Which blue circle looks bigger? They're the same size. This illusion is called the "Ebbinghaus illusion" and it turns out, even fish are susceptible to this visual trickery. Some fish were trained to prefer large circles, and some to prefer small circles. Their test choice depended on the appearance of the circle in relation to a group of differently-colored, differently-sized circles.
Cone snails expose their prey to a massive dose of insulin that sends the fish into a low blood sugar state, making them easier to kill. Are the fish just "hangry"?
A new study found a relationship between the types of chimps calls, and their discovery of delicious fruits. Seems like they might be talking about the quality and quantity of the fruit on a tree.
Cichlid fish are really cool! Recently, it was discovered that among African Neolamprologus caudopunctatus, the females are the ones who disperse, not males. In groups of fish, DNA analysis revealed that small females tend to hang with their bigger sisters. This kind of sibling-shoaling was not found in males of the same species.
Rats exploring a new environment do better with a buddy. Scientists measured rats second exploration of a novel space either alone or with another rat. Rats who had a buddy on that second trial were more exploratory, and the effect lasted through a third solo trial. Read more!
A tiny, carnivorous primate with big eyes, these nighttime creatures are both cute and vicious. Learn more about them!!
Bees sleep more after hanging out with bees than they do after spending time alone - five hours more! It could be the flood of information they have to process after encounter so many of their colony members - the extra sleep may help with learning and memory. Read more here!
One of my fave blogs, GrrlScientist, proposes a squirrel maze as a lovely alternative to the chemistry set as a family science project. I couldn't agree more!
Scientists are using accelerometers on various animals - from cockroaches to elephants - and correlating their movements with positive or negative experiences. So far they have found significant differences in how animals move their bodies during positive or negative states. This potentially gives us new, non-invasive tools for studying animal emotions! So cool! Now tell me, what does my Fitbit say about my mental state?
Leave it to two of my science-blogging faves, DogSpies and BuzzHootRoar to bring us the top reasons that dogs hump, complete with animated GIFs. We can all just go home now, science journalism is done.
Are cat people just a little different? Do we relate to our pets a little differently too? Yes. I wrote on this subject for the Dodo many months ago, and was interviewed for this excellent piece by Gwynn Guilford that was released this week on Quartz (qz.com).
This fantastic article reviews a new biography of Ivan Pavlov, known for making dogs drool at the sound of a metronome (NOT A BELL!). What we know about his study of physiology, what happened after he got his Nobel prize, and what drool can tell us about human psychology. Read all about it!
