Cat Bites and Human Depression [The Data Miners’ Tale]

This study presents a cheery attempt to see if cat bites lead to human depression (or maybe vice versa): “Describing the Relationship between Cat Bites and Human Depression Using Data from an Electronic Health Record,” David A. Hanauer [pictured here], Naren Ramakrishnan, Lisa S. Seyfried, PLoS One. 2013 Aug 1;8(8):e70585. (Thanks to Constanza Villalba for […]

Constipation on two levels (tortoise and journal), both relieved

Comes twofold news of constipation relief: “Alleviation of a gastrointestinal tract impaction in a tortoise using an improvised vibrating massager,” Emma Nicholas and Clifford Warwick, Journal of Herpetological Medicine and Surgery, Volume 21, Issue 4, 2011. A press release issued by the Animal Protection Agency gives details: “On arrival at the vets in Barons Court, London, […]

What the dog ate. What the scientist reported.

A dog at a scientist’s lab work. The scientist then wrote a report about the dog eating the scientist’s lab work. The report is: “Thallium toxicosis in a dog consequent to ingestion of Mycoplasma agar plates,” Birgit Puschner [pictured here], Marguerite M. Basso and Thomas W. Graham, Journal of Veterinary Diagnostic Investigation, vol. 24 no. 1, […]

Ten Tops List [videos of spinning tops] — 2011

There are lots of top ten lists, but this is the first Ten Tops List. Here are ten videos of spinning tops that scientists find interesting and or amusing. [Want to take a whirl at learning the science of spinning tops? Download (free) Professor John Perry’s 1890 book Spinning Tops— The “Operatives’ lecture” of the British […]