Exactly how much taxpayer money did go into the now-famous shrimp treadmill? The treadmill was, in fact, made from spare parts—an old truck inner tube was used for the tread, the bearings were borrowed from a skateboard, and a used pump motor was salvaged to power the treadmill. The total price for the highly publicized icon of wasteful government research spending? Less than $50. All of which I paid for out of my own pocket.

via How a $47 Shrimp Treadmill Became a $3-Million Political Plaything – The Conversation – Blogs – The Chronicle of Higher Education.

From the intersection of science and politics. Kind of like Ebola no longer being a thing everyone is freaking out about now that we’re past the midterm elections.