Dogs are for booping

But they are also for loving. And occasionally, they are for science.

So technically, when you boop a dog, odds are you are booping their rhinarium (plural, rhinaria), a specialized bit of hairless tissue that surrounds their nostrils. It is this part of their nose that is being studied in the publication “Dogs can sense weak thermal radiation”.

We’ve been conditioned (with good reason) to be wary of “radiation”, but we forget that most types of radiation are harmless. Yes, some types of radiation, like gamma rays and x-rays, are ionizing radiation that cause mutations in the structure of DNA, leading to cancers. And these types of radiation, you definitely want to minimize your exposure to.

Most types of radiation, like radio waves, different colors of light, and infrared radiation, don’t have enough energy to cause any damage to our DNA. And harmless infrared radiation is the focus of this study.

So put down your pitchforks. No dogs were harmed in any way. 

The study was really curious about whether or not the dogs can sense subtle temperature changes in the air, presumably by using their rhinaria. Two different experiments were done: a behavioral test and an fMRI scan. (Yes, you can put a dog in an fMRI scanner!)

The results? All explained in my video above.

Also, check out my favorite figure from the publication, and maybe in all of science?