Scientists on Reddit

Temple Grandin

Animal scientist and autism advocate

u/Prof_Temple_Grandin ↗AMA only

How we know it's theirs

The 2014 r/science AMA, posted from this account

We retrieved 1 post and 10 comments from u/Prof_Temple_Grandin, all from 2014, most often in r/science.

Best moment

A redditor wrote in r/science

On “Science AMA Series: I'm Temple Grandin, professor of animal science at Colorado State University and autism advocate. AMA!”

I want to ask you the same thing I ask every scientist: what's an interesting time you were completely wrong?

u/Prof_Temple_Grandin replied

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A project I managed in 1980 is an example of something I did completely wrong. I installed a ramp with a conveyor floor to get pigs from stockyards to the third floor of a packing plant, because the pigs were not structurally sound enough to easily walk up the existing ramp on their own. I thought that installing a conveyor ramp would solve the problem. It was a failure. I learned not all problems can be fixed with engineering. For a fraction of the cost, we could have given the farm new breeding boars that could produce offspring that were structurally sound and would have been able to walk up the ramp. I learned that in solving problems, we must fix the root cause of the problem, and not just its symptoms.

More moments

A redditor wrote in r/science

On “Science AMA Series: I'm Temple Grandin, professor of animal science at Colorado State University and autism advocate. AMA!”

I work in a small slaughterhouse. We butcher about 6 cows every week, so we dont have as much possibilities when it comes to redesigning, as industrial plants might have. What are some fundamental things we should do, or have installed, to make the process as easy and…

u/Prof_Temple_Grandin replied

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Often simple modifications, such as providing non-slip flooring in the stun box can make huge differences. Cattle panic when they do not have secure footing. They also do not like to enter dark spaces, so you might experiment with placing a light at the entrance to the stun box. In one plant, the cattle were refusing to enter the stainless steel race with lots of reflections, and we experimented with moving ceiling lights. This caused the reflections to disappear and the cattle then willingly entered the race.

Excerpt

A redditor wrote in r/science

On “Science AMA Series: I'm Temple Grandin, professor of animal science at Colorado State University and autism advocate. AMA!”

Professor Grandin, How accurately did the HBO movie portray the way you see the world? I was particularly interested in the way it depicted the mental mapping of the animal's movements. Was this a device they chose to use or something you advised them about the way you see…

u/Prof_Temple_Grandin replied

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Many people ask about the HBO movie, and it accurately shows how my visual thinking works. The scene that showed all the shoes appearing in rapid succession is exactly how I think. The images that appear around animal movement are from my actual drawings and diagrams that appear in my early publications. The scene where I get down on my hands and knees in the chute is something that I actually did, so I could see what the cattle were seeing.