SciTechBits – Interesting Bits of Science & Technoglogy Served For You!

Catnip a member of the mint family popular for getting cats high, much like medical marijuana is often confused with marijuana. Big Cat Rescue, a non profit has recently released a video which shows how Tigers, Lions and the like respond to catnip.



Catnip reaction consists primarily of a unique combination of body rolling and face rubbing and is found to be independent of sex. Cats are usually found to return to the source of catnip about once every two hours to get a new dose. While not every cat reacts, interestingly reacting cats show an increase in attention paid to catnip while showing a decrease to rats. Research has shown that the chemosensory stimulus evoking the catnip reaction is mediated through the main olfactory system. Catnip activates behavioral elements associated with several species-specific behaviors, including sniffing and chewing as associated with oral appetitive behavior, rolling and rubbing characteristic of female sexual behavior, batting the catnip source characteristic of play behavior, and a type of kicking associated with predatory behavior. These behavioral reactions have been said to occur randomly and intermittently.

While it has been documented at several sources that most members of the cat family react to catnip, this is the first time there is a single video (embedded below) which shows the reaction of several members of the cat family reacting to catnip.

Dr.Tunnacliffe from Cambridge University shows that rotifers, tiny wheeled animals – can survive extreme hard conditions of being depleted of 90% of their water content, exposure to extreme heat and cold. All that they need to resuscitate themselves is some water.


About 60% of our bodies are filled with water. Should we loose more than 20% of our body’s water content, we face a painful death. That is how important water is for most of the living beings. However, there are some exceptions and rotifers are one among them. These amazing micro creatures which have not had sex for 80 million years are able to handle extreme conditions as shown in the video below. These organisms show that life in the space could be possible.

What is the exact influence of genes on mate choices of humans? Does it affect males and females differently? Does the affect change based on whether the mate is for a short term relationship or long term relationship?

It is well known that genes located at the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) have a strong influence on human mate choices. The MHC is the densest part of the human genome and plays significant role in the auto immune system of humans. In order to improve the immunity capabilities, the MHC is believed to affect the mate choices, looking out for more a more different/diverse genetic partner, as this brings more new auto immune capabilities to their offspring. However this affect has not been analyzed across different sexes and for different relationship contexts.

Researchers from Australia recruited participants who were told to rate a huge collection of facial photos of the opposite sex for which genetic information was available. The rating was done on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being not attractive at all. The rating was done both for a short-term and a long-term relationship. All of the photos were with neutral facial expression and with hair and rest of the body not shown.

BBC’s Darwin season featured ‘Charles Darwin and the Tree of Life’ – an animation which illustrates an idea that Darwin and his contemporaries used to explain the evolutionary links between living things. This amazing animation was narrated by Sir David Attenborough.


Given below is the HD video and the transcript of the narration.