Sending in penguin robots for research

By Los Angeles Times, adapted by Newsela staff on 11.17.14

Word Count 662

King penguins stand in an enclosure at the Hakkeijima Sea Paradise aquarium-amusement park complex in Yokohama,
near Tokyo, Sept. 30, 2012. Photo: AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye

Robots can be helpful tools when humans want to visit places that are hard to get to, like
the moon or Mars. Now, scientists have built a robot to explore a new and challenging
frontier: colonies of adorable penguins.
A team led by scientists from the University of Strasbourg in France have designed a rover
that looks like a uffy penguin chick. With this disguise, the machine can more easily get
close to real birds that live in colonies in Antarctica.
When humans study animals in the wild, it is better to stay out of the way and let the robots
do the work.
Animals often get stressed when human researchers get close. Their hearts beat much
faster because they are alarmed. There are negative consequences for both the birds and
the research when this happens.

Getting Up Close Is Challenging

Wild animals show stress and escape behavior when humans approach them. The
penguins may even have a harder time breeding after the humans leave. It is difcult for
scientists to collect quality data about penguins when they act like this.

The challenge is that human researchers usually have to get very close to penguins to
collect the data that they need sometimes within 2 feet (60 centimeters). This means
that to get information, they have to disturb the birds.
One solution is to send in a wheeled robot penguin to do the work.
Researchers are studying how king penguins on an island in Antarctica react to both
humans and robots. When a human gets in a penguin's personal space, the bird's heart
rate shoots up much faster than it does when a robot is around. The bird also continues to
show the effects of a human scare much longer, too.
Human approaches led to an excess in (heart rate) approximately four times larger than
that due to rover approaches, the team from France wrote.
When a king penguin feels threatened, it will usually shufe away from the scary object
while holding onto its egg or baby chick. Scientists found that when a rover approached
the penguin, the bird would move away an average of 3 inches (8 centimeters). But when
the humans approached, the penguins moved a whopping 17 inches (43 centimeters).

Personal Space Invasion

When the penguins shufe away, they move into the spaces of other nearby penguins. This
can create problems. Penguins are territorial, so when other birds get close to them and
their own colonies, they may become aggressive and ght.
The rover is not perfect. However, it is an improvement to human researchers because it is
less disturbing for the birds. Scientists found similar reactions when using a robot with
emperor penguins in another area of Antarctica.
Of the 158 birds that were tested with the robot, 28 percent "reacted with alertness," 47
percent did not seem to notice at all, and 25 percent were curious about the rover and
moved closer to check it out.
Then scientists used a friendlier version of the robot with the emperor penguins. The rover
was disguised as a fuzzy baby penguin on wheels. The adorable spy was even more
successful than the plain-looking robot.
When the rover was camouaged with a penguin model, all adult and chick emperor
penguins allowed it to approach close enough for an electronic identication, the
scientists wrote. Penguin chicks and adults even tried to talk to the "baby" rover.

More Animal-Like Robots

The researchers also tested the robot with elephant seals to see how these animals would
react. These seals did not seem to notice when the rover came close to their heads or tails.
That is a good sign because elephant seals usually do not react kindly when someone is
approaching its backside.

Robots like these hold potential for research into the lives of animals since they are less
disturbing than a human researcher. And who knows? Maybe rovers in the future might be
able to follow around swimming and ying creatures as well.

Quiz
1

Select the paragraph from the section Getting Up Close Is Challenging that explains why
humans have to get close to animals.

Select the sentence from the article that BEST shows that human presence has a long-lasting
effect on the penguins.

(A)

Wild animals show stress and escape behavior when humans approach
them.

(B)

The penguins may even have a harder time breeding after the humans
leave.

(C)

When a human gets in a penguin's personal space, the bird's heart rate
shoots up much faster than it does when a robot is around.

(D)

Human approaches led to an excess in (heart rate) approximately four

times larger than that due to rover approaches, the team from France wrote.

Select the sentence from the article that BEST explains why rovers were taken into
consideration to research animals.
(A)

Robots like these hold potential for research into the lives of animals since
they are less disturbing than a human researcher.

(B)

It is difcult for scientists to collect quality data about penguins when they
act like this.

(C)

Their heart rates go up, they react in alarm and those reactions can have
negative consequences for the birds and for the research.

(D)

When a king penguin feels threatened, it will usually shufe away from the
scary object while holding onto its egg or baby chick.

The article draws a connection between all of the following EXCEPT:

(A)

rovers and breeding pattern of penguins

(B)

penguin behavior and human approach

(C)

rovers and future research

(D)

heart rate and quality data

Answer Key
1

Select the paragraph from the section Getting Up Close Is Challenging that explains why
humans have to get close to animals.
Paragraph 5:
The challenge is that human researchers usually have to get very close to
penguins to collect the data that they need sometimes within 2 feet (60
centimeters). This means that to get information, they have to disturb the birds.

Select the sentence from the article that BEST shows that human presence has a long-lasting
effect on the penguins.
(A)

Wild animals show stress and escape behavior when humans approach
them.

(B)

The penguins may even have a harder time breeding after the humans
leave.

(C)

When a human gets in a penguin's personal space, the bird's heart rate
shoots up much faster than it does when a robot is around.

(D)

Human approaches led to an excess in (heart rate) approximately four

times larger than that due to rover approaches, the team from France wrote.

Select the sentence from the article that BEST explains why rovers were taken into
consideration to research animals.
(A)

Robots like these hold potential for research into the lives of animals
since they are less disturbing than a human researcher.

(B)

It is difcult for scientists to collect quality data about penguins when they
act like this.

(C)

Their heart rates go up, they react in alarm and those reactions can have
negative consequences for the birds and for the research.

(D)

When a king penguin feels threatened, it will usually shufe away from the
scary object while holding onto its egg or baby chick.

The article draws a connection between all of the following EXCEPT:

(A)

rovers and breeding pattern of penguins

(B)

penguin behavior and human approach

(C)

rovers and future research

(D)

heart rate and quality data