Interesting Facts

Researchers may have discovered the ‘root of all evil’. (Scientists, studying the brains of mice found that a distinct part of the brain fires up before premeditated acts of aggresion are carried out: A distinct part of the hypothalamus - the brain region that controls body temperature, hunger and sleep - is activated shortly before an attack. So really, they have discovered the root of all evil in mice.) Source

According to the pest control firm Rentokil, around two billion people around the world supplement their daily diet with creepy crawlies. (The most common insects eaten tend to be meal worms and locusts.  The thing is that common "pests" in the UK are wasps, mice, rats, bed bugs, cockroaches, fleas and pigeons. It sounds as if Rentokil are trying to get us to do their work for them.  However, for me, pigeon pie, maybe, but rat fricassee or bed bug gratin?  No, thank you.) We are talking about this issue on the forum.

According to researchers at the Emory School of Medicine in Georgia, fear can be transmitted from a father to his offspring through his sperm. (They have shown that if mice are taught to fear a certain smell this triggers chemical changes in their sperm.These changes then alter the makeup of their children and grandchildren's brains, causing them to fear the same smell. This could explain my fear of flying, and is bound to open up the whole nature vs nurture debate again.)

Mice can sing. (Well, the male mouse can, and naturally they do it to impress the women. The results of several experiments on mice were published in the Journal, Plos One, and it seems that mice share some of the brain mechanisms that humans and songbirds use when learning songs. This ability, which is known as local learning, had been limited to humans, sea lions, seals, birds, dolphins, whales, bats and elephants. This story has caused a great deal of silliness on the Interwebby thingy, with lots of suggestions for songs they might sing, such as, We're Caught In A Trap. Here are some of my favourite even sillier suggestions:- Cheese Release Me Cat's Entertainment Mouse of The Rising Sun Mouse of Love 8 days a squeak My own contribution was:- Our Mouse In The Middle Of Our Squeak If you want to find more, search for #mousesongs on Twitter.)

Scientists at the University of Milan think they may have found the elixir of life.  By feeding mice a cocktail of amino acids (aminoisohezoic acid, isoleucine and valine) they prolonged their lives "significantly".  (Amino acids are the building blocks of protein. And the mice fed this cocktail didn't just live longer, theyalso benefited from an increase in the energy intake of their cells and an overall decrease in oxidation damage caused by free radicals. Their stamina also increased and coordination of their muscles improved.  So, maybe Douglas Adams was right; Earth, is actually a complex experiment that white mice have set up to learn the meaning of life, the universe and everything.)