Why Science is Awesome, Part 2

So I found my zip disc from undergrad Developmental Biology class, and I currently have a computer with a zip drive (what are the odds?), so I decided to put up some pictures, since I think they are further evidence for science being AWESOME. Also, it's just plain fun to have a camera attached to the microscope.

First, we have some polytene chromosomes. These are found in Drosophila flies, the salivary glands of the larvae, to be precise. You have to get the squirmy little buggers, find their salivary glands (using sewing pins as surgical tools), remove them intact (they look rather like clear honeycombs), then dye them, smash them just right, and some other things. Anyway, the "polytene" means the chromosomes are larger than most normal ones, better for looking at under microscopes. Also, they are pretty much alwasy undergoing synapsis, so good for studying.


This is a developing zebra fish. The big circle in the middle is the yolk sac, providing nourishment for the little guy as he develops. When he actually starts to look a little more like a fish, he'll internalize it, until he comes out and starts looking for his own food. Another one is below, a little further along (don't you love the buggy eyes? It reminds me of some Disney characters).



So, that's it. Maybe I'll put the bug-eyed one on the Christmas cards this year...

Taking a Study Break

So, I was writing a paper last weekend for one of my classes. And next thing I know, the mouse stops working. I should note at this point that the puppy was sitting at my feet munching something. Now, I would like to point out that I had just given him a rawhide. Apparently our other dog had taken it away from him, and he felt the need to take it out on my computer (while I was writing a paper). Now, if I had known that he was munching away on things not to be chewed on ("That's not food!" is a common phrase in our household, useful for both canines and children), I would have stopped him. He chewed through three different wires. Luckily they were all low-voltage ones. No power cords for him.

So, here is my question: can dogs detect the amounts of electricity running through those wires? Has anyone tested this? Is there a humane way to test this (without getting PETA on your butt. No, not that one.) So, I ask my husband, who has a degree in electrical and mechanical engineering, if batteries and electrical cords give off the same kind of electricity. He doesn't know. What is the point of having that degree if you don't know the answers to these kinds of questions? What am I supposed to do?

What anyone else in my situation would do: turn to the internet. Luckily, one can always depend on the government. The OTA did a study in 1989 on this very subject. Well, not really. But some of it at least answers some of my questions. First of all, batteries produce DC (direct current) while electricity produces AC (alternating current). This, I feel, is something my husband should have known. Moving on, electricity produces electric fields, which can be detected by some animals (see, I'm not crazy!), including "eels, sharks, and pigeons" (Biological Effects of Power Frequency Electric and Magnetic Fields, OTA study 1989). Some studies have been done (lots of them with rodents), but they are mostly isolated studies in labs here and there. For instance, studies with rats have indicated that they can detect fields of just over 1 kV/meter (I don't know how or why, so don't ask). Another article I found studied baboons. They found that exposure to a 30-kY/m, 60-Hz electric field (for 12 hours per day, 7 days per week for 6 weeks) resulted in significant change in the social behavior (i.e. stress) of adult male baboons (Papio cynocephalus anubis) (Coelho, Easley, and Rogers 1990). The changes were not there before or after exposure to the electric field, only during. (How closely related to them are we again?)

As yet, I cannot find any studies on dogs (besides electroshock therapy for muscles and things). Future research people! Am I the only one who wants to know these things?

Over the River

Okay, so more like over the Bay. I've been given a new county at work, across the Chesapeake Bay. And something happens when you cross that water, and its weird. The first time my supervisor and I ventured into the wilds of the county, we were in a gas station getting some hot chocolate to warm up, and saw a portly caucasian man in a long fur coat. No hat, no boots, just regular shoes and the fur coat. It was almost like when you go to the Renaissance Festival and people think it means "dress-in-whatever-you-want-Festival." Not sure if the fur was real or not. It would be even weirder if it weren't real, because where would you find a fake fur coat that huge?



This past Wednesday, yesterday, we went to a few older sites. And found a fishbait dispenser outside one of them. It's kind of like a soda dispenser, only it dispenses fish bait. This raises all kinds of questions, the first being, Do people actually use this thing? How often do they have to restock it? Do the baits get dizzy on their way down and then have to recalibrate themselves? Does it get too cold for them in the winter and freeze them? We didn't have time to test it out and see if it was working, but maybe we should have...