rats

How DNA detective work explains extinction of Christmas Island's native rats

harminka — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 11:20:57 -0600

It took less than a decade for native rats to become extinct on the Indian Ocean's previously uninhabited Christmas Island once Eurasian black rats jumped ship onto the island at the turn of the 20th century.

MIT researchers catch rats' twitchy whiskers in action

harminka — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 12:28:33 -0600

Rats use their whiskers in a way that is closely related to the human sense of touch: Just as humans move their fingertips across a surface to perceive shapes and textures, rats twitch their whiskers to achieve the same goal.

Twanging rat whiskers yields insight into sensing machinery

harminka — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 12:24:39 -0600

High-speed video of rats using their whiskers to explore different surfaces has given researchers significant insights into the subtle mechanics of their tactile sensory system. Such information is important because the rat tactile machinery is a widely used laboratory model for studying how energy from sound or touch is translated into neural activity.

Rats on islands disrupt ecosystems from land to sea

harminka — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 00:56:28 -0600

Seabird colonies on islands are highly vulnerable to introduced rats, which find the ground-nesting birds to be easy prey. But the ecological impacts of rats on islands extend far beyond seabird nesting colonies, according to a new study by researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Scientists develop robotic rats to aid in rescue missions

harminka — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 11:50:50 -0600

A new initiative, bringing together nine research groups from seven countries, including teams of robotics and brain researchers from Europe, the USA and Israel, has recently been set up with the aim of imitating nature.

2 mammals believed new to science discovered in pristine wilderness

harminka — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 11:37:29 -0600

A tiny possum and a giant rat were recorded by scientists as probable new species on a recent expedition to Indonesia’s remote and virtually unknown “Lost World” in the pristine wilderness of western New Guinea’s Foja Mountains.

Food restriction increases dopamine receptor levels in obese rats

harminka — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 07:02:27 -0500

A brain-imaging study of genetically obese rats conducted at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory provides more evidence that dopamine - a brain chemical associated with reward, pleasure, movement, and motivation - plays a role in obesity.

Generalized reciprocity in rats

harminka — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 08:59:03 -0500

Cooperation in animals has long been a major focus in evolutionary biology. In particular, reciprocal altruism, where helpful acts are contingent upon the likelihood of getting help in return, is especially intriguing because it is open to cheaters.

Human stem cell treatment restores motor function in paralyzed rats

harminka — Thu, 31 May 2007 12:34:55 -0500

Rats paralyzed due to loss of blood flow to the spine returned to near normal ambulatory function six weeks after receiving grafts of human spinal stem cells (hSSCs), researchers from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine report. The study, led by Martin Marsala, M.D., UC San Diego professor of anesthesiology, is published in the June 29, 2007 issue of the journal Neuroscience, which is now online.

Rats are capable of metacognition

harminka — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 14:26:56 -0600

RatsÃ‚Â´ senses a whisker away from humans

harminka — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 11:04:42 -0600

Rats on a road trip reveal pollution-heart disease risk

harminka — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 08:59:06 -0600