Reduce Stress with this Animal Behavior Meditation

A reposting of an original article from The Scorpion and the Frog.

In a search for the promised inner peace and tranquility of meditation, I attended a meditation class at a local yoga studio. In a room with dim fluorescent lights and an artificial wood floor I laid on my back on my yoga mat, sandwiched between a fidgety woman who kept her smartphone on the edge of her mat and a man whose stress had apparently resulted in a flatulence problem. I was told to close my eyes, breathe deeply, and think about nothing. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and thought: “How do I think about nothing?” I thought about black. “Does black count as nothing? Wondering if I’m thinking about nothing is definitely not nothing. Am I doing this wrong? Is this going to work? If this isn’t going to work, I’m just wasting my time. I could be working through my to-do list right now. Oh! I forgot to put laundry on my to-do list. Oh, right… think about nothing. Black?”

This ring-tailed lemur has found her inner peace - Can you find yours?
Photo by Margaret at Wikimedia Commons

It was years later that I realized that meditation doesn’t have to be so painfully contrived. I do it all the time naturally. Maybe you do too. We just have to nurture those moments. Here’s one way to do it:

1) Go to a place where you have seen at least one animal in the recent past. Maybe you saw a squirrel or a songbird in that tree in your yard. Maybe you saw fish in the creek you pass over on your way to school. Maybe there’s an occupied spider web in the corner. Maybe you have a favorite spot at the local zoo or aquarium. Go there. Don’t worry if there is an animal there now or not.

2) Sit down in a comfortable position and take a deep breath. Look around and take in your surroundings. Feel the environmental conditions. Listen to the sounds around you. Wait and observe. If you’re quiet, they will come.

3) When an animal shows up, focus on it. If multiple animals show up, pick one to be your focal animal. Observe every possible detail of your focal animal: What does it look like? Does it have any markings? What is it doing? How does it position itself with respect to its surroundings? What is its posture? How does it respond to changes in its surroundings?

4) Allow your mind to wander into your focal animal’s world (or umwelt). How do you think your focal animal perceives its surroundings?

5) Allow your mind to ponder explanations and consequences of your focal animal’s behavior.

6) Continue for as long as you can keep your mind focused on your animal, or until you have somewhere else you are supposed to be.

Try this out for yourself, and then let us know what you experienced!

Exploring How Predators Hunt

By Jon Clark

A "Lion King" in his natural habitat. Photo by Jon Clark.

Predatory animals are a huge obsession for most children at some point. From that picture book about the cool T-Rex to watching “The Lion King” millions of times, we’re fascinated with the kings of the food chain. And let’s be honest, even as adults they’re still pretty neat to us. Why else take a grand safari adventure to see lions and other animals in their natural habitat? So to fuel that curiosity, below is a guide to how predators hunt. It might just help you understand animal movements and behavior for watching wildlife.

The basics of how predators hunt

Predators are, of course, animals that feed on other animals. These predators rely on the flesh of other animals as a resource for their survival and are highly skilled at finding and catching it. Predators sit at the top of a delicate food web, all components of which fit together to keep the environment balanced over time.

Different types of predators have four main hunting strategies for finding their prey. According to an article from Idaho Public Television, they are:

• Chase: Think of an eagle diving for a mouse. This is chase behavior in predators. This method requires a delicate balance of hunting down food that provides enough energy and nutrition to offset the energy cost of running that food source down.


• Stalk: For this method, think of an egret or crane standing motionless or walking slowly in water, and then lunging as a tasty morsel goes by. This method is a huge time sink for the animal as it moves from cover to cover getting incrementally closer to it’s prey. It also takes far less energy, however, as only a small burst of speed is required at the end. This means that these predators can often live off of smaller prey. 


• Ambush: Lion researcher, George Schaller, watched a group of gazelles in the Serengeti. In order to access water, there was a patch of thick brush they would need to cross. As the gazelles entered the brush, Schaller watched as the lions hiding in wait, instantly ambushed and ate one of the gazelles. Due to their long manes and tan color, lions are nearly undetectable in such cover. The ambush requires a great deal of time, as it relies on other animals to wander into the area. For predators that have the patience, the success rates are quite high.


• Teamwork: Think of wolves working as a pack to take down a deer. This is one of the most exciting ways of how predators hunt. Teamwork allows the animals to pursue large and fast prey, scoring large amounts of food for the group. This is arguably one of the most successful tactics as seasoned hunters can quickly steer their prey in the direction of the other party. Additionally, the energy required for the chase and kill can be dispersed across the collective group. 

Lions on the hunt

One of the coolest and most popular things to see on a safari is a lion in its own natural habitat. This mighty “King of the Jungle” hunts both independently and as part of groups. Lions hunt some of the fastest animals in the world, like the wildebeest, which can run at speeds of 50 mph. Lions themselves are not incredibly fast, so they’ve had to get smart through a variety of hunting strategies.

Because lions are also relatively lazy animals, they tend to eat larger animals – which sustain them for longer periods. These animals include antelopes, zebras and wildebeest.

A lioness. Photo by Jon Clark.

The female lionesses hunt the most often for both themselves and for the males. A lioness will stalk from cover to cover to get close to the prey animal, and then pounce at the last minute. Their prey usually has slower reaction times, so this is a solid method. If the prey sees them, the lion will act innocent by sitting up and staring off into the distance, as if to say, “I wasn’t doing anything.”

Another method lions use is to find a bush near where the prey goes often, like a watering hole, and wait until they can strike. Lions have been known to actually nap while awaiting their deadly ambush.

To catch large or fast prey, lions leverage their group numbers to help each other cut off the escape of fleeing prey. When lions decide to hunt in pairs and groups their success rate goes up from about 18 percent to 30 percent while hunting alone and in daylight, according to the African Lion & Environmental Research Trust.

When hunting in groups, lions stalk in a pattern to encircle the prey. Then some attack, driving the prey to other waiting lions. As the prey animal tires from the constant running, one or two lionesses will try to jump on the back of the animal or hang by their claws from a zebra's or gnu's or buffalo's back. This certainly makes it very hard for the poor animal to run away from the next lion, who goes for the throat to complete the hunt. It’s one of the smartest and most effective ways for how predators hunt.

Hungry cubs waiting for lunch. Photo by Jon Clark.

Lions are known for their advanced hunting skills and have mastered the art of teamwork in all of their hunting strategies, including chasing, stalking, and ambushing their prey. Embarking on an African safari will be your best chance to experience these master hunters in real life.

Reduce Stress with this Animal Behavior Meditation

A reposting of an original article from March 21, 2012.

In a search for the promised inner peace and tranquility of meditation, I attended a meditation class at a local yoga studio. In a room with dim fluorescent lights and an artificial wood floor I laid on my back on my yoga mat, sandwiched between a fidgety woman who kept her smartphone on the edge of her mat and a man whose stress had apparently resulted in a flatulence problem. I was told to close my eyes, breathe deeply, and think about nothing. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and thought: “How do I think about nothing?” I thought about black. “Does black count as nothing? Wondering if I’m thinking about nothing is definitely not nothing. Am I doing this wrong? Is this going to work? If this isn’t going to work, I’m just wasting my time. I could be working through my to-do list right now. Oh! I forgot to put laundry on my to-do list. Oh, right… think about nothing. Black?”

This ring-tailed lemur has found her inner peace - Can you find yours?
Photo by Margaret at Wikimedia Commons

It was years later that I realized that meditation doesn’t have to be so painfully contrived. I do it all the time naturally. Maybe you do too. We just have to nurture those moments. Here’s one way to do it:

1) Go to a place where you have seen at least one animal in the recent past. Maybe you saw a squirrel or a songbird in that tree in your yard. Maybe you saw fish in the creek you pass over on your way to school. Maybe there’s an occupied spider web in the corner. Maybe you have a favorite spot at the local zoo or aquarium. Go there. Don’t worry if there is an animal there now or not.

2) Sit down in a comfortable position and take a deep breath. Look around and take in your surroundings. Feel the environmental conditions. Listen to the sounds around you. Wait and observe. If you’re quiet, they will come.

3) When an animal shows up, focus on it. If multiple animals show up, pick one to be your focal animal. Observe every possible detail of your focal animal: What does it look like? Does it have any markings? What is it doing? How does it position itself with respect to its surroundings? What is its posture? How does it respond to changes in its surroundings?

4) Allow your mind to wander into your focal animal’s world (or umwelt). How do you think your focal animal perceives its surroundings?

5) Allow your mind to ponder explanations and consequences of your focal animal’s behavior.

6) Continue for as long as you can keep your mind focused on your animal, or until you have somewhere else you are supposed to be.

Try this out for yourself, and then let us know what you experienced!

Where the Wild Things Are: Amazing Animal Watching Vacations

A modified repost of an original article from May, 2012.

School is winding down, the weather is beautiful and it is time to start thinking about summer vacation! Do you love watching and learning about animals? Then consider one (or more) of these animal watching vacations:


Go to a zoo:

Get a great view of a Siberian tiger at the Toronto Zoo.
Photo by Ber Zophus at Wikimedia.

Zoos allow you to explore the world in a single day: Meandering paths lead you past animals from across the globe. Lions, and tigers and bears, Oh my! But don’t forget the primates, reptiles, birds, and sea mammals. No matter what your animal fancy, you can likely see it at the zoo. Walk through the zoo reading the posted information on each species. Or sit at your favorite exhibit and focus on a single animal. Participate in an educational activity like touching and feeding animals with their keepers, a course, or even a sleepover. And while you are there, learn about how the zoo contributes to animal well-being: Many zoos provide research opportunities to study animal behavior and health (such as the friendship study in crested macaques), support captive breeding programs to restore threatened wild populations, rehabilitate injured or abandoned wild animals, and support habitat conservation.

If you have a local zoo, see what it has to offer. And if you like to travel, consider the San Diego Zoo, the Smithsonian National Zoological Park in Washington, DC, the Singapore Zoo, the National Zoological Gardens of South Africa, or the Toronto Zoo. All of these zoos are well-respected institutions that promote animal conservation and have fantastic educational programs.

Learn more about some of these zoos here.


Go to an aquarium:

Interact with dolphins at the National Aquarium.
Photo by the National Aquarium at Wikimedia.

Aquaria are places of wonder and tranquility. Learn about teleost fish, sharks, rays, crustaceans, octopuses, jellyfish, coral, and many more species that inhabit our oceans, lakes, and rivers. Relax while watching the graceful movements of sea animals and marvel at the agility of apex predators at feeding time. Learn about the many aquatic habitats our planet supports and the amazing diversity of the animals that live in them. Like zoos, aquaria provide research opportunities (such as the individual recognition study in octopuses), support conservation, and have fun educational programs and activities.

If you get a chance, you may want to check out the National Aquarium in Baltimore, the Georgia Aquarium, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, the Aquarium of Western Australia (AQWA) in Perth or L’Oceanogràfic in Valencia, Spain.

Learn more about some of these aquariums here and here.



Take a wildlife tour:

See breathtaking animals in their natural habitat
from the security of your guide's vehicle.
Photo by Brian Snelson at Wikimedia.

If you want to see wild animals in their natural habitats, experienced guides can help you find animals that are often elusive while keeping you safe and preserving animal habitats. Guides can give detailed information about the animals you encounter and can often tell thrilling tales of their own personal experiences. Some even provide lunch.

Maybe your dream has always been to go on an African safari. Consider the Safari Serengeti trip in Tanzania by Overseas Adventure Travel, where you can see animals like Thomson’s gazelles, buffalo, and elephants. Or participate in a North American safari in Yellowstone National Park with Wolf & Bear Safaris by the Yellowstone Safari Company. If a Northwoods flavor suits you, check out Northwoods Outfitters Moose Wildlife Safari in Maine. Or take a Hawaiian vacation and go whale watching with Ultimate Whale Watch in Maui. For a scientific marine vacation, go on an Educational Shark Encounter trip with Fish Finder Adventures based in Ocean City, Maryland. Whatever your dream animal watching trip, a guide can help you bring it to life.


Go somewhere wild on your own:

Kayak by thousands of birds in the Everglades
(but don't forget your anti-bird-poop-hat).
Photo by Matt Magolan.

If you are an independently minded and experienced adventurer, the world is awaiting. And if you want to increase your chances of observing spectacular wild animals in nature, you should go somewhere that has a lot of spectacular wild animals… like Manuel Antonio Park in Costa Rica, where you can see four monkey species, two iguana species, two sloth species, coatis, toucans, vultures, parakeets, and hundreds of other species on a single hike. Or kayak in the Everglades National Park in Florida, where you can see crocodiles, dolphins, manatees and over 350 species of birds. Or SCUBA or snorkel the coral reefs of the Cayman Islands and feel like part of the community of coral, sponges, tropical fish, rays, sharks, and sea turtles.

Learn more about some of these trips here.


We share this world with countless amazing animals. Find your own way to experience, learn about and appreciate them. I’ll go into more detail on these vacations and others in future posts, so comment below and let us know what animal watching vacations you have done and what you are interested in doing in the future.

But for now, I will be going on my own vacation. Don't worry, there will be new The Scorpion and the Frog articles about animals in July!

Animal Break

We are all pretty stressed out these days. Let's all take an animal-break - Pick a video to make you smile:

Animals Dancing

Animals Being Jerks

Animals Being Happy

Stress Break!

I've got too much on my plate this week to write a proper post, but this video has been a great stress-reliever. Enjoy!

Caught in My Web: Insights on Professional Conferences

Image by Luc Viatour at Wikimedia Commons.

We are approaching conference season. If you plan on attending a professional conference for the first time or for the umpteenth time, this edition of Caught in My Web should provide you with some helpful tips, strategies and stories.

1. Hilda Bastian at PLOS Blogs gives 7 tips for women at science conferences here (although these tips are good for everyone).

2. Jordan Gaines Lewis gives her personal insight from presenting her research at the 2016 AAAS Meeting at Gaines, on Brains.

3. On TEDBlog, Jedidah Isler reflects on this photo of herself with her colleague friends at the TED2015 conference.

An impressive group of professionals show each other mutual support at
this global conference about Technology, Entertainment and Design.

4. Felicity Muth blogs about her experience at the Animal Behavior Society Conference at her Scientific American Blog, Not bad science.

5. Before you present your research, consider these insights on the science of persuasion:

Caught in My Web: Online Animal Behavior Resources

Image by Luc Viatour at Wikimedia.

I often receive questions from readers on how to find out more about a particular topic: How do baboon troops make decisions? Do other species have slaves? Where can I learn more about how hormones affect behavior? In addition to this site, there are many online resources out there to learn more about animal behavior. Here are a few of my favorites:

1. The Conversation is one of my all-time favorite news and information sources. It is a news website with articles on practically every topic that are written by the academic experts that study them. They have a team of editors to help with the journalistic process and writing, resulting in articles that are fascinating, understandable and incredibly informed and accurate. The Conversation launched originally in Australia in 2011. It has since launched regional versions in the UK in 2013, in the US in 2014, and in Africa in 2015. You can search by topic, and their animal behavior articles can be found here.

2. The Nature Education Knowledge Project has a number of articles covering a wide range of topics in animal behavior at basic, intermediate and advanced levels. The Nature Education Knowledge Project was a project by Scitable, a free online teaching/learning source that has high quality educational articles, videos, blogs and other resources in the sciences. Scitable is produced by the Nature Publishing Group (which also publishes journals and magazines such as Nature and Scientific American).

3. Alberto Redondo Villa from University of Córdoba in Spain has a fantastic web-TV channel on animal behavior. Check it out here.

4. Isabella Rossellini, Italian model, actress and filmmaker, has several incredible series of short (1-5 minute) videos on animal sexual behavior in which she plays a different species in each video. The original, called Green Porno, was followed by Seduce Me and Mammas. If you haven't seen it yet, it is a fun way to spend a rainy afternoon. Here is one on earthworm sex:

5. If you are interested in taking a free college-level course on the topic, The University of Melbourne offers an animal behavior course (called “Animal Behaviour”, because they’re Australian) at Coursera. Learn more about the course and the next available dates here.

Help Protect African Rhinos! (A Guest Post)

by Celia Hein

South Africa is a hotspot for rhino poaching, which is at an all-time high. Rhinos are critically endangered, and in South Africa alone, 1,215 were killed in 2014, which is one dead every 8 hours. South Africa is home to about 70% of the world’s remaining rhinos, and poaching has turned into a highly organized crime syndicate. In many cases, poachers use high-powered rifles, helicopters, and chainsaws. Many of them have had previous military training, and they’re turning our planet’s few precious wildlands into warzones. The park I visited is next on their list.

My name is Celia Hein, and I am studying Wildlife Ecology at the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point (UWSP). Earlier this year, professors and faculty from UWSP and Rhodes University, South Africa led an amazing group of wildlife ecology students (including me!) on a South African Wildlife Ecology course to study in the field and collect data for research in national parks. During this once-in-a-lifetime adventure, we were lucky enough to spend over a week living in one of these parks.

The park is over 45,000 hectares in area (450 square km or 174 square miles) and houses one of the world’s largest remaining populations of black rhinos. We spent several days with the park manager, who shall remain anonymous for privacy reasons, and discovered that at the park they have to maintain their field equipment, fencing, and pay their dedicated staff of over 100 members with an annual budget of only about 10,000 US dollars! The poachers are better equipped than the park rangers. These brave park rangers are undermanned and outgunned, yet all these professionals we met were so passionate, dedicated, and hopeful. I admire their courage. Many work 10+ hour days in the field, risking their lives, and many of them do not have essential gear like binoculars, flashlights, headlamps, or digital cameras. Many of them do not even have proper boots, let alone a firearm to protect themselves and their rhinos, which are predicted to disappear from our world in about 10 years.



Notice there are no rhinos in this photo of the park. Hacking GPS coordinates
from photos is the #1 way poachers find rhinos. Photo by Celia Hein.

We are doing a used equipment drive and an online fundraiser to supply the rangers of the park. We'll take anything! Flashlights, headlamps, binoculars, sunglasses, hats, GPS, cameras, old backpacks, camping gear, etc. If you want to donate equipment, you can mail it to:

Susan Schuller
403 LRC, WCEE, UW-Stevens Point
Stevens Point, WI 54481

And if you would like to donate money, go here. Please donate to help improve security to protect our rhinos, rangers, and wildlands. 100% of your donation will go directly to this park! And please share on Facebook or email to help spread the word.

Thank you so much!

Science Beat: Round 3

Sometimes science just makes more sense with a beat. Last January, I shared with you some fun music videos on fish genetics, climate science, and sexual reproduction. In Round 2, we saw music videos on the periodic table, cellular respiration and muscles. Here are the competitors for Round 3:

Cellular Biology:

Anatomy and Physiology:

Taxonomy:

Vote for your favorite in the comments section below and check out other sciency song battles at Science Song Playlist, The Science Life, Science Beat and Science Beat: Round 2, Scientist Swagger and Battle of The Grad Programs!

And if you feel so inspired, make a video of your own, upload it on YouTube and send me a link to include in a future battle!

What Does the Fox Say?

Image by Rotfuchs at Wikimedia.

In early September, two brothers that host a popular late-night talk show in Norway released a music video to promote their show’s season premiere. Those brothers form the comedic duo called Ylvis, and the song: “What Does the Fox Say?”. A complete surprise to the Ylvisåker brothers (their last name), who designed their video as a comedic music video flop, their video went viral. It spent three consecutive weeks as number 6 on Billboard Hot 100 and is quickly approaching 300 million views in just over three months!

The premise of the song is that there are a number of animals whose sounds everyone knows, but the fox stumps us. As their lyrics go:

Dog goes woof, cat goes meow.
Bird goes tweet, and mouse goes squeak.
Cow goes moo. Frog goes croak, and the elephant goes toot.
Ducks say quack and fish go blub, and the seal goes ow ow ow.
But there's one sound that no one knows...
WHAT DOES THE FOX SAY?

…And then it gets weird as they propose their thoughts on what sounds foxes make:

The funny thing is, it’s not that hard to find out what sounds foxes really make. Although they may not be among the common farm and zoo animals that make it into our children’s toys and books to teach us all about the world of animals, fox vocalizations have been studied by scientists for years. Strangely enough, our comedic duo was not that far off with their “Jacha-chacha-chacha-chow!” guess, which is similar to the fox gekkering call used in aggressive interations.

“The Fox” video (as it has come to be known) has spawned countless spoofs in the last few months. As with most internet spoofs, most are pretty lame, but there are a few gems. My favorite, created by some talented Harvard Medical School students, addresses the equally perplexing question “What Does the Spleen Do?” (Which we also know the answer to. Check out the end of the video for the true answer).

The Scorpion and the Frog’s 100th Post!



Fireworks image by Liz Noffsinger at freedigitalphotos.net.

We have reached a major milestone: This is officially The Scorpion and the Frog’s 100th post! Not bad for a weekly science blog, eh? In celebration of this momentous occasion, I thought I would share with you some of the things you can find in these 100 posts:

1. Articles: The heart and soul of The Scorpion and the Frog lies in the articles on animal physiology and behavior. Some articles, like Thanks Dad!, explain a concept. Others, like Mind-Manipulating Slave-Making Ants!, describe research I found interesting. If there is an animal physiology or behavior topic you would like to learn more about, I also take requests for future articles.

2. Guest posts: I am not the only one that writes articles for The Scorpion and the Frog. A number of Guest Science Writers have contributed fantastic articles on everything from the neurobiology of love to how parrots speak human language to the odd relationship between sea cucumbers and the fish that live in their butts. They are a talented group of writers with a range of perspectives and interests.

3. Biology music videos: This series highlights videos mostly made by scientist- musicians to celebrate, poke fun of and teach about science and the life of a scientist. My personal favorite is Science Beat.

4. The How to Get Into an Animal Behavior Graduate Program guide: Although the title of this guide is specific to animal behavior programs, the advice in it holds true for most any graduate program in the sciences. There are a series of links within it to provide more detailed advice and I continue to add to it.

5. Where the Wild Things Are: Amazing Animal Watching Vacations is a series that explores things you can do on your own or with family and friends. It highlights zoos, aquariums, and wildlife vacations. Find a summary of activities here.

I hope you enjoy exploring everything we have in this blog as much as we enjoy sharing it with you!

Science Beat: Round 2

Sometimes science just makes more sense with a beat. Last January, I shared with you some fantastic music videos on fish genetics, climate science, and sexual reproduction. Here are the competitors for Round 2:

The Periodic Table:

Cellular Respiration:

Skeletal Muscle:

Vote for your favorite in the comments section below and check out other sciency song battles at Science Song Playlist, The Science Life, Science Beat, Scientist Swagger and Battle of The Grad Programs! And if you feel so inspired, make a video of your own, upload it on YouTube and send me a link to include in a future battle!

The Genetics of Drinking Like a Fish



Image by J. Dncsn at Wikimedia Commons

Among people, drug and alcohol addictions are the most prevalent preventable cause of death in the Western world. But not everyone that tries an addictive substance like alcohol, cigarettes, and addictive drugs becomes addicted to the point that it has a devastating effect on their life and health. People that do struggle with addiction commonly have less control over their impulsive behavior than those that do not, and it is likely that our genes play a role in these differences in both impulsivity and addictive behavior.

Although each animal species has a unique set of traits that defines them as that species, there are also striking similarities between species. It is these similarities and differences that allow comparative physiologists to make inferences about human health based on knowledge of how different animal species function. An animal species that demonstrates an aspect of physiology and/or behavior similar to humans (and can thus provide substantial insight to human health and behavior) is called an animal model. One surprising yet useful model for impulsivity and substance addiction is the zebrafish.

I am coming to get you! Zebrafish photo by Ray Crundwell provided by the Royal Society.

Like humans, zebrafish are vertebrates (animals with backbones). This isn’t just a similarity in structure, but comes from the fact that we share many of the same genes. Not only do zebrafish have many of the same genes that we do, but they show similar variations in behavior, impulsivity, and responses to addictive substances. They can be trained to do tasks that require various levels of impulse control, they can be tested for their likelihood to seek rewarding things, and as a perk, they are transparent as babies and you can see their organs functioning right through them!

If you’ve ever wondered if you’re more impulsive than a fish, now is your chance to find out! Researchers from the School of Biological and Chemical Science at Queen Mary University of London who study the genetics of impulsivity and addiction in zebrafish are showcasing their work at the Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition in London! The Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition is an annual fair of the most cutting-edge science the UK has to offer and it’s running this week from Tuesday the 2nd through Sunday the 7th. No science background is required to attend (exhibits are aimed for anyone over the age of 12) and it’s free!

The Zebrafish Genetics Exhibit focuses on an impulsivity test called the five-choice discrimination task. In this task, a fish learns that a light will turn on in one of five chambers. If it swims to that chamber, it will get a food reward. But if it doesn’t wait for the light and swims to the wrong chamber, it gets nothing. The exhibit features a human-driven version of the task where you can test yourself, your children and your friends. Another way you can test your impulsivity is with the continuous performance task. This task involves continuously hitting a button when you see certain cues appear on a screen, but not hitting the button when an X appears. It may sound easy, but it is deceptively hard. Test yourself and see how you compare to the rest of the population!

The Zebrafish Genetics Exhibit also has a microscope where you can look at the transparent zebrafish babies and see their little hearts beat. They even have some fish with fluorescently labeled proteins which allow you to see neurons (brain cells) with the neurotransmitters dopamine or serotonin. These are among the neurons thought to be involved in addiction. And if you have any questions, you can ask the scientists directly! Researchers Alistair Brock, Matteo Baiamonte, Matt Parker, and Helen Moore (get to know them here) will all be on hand to provide demonstrations and to answer questions.

The Zebrafish Genetics Exhibit is just one of 24 exhibits. Other exhibits include Technology for Nature (a demonstration of how scientists can harness technology from the Information Age to help monitor and respond to environmental change and biodiversity loss), Sports Research (a display of how modern science can help athletes achieve their full potential), and Prehistoric Colours (an exhibit of color-producing fossilized structures that help scientists learn about the role of color in prehistoric animal communication). In addition to exhibits, there are events all week, including talks on cutting-edge science topics; a science cabaret of jokes, songs, demonstrations, videos, poetry and other performances; and hands-on activities and demonstrations.

If you want to attend the Summer Science Exhibition, it is located at 6-9 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1Y 5AG. Directions and other details can be found here. And if you can’t get to London this week, you can still watch the scientist videos, ask the scientists any question you want online, and play the science-based video games. Take advantage of this great opportunity to interact directly with the leading scientists of today!


Want to know more about zebrafish? Check these out:

1. Parker, M.O., & Brennan, C.H. (2012). Zebrafish (Danio rerio) models of substance abuse: harnessing the capabilities Behaviour, 149, 1037-1062 DOI: 10.1163/1568539X-00003010

2. Parker, M.O., Millington, M.E., Combe, F.J., & Brennan, C.H. (2012). Development and implementation of a three-choice serial reaction time task for zebrafish (Danio rerio) Behavioural Brain Research, 277, 73-80 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2011.10.037

3. Parker, M.O., Brock, A.J., Walton, R.T., & Brennan, C.H. (2013). The role of zebrafish (Danio rerio) in dissecting the genetics and neural circuits of executive function Frontiers in Neural Circuits, 7, 1-13 DOI: 10.3389/fncir.2013.00063

Science Song Playlist

Are you looking for songs to add to your summer playlist? Try some of my favorite geeky life-science songs. Even bona-fide and popular bands (and apparently Daniel Radcliffe) can’t help getting into the science song scene!

Meet the Elements by They Might be Giants:

Pancreas by Weird Al:

The Bad Touch by The Bloodhound Gang:

And then there’s this…

Vote for your favorite in the comments section below and check out sciency song battles by actual scientists at The Science Life, Science Beat, Scientist Swagger and Battle of The Grad Programs! And if you feel so inspired, make a video of your own, upload it on YouTube and send me a link to include in a future battle!

The Science Life

Grad school is not like anything else you will ever experience. But don’t take my word for it:

"I’m a Grad Student" by Adam Ruben:

"Grad School, I Love You, But You're Bringing Me Down" (LCD Soundsystem Parody) by Nathaniel Krefman at UC-Berkeley:

"The Lab Song" (Bruno Mars Parody) by the Cohenford Lab at Marshall University:

Vote for your favorite in the comments section below. And if you feel so inspired, make a video of your own, upload it on YouTube and send me a link to include in a future post!

Check out other sciency song battles at Science Beat, Scientist Swagger and Battle of The Grad Programs!

Science Beat

Sometimes science just makes more sense with a beat.

Fish Genetics:

Climate Science:

Sexy Reproduction:

Vote for your favorite in the comments section below. And if you feel so inspired, make a video of your own, upload it on YouTube and send me a link to include in a future battle!

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Animal Behavior in Science Fiction: Prey

I love a good science fiction story. The melding of quirky characters, exhilarating plots and scientific ideas is like whitewater kayaking for the brain. But as you stroll through the science fiction section of your local bookstore, you may notice the stark contrast between the plethora of books on space exploration, time travel, and robots; and the dearth of books on biological themes. That doesn’t make any sense to me, since biology is clearly the awesomest of all scientific disciplines. And stranger still is how few science fiction stories involve the science of animal behavior.

The first edition cover of Prey by
Michael Crichton shows his
fictitious swarm of nanoparticles.

Hence my joy in discovering books like Prey by Michael Crichton. Michael Crichton is arguably the preeminent (not to mention the most prolific) writer of biology-based science fiction, with stories we all recognize such as The Andromeda Strain and Jurassic Park. His books often combine the suspense, action and terror of a Hollywood blockbuster with the intellectual scientific understanding of a college biology course. He firmly roots his plots in scientific fact and then bravely makes a leap of reasoning into the unknown, leaving us all wondering, “What if that could happen?” Prey is no exception.

Prey is a cautionary tale of what could result when we mix powerful biological concepts, creative engineering, and corporate pressure. At the core of this story is a corporate laboratory in the Nevada desert that is engineering nanoparticles, microscopic robots that work as a swarm to achieve noble goals. Injected into a body, they can form themselves into a camera to send medical images to doctors to help diagnose patients with blocked arteries or weak heart valves. Released into war zones, they can organize themselves into the ultimate spy machines that cannot be shot down because any bullet would simply pass through the swarm. A brilliant concept – and based on accurate scientific facts and theories.

Crichton’s nanoparticles are built using nanotechnology, a science reliant on chemistry and biology in addition to engineering. As you read Prey, you learn these concepts as you follow the main character deeper into his perilous predicament. Each microscopic robot is harmless in and of itself – What makes them a threat is their group behavior.

A photo of a real flock of starlings. Photo by John Holmes at Wikimedia.

Nanoparticle behavior is determined by their computer programming, and lucky for us, the main character is a computer programmer who can explain all of the details of how their deadly behavior may have come to be. Their programming is based on distributed intelligence, a subfield of artificial intelligence in which each individual in a group has limited capacity for problem solving, but when they share with and respond to one another, the group can quickly develop effective solutions. Distributed intelligence is strongly based on the biology of group decision making in social animals, like ant colonies, bee swarms, fish schools, and bird flocks. The integration of the biology of predator-prey interactions into these systems makes them simultaneously more interesting and more terrifying. And what’s more, the swarm can learn and adapt to new situations based on ideas from quantitative genetics. By weaving together concepts from these disparate scientific fields, Crichton has imagined nanoparticles that individually are ultra-simple micro-machines. But together as a swarm, they are intelligent, they can learn, they can strategize… and they can kill.

A photo of a real swarm of bees. Photo by Micha L. Rieser at Wikimedia.

One of the most important aspects of what makes this book so terrifying is its plausibility. Although we have not yet created nanoparticles with these powerful abilities (that we, the lay public, are aware of anyway), we do have the scientific foundation for their creation. Crichton even provides scientific references in the back of the book if you want to learn more about the genetics, distributed intelligence, or nanotechnology concepts he drew on for his fictitious novel. But as careful as he was in his accurate use of science to set up the plot and much of the story, the conclusion is where Crichton’s science becomes an obvious work of fiction.

Without going into too much detail, the final scenes fall apart on the plausibility factor. In order to avoid spoiling the end for those of you who wish to read it (and you should), I won’t say how, but some of the biological events just could not have happened as he described. And Crichton should have known better – he had a medical degree from Harvard for Pete’s sake! But when push comes to shove, sometimes accurate scientific principles move too slowly for the action-packed pace of a best-seller.

A photo of a real school of bigeye scad. Photo by Steve D. at Wikimedia.

In science fiction, does good fiction always have to be at the expense of good science? Even in science writing, which conveys complex scientific concepts to the public, scientific details are often stretched or overlooked in an attempt to make the overarching concept more interesting and comprehensible to as many readers as possible (although this is an issue for another post altogether). My point is, people are naturally curious about science, which aims to provide understanding of how everything works. But understanding lies in the details, and details can be tedious and confusing and don’t always fit the timeline of the plot or make the most exciting climax. There is a push and pull between accurate science and good storytelling. But I don’t think they are mutually exclusive… I think we can have it all.

In the end, Prey is a fantastic story and Michael Crichton does an excellent job incorporating and explaining current scientific ideas and how their application may lead to leaps in medical advances or to horrific scenarios of death and destruction. I highly recommend it to anyone willing to overlook a biological detail or two in the name of excitement and intrigue. But my search for the perfect biology-centric science fiction book continues.

Do you have a favorite science fiction book that incorporates animal behavior? Share it with us in the comments below!