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Where Does It Go? Ever wonder where all that money taken out of your paycheck goes? You might be surprised to find out where some of your tax dollars are going. Of course the government uses taxes to fund public programs, works and services. They also provide the money necessary to maintain your local and national infrastructure, but some of your tax dollars are used for unusual expenses — including hous- ing chimpanzees and buying robotic flowers. Putting Fish on Treadmills In 2017, Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona released a list of the most outland- ish tax splurges he could find. One involved the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego, which used a $560,000 grant from the Na- tional Science Foundation to force fish to exercise to exhaustion on treadmills as part of a 2009 study. The scientists chose mudskippers because of their unique ability to use their fins like legs for extended pe- riods of time when out of the water. The exhausted fish were then given 48 hours to rest before hitting the gym again. Different oxygen levels were used as variables to test their progress and recovery. Proving That Gingerbread Houses Are Earthquake-Proof A $150,000 grant from the Insti- tute of Museum and Library Services funded a workshop called "How Does the Cookie Crumble?" The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry took gingerbread houses designed to be earthquake-resistant and put them to the test on machines that replicated major temblors. Participants got to take their sweet, sugary houses with them. The workshop was part of the OMSI's annual "Gingerbread Adven- tures" event. Turning Computers Into Couch Potatoes Your tax dollars paid for computers to binge-watch hundreds of hours of television during a 2016 study — as if you weren't already burning through your paycheck on subscription ser- vices. The program — which was funded by a $460,000 grant from the National Science Foundation and other funds from the Department of Defense's Office of Naval Research — was de- signed to train computers to both un- derstand and predict human behavior. The results were inconclusive. But the good news is that the comput- ers are all caught up on their favorite shows.