back to article I say, I say, I say: What's the difference between a king penguin and liquid?

King penguin colonies move and organise themselves in a way that is "astoundingly" similar to how liquids behave, according to research published today. The penguin probe, led by Richard Gerum of the University of Erlangen-Nuernberg in Germany, looked at how king penguin colonies organise themselves at the start of breeding …

  1. LucreLout

    I say, I say, I say: What's the difference between a king penguin and liquid?

    A blender?

    1. handleoclast
      Pint

      Re: I say, I say, I say: What's the difference between a king penguin and liquid?

      Have an upvote.

      Even though you said exactly what I was going to and I therefore hate you forever.

      Anyway, my comment would have been far better. I'd have said "Blendtec."

      1. DropBear
        Trollface

        Re: I say, I say, I say: What's the difference between a king penguin and liquid?

        Well, you could have chosen to go fashionably noir instead and propose "a bathtub full of acid"...

  2. TRT Silver badge

    I say, I say, I say: What's the difference between a king penguin and liquid?

    Ones system of measurement is monarchic, the other imperial.

  3. Chazmon
    Alien

    I love how often fluid dynamics can be applied with minimal fudging.

    My favourite example is the way Zerglings move in StarCraft 2. Thanks to the dither,* small size and huge numbers they look distinctively liquid like when moving en mass. Ok so not a real example but fun all the same.

    *I think its called this but am happy to be corrected.

    1. TRT Silver badge
      Pint

      Fluid dynamics?

      I'll drink to that!

  4. Anonymous Coward
    1. allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

      Re: Fluid felines?

      That's basically my gripe with the headline*. It's colonies of penguins that behave like liquids, not the individual penguins themselves. (As you wrote, cats have the patent on behaving like liquids at the individual level.)

      * Fancy, that - a somewhat misleading headline on El Reg. Well, I'll never...

  5. Dodgy Geezer Silver badge

    Nothing unusual here...

    Most moving particulate items can be modelled using fluid dynamics. Traffic is, often.

    However, I can see the code for penguins finding nesting sites might be directly applied to cars finding car-parking spaces, or people sinding seats in a theatre... Look at that - three papers for only one piece of work.....!

  6. Cuddles

    What's average airspeed velocity

    Of a spherical penguin in a vacuum?

    1. 's water music
      Coat

      Re: What's average airspeed velocity

      loaded or unl...

      ...oh, never mind

    2. Richard 81

      Re: What's average airspeed velocity

      Spherical frictionless penguin in a vacuum.

      1. The Nazz

        Re: What's average airspeed velocity

        IF, i know it's a big one, if penguins were frictionless, would it not be possible, with some practice, to throw a few up into the Arctic? Bit more space to go around then.

        1. kventin

          Re: What's average airspeed velocity

          is this the way how to save polar bears from brink of extinction?

    3. Ken Hagan Gold badge

      Re: What's average airspeed velocity

      Airspeed velocity in a vacuum, eh? Tricky...

    4. A K Stiles
      Coat

      Re: What's average airspeed velocity

      Um, airspeed... in a vacuum...

      No tea yet so running at full pedant.

      The one with the box of Yorkshire Gold in the pocket please.

      (Guessing it'll be a close approximate to 1.0 Sheep)

  7. Andytug
    Joke

    Never mind that...

    How do the seals get the wrappers off?

    1. onefang
      Coat

      Re: Never mind that...

      "How do the seals get the wrappers off?"

      Well first they have to, er, break the seal.

      I'll get my coat, it's made from the fur of baby seals.

  8. Ugotta B. Kiddingme
    Joke

    "Well, what's on the television then?"

    "Looks like a liquid."

    Or, if you prefer: "It's just got 8 o'clock and time for the liquid on your television set to explode."

    Just doesn't have the same ring to it...

  9. The Nazz

    Solid State

    "while a solid state would make it "virtually impossible to mend" vacancies – like when a penguin leaves prime real estate – and other local disturbances."

    I know i confuse easily, yeah blonde, but ...

    If a solid state made it virtually impossible to mend vacancies, wouldn't it also make it virtually impossible to create a vacancy in the first place?

  10. Eddy Ito

    Didn't they also discover a similar relationship between a flock of starlings and lava lamps?

  11. Nimby
    Linux

    State of Decay

    I'm pretty sure that if you watch long enough, a penguin will be a solid, a liquid, and a gas.

    (Not sure about plasma. Does Linux count?)

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