Dogs can sniff out stress on owner's breath

From -BBC News,

By Victoria Gill,
Science correspondent,

Dog in sniffing test at Queen's University, Belfast — Image caption,
Dogs were rewarded with treats when they picked out the "stressed" scent

Our canine companions have proven once again how finely tuned they are to our feelings - this time in scientific sniffing test.

Scientists discovered that dogs can smell stress in our breath and sweat.

Four dogs - pets volunteered by their owners - were trained to "choose" one of three scent canisters.

And in more than 650 out of 700 trials, they successfully identified a sample of sweat or breath that had been taken from a stressed person.

The researchers, at Queen's University Belfast, hope their study, published in the journal Plos One, will help in the training of therapy dogs.

Dogs experience their world through smell. And their highly sensitive scent-detection abilities are already used to detect drugs, explosives, and illnesses, including certain cancers, diabetes and even Covid.

"We had lots of evidence that dogs can pick up smells from humans that are associated with certain medical conditions or disease - but we don't have much evidence that they can smell differences in our psychological state," lead researcher Clara Wilson said.

Herbert the dog — Image caption,
A dog's nose is a highly sensitive chemical detector

The 36 human volunteers reported their stress levels before and after completing a difficult maths problem.

Each can contained a sample of their sweat or breath from before or - as long as their blood pressure and heart rate had also increased - after.

And if the dogs, Treo, Fingal, Soot and Winnie, stood still or sat in front of the "stressed" sample, they were rewarded with a favourite dog treat.

Comments

Why did Homo sapiens outlast all other human species?

From - Live Science By Mindy Weisberger Edited by - Amal Udawatta Reproductions of skulls from a Neanderthal (left), Homo sapiens (middle) and Australopithecus afarensis (right) (Image credit: WHPics, Paul Campbell, and Attie Gerber via Getty Images; collage by Marilyn Perkins) Modern humans ( Homo sapiens ) are the sole surviving representatives of the human family tree , but we're the last sentence in an evolutionary story that began approximately 6 million years ago and spawned at least 18 species known collectively as hominins. There were at least nine Homo species — including H. sapiens — distributed around Africa, Europe and Asia by about 300,000 years ago, according to the Smithsonian's National Museum of Nat ural History in Washington, D.C. One by one, all except H. sapiens disappeared. Neanderthals and a Homo group known as the Denisovans lived alongside...

New Zealand loses first naval ship to sea since WW2

Aleks Phillips BBC New , Michael Bristow, BBC World Service Edited by - Amal Udawatta US Navy HMNZS Manawanui capsized after running aground off the coast of Samoa The Royal New Zealand Navy has lost its first ship to the sea since World War Two, after one of its vessels ran aground off the coast of Samoa. HMNZS Manawanui, a specialist diving and ocean imaging ship, came into trouble about one nautical mile from the island of Upolu on Saturday night local time, while conducting a survey of a reef. It later caught fire before capsizing. All 75 people on board were evacuated onto lifeboats and rescued early on Sunday, New Zealand's Defence Force said in a statement. Officials said the cause of the grounding was unknown and will be investigated. Reuters All 75 people on board have now safely been rescued The incident occurred during a bout of rough and windy weather. Military officials said rescuers "battled" currents and winds that pushed ...

Astronomers Find 21 “Dark” Neutron Stars Orbiting Sun-like Stars

from - Sky & Telescope By Monica Young Edited by - Amal Udawatta New analysis has revealed 21 Sun-like stars in mutual orbit around dark objects of neutron star–like masses — rare systems that have escaped destruction by supernova. Most massive stars are born with at least one stellar sibling. But as the massive ones of these groups mature, they wreak havoc on their families. Yet astronomers have found some that have survived this tumult. Before exploding as a supernova, a massive star expands, sometimes engulfing any stellar companions. Or, even if the companion avoids being swallowed up, it may yet end up on its own: The supernova imparts a kick on the crushed core of the massive star, causing the newborn neutron star to escape the system. Many of the thousands of neutron stars known in the Milky Way are alone. But in a new analysis of data from the European Space Agency’s Gaia mission, Kareem El-Badry (Caltech) and colleagues have found 21 survivors: “dark” neutron stars i...

Nature Hub

Search This Blog