What does it mean if snakes pass a self-recognition test, and how might that ability relate to their social lives?

Read more at my Animal Minds blog: Snakes, Self-Recognition, and Sociality.

Researchers from Nationwide Children’s Hospital show that three key features of a virtual reality intervention (game realism, fun, and engagement) influence self-reported pain scores during burn dressing changes. The findings provide insight into the potential mechanisms through which virtual reality affects pain perception.

Read more about the study here: What Features Make Virtual Reality Effective for Pain Relief?

Humans understand that certain words “stand for” certain objects, and this understanding is assumed to depend on the formation of mental representations of words. This is called referential understanding, and it’s been argued that it is uniquely human.

Now, a new study shows that dogs may understand certain object words in a similar way. Brain recordings from dogs suggest that they, like humans, activate mental representations in their minds when they hear those words. The results provide the first neural evidence for object word knowledge in a nonhuman animal.

Read more at my Animal Minds blog: Dogs Understand Some Words “Stand For” Objects.

Maternal and infant morbidity and mortality can be improved around the world. Flexible monitoring devices, among other new technologies, can help detect and prevent poor health outcomes in newborns and their parents.

Read my article in IEEE Pulse: Advances in Maternity Technology.

Coyotes are making their way into urban neighborhoods across the U.S. In the new book Coyotes Among Us, a wildlife ecologist draws from more than two decades of experience to dispel pervasive coyote myths and make the case for why humans should embrace living near coyotes.

Read my Q&A with Dr. Stanley Gehrt of the Urban Coyote Research Project: Learning to Live With the Coyotes Next Door.