Animal Science-related

Here's a site for animal lovers of all domestic stripes: VeterinaryPartner.com. They say that the site provides "reliable, up-to-date animal health information", and "they" are "veterinarians and experts of the Veterinary Information Network."

My vet recommended Vet Partners -- it has well-written and clear information about many aspects of animal health. I've recently read articles about the feline thyroid, drugs used to tread hyperthyroidism in cats, and prednisone. Nice links to external sites. You can search by disease or browse by species (cats, dogs, reptiles, and small mammals).

this post in memory of Calliope, 10-7-1987 to 4-29-2005. Rest in peace.

Site of the Week

In the "tooting our own horn" department, comes the Hampshire Library's Site of the Week. The sites are not necessarily related to Cognitive Science, but definitely interesting -- and are chosen weekly by Hampshire librarians. Take a look at the past sites at the archive, or look on the library's home page (http://library.hampshire.edu/) for the current SotW.

Celebrating Olfaction

Sunday, April 30 is National Sense of Smell Day, and the Sense of Smell Institute is ready. Their web site includes bibliographies on topics like odor perception and the brain and human behavior, mood, and emotion (aka aroma-chology). Plus fun activities to celebration the upcoming smell holiday as well as Smell 101, an introduction to the topic.

Sniff.

Cyc! (pronounced "psych")

There's a nice review of artificial intelligence from the April 23, 2005 issue of New Scientist. Covers various AI devices, including versions of the ALICE chatbot, as well as a brief history of AI. Also mentions cyc, a new artificial brain called Cyc, which is going online in the next few months. Cyc will apparently learn from what people ask it.

Hmmm.

Road Sign Math Blog

What fun: using road signs to play with math. The RoadSignMath blog points out road signs that have "mathematical significance", such as those that perform addition, subtraction, or multiplication.

Which state has the most mathematically significant signs? Are there any in Massachusetts? Take a look at the blog & find out.

Trust = Love?

An article in a recent issue of Science suggests that the emotion of trust "lives" near the emotion of love in the brain. Researchers at the Baylor College of Medicine Human Neuroimaging Laboratoryused fMRI imaging and an investment game to pinpoint a trust response to the caudate nucleus at the base of the brain -- the same area where researchers 5 years ago think love "lives."

Read more at RedNova or track down the April 1 issue of Science (not available at Hampshire online, but we do have it in print!)