I recall seeing a film in school that had eagles swimming. Apparently it's somewhat common. I seem to recall they lack the oil glands of water birds, and so when they swim they can't dry off very quickly. Looks like this one had a meal to keep it busy, however.

I like how this one swam. It looked really elegant - sort of like rowing.

This, combined with a fetid oil sprayed with great accuracy from either of two anal glands, keeps hungry predators at a distance.

I think it is more likely not a string, but a small whip antenna connected to the pups pineal gland in his brain.

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)

I'm definitely a fan of my wiener - it's the best wiener in the world.>> ^Skeeve:

So you're a wiener man?
J/K, I totally get it. Personally, if she looks like she's smuggling watermelons, I'm not interested.
>> ^dag:
Man, only mammals would be turned on by modified sweat gland sacks that secrete nutritional sap.
(not a breast man)

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Man, only mammals would be turned on by modified sweat gland sacks that secrete nutritional sap.

(not a breast man)

The nervous system (brain, spinal cord, nerves) is an organ system just like your digestive system ( liver, intestines, salivary glands, etc.). People injure and mess up parts of their nervous system all the time, through accidents and what-not. While liver damage can lead to things like renal failure, injuries to the brain can lead to changes in memory access and retention, cognition,... interesting things that make up 'personality'.

I think consciousness is biological, and human consciousness is as biological as the consciousness of other animals. I think we are extraordinary at communication, and that's the major thing making us special in the animal kingdom... we love sounds and music and seeing friends and talking and learning about people and things. We are hyper vigilant with respect to personalities, and the fine details make everyone's unique in our eyes. So when a friend dies this personality that we knew so well now only exists as a detailed set of memories in our brain. And because this isn't terribly comforting, and because we're so keen on other people, we like to think that such an amazing thing as a personality continues on somehow after death.

my two cents!

For a kitty? YUS! >> ^frizlefry:

It's not a kitty. It's got wild instincts and an adrenal gland in overdrive. It's one imperceptible cue away from ripping your face off or worse. It might never have learned how to finish a kill but are you really willing to gamble that it won't figure that out on you?

It's not a kitty. It's got wild instincts and an adrenal gland in overdrive. It's one imperceptible cue away from ripping your face off or worse. It might never have learned how to finish a kill but are you really willing to gamble that it won't figure that out on you?

It's over-simplifying to say "there's a gene for reasoning". It's not like baking a cake.

Everything existed before it was invented. Mona Lisa is just a rearranging of elements that make up paint. An engine is just rearranging metals. Michelangelo's David is just marble cut out in a certain form.

Logic is a purely theoretical concept and of course that is "eternal". The idea of it existed before anyone really had the idea. You can argue that French existed before Frenchmen did - no one had ever used it, but in theory it existed before.

Nosepicking is a byproduct of us evolving mucus glands and hair in our nose to protect our airways from dust and dirt.

Some animals can do rudimentary reasoning too, like identifying which objects are dangerous. Learning from their mistakes as well. It is likely that earlier versions of humans were favored in the natural selection to have more offspring, and that's why we all have the big brain we have now. The only reason we don't see evolution in action, actively growing or shrinking our brains now, is that it's very slow. People are generally taller now than they were 3 generations ago - that's evolution in action. Taller people have more offspring, therefore we get taller on average - that's evolution by natural selection.

How does that not make sense to you? It makes far more sense to me than "god did it" or "it happened by chance" which are essentially the same argument.

There shouldn't be anything controversial about seeing a woman breastfeeding her child. Humans are mammals and we have mammary glands meant for feeding our babies, just like every other mammal in the world. It's a completely natural thing to do, and it's good for the baby and the mother too! I think that if anyone is offended by a breastfeeding mother it is because he or she is a sexist, a male chauvinist, or a puritan. Seriously, what would someone's reasons be against public breastfeeding? Women aren't allowed to show their nipples like men are allowed? They should do that at home so I don't have to see? It gives me a boner, therefore it is evil? Anyways, rant, rant, rant, rant, rant...

>> ^Gallowflak:

I like him. But I think it's dense to imagine religion as being the root of all evil. Religion is a fabrication of man, and has to be a consequence of something else. It's the inadequacy of the human creature which is the root of all evil, filtering into the world through various delightful minty flavours.

Agreed. Christopher Hitchens put it with characteristic bluntness when he spoke of the inherent shortcomings of human beings.

"This kind of theocratic fascism will never die because we belong to a very poorly-evolved mammarian species. I'm a complete materialist in that sense. We're stuck with being the product of a very sluggish evolution. Our pre-frontal lobes are too small and our adrenaline glands are too big. Our fear of the dark and of death is very intense, and people will always be able to profit from that."

-Interview with Johann Hari, 2004

Epic Owl is so - - warm. Panting is how they cool themselves. They don't have sweat glands, so they compress their feathers (so they insulate less) and pant.

i don't know, it's fast and intense, plays with my emotions and my adrenal glands feel ready to do something. but i'm not sure what because i'm not sure if anything was actually said. but i'm sure craving some of that liberty.
effective. and he's likable.

>> ^Intrepid:

They are NOT "Wiping Their Bums". Anal sacs (also called "anal glands") are two small glands just inside your pet's anus. The material secreted into these glands is thick and foul-smelling. Most animals can empty these glands voluntarily for scent marking or in self-defense (like a skunk might do). Domestic animals have largely lost their ability to empty these sacs voluntarily. Walking around and normal defecation serves to empty the glands but some animals become unable to empty their glands on their own at all. The sacs become impacted and uncomfortable. Dogs with impacted anal sacs usually scoot their rear on the ground in an attempt to empty the glands.


Phew! Thanks! To think that all these years, I believed my dog was wiping his ass on the carpet while he was actually covering it with thick and foul-smelling anal gunk! 'A load off my mind, I tell ya!...