The ‘Sixth Sense’ of Pets

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In a recent poll, about two thirds of Americans said they believed their pets had a ‘sixth sense’ about things like weather and bad news.  The reasons for this canine and feline intuition can be many- sensing changes in barometric pressure, blood sugar changes, or perhaps it’s just in the eye of the beholder.  Read about it at the Huffington Post.

Dolphin Intelligence Raises Questions of Treatment

Dolphin intelligence studies have shown them to have complex intelligence, self-awareness and psychology.  How should this affect how humans treat dolphins in captivity?  Read the story and about the recent conference on the matter at ScienceDaily.

Decoding the Hyena’s Laugh

Hyena giggles are in fact complex communications that reveal information such as age and pack hierarchy by their pitch.  Read about the researcher’s amazing discoveries here.

Predicting Earthquakes, with Toads

Forget modern technology- one newly studied way to predict seismic activity in an area is to keep an eye on the common toad, which will apparently flee the scene days before an event.  Get the full scoop on the unusual indicators here.

Nervous Dogs and Thunder

Just in time for the Fourth of July: A study recently showed that holding or comforting a dog during loud noises such as a thunderstorm does not relieve their anxiety, although the company of other dogs may do the trick.  Read about pet panic here.

What Makes a Bee Queen?

People have long pondered how bees select a ‘queen’ for their hive.  But the act is anything but arbitrary- new research shows that bees have a complex caste system determined by hormones and diet.  Read the full story here.

Magnetic Vision

Wonder how birds migrate?  According to researchers, they can ‘see’ the Earth’s magnetic field and use it for navigation.  Read about the discovery here.

Orangutans, Nature’s Couch Potato?

Apparently, a fully active orangutan exerts less energy than a sedentary human.  This helps explain how the creatures can live in food-scarce environments.  Read the full story here.

Insects Sense Danger on Mammals’ Breath

Some plant-dwelling insects can sense and escape from danger (in the form of a hungry herbivore) by detecting the changes in temperature and humidity that a mammal’s breath produces.  More than any other indicator such as branch or leaf shaking or shadows, these insects overwhelmingly responded to mammalian breath.  Read the story here.

Breeding Changes Canine Brains

Human-controlled breeding of dogs is slowly impacting the position of the canine brain. Dogs’ sense of smell can be completely different from another’s simply due to brain position. Researchers wonder now, how new brain positions will affect dog behavior.  Get the full scoop at Science Daily.