Sharks are majestic, beautiful and deadly creatures, and, as it turns out, total metalheads. A new book, The Mice Who Sing For Sex: And Other Weird Tales From The World Of Science, looks at some of the more interesting ways that animals behave. Co-authors Lliana Bird (a DJ) and Dr. Jack Lewis (a neuroscientist) found that shards are drawn to the low frequency pulsing sounds (20-60 cycles/second) of metal. We’re not sure what kind of metal the sharks were played, but according to the book, great white sharks preferred AC/DC, becoming calmer and less aggressive when being played “You Shook Me All Night Long” and “If You Want Blood (You Got It),” or the exact opposite of what happens when those songs are played in a stadium.
The book doesn’t state what metal the other sharks were played, or if they considered AC/DC metal, which of course they’re not. Given that there’s plenty of rock and metal named after the shark (like Accept’s “Fast as a Shark” and, well, Great White), it would make sense that they like metal, and there’s a valuable lesson to be learned that if you’re ever attacked by a shark, just throw on some AC/DC to cam it’s frazzled bloodthirsty nerves. Other findings from the book show that before mating, male mice sing to their partners, hence the book’s title. Also, it finds that fish know the difference between classical music, with four fish being played Bach and Stravinsky, with the fish being able to know the difference between the two composers. Would the sharks know the difference between AC/DC and Axl/DC? The book doesn’t say, but you can preorder it here.
[via Teamrock]
