Lab-grown bones
Check this out! Scientists heal dog’s broken leg by regrowing bone:
Archive for December 2017
Passing gas
Many children (and adults) find humor in flatulence. If you count yourself among these individuals, then a new book written by zoologist Dani Rabaiotti and ecologist Nick Caruso, coming out in April 2018, is a must-read. The book examines which animals truly pass gas and is aptly titled, “Does it Fart?” No longer will you be limited to only blaming it on the dog or cat. Although you will not […]
Top 10 new species of 2017
What better way to wrap up 2017 than to take a look back at the top 10 newly discovered species this past year. I don’t know about you, but I am rather partial to the sorting hat spider and the katydid.
What a pain!
I read an interesting review article published recently in Physiology. The review discussed how various animals sense pain. Perhaps understanding how animals detect pain will lead to better pain management techniques for animals and humans. Our bodies have special sensors, called nociceptors, that detect noxious stimuli that could injure tissues. Stimulation of these receptors is what allows you to move your hand away from a hot stove even before your […]
Dr. Hannah Carey in the spotlight
Congratulations Dr. Hannah Carey, 80th President of the American Physiological Society (2007-2008) and fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences, which recently interviewed her about her research on hibernation. Dr. Carey is a comparative physiologist and professor of Comparative Biosciences at the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine. Her current research focus is on how the gut microbes of 13-lined ground squirrels change during hibernation. According […]
Sea snails may help fight opioid crisis
Sea snails (Conus asprella) produce a venom that paralyzes their prey. Scientists are working towards isolating compounds from sea snail venom that they hope may lead to the production of safer pain relievers to help combat the opioid crisis.
Towards the development of safer anesthetics
Like many medications, general anesthetics are not without side effects. Researchers at Dalhousie University in Canada were interested in studying the effects of inhaled anesthetics on the heart. Slowed heart rate (bradycardia) is a major adverse side effect of inhaled anesthetics that can lead to death for those undergoing procedures. Because bradycardia occurs in all species of vertebrates that have been studied thus far, the researchers decided to examine how […]
Researchers are working on decoding “fowl language”
Chickens are notoriously chatty animals. Although most people may only associate clucking noises with chickens, the birds make quite a variety of sounds. Poultry scientists and engineers at the University of Georgia and Georgia Institute of Technology have teamed up with farmers to try to decode the so-called “fowl language” spoken by chickens. The goal is to help farmers better understand what their animals are communicating. They recorded chicken vocalizations […]
Life Lines by Dr. Dolittle 