Mamels life animal

Yeah... so I had planned to write an kickass Father's Day Post about Dyak fruit bats, male lactation, and paternal care. I still plan to write that post, naturally, but this morning I woke up motivated to do something else. Instead I made this video for my Dad. I finally had the fortitude since he passed away in 2008. June's tough for me because his birthday, Father's Day, and his death day are all this month. So forgive me this self-indulgent posting and I promise to deliver the sciencie-science next time. And short story short- my Dad was pretty much the awesomest.  Jim Hinde, veteran, folksinger, Dad Happy Father's Day to all the fathers, step-fathers, and single moms doing double duty.  Oh and since he said it a MILLION times better than I, or anyone else, ever could: here is Kahlil Gibran 's poem "On Children" from The Prophet (it also explains brother Nate's and my tattoos). On Children by Kahlil Gibran Your children are not your children. Th...

"Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night…" Mother's milk allows mothers to nurse infants in environments  that would otherwise be inhospitable to young.  Too bad for reptiles. Body fat is not just for buffering us from famine, keeping us warm during winter, and causing our self-recrimination during swimsuit season. Our body fat is also an integral part of our endocrine signaling system. Hormones that are secreted from fat cells- leptin, for example - communicate with the brain triggering hunger (food!) and cravings for calorie rich foods (cheeseburger!). These hormones also contribute to the processes by which we metabolize and assimilate ingested food. The discovery of these hormones occurred relatively recently, and much remains unknown about their function.  Among the emerging literature, however, are compelling insights into maternal hormones, their transfer via expressed milk, and their consequences in the developing neonate. I can haz Reubens cheezburger ...