parent ]
You know, I was thinking the Sun is on average much closer to the South direction that to the East or West direction when cattle are on a field... maybe that has an influence on cattle orientation?

A vivid image of what should exist acts as a surrogate for reality. Pursuit of the image then prevents pursuit of the reality -- John K. Galbraith
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Wed Aug 27th, 2008 at 06:41:30 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Well, if they enjoy having their arses warmed, possibly.

I think I'll need to be more convinced that there's data to be explained first. You can't tell the weather or ambient temperature from Google Maps with any reliability, so it all sounds a little unlikely.

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Wed Aug 27th, 2008 at 06:55:06 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Um, I don't like staring into the sun, personally. Do cows?

A vivid image of what should exist acts as a surrogate for reality. Pursuit of the image then prevents pursuit of the reality -- John K. Galbraith
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Wed Aug 27th, 2008 at 06:56:31 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Cows usually stare at the grass. Occasionally they look at each other and moo.

It's hard work for a cow to raise its head to the 40-50 degrees above the horizon needed to look straight into the sun, and even harder work to hold that position. (Assuming there's sun to be seen, which in the UK, there usually isn't.)

And now, I will leave the commas in peace and get on with some work.

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Wed Aug 27th, 2008 at 07:12:01 AM EST
[ Parent ]
lol, where else but ET, serious discussion of cows' geomanticity juxtaposed with police state rumblings, presidential gymkhanas, and cold war realpolitik?

oh yeh, and energy....

~"When an inner situation is not made conscious, it appears outside as fate." Karl Jung~

by melo (melometa4(at)gmail.com) on Wed Aug 27th, 2008 at 08:00:53 AM EST
[ Parent ]
I don't like staring into the sun, personally. Do cows?

Only when they wear sunglasses.

"Dieu se rit des hommes qui se plaignent des conséquences alors qu'ils en chérissent les causes" Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet

by Melanchthon on Wed Aug 27th, 2008 at 09:03:11 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Don't they know that's bad for their eyes?
by Colman (colman at eurotrib.com) on Wed Aug 27th, 2008 at 10:06:41 AM EST
[ Parent ]
It looks like they haven't been told...



"Dieu se rit des hommes qui se plaignent des conséquences alors qu'ils en chérissent les causes" Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet

by Melanchthon on Wed Aug 27th, 2008 at 10:25:01 AM EST
[ Parent ]
That's not a UK cow. There's blue sky, so it can't be a UK cow.

Maybe German cows have a better sense of direction? (And style.)

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Wed Aug 27th, 2008 at 11:00:29 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Google Maps? Are you sure you don't mean Google Earth? I already have mental images of driving directions such as "Turn left after the third cow".
by gk (g k quattro due due sette "at" gmail.com) on Wed Aug 27th, 2008 at 08:19:29 AM EST
[ Parent ]

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