First came rats, now mice, in having offered to them a cure for the ailment known as jetlag. RATS, then: The 2007 Ig Nobel Prize for aviation was awarded to Patricia V. Agostino, Santiago A. Plano and Diego A. Golombek of Universidad Nacionalde Quilmes, Argentina, for their discovery that Viagra aids jetlag recovery in hamsters. [REFERENCE: […]
Tag: Rats
Durian and paracetamol, mixed in rats
What happens when, for whatever reason, you feed both durian — the fruit with a smell that overpowers some people — and the painkiller paracetamol, mixed in rats, and from time to time take the rectal temperature of those rats? This study explores that question: “Hyperthermic effects of Durio zibethinus and its interaction with paracetamol,” […]
Rats Will Encounter Rat-Size People, and Vice Versa
Rats and people (or any two different size critters) can encounter each other on the same scale, virtually, under the scheme outlined in a new study. The image below demonstrates virtual rat-sized persons in a rat world. The study is: “Beaming into the Rat World: Enabling Real-Time Interaction between Rat and Human Each at Their […]
N. attenboroughii vs Rat
Newly Discovered Carnivorous Jungle Plant Gobbles Rats Whole Deep in the jungle primeval, Nepenthes attenboroughii awaits its furry prey. But N. attenboroughii isn’t a stealthy cat or poisonous lizard. It’s a plant, and it eats rats. So says a Popular Science article by Stuart Fox. The study formally announcing the discovery (of the plant, though […]
Grimaces of mice and men (and rats)
Scientists are interested in whether mice’s facial expressions can be used as an index of pain. To test the idea, they compared the Mouse Grimace Scale (pictured below) with more traditional behavioral measures in examining mice’s levels of discomfort after having surgery on their manhood—er, mousehood. “The Assessment of Post-Vasectomy Pain in Mice Using Behaviour and […]
Theory ‘o Everything: Rats, Coffee, Drugs, Booze, Decisions
A new study involves rats, coffee, amphetamines, booze, decision-making, and lots more. It answers a good percentage of the questions you might care to ask about psychology or anything else. The study is: “Sensitivity to Cognitive Effort Mediates Psychostimulant Effects on a Novel Rodent Cost/Benefit Decision-Making Task,” Paul J Cocker, Jay G Hosking, James Benoit […]
Tongue-Strengthening Exercises for Rats
Investigator Ben Broughton writes: “I came across this paper while looking to settle an argument about whether muscles need hinges to produce significant power. The researchers fabricated an apparatus to measure the force of a rat’s tongue. The paper explains that with training, a young rat can increase the force its tongue can produce by 250%, […]
Rat-eating-soldier automaton
Video (with dull commentary) of a nineteenth century automaton of a French soldier eating rats every five minutes or so:
Off-With-Their-Heads Research News
Today’s Icky Research Item award (with echoes from earlier French and British work—see below) goes to this new Dutch study: “Decapitation in Rats: Latency to Unconsciousness and the ‘Wave of Death’“, Clementina M. van. Rijn, Hans Krijnen, Saskia Menting-Hermeling, Anton M. L. Coenen, PLoS ONE 6(1): e16514. (Thanks to investigator and LFHCfS member Holly Brothers […]
Female college students, and rats
A study called Similar Preference for Natural Mineral Water between Female College Students and Rats pulls off a nice bit of interspecies diplomacy. Reading it end to end, you would be hard pressed to say who – the college students or the rats – was most intended to benefit from the research. Written by Esumi […]