Oscar

This is an older story (from nearly two years ago), but it's the first I had heard of the cat named Oscar.  He can be found at the third floor of Steere House in Providence, Rhode Island where dementia patients are cared for.  Oscar tends to sit with patients in their final hours of life.  This unusual "talent" has labeled him "an angel of death" to some but also a source of comfort and companionship.

Unsure this cat was real, Dr. David Dosa of Brown University studied Oscar.  He subsequently became a believer and wrote a book on his findings.  Reports on Oscar were also published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Read more about Oscar here: http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-204_162-6162157.html

Here's a picture of Dr. Dosa with Oscar:

Humans and Phobias

Fear of heights, snakes, the dark, blood and enclosed spaces are all common phobias.  Most of you probably shuddered a bit just reading one of those things.  Fear is a personal reaction to a particular situation.  Yes, people exist who are afraid of flowers, snow and even chocolate, but they are few and far between compared with the big ones listed.  Why?  Shouldn't the numbers be more equal?  What is it about the dark or heights that unnerve a lot of people but snow only bothers a handful?

A psychologist by the name of Martin Seligman has proposed that humans are more likely to fear things that have been a threat to their survival.  Snakes can kill a human with their venom.  Heights can kill a human with a fall.  Blood signifies danger.  The dark and enclosed spaces leaves humans for vulnerable to attack.  These fears are a result of human evolution.  No, we all don't have them, but they are called "prepared" fears, meaning we have a predisposition to them.

Read more:  http://phobialist.com/class.html

Antony, et al. "Mastering Your Fears and Phobias" 2nd Edition Workbook. Oxford University Press, 2006.

More Twins!

Here's an article about 7 year old twin girls.  They are beautiful, happy, healthy and each have a different skin color.  Human genetics are fascinatingly weird.  This can happen to siblings, but when it happens to fraternal twins, it's slightly more shocking even though the logistics are no different than for separate pregnancies and births.

Article: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2123050/Look-The-black-white-twins-turn-seven.html

Here's a picture of them!