August 23, 2023: Dogs with big vocabularies, mislabeled period products and India lands on the moon. —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor | | | Can your dog understand you? Some of the world's "smartest" dogs have demonstrated that they can recognize hundreds of words, though the average dog likely knows fewer than a dozen. Some dogs can pick out their name from jumbles of words, tell the difference between two languages and even associate meaning with some words. A new study underway observing more than 10,000 dog participants in 47 countries is testing how well dogs learn and communicate with their human owners by pushing word buttons on a mat.
Why this is so cool: Neuroscience studies suggest our best friends have coevolved to attend to and understand our communication cues. And canines are motivated by communication for practical reasons (like getting snacks). Chaser, a border collie in South Carolina, knew the names of more than 1,000 toys and could retrieve each on command.
What the experts say: "Is this more than just basic associative learning?" asks Amritha Mallikarjun, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine. "Is this something that reveals, somehow, the existence of a mind that is more complex than we give them credit for?" | | | Many menstrual products have a much lower or higher liquid capacity than advertised. For the first time, researchers tested such products with real blood as opposed to a saline solution—a mixture of water, salt and bicarbonate that is more commonly employed in the product development process. The team tested 21 different menstrual products, including discs, tampons, pads, period underwear and cups. Some absorbed far different amounts of blood than advertised. For example, "heavy" pads, which advertised 10- to 20-ml capacity, could hold up to 52 ml of blood.
Why this matters: Doctors often diagnose problematic levels of bleeding by using products like tampons as a metric (using two or more tampons that absorb 20 ml of blood within a two-hour time frame is considered a heavy flow). Excessive bleeding can be a sign of serious conditions, including bleeding disorders, certain types of cancer and fibroids, and can lead to anemia.
What the experts say: This could mean "we're probably missing a lot of heavy menstrual bleeding," says Bethany Samuelson Bannow, a clinician and an assistant professor of hematology at Oregon Health & Science University. | | | • The breakup of supercontinents may trigger explosive eruptions that send fountains of diamonds shooting up to Earth's surface. | 3 min read | | | • The successful moon landing of the Chandrayaan-3 mission makes India only the fourth country to achieve the feat. | 9 min read | | | • Afghanistan and Pakistan—the two countries in which polio is still endemic—are closer than they have ever been to eradicating wild poliovirus. | 6 min read | | | Hawaii Governor Josh Green walks by the historic Banyan Tree on August 11, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. Destroyed buildings surround the area in the aftermath of the fire. Credit: Governor Josh Green/ZUMA Press Wire/Alamy Stock Photo | | | • New substances are frequently appearing in illicit drugs, often making them even more deadly. We need to create more efficient systems to both monitor and track these contaminants, but also to alert the public about them, writes Edward Sisco, a research chemist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. "Just as we warn people about tainted lettuce or contaminated eye drops, we need to warn them about dangerous adulterants or new drugs in the illicit drug supply," he says. | 5 min read | | | • An absorbing accounting of just how much influence Elon Musk holds over governmental affairs. | The New Yorker | | | • The longtime alliance between auto makers and the fossil fuel industry may be at an end. | The New Republic | | | For my pet-loving readers out there, check out this collection of articles about dogs and cats, including even more detail about the canine mind. | If you have any feedback, suggestions, or spot any errors while reading these newsletters, please reach out anytime: newsletters@sciam.com. See you tomorrow! | —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor | | Subscribe to this and all of our newsletters . | | | | Scientific American
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