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 […]
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, […]
Have you ever experienced muscle fatigue? You know the feeling where your muscles start to burn and no matter how hard you try, you simply cannot summon any more strength? It is often assumed that the burning sensation associated with muscle fatigue is due to lactic acid building up in the muscles. But is that the full story? In this time machine post, we examine the science behind muscle fatigue […]
Happy Pigeon Appreciation Day! Okay, I know it sounds strange to celebrate pigeons – the animal best known for gathering in large numbers, causing a raucous, as well as perching and pooping on just about everything. For just a moment though, I would like to consider the unique athletic attributes of these popcorn and park loving birds vs humans engaged in endurance exercise. Have you ever heard of pigeon racing […]
In todays’ Time Machine, we are taking a look back at a paper written by Dr. Henry Gray Barbour during his time in the Department of Pharmacology at Yale University School of Medicine. Published in Physiological Reviews in 1921, his paper examined how body heat is regulated in various species. In this review, Dr. Barbour explains that water is the best medium for conducting heat throughout the body. This is […]
A reference to nectar-feeding bats as “hummingbirds of the night” in a presentation at the 2025 American Physiology Summit in Baltimore last month caught my eye. What an appropriate nickname for bats that can have blood sugar levels exceeding 750 mg/dl after a meal! Sure, a hummingbird would think this was normal, but for a human these levels would warrant a trip to the emergency room. New research shared by […]
We are very excited to share this winning guest blog post from Amy Klink, doctoral student at the University of Nevada – Las Vegas. Amy received the Dr. Dolittle travel award to present this research at the 2025 American Physiology Summit in Baltimore. Congratulations Amy! As a kid growing up in Lake County, Illinois, I spent more than half of my summer in some lake or body of water competing […]
A new study published by researchers at Arizona State University, led by Dr. Carlo Maley, in Nature Communications set out to examine whether vertebrates that have high blood sugar are at greater risk of developing cancer. The current study follows on the heels of prior work by his team that was published in Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health last summer showing that cancer prevalence is lower in birds than other […]
Cell membranes are incredibly complex environments that play crucial roles in interacting with other cells, sensing specific molecules in the body, controlling what crosses the membrane, and other vital functions. The composition of these membranes varies between organs in an animal, between similar organs in different species, and even between individuals of the same species. Think of cell membranes as gatekeepers, responsible for detecting various chemical signals (such as ions […]
Did you know that your brain is really greedy? It uses about 5.7 kilograms of ATP every day, which is an incredible amount of energy! To keep up with such demand, the brain depends on an adequate supply of oxygen and nutrients, such as glucose. When oxygen or nutrient delivery are limited, like during a heart attack, stroke or in low-oxygen environments, the brain is unable to produce enough ATP […]
Life Lines by Dr. Dolittle 