There once was an old lady who swallowed a bullfrog…
Happy Halloween! As kids (and maybe a few parents) dig into their candy hauls, we’re checking out some wild creatures with even spookier taste…animals brave enough to snack on venomous prey! Scorpions beware! Pallid bats (Antrozous pallidus) are one of nature’s spookiest snackers. What’s on the menu for these fearless flyers? Scorpions, yikes! While most animals would steer clear of a venomous arachnid, pallid bats chow down without a worry […]
Primed for survival: How sea hares inspire new clues to protect the brain from low oxygen conditions such as stroke
Sea hares (Aplysia californica) live in coastal environments where oxygen levels can fluctuate unpredictably. Knowing this, researchers set out to explore how these animals tolerate regular exposure to hypoxia (low oxygen) with the hope of discovering clues that could teach us how to protect humans from hypoxia-related conditions, such as stroke. To do this, they compared offspring from two types of parents: those collected from the wild that likely experienced […]
From firefighting foam to feathers: Tracking PFAS in nature
It seems that we are learning more every day about potential exposure to “forever chemicals”, such as PFAS. From proposed laws in California that would ban PFAS in cookware and other items to maps such as the one above showing potential contamination in tap water. These chemicals are drawing so much attention because they do not break down easily and can remain in the environment for decades. In addition, PFAS […]
How exercise and age change muscles
When we lift weights or do resistance exercises, our muscles adapt by changing which genes are turned on or off. These genetic changes (called transcriptional changes) help muscles grow stronger and improve their metabolism. Both young and older people experience these changes, but aging changes how muscles respond at the genetic level, which may help explain why older adults don’t gain muscle as easily as younger individuals. In a study […]
Meet the Tuatara, New Zealand’s living fossil
No, we are not talking about the luxury sports car. The tuatara is a reptile that’s even cooler. Found only on 37 small offshore islands in New Zealand, this rare creature is often mistaken for a lizard. Don’t let their good looks fool you though, the tuatara is the last surviving member of the ancient order Sphenodontia, which thrived back when the dinosaurs ruled the Earth. In other words, it’s […]
Best Friend or Stress Test? What Pets Do to Our Bodies
According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), 68% of households in the United States have a pet. Pets are thought to help people by decreasing stress and improving cardiovascular health. The NIH and Mar’s Corporation WALTHAM Centre for Pet Nutrition have teamed up to support research examining such questions, but the results have been mixed. According to Dr. Layla Esposito, who leads the NIH Human-Animal Interaction Research Program, people […]
Brown adipose tissue: not just a heater or fat-burning machine
Once dismissed as a feature only babies possess, brown adipose tissue (BAT), is widely recognized as the body’s metabolism-boosting, heat-generating fat. This Time Machine episode takes a look back at early research and new discoveries about this metabolism-boosting fat. According to a 2007 paper published in the American Journal of Physiology – Endocrinology and Metabolism, it was the ability for BAT to take up glucose that enabled its discovery in […]
Why leadership stresses everyone out: From birds to bosses
From birds to people, research demonstrates that leadership roles can be really stressful. In this post, let’s explore the physiology of stress and how it affects such relationships. Stress as defined by the founder of Stress Theory, Dr. Hans Selye (1907-1982), is the “nonspecific response of the body to any demand” (Tan and Yip, 2018). Our bodies were designed to deal will short bouts of stress by releasing special stress […]
When fasting bites back: The bile dilemma in tiger sharks
Happy Shark Week!! In this post, we take a look at how fasting may harm young tiger sharks. Sharks LOVE to eat fish, which are packed with protein and fats. In fact, fat is a major energy source for sharks and high levels of circulating fats are associated with better body conditions in tiger sharks. To handle their diet, sharks need healthy livers and gallbladders to produce and release bile, […]
Life Lines by Dr. Dolittle 