Life Science
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Category archives for Life Science
Dog smarts
Posted by Dr. Dolittle on February 6, 2013 I just found out there is a website, Dognition, dedicated to helping you discover just how smart your furry friend is. The site claims that dogs are actually smarter than we think and that even the apparently dumbest dog is intelligent in one way or another. (There is hope for my dog after all!) The scientist behind the website…
Could Camels Cure Cancer?
Posted by Dr. Dolittle on February 4, 2013 Researchers from King Abdulaziz University (Jeddah) have tested the effectiveness of micro and nanoshells for delivering a substance from camel urine, PMF701, thought to be a cure for cancer. These findings will be presented at the 2nd Biotechnology World Congress (Feb 18-21). PMF701, not yet approved by the Saudi Food and Drug Authority, is currently in…
Cryptozoology: Could Nessy really exist?
Posted by Dr. Dolittle on February 1, 2013 I just read an interesting article published in The Scientist today about cryptozoology, a field of research specializing in the study of animals about which only anecdotal or partial evidence exists. In other words, no actual specimens have been studied…think Big Foot or the Loch Ness Monster. There is now a new peer-reviewed scientific journal,…
Cancer: A common enemy of dogs and people
Posted by Dr. Dolittle on January 29, 2013 You may recall a prior blog entry about a new experimental treatment for bone cancer in dogs. Researchers are increasingly studying canine cancer and discovering that it is caused by some of the same genetic mutations that cause cancer in humans. Shown in the image above is Jasper, a 7-year old dog that has lymphoma,…
The domestication of dogs
Posted by Dr. Dolittle on January 26, 2013 New genetic analyses supports the argument that the domestication of man’s best friend coincided with the advent of argiculture and human settlements. Researchers Erik Axelsson (Uppsala University, Sweden) and colleagues present evidence suggesting that wolves became domesticated as they increasingly scavenged in the human settlements. The researchers sequenced DNA from 12 wolves and 60 dogs to find areas that…
Feather pattern indicates health
Posted by Dr. Dolittle on January 24, 2013 A new study shows that the feather pattern on the chests of some birds (i.e. the bib) may be an outward sign of how healthy the bird is. The pattern the study refers to is called a fractal dimension, which is used to describe the complexity of the pattern (see image above). Researchers, Pérez-Rodríguez et…
Top 10 new species of 2012
Posted by Dr. Dolittle on January 20, 2013 The International Institute for Species Exploration at Arizona State University that has just come out with the top 10 new species of 2012! This is the 5th year they have come out with such a list. If you would like to nominate your favorite new species discovered in 2013, click here. Here are my favorites…
Looking for Life in an Ancient Subsurface Lake
Posted by Dr. Dolittle on January 14, 2013 Okay, this may not have anything to do with animal physiology…but then again maybe it does… Russian scientists have just retrieved a core sample of frozen ice from the subsurface Lake Vostok in Antarctica that has been isolated from the outside world for at least 100,000 if not millions of years. The lake was protected…
Ancient bird had specialized teeth!
Posted by Dr. Dolittle on January 8, 2013 Researchers have unearthed a fossil of a robin-sized bird (Sulcavis geeorum) from the Cretaceous Period in China that had teeth! This species belonged to a class of birds with teeth (Enantiornithines) that were plentiful in the age of the dinosaurs. However, the teeth of this well-preserved specimen were different. The teeth were sharp and had…
Spider creates sculptures
Posted by Dr. Dolittle on January 3, 2013 Check out this “sculpure” of a spider discovered by Biologist Phil Torres, created by what may be a new species of Cyclosa found in the Peruvian Amazon. This is not just a pattern weaved by the spider into the web, but instead it is created from debris in the forest (dead insects, leaves, etc.). It…