The National Science Foundation (NSF) caused an uproar five years ago in the media and in Congress after funding an experiment that tested how sickness impaired shrimp mobility by putting the crustaceans on a treadmill.
Yet the NSF continued to fund the experiments with your tax dollars through June 2018.
Through the College of Charleston, researchers measured the crustaceans’ responses to low oxygen and high carbon dioxide environments in a variety of ways. They also tested the shrimp’s reactions "when performing energetically demanding activities," according to the award abstract.
NSF awarded $761,978 to the College of Charleston in 2012 to investigate “how high levels of carbon dioxide in coastal waters interfere with the health of shrimp and crab species,” NSF spokeswoman Jessica Arriens told The Daily Caller News Foundation. “This will help us understand how these animals – important both ecologically and economically – can adapt to environmental change.”
"The energetically demanding activities will be conducted with the aid of a treadmill, as the technique is effective and will help to make the data comparable to previous studies," Arriens said.
The NSF started funding experiments with shrimp and treadmills in 2007 with an initial $560,000 grant.
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