JMH Techtronics

Haller’s rule: is that larger animal species though having absolutely larger brains have relatively smaller brains than related smaller species. It was first proposed by Albrecht von Haller in 1762. It applies both to brains of invertebrates and vertebrates. The rule also applies to eyes. As the rule above states, the smaller an animal gets [...]

Filed under: Animals by JMH
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Before there were landmine sniffing rats, there were landmine sniffing dogs. The problem? A very ugly one. Dogs were heavy enough to detonate some of these mines. Something I am guessing most of us don’t find all that humane. Rats have something in common with the dogs that were once used. They have a highly [...]

Filed under: Animals by JMH
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A University of Alberta research team has discovered a treasure trove of Cretaceous feathers trapped inside of tree resin. The resin turned to resilient amber, which preserved some 80 million-year-old protofeathers, possibly from non-avian dinosaurs, as well as plumage that is very similar to modern birds, including those that can swim under water. Interesting that [...]

Filed under: Animals, Evolution by JMH
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I was watching the BBC documentary “Life” with David Attenborough earlier today and figured this was interesting enough that I wanted to read and share a bit more about it. While most people believe that only humans are tool users, it has been observed in nature that some other primates use them as well. Chimpanzees [...]

Filed under: Animals, Biology, Evolution by JMH
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The Taxoplasma parasites live inside the brains of rats. They are born in the digestive system of cats. I’m sure you can deduce that the functions of these animals and their natural food chain connection plays a role hear. It has long been thought that taxoplasma parasites manipulate rats in a way that makes them [...]

Filed under: Animals, Biology, Evolution by JMH
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As any sort of science, or biology fan I think this may be one of the most interesting and astounding television shows I have watched. While the productions values aren’t like something as majestic as say “Planet Earth”, this show is probably much more informative. The title of the show gives you a clue to [...]

Filed under: Animals, Biology, Evolution by JMH
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Sure we have seen animals tested to see how they can learn many times, but I can’t remember ever seeing lizards tested this way. Just look at this image below makes me chuckle a little. I am not sure why. A Duke University experiment tested Puerto Rican anoles on several cognitive tasks and found they [...]

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The gray whales are considered a conservation success in that back in the 1930s populations were said to be under 1,000. Today their numbers are closer to 22,000. It is believed that pre-whaling populations were likely to be four times this number. Just looking at what I said above there are probably a few questions [...]

Filed under: Animals, Environment, Global Warming, Oceans and Marine Life by JMH
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Nope…this isn’t a new Batman porn. Apparently there is a condition called feather-loss disorder that is afflicting baby penguins in the South Atlantic. This gets closer and closer to an article from The Onion every sentence…lol A study on the disorder appears in a recent edition of the journal Waterbirds. The authors of the paper [...]

Filed under: Animals by JMH
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You are obviously thinking, “what the hell is this guy talking about Army of Bees?” nonsense. Well…it’s kind of a joke that I read about a lot during the show of Lost. If you ever watched Lost you may remember when Jack Sheppard went up to Anna Lucia and asked her if she could help [...]

Filed under: Animals, Environment by JMH
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