Hamster power to help solve energy crisis? [video] | @GrrlScientist
Children's pet hamsters can help solve the world's energy crisis! With the energy crisis looming, today's Caturday video smile focuses on hamster power. You know, those small fuzzy rodents that adults get for their kids as pets. But hamsters are more than pets, they are research subjects and research collaborators, testing nanotechnology designed to capture mechanical "bioenergy" produced by living things. There are several species of hamsters that are kept as pets. The golden hamster, Mesocricetus auratus, is probably the most popular of the hamsters that are kept as pets. However, the dwarf hamsters, Phodopus species, which are amongst the smallest mammals on earth, are becoming increasingly popular pets. There are three dwarf hamster species that are commonly kept as pets in North America and Europe; Campbell's Russian dwarf hamster, P. campbelli, a species that is often mistaken for the Djungarian dwarf hamster, P. sungorus, and Roborovski's desert dwarf hamster,...
Read the whole article on The Guardian - Science
More from The Guardian - Science
Related
- Nanogenerators produce electricity from running rodents and tapping fingersFri, 13 Feb 2009, 11:30:44 EST
- Cholesterol-lowering drug shrinks enlarged prostates in hamster modelThu, 21 Oct 2010, 17:23:01 EDT
- Blueberry's effects on cholesterol examined in lab animal study Tue, 31 May 2011, 19:41:02 EDT
- How alcohol blunts the ability of hamsters to 'rise and shine'Tue, 1 Sep 2009, 7:22:19 EDT
- Circadian clock may be critical for remembering what you learn, Stanford researchers sayWed, 8 Oct 2008, 13:18:11 EDT