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Mouse Abuse at the University of the Philippines

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http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994187

 

Stampeding mice behave like fleeing humans

 

22:00 22 September 03

 

NewScientist.com news service

 

A series of experiments on how panicked mice escape an

enclosed area shows that they behave in much the way

computer models predict that panicked humans would.

This verification provides important new information

for preventing future human disasters, the study's

authors say.

 

Disasters such as the May 2001 stampede at a football

stadium in Ghana that killed more than 120 people, and

the February 2003 Chicago nightclub stampede that

killed 21 people, have spurred scientists to develop

models to predict how penned in people behave when

trying to flee a disaster situation.

 

But computer models have remained unverified because

escape panic experiments on humans are difficult to

perform - they would only be effective if they

introduced real panic and they would have to be

repeated several times for statistical viability.

 

Now, scientists at the University of the Philippines

have developed an experimental model based on a group

of 60 mice escaping from a contained water pool onto a

dry platform, through doors of various widths and

separation.

 

Caesar Saloma, professor of physics, who led the study

says the mice made the most efficient getaway when

their escape route was only large enough for a single

mouse to squeeze its way to freedom. This made the

mice queue in an orderly fashion rather than

stampeding through a wider escape route.

 

Delay jamming

 

The researchers videoed mice trying to escape a water

pool. They varied the width of the exit doors to allow

just one mouse through at a time, then two, three and

four. The distance between the doors was also altered.

The number of mice in the enclosed wet pool was

maintained at 30 - with a new mouse added each time

one escaped - to keep the panic level constant.

 

" Interestingly, we found that the most efficient

escape was when the door size was only large enough

for one mouse to squeeze through, as it promoted

self-organised queuing. However, as soon as the door

width was increased, the mice stopped lining-up and

competed with each other, which slowed down the

overall escape rate, " Saloma told New Scientist.

 

However, if the escape doors were positioned too close

together, the " arches " of mice which form naturally

around exits interfered with each other, slowing the

mice down. " Our results are consistent with the

computer models for humans, " he adds.

 

" Hopefully our study will help architects design

buildings and escape routes that induce people to

queue and delay jamming. It is not enough to increase

the size and number of doors, as it may have the

opposite of the desired effect, " Saloma says.

 

Selflessness

 

Dirk Helbig from Dresden University of Technology, who

has developed computational models for panicked crowd

dispersal, called the animal study interesting and

important. But he adds the experiment did not go far

enough. Ideally a greater number of mice could be

used.

 

However, Ed Galea, an expert in fire safety at the

University of Greenwich in London, UK, says that most

computational models and this animal study fail to

take into consideration the psychological effects of

the group dynamics. " People do not behave as

disconnected individuals during an evacuation, there

is an extraordinary amount of selflessness.

 

" 'Panic' implies irrational and destructive behaviour

to self and others, but often crushing occurs due to

an individual tripping over a physical obstruction, "

he adds.

 

Journal reference: Proceedings of the National Academy

of Sciences (DOI/10.1073/pnas.2031912100)

 

Gaia Vince

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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