Classical Playlist Helps Pigs De-stress

Here's what you'd call some soft news: Classical music has a calming effect. A classically trained doctor has just released a fairly obvious study showing lowered blood pressure and breathing rates for people serenaded with soothing sonatas as they entered the operating room.

Well, sure. Let's hope that groundbreaking research wasn't taxpayer-funded.

We're much more intrigued by the study involving the pigs. Researchers at Wageningen University in the Netherlands have been seeking ways to alleviate stress for piglets on breeding farms, and they hit upon a successful two-part approach: Give the pigs 15 minutes of playtime a day, and enhance their recess with a soundtrack by Elgar and Bach.

The pampered hogs were less aggressive toward their pen mates, which allowed handlers to reduce their sedation levels and seemed to produce meat with fewer antibiotics.

Research leader Francien de Jonge explained that the playlist was no accident. "I specifically chose this music because its timbre is similar to the comfortable grunts pigs make during foraging," she said.

Really? We might've gone with 'Mah Na Mah Na.'

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