and if you're lost in the country, try using the sun to orient yourself.

Maybe that explains why the Mayans liked to sacrifice humans - they didn't wander off.

shoddy journalism. and research.

and, to debunk another myth, they tend to lie down after dark, unless they're still working on that day's digestion. they don't sleep standing up. besides, drunk-tipping is much more fun and humane.

You are at the Strangers site. Any reference to journalism should include quotes:

"journalism"

@11: The scientists say they accounted for wind, position of the sun, and other environmental factors. I didn't want to post the whole damned research paper.

@everyone analyzing the photo: It isn't from the study. It's just an aerial photo of cows. Stand down.

I've seen them at the equator, though.

The Mayans didn't have cows or any domesticated animals other than dogs.

Wait. Why am I arguing facts with WiS?

I doubt cows are like Canadian geese or Monarch butterflies, driven by some instinct to relate to the Earth's poles. Just like us, cows are going to situate themselves in whatever way makes them the most physically comfortable within their environment. They may find it preferable to stand so the prevailing winds have the least effect on them, or so the sun warms them or isn't overcooking them.

On average, the Sun traverses the sky on an East-West arc. Thus, by orienting their bovine bodies along the north-south axis, they are maximizing their surface area to absorb its warming rays. No magnetite-in-ears or crystals or pyramids necessary.

If those cows are facing north, then they are violating some physics. Also, the shadows are relatively short, which says the picture was taken in the middle of the day and rules out east/west.

I suppose it is possible that I can't tell a cow's head from its ass in that picture, but I'm guessing the skinny side is the head.

So, never mind.

(sorry.)

Wouldn't maximizing bovine surface exposure to the sun's rays mean orienting the broadest side of their body available perpendicular to the azimuth over the course of the day?

The study did not "account for wind". There was NO wind.

Sincerely, EWU CS graduate

This begs the question, "why would a cow at the equator be trying to maximize warming ray absorption?", which would lead me to believe the cow would in fact face east-west in either particular scenario.

Sincerely, math and physics minors

P.S. Has anyone noticed that the noun form of "absorb" switches the "b" to a "p" before adding "tion"? That's just WEIRD and frankly un-American.

I don't know. Why are you trailer trash?

Bring a cow on your next hike. Lost? Compass!

I bet most people here didn't know "ranch" was a verb.

Also, thank you #11 and #25. It's funny how people will occasionally try to "solve" the mysteries of the country without actually asking someone who might know the answer.

so, they got some meteorological data to correlate with the satellite photo locations. my question to you is whether that generic meteorological data actually included exact ground-level conditions, accounting for hills and valleys and specific high/low pressure systems and temperature gradients and etc.?

wind isn't generic. just take a glance at the live PWS data at weatherunderground.com to see how much variation of wind speed and direction there is, even in flat places.

occam's razor.