"Rat Attack" airs on NOVA tonight!!

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Once again I find myself looking forward to a special program by NOVA National Geographic called "Rat Attack". The program airs tonight so be sure to check your local PBS listings for times.

Here is a description of the special:

"Once every 48 years, bamboo forests in parts of northeast India go into exuberant flower. Then, like clockwork, the flowering is invariably followed by a plague of black rats that appear to spring from nowhere to spread destruction and famine in their wake. For the first time on film, NOVA and National Geographic capture this rat population explosion in vivid detail and show how scientists are unraveling the connections between bamboo flowering and rat outbreaks. Ultimately, their research should help local people better cope with the next attack--due in 2056."

I look forward to talking about this topic after the special!

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This is a guest post by Martina Mustroph, one of Greta's top student writers for Spring 2007
Teens who routinely exercise (especially in organized activities like team sports
Almost everyone tries to lose weight at some point, but we are remarkably bad at it; most people quickly return to their original weight after cessation of exercise or resumption of a normal diet.
Baby rats, only 5 days old and still very much reliant on their mothers for food, can be artificially dehydrated by injecting them with a saline hypertonic solution. If a source of water is placed very close to the rat's snout, it will drink.

watched the whole thing,even the gory bits.the rat and bamboo interaction was of course enlightening but once again the "how the other half lives" views was the part that got my interest.