FURRY WORKERS

From War Elephants to Medical Dogs: 10 Weird Jobs We Gave To Animals

Credit: Patrick Hendry

Throughout history, animals have played crucial roles that extend far beyond companionship or sustenance. From aiding in transportation to performing specialized tasks, their contributions have been diverse yet always essential.

Here, we explore 10 fascinating jobs that animals have undertaken across different time periods, proof of their remarkable intelligence and adaptability!

Credit: Artem Beliaikin

In medieval Europe, a unique breed of dogs known as 'turnspit dogs' were employed in kitchens to rotate roasting meat spits. Bred for their stamina and size, these dogs were crucial for keeping the spit turning for hours at a time.

Sadly, their breed is now extinct, leaving us to reconstruct their appearance solely from historical documents.

Credit: Ali Pli

Dating back to ancient times, pigeons were used as messengers due to their exceptional homing instincts. These birds excel at navigating over extremely long distances, thanks to their ability to perceive the Earth's magnetic field, just like an inner compass.

Particularly, due to their unique skills, these fluffy animals played crucial roles in wartime communication, delivering urgent messages across long distances when other means of communication were impractical or insecure.

Credit: Richard Jacobs

What animal could instill more fear on the battlefield than an enraged elephant? To make matters worse, steel blades were often fastened to their tusks, and specialized archers would relentlessly pick off infantry units from their backs.

Elephants were formidable weapons of war in ancient civilizations such as India and Persia. Their immense size and strength made them highly effective in breaking enemy lines and demoralizing opposing armies.

Credit: Mike Doherty

In the port town of Eden, New South Wales, Australia, killer whales (also known as orcas) formed an unlikely but effective partnership with human whalers during the heyday of the country's whaling industry. From the 1840s through to the 1930s, pods of orcas were observed working together with whalers in a unique and mutually beneficial hunting arrangement.

These intelligent marine mammals assisted whalers by herding humpback whales, effectively corralling them and making them easier targets for human hunters. In return for their cooperation, the whalers honored a (clearly unspoken) agreement where the orcas were allowed the first bite at the carcass once the hunt was successful.

Credit: Martin Adams

How do you stop local populations of birds from colliding with arriving and departing planes at airports? By employing other birds! Trained birds of prey, such as hawks and falcons, are often used at airports to prevent bird strikes, which can lead to serious accidents and cost the industry millions of dollars annually.

These predatory birds naturally intimidate other species as they patrol the skies, discouraging other birds from entering the airspace around runways, thus minimizing the risk of collisions with aircraft.

Credit: Bianca Ackermann

Beyond their crucial role in pollination, honey bees have found an unexpected application in the field of demining, particularly in war-torn regions where landmines pose significant threats. Due to their remarkable sense of smell, bees are trained to detect the scent of explosives buried underground.

In this innovative process, trained bees are incentivized with sugar water as a reward when they successfully locate the scent of explosives. This method allows demining teams to pinpoint potentially dangerous areas more safely and efficiently than traditional methods, minimizing risks to human deminers.

Credit: TJ Fitzsimmons

In various military and research capacities, dolphins have been trained and utilized as "spies" due to their exceptional intelligence and underwater capabilities. These marine mammals have been employed by navies for tasks such as locating underwater mines, retrieving lost equipment, and even acting as sentries to protect naval bases.

Their natural echolocation abilities make them ideal for the task, and their agility and speed underwater allow them to maneuver swiftly in challenging environments where human divers would struggle.

Credit: Justin Veenema

Trained dogs are now employed in medical settings to detect various diseases such as cancer and diabetes by sniffing out specific biomarkers present in patients' bodily fluids or breath. Their accuracy in early detection can significantly improve treatment outcomes and save lives.

These specially trained dogs undergo rigorous training programs where they learn to differentiate between scents associated with different medical conditions. Beyond their diagnostic role, they also provide loving comfort to those who are sick or grieving, and the therapeutic benefits of their presence in healthcare settings are proven.

Credit: Nick Fewings

Geese have a long history of serving as effective guards, dating back to ancient civilizations where they were employed as vigilant "watchdogs" (avoid using this term near actual geese or they might get offended). Known for their loud honking and keen sense of alertness, geese were kept in temple courtyards, estates, and farms to alert their owners to the presence of intruders.

Today, geese continue to play a role in security, particularly at airfields and military installations. Their sharp eyesight and loud calls make them excellent sentinels capable of detecting and alarming personnel to potential threats.

Credit: BAILEY MAHON

In environmentally conscious communities, goats are employed as eco-friendly lawnmowers. These voracious grazers efficiently clear overgrown vegetation without the noise and pollution associated with mechanical equipment. Goat herds provide a sustainable alternative for maintaining green spaces.

Beyond their practical utility, goats provide additional benefits such as natural fertilizer through their droppings, enriching soil health, and promoting plant growth.

BUSTING MYTHS

10 Weird Ancient Beliefs That Were Debunked By Modern Science

Credit: National Cancer Institute

Trying to understand why things happen is part of what makes us human. But in the process, we might end up accidentally arriving at some very weird (and very wrong!) answers. Luckily, as science advances, many of these once-held truths have been debunked.

From ancient myths to more modern misconceptions, here are 10 bizarre beliefs that have been shattered by the power of scientific inquiry.

Credit: Matt Seymour

For centuries, people believed that living organisms could arise spontaneously from non-living matter. This led to very weird beliefs like the seasonal generation of mice and other pests from river mud, fleas from dust, and even fully formed geese from barnacles! However, Louis Pasteur's experiments in the 19th century definitively debunked this erroneous notion, proving that life only arises from preexisting life.

Credit: Hush Naidoo Jade Photography

As insane as it sounds, for centuries the apex of medical science was making an already ill patient bleed close to a gallon of blood, for his own health (sigh). The practice was called bloodletting, and it was believed that it helped balance the body's "humors" and that it could cure various ailments. Obviously, it did way more harm than good, but to be fair, if you survived that, you could certainly endure any illness life could throw at you.

Credit: Jon Tyson

Before the germ theory of disease, people believed that illnesses were caused by foul odors or "miasmas" emanating from decaying matter. They weren’t entirely on the wrong course though, since foul smells can certainly indicate intense microbial activity, and the poor living conditions and lack of sewage in early modern cities were often associated with strong spikes in epidemics and infections. However, scientific advancements in microbiology eventually showed that diseases are primarily caused by microorganisms, and not just bad air.

Credit: Jingming Pan

This is likely one of those cases where wanting badly for something to be real can make you end up actually convinced it is possible. And who wouldn’t want a formula for making solid gold out of any old piece of junk? Ancient alchemists sought to transmute base metals into gold with the help of a mysterious substance called the "philosopher's stone." However, after centuries of failed attempts, most of the beliefs held by the alchemists were debunked by a more scientific approach to chemical reactions, leading to the birth of modern chemistry.

Credit: Jongsun Lee

Ancient civilizations often viewed solar and lunar eclipses as omens of misfortune or punishments from their gods. From the Ancient Greeks to the Aztec civilization, sacrifices and rituals of appeasement were conducted to avoid the worst of the divine wrath. However, as humanity's understanding of celestial mechanics improved and accurate calculations to effectively predict them were developed, these ancient superstitions gradually waned.

Credit: Jesper Aggergaard

When ancient folks encountered fossils, and they realized they didn’t correspond with any living creature at their time, they needed to come up with some answers. But because no one had yet explained the process behind evolution and the age of the Earth was still a matter of discussion, they thought they belonged to mythical creatures, such as fire-breathing dragons, centaurs, cyclops, and many other legendary monsters.

Credit: Nsey Benajah

Tales of mermaids, half-human and half-fish beings, have captivated sailors for centuries. For centuries, many encounters with these fantastical creatures were reported by the rugged explorers of the seas, but no evidence whatsoever materialized of their existence. Now, it is believed that sightings may have been influenced by encounters with manatees or dugongs, aquatic mammals whose graceful movements could have inspired the tale. Now, how drunk do you have to be to actually mix up a manatee with a beautiful mermaid? Let's leave it at that.

Credit: Justin Wolff

Comets have always been awe-inspiring phenomena, but back in the old days they also often inspired panic and bizarre beliefs of all kinds. During the 1910 approach of Halley's Comet, the results of the first spectroscopic analysis of its tail accidentally led to widespread hysteria, as it was discovered that it contained the toxic gas cyanogen. A misquotation of the famed astronomer Camille Flammarion stating that the poisonous gas "would impregnate the atmosphere and possibly snuff out all life on the planet," was printed in the press, and soon everywhere in the world people were panic buying gas masks and other quack products in a desperate attempt to save their lives.

Credit: Clark Young

In the 19th century, settlers moving westward in the United States were lured by the belief that cultivating the land would increase rainfall in arid regions - a long-debunked notion known as "rain follows the plow." This idea gained traction as farmers observed rain coinciding with their cultivation efforts. However, thorough scientific research has since contradicted this myth, attributing any perceived increase in precipitation to natural climate variability rather than human activity.

Credit: freestocks

The long-discredited medical theory of "maternal impression" posited that a pregnant woman's thoughts, emotions, or experiences could influence the physical appearance or characteristics of her unborn child. This belief was prevalent in various cultures throughout history and often led to practices such as avoiding certain foods or activities during pregnancy. However, with the development of modern genetic theory, this odd notion was firmly refuted.