July 04, 2005
doggy face-lifts, doggy boob jobs...
It makes me a little sad to think of pup-plastic surgery in Brazil. If you love your pet, why expose them to the dangers that come with putting them under the knife? To wit:
[Brazilian vet Edgado Brito] can make protruding ears droop and uses Metacril to straighten bent ears. He uses Botox to fix inverted eyelashes. He has even tightened the mammillae of a couple of female dogs, whose owners wanted to show them after they had given birth.
But maybe I am biased because Tiberius is the most adorable little guy ever. Even if he has a face only a non-plastic-surgeon would love.
posted by miranda at 11:19 AM
June 29, 2005
Zombie dogs!
The unbelievable dog news of the day, if you haven't heard already, is that scientists have resuscitated dead dogs in a grisly cryogenic procedure which they plan to use on battleground soldiers. From news.com.au:
During the procedure blood is replaced with saline solution at a few degrees above zero. The dogs' body temperature drops to only 7C, compared with the usual 37C, inducing a state of hypothermia before death.
Although the animals are clinically dead, their tissues and organs are perfectly preserved.
Damaged blood vessels and tissues can then be repaired via surgery. The dogs are brought back to life by returning the blood to their bodies, giving them 100 per cent oxygen and applying electric shocks to restart their hearts.
So I started Googling for photos of these resuscitated dogs, and found some incredible zombie dog images created by computer game designer Toby Marvin (see graphic in this post). His website also has flattened-out images of the pieces of texture from which the CGI dogs were assembled - they look like flayed pieces of skin. Don't miss this grisly demonstration of technology!
LINK: [news.com.au]
LINK: [sneakmedia.com]
posted by miranda at 08:57 PM
June 27, 2005
Acupuncture for dogs
Slate's Jon Katz wrote an intriguing article about how a "holistic vet" helped change the personality of his Border Collie:
"When we go to see Stephanie now, he bounds out of the car, darts into her office, jumps up on her platform, and lies down for his needles. Within minutes, he is dozing peacefully. When the last needle is removed, he hops off the table and sits eagerly by the cabinet where Stephanie stores the treats. Then he lies down under her desk while I pay for the visit."
The UIUC Veterinary School quotes one of their second-year students' experiences with acupuncture for her dog, who suffered from lumbo-sacral disease: "It was great! Before acupuncture, he couldn't even make it up the stairs. We had to carry him, and that was quite a feat considering he is an 80-pound dog! Now, after acupuncture, he runs and jumps up those steps."
I'm still skeptical, mostly because acupuncture for me has been mostly painful and unhelpful. Then again, my acupuncturist never gave me treats!
LINK: [Slate]
LINK: [uiuc.edu]
posted by miranda at 10:49 PM
nanodog!
Hard to take care of, but oh so cute! Shufeng Bai's entry in Princeton's 2005 Art of Science Competition.
posted by ranjit at 07:10 PM
April 06, 2005
dogs do laugh!
Science triumphs again, proving that dogs can laugh!
Professor Panksepp, of Bowling Green State University in Ohio, US, explains that neural circuits for laughter exist in "ancient" parts of our brain, whose general structure is shared amongst many animals.
They've seen evidence of laughter in dogs as well as in rats and chimpanzees, although they had to use different jokes.
posted by ranjit at 02:42 PM
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April 02, 2005
dogs really do look like their owners
News flash: top scientists of science have proven that dogs really do look like their owners.
Researchers from the University of California, San Diego showed that people choose purebred dogs that resemble them. But they weren't so fussy when it came to choosing a mongrel.
Isn't science wonderful?
posted by ranjit at 01:19 AM
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dogs really do look like their owners
News flash: top scientists of science have proven that dogs really do look like their owners.
Researchers from the University of California, San Diego showed that people choose purebred dogs that resemble them. But they weren't so fussy when it came to choosing a mongrel.
Isn't science wonderful?
posted by ranjit at 01:19 AM
comments (124)
, trackback (18)
February 04, 2005
can dogs think?
Natural History Magazine this month contains a review of a couple of new books: How Dogs Think: Understanding the Canine Mind by Stanley Coren, and If Dogs Could Talk: Exploring the Canine Mind by Vilmos Csányi. It's an interesting article, even if it doesn't answer the question any more than the books do. Can dogs think? Who knows?
The philosopher Daniel Dennett speculated about animal minds and the evolution of consciousness in his book Kinds of Minds: Towards an Understanding of Consciousness. I liked his idea that consciousness isn't something that you either have or not. Instead, there are different kinds and degrees of consciousness. It seems reasonable to say that a dog is sort of conscious and a little bit intelligent. Even if he eats poop.
posted by ranjit at 12:59 AM
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