Adaptation: Moscow stray dogs

Who?

Our pets never seize too amaze us, and these Russian dogs are no exception. With the difference of being free to wander all over the city, these stray dogs have become much smarter than others around the world. It's not only humans who get around  Moscow by subway, these dogs are daily users of the subway knowing  which train to ride and exactly were to jump off. Their daily routine starts early in the morning where they take the train from the suburbs to the center of Moscow in search of food and back home. 

When?

This way of life as suggested by Russian scientist started back in 1990 after the Soviet union downfall, Moscow's industrial complexes were moved from the city to the outskirts of Moscow. 

Why?

These industrial complexes where home to the Muscovite stray dogs, so they made the smartest decision: move together with their houses. 

How?

Even if it meant learning how to travel by subway, these smarty pants succeeded and  have adapted wonderfully and just like us people take the train downtown and the back home in the evening.

Food is abundant downtown and obtaining it is difficult task for these clever dogs. 

They have developed numerous skills for their survival such as:

Nap Time

 1. Surprise attack: Barking at unaware citizens while they enjoy a shawarma, hotdog whatever their snack of choice, taken by surprise they tend to drop their food and dogs quickly snatch it mid air or from the ground. 

2. Puppy eyes: They also use gentler methods in their urban hunt for food, making use of their natural canine cuteness they choose appropriate subjects to show their puppy eyes or rub their heads against.

3. Timing: Knowing when to jump off the train, biologist say these dogs use their sense of time to know when they've reached their destination.

4. Crossing streets: They do this not by reacting to the color red or green, but on the image they see on the traffic light.

5. Jumping stunts: these stray dogs have learned to enjoy their daily routine by making up a game. Which consists on jumping in the subways just seconds before the doors close risking to get their tails caught.

My baby takes the morning train, he works from nine to five..♪♫

Subway riders and canine etiquette:

 

Wise Words

Job Hunt

I just graduated last week :)!! So.. what next? The Job Hunt. Nothing to worry about there are so many work possibilities out there, doesn't matter if they are unconventional as long as you enjoy it, right?

Like for example this job I discovered while watching one of my favorite documentary series: Human Planet by BBC (not that I would do it, but he seems to enjoy himself :P)

Teamwork taken to a whole new level

Survival Skills

I grew up in Honduras, a country in development. Where the government isn't as efficient as one would desire, health conditions and living conditions are deplorable. Many diseases like cholera, rotavirus, dengue are mortal and take the life of many because they don't have access to medical assistance. But there are simple solutions that can help out those in need, if they only knew about them!

So today I'm hoping to teach you some of you out there a lesson on how to survive the Rotavirus, even though it's a common disease among children this can save lives. First of all let me tell you about the nasty Rotavirus, it's transmitted by touching contaminated objects, surfaces, hands etc.. and introducing them in your mouth. So contaminated with what exactly...? Feces, poo, excrement however you call it.(eww eww eww)  This nasty virus produces severe diarrhea, vomiting and fever. Causing extreme dehydration, and in a few days if no medical attention is received it can be lethal.

But the simple DIY Oral Rehydration Solution (ORS) saves lives:

1. Prepare one liter of clean water.

2. Add 6 teaspoons of sugar, into the water.

3. Then half a teaspoon of salt, mix.

Add the exact measurements of salt and sugar, since too much sugar makes diarrhea worse and too much salt is bad. Adding more water is fine.

Learned this from the fabulous: www.colorsmagazine.com and I had to share it!

Hope you remember:  

  6 sugar tsp + 1/2 salt tsp + water= NO MORE DIARRHEA!

Animal Stars

Hello fellow animal lovers. :) Excuse my absence but I'm graduating in less than a month (yeayyy) can't wait to be a legit biologist! Therefore, I've been busy with final reports and homework. 
For example this week I had this tedious homework about mammals, but it was nice recapitulating the list of mammalian orders. Since, there were certain characters from my childhood I had totally forgotten about as well as their existence as species.

I'm referring to the Aardvark which is the only living species of the order Tubulidentata. It's a nocturnal mammal native of Africa. It's often called antbear or anteater since it has a long snout and a tubular mouth use to eat termites. 

I instantly had a flash back to a Pink Panther and his friends video cassette I used to own, were The Ant and the Aardvark(1969) appeared. 

The short episodes always made me laugh as a kid. It was amusing to watch how the grumpy aardvark would constantly chase a clever little red ant. I enjoy finding these connections between the media and nature, and how different species have served as an inspiration to create movies, cartoons, songs etc.

I also remembered another cartoon, I actually didn't watch it, but since I'm talking about the Aardvark's acting career it's worth mentioning:

Arthur(1996) is a TV series about the daily life of a young Aardvark and his family and friends. 

                           

It's an educative cartoon since it encourages reading and emphasizes on the importance of education. Arthur book series inspired by the TV series were later released and became a popular reading material for elementary children.

What I didn't know is it's actually the longest-running children's animated series in the U.S.! (and the second longest-running animated U.S series, after The Simpsons)

So we'll be seeing more of this awkward-cute mammal for years, not only in our TV screen but in real life since luckily it's not a threatened species!! :)

Must Read: Animal Behavior

This semester I've been focusing on reading more biology related books instead of novels. I just hadn't found the right book since I can't imagine myself carrying around a textbook to read during my class breaks. This month I went to my university's library and found the perfect reading material: 

DOLPHIN MYSTERIES Unlocking the Secrets of Communication 

by Kathleen M. Dudzinski and Toni Frohoff.  

The book is like an educational story on all the aspects of how dolphins communicate, social interactions, and their physical characteristics. It's by no means boring or doesn't make you feel like your reading for a class. For this an many more reasons you will find out IF you read the book, I STRONGLY recommend  it! :D If you are interested in animal behavior or just simply love dolphins (like me) , READ it you won't regret it. ;)

Happy Blogging..

Haven't written for over a week now. I guess my senior seminar is taking toll of my time, but I'll be over with it next week and promise to tell you all about the interesting paper I chose about dolphins.

Made me smile... :)

From the wild to the runway: Polka Dots

The Fashion Muses 

  

Because nature has served as an art and fashion inspiration for centuries.

Spotted Turtle (Clemmys guttata)

We all have that boring class in which our thoughts unravel till the bell rings. This week while staring at my classmate's polka dot backpack I ended up wondering: Who created polka dots? Does it have something to do with whoever invented the polka dance? Or was it just a fashion statement? After pondering for a while I remembered this cool polka dot stingray I once saw in some aquarium. Then I had my "AHA moment!", and concluded polka dots haaad to come from nature. I found more than one species with gorgeous polka dot patterns to backup my theory.  So, sorry but no credits for Venezuelan designer Carolina Herrera one of the first designers to use polka dots. Still a trendsetter though. ;)

Yellow Boxfish (Ostracion cubicus)

New York Fashion Week: Michael Kors

Black Devil Stingray (Potamotrygon leopoldi)

BIOcabulary

Homopterans: sucking insects that feed on plant juices.

e.g.  a Leafhopper which colors combine perfectly with my blog! :)

The world's most dangerous birdy...

So,  a couple of weeks ago for my Biodiversity of Taiwan class we had a "field trip" if you can call it that.. since we just took the elevator three floors down from the classroom. We visited one of NTU (National Taiwan University) Zoological Museums located in the Life Science Department building. I had been there before since I pass by it almost everyday since freshman year. But this time around we got to see the WHOLE skeleton collection not just the one they have on display for visitors, but the one in the storage room too (perks of being a bio major) ;) . It was fascinating from gorilla skulls to elephant molars you could feel with your own hands, a first for me since I wasn't allowed to touch skeletons in the Museum of Natural History let alone pet the T.rex like Ben Stiller in Night at the Museum. Well back to the story there's someone who caught my eye that day.. none less than the world's most dangerous bird:   

THE CASSOWARY.  

The Cassowary is native to the tropical forest of New Guinea and forests of North Queensland, Australia. It's the third tallest bird in the world after #1 the Ostrich and #2 the Emu, measuring 1.5 - 2 meters. It gains it notoriety since World War II when the Papa Guinea locals warned the American and Australian troops to avoid Cassowaries at all cost. 

Still not scared? disturb it, and it will use its middle toe which has a dagger-like claw (5 inch long) to defend itself causing serious injuries or death. Either that or it will use it's powerful long legs and send you flying of the ground. I think I've heard enough!..See for yourself:

                                          ...It will kill you faster than a dose of bird flu 

Welcome!

Hello! This is my new blog all about the wonders of nature. Take a look, comment, smile, frown however you feel. Hope to entertain you and hopefully teach you something about biology just as I am trying to learn myself about it. I dedicate this blog to all the scientists who spend their life trying to understand nature and protect it. And as future biologist pledge to do the same.

The story behind Conchettaville. 

My nickame is CONCH, conchis, cricrunch,  concha, conchita and all the possible derivatives from conchetta. Back in highschool I told a story to my best friends of a girl named conchetta, and the name stuck. Changing to Conch and staying that way, conch because I am swimmer. I've swam for the past eighteen years and love everything that has to do with the ocean. As a kid I had to be dragged out of every pool and beach (I never had enough swimming for the day). I went to the beach EVERY break while  living in Honduras... Nemo and flipper are just other names I've been called.  You get the picture almost all my wardrobe is blue,  I have a drawer full of swim suits and bikinis, thousands of accessories made of conch (most which I had to leave back in my hometown, Tegucigalpa) and I'm obssessed with learning about marine organisms. They love me back too, Jellyfish from around the world can't handle staying away from me. -_- '!

Guanaja, Bay Islands, Honduras 1991

P.S. Anddd... my favorite food is Sopa de Caracol, Eyy! (Conch Soup) ;)