Dinner Lecture: Parasitology Club Fecal Lecture and Lab

Today’s Dinner Lecture of the Day is the “Parasitology Club Fecal Lecture and Lab” at Cornell University, at which “Dr. Araceli Lucio-Forster will give a dinner lecture on the principles of veterinary fecal examinations which will be followed by a practical lab in which students will have the opportunity to perform fecals on their pet’s […]

PotPet – potted plants which follow you and ask for water

“PotPet acts autonomously like pets: it automatically moves to sunny places or approaches people when it requires water.“ Details of ‘PotPet: Pet-like Flowerpot Robot’(from Ayumi Kawakamim Koji Tsukada, Keisuke Kambara and Itiro Siio at Ochanomizu University, Tokyo) were published in Proceedings of 5th International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction, January 22–26, 2011, Funchal, […]

Budgies Also Yawn (contagiously)

The 2011 Ig Nobel Physiology Prize was awarded to Anna Wilkinson (of the UK), Natalie Sebanz (of The Netherlands, Hungary, and Austria), Isabella Mandl (of Austria) and Ludwig Huber (of Austria) for their study “No Evidence of Contagious Yawning in the Red-Footed Tortoise.” However, although Red-Footed Tortoises don’t seem to contagiously yawn, many other animals […]

Chihuahuas – are they, in fact, bonsai wolves?

David Redmalm, ABD, who is a PhD Student in Sociology at Örebro University, Sweden, and who specializes in the implications of pet-keeping, presents his paper ‘Holy bonsai wolves: Chihuahuas and the Paris Hilton syndrome’ in the International Journal of Cultural Studies, January 2014 vol. 17 no. 1, pp. 93-109. “[…] The article argues that the Chihuahua […]

Caring for and killing small mammals (University of Florida advice)

The grand circle of life is on display at  the University of Florida Small Animal Hospital. The institution reports that it “… offers the highest quality diagnostic and treatment care for all non-domestic animals, including Florida indigenous wildlife and non-native exotic animals.“ “Our service has exceptional experience and unparalleled facilities for non-domestic mammal medicine. We […]

Goldfish no golder when fed tomatoes

“Color of aquarium fishes has an important role in preference of consumers. Insufficient coloration reduces economical value and not meet consumer demands both.” In other words, the ‘golder’ a goldfish is, the more valuable it might be. A team from the Fisheries Faculty at Akdeniz University, Antalya, Turkey (motto: “The university which brings illumination and […]