Transcript Document

ROYAL SHIT
Observation:
Scientists studying animals in the forests
noted that eagles prefer eating lion shit to
wolf shit
Problem:
Why do eagles prefer lion shit?
Hypotheses:
(1) Lion is the king of the forest, royal shit is
a specialty.
(2) Lion shit is more tasty compared to wolf
shit.
(3) Lion shit may be more nutritious than
wolf shit.
Probability of correctness:
(1) Lion is the king of the forest, royal shit is a
specialty.
It is we humans who have given the status of King
to the lions (in stories). So the eagles may not
be knowing that lion is the king of the forest
because they have not read these stories.
From rigorous observations made in the forests by
keen animal watchers, all animals appear to be
equal, with their own roles in the food chain.
Probability of correctness:
2) Lion shit is more tasty compared to wolf shit.
At present, there is no way of deciding how shit
tastes to the eagles.
Therefore there
hypothesis.
is
no
way
of
testing
this
Probability of correctness:
(3) Lion shit may be more nutritious than wolf shit.
Probable and testable.
Therefore it was decided to subject lion shit and
wolf shit to rigorous chemical examination in
order to gain some understanding about the
nature of these two samples by comparing with
available knowledge about smell, taste and
nutritive value of known compounds that may be
present in them.
Survey:
Literature survey was conducted with a view to get
information about
(1)General behaviour of lions, wolves and eagles in the
forest
(2) Nature of the usual food and prey eaten by lions,
wolves and eagles
(3) Any chemical or physiological investigations of lion and
wolf shits that others may already have done.
(4) Smell, taste and nutritive value of various chemical
substances.
Expert zoologists, bird watchers and people living in and
around forests were also contacted for any useful
information.
Materials and methods:
Samples of fresh lion and wolf shits were
collected and stored.
Analytical methods such as elemental
analysis, GPC, TLC, HPLC, GC-MS, IR,
NMR etc. were used to find out the nature
of compounds present in them.
The results were tabulated and analysed.
Results and discussion:
Analyses showed that lion shit is richer in
proteins compared to wolf shit.
But the nature of food eaten by both lions
and wolves are very similar.
Conclusion:
Eagles prefer lion shit because it is richer in
proteins.
Hypothesis testing:
Further investigations showed that eagles
become protein deficient at a particular
stage in their life cycle when the chicks
grow very rapidly, develop wings and start
flying.
This is compensated by consuming lion shit
when available.
Scope for further research:
Lions and wolves eat similar food. Then why
is lion shit richer in proteins?
Further research:
The digestive systems of lions and wolves were
investigated.
It was found that the digestive system of wolves
were more efficient, with better absorption of
proteins.
Absorption of proteins by the lion's digestive
system is not very efficient. Therefore much
protein is excreted. Lions make up for this by
eating more frequently.
Acknowledgement:
This story as an illustration of research methodology was developed as
a project by some school children in Singapore who were taught
research methodology.
It was narrated to me by:
Dr. A. P. Jayaraman, Ph.D., PGDMM
Professor of Technology Management and Consultant
Vice Chairman, National Centre for Science Communicators
Singapore
Retired Nuclear Scientist and Engineer, Dept. of Atomic Energy
Past Chairman of Indian Institute of Materials Management
in a Seminar on Science Writing conducted by the Department for
Science Communication, CUSAT in February 2008.