FatsDominosDomino 121 points 8 hours ago

Exactly. There was a study about the cowbells, a doctoral dissertation carried out by agricultural scientist which concluded bells were bad for cows hearing and suggested farmers use GPS instead , because the researchers used the largest possible bell, which are not actually worn by cows in the alps.

Farmers have scoffed at the suggestion of the researchers to attach GPS trackers to cows instead of bells, saying that reception in alpine areas would be patchy at best.

“In this IT age we could replace the bell with a microchip and the farmer could then locate his cattle using a smartphone,” researcher Johns told Schweiz am Sonntag.

“They can’t be serious,” responded Jacques Bourgeois, director of the Swiss Countryside Union, in Le Matin. “These researchers have completely missed the point. I wonder if they’ve even stepped out of their lab and been to the mountains.”

Bourgeois also pointed out that the heavy bells studied by the pair are only ever used for ceremonial occasions.

“It’s only one day a year that cows wear size 31,” he said, referring to the 5.5kg bells.