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Cows are magnetic and it's about time we accepted that (feddit.uk)

submitted 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago) by tetris11@feddit.uk to c/science_memes@mander.xyz

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If you've ever gone hiking through a farmer's field, you've likely noticed that your compass points directly to the nearest cow.

This is not an accident, and is part of a government conspiracy to replace all livestock with robots, in order to make them more accessible to aliens beaming them up from orbit[0].

This slow transition from biological to mechanical cows is known as hardware disease[1], and should be celebrated.

The more you know.

0: https://www.aemagnets.com/news/how-cow-magnets-save-animals.html
1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardware_disease

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[-] ameancow@lemmy.world 84 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago)

I already know nobody is going to click on OP's link, so the short version is the magnet is permanently placed down in the cow's second stomach and it stays there for life, and if the cow eats and nails or pieces of barbed wire or other metal bits found on farms, it sticks to the magnet instead of shredding up their intestines or other stomachs as their feed is tossed around and digested and re-chewed and digested again, etc.

Some models have plastic caging around the magnet to also protect the cow's stomach from sharp metal things stuck to the magnet.

[-] tetris11@feddit.uk 36 points 4 weeks ago

I prefer my version, but whatever

[-] ameancow@lemmy.world 15 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago)

We can do your version on weekends and every other holiday.

[-] LemmyKnowsBest@lemmy.world 6 points 4 weeks ago

Damn, did you make your username specifically for this post? 🐄

[-] ameancow@lemmy.world 9 points 4 weeks ago

Moo

[-] RamenJunkie@midwest.social 19 points 4 weeks ago

Thats actually fascinating.

[-] ameancow@lemmy.world 31 points 4 weeks ago

Wait until you learn about portholes to their stomachs and methane vents people install on cows.

[-] Kellenved@sh.itjust.works 10 points 4 weeks ago

The volume you can drain from a cow with an infected whatever can be shocking, truly

[-] ameancow@lemmy.world 15 points 4 weeks ago

I've never known someone who lived around farm animals who doesn't have at least one story about either a giant boil or having to reach shoulder-deep into an animal to save it's stupid life because it ate something dumb.

[-] LeonineAlpha@sh.itjust.works 8 points 4 weeks ago

Watch "All watched over by machines of loving grace" BBC, Curtis; might be also on some dread YouTube. The cow portholes were part of (unexpected) scientific disproof of the trite popular wisdom of "Ballance of Nature." Whole series is a trip, if maybe a bad one.

[-] ReverendIrreverence@lemmy.world 3 points 3 weeks ago

machines of loving grace

I liked that band

[-] starman2112@sh.itjust.works 6 points 4 weeks ago

Fun fact: you can set that methane on fire to make the cow 10% faster

[-] militaryintelligence@lemmy.world 9 points 4 weeks ago

Not anymore, cows now have a restrictor plate to make them more competitive

[-] spinne@sh.itjust.works 5 points 4 weeks ago

Literally true. You can reach inside a cannulated cow, but I definitely recommend the longest pair of rubber gloves you can find. The dishwashing kind will not cut it.

[-] ameancow@lemmy.world 7 points 4 weeks ago

Alternatively, if the portal is large enough and you're into it, you could just Ace Ventura it.

[-] spinne@sh.itjust.works 5 points 4 weeks ago

Everybody needs a hobby!

[-] ReverendIrreverence@lemmy.world 3 points 3 weeks ago

Hole-y Cow!

[-] BarbecueCowboy@lemmy.dbzer0.com 17 points 4 weeks ago

So, you can actually use cows as a compass to a point.

Cows pretty consistently tend to align themselves on a north-south axis when resting. I don't believe anyone has ever figured out why.

[-] IchNichtenLichten@lemmy.wtf 23 points 4 weeks ago

Fucking cows, how do they work?

[-] homesweethomeMrL@lemmy.world 11 points 4 weeks ago

Mooooooo

[-] ToastedRavioli@midwest.social 12 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago)

They do know why, its that cows have some directional sense based in electromagnetism like an actual compass. Cows that are near high voltage power lines dont align the same way as cows normally do. Their sense gets messed up by the strength of the electrical fields that surround high voltage lines

They probably can see them, just like birds

[-] LemmyKnowsBest@lemmy.world 0 points 4 weeks ago

Compasses point north, not to any nearest magnet. If compasses pointed to any nearest magnet, they wouldn't work as intended.

[-] ebolapie@lemmy.world 4 points 4 weeks ago

Is this a ken m bit

[-] militaryintelligence@lemmy.world 4 points 4 weeks ago

Can't tell anymore

[-] ebolapie@lemmy.world 2 points 4 weeks ago

Anymore should learn to listen a little better

[-] radix@lemmy.world 16 points 4 weeks ago

Have you ever magnetically levitated a cow? If not, then however magnetic they are, it's less magnetic than frogs.

[-] ToastedRavioli@midwest.social 7 points 4 weeks ago

Were gonna need a bigger magnet

[-] happybadger@hexbear.net 11 points 4 weeks ago

They create LIVESTOCK-FREE URBAN ZONING because they hate FREE ENERGY. It is the duty of FREETHINKERS to RESIST.

[-] blackbrook@mander.xyz 8 points 4 weeks ago

Mag-cow disease.

[-] tetris11@feddit.uk 7 points 4 weeks ago

One guy tips over a cow just to get a few amps from his homemade solenoid, and suddenly laws against it are written. Cow tipping is a time honored tradition. Vote YES on proposition 69

[-] atropa@piefed.social 6 points 4 weeks ago

Only in murica , cows dont need magnets .

[-] tidderuuf@lemmy.world 6 points 4 weeks ago

RFK Jr and Kid Rock will be launching a "Drink Your Whole Magnets" campaign this week.

[-] _stranger_@lemmy.world 4 points 4 weeks ago

*Moognetic

[-] TankieTanuki@hexbear.net 4 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago)

FYI: Lemmy's markdown formatting supports footnotes. It's pretty handy.

make claim here.^[URL goes here] becomes:

make claim here.^[URL goes here]

[-] tetris11@feddit.uk 3 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago)

That ^[is] ^[insane] ^[!]

[-] TankieTanuki@hexbear.net 3 points 4 weeks ago

geordi-yes

[-] OldManBOMBIN@lemmy.world 4 points 4 weeks ago

I have one of these magnets on the side of my work truck. Didn't know I was driving a cow

[-] lessthanluigi@lemmy.sdf.org 3 points 4 weeks ago

Imagine instead of eating steak and burgers, you just start eating a bunch of metal and they would call it "meat"

[-] Engywuck@lemmy.zip 6 points 4 weeks ago

Meatal

[-] Lioffproxy@lemmy.world 3 points 4 weeks ago

OK. just because i don't see any explanations. Cows in America can ingest metal things. staples and nails and debris on the farm. Not saying they can't be used elsewhere but here in America you feed the cow these magnets and it captures all the metal crap so the farmer can get the metal out easier. I think it passes through the digestive tract or is retrieved via mouth.!