Dogs and calulus: The two go together

We always believed that dogs were extremely clever and thus "man's best friend." Now we see that there's evidence dogs can perform calculus.

In 2003, mathematician Tim Pennings of Hope College in Holland, Mich., revealed to the world that his Welsh corgi, Elvis, appears to be solving a calculus problem when finding the optimal path to fetch a ball. In this case, optimal path means minimizing travel time.

What's more, dogs perform their calculations in unusual circumstances:

...Pennings insists that Elvis [photo above] appears to make global decisions rather than instantaneous decisions when retrieving a ball.

The following experiment suggests why. "Playing fetch with Elvis, I decided to throw the stick while standing in the water, about 10-12 feet from shore, and with Elvis right beside me," Pennings reports. "When I threw the stick in a path parallel to the beach, Elvis swam in to shore, ran along the beach for a sizeable distance, and then dove back into the water to retrieve the stick."

Dogs, we just love 'em.