‘Smart Fur’ allows robo-pets to gauge owners’ emotions

smart fur

A piece of smart fur can tell the difference between pets, scratches or even the breath of a human owner.

If pets can have positive effects on their owners’ emotions would a robot pet be able to do the same? At the University of British Columbia a robo-bunny has been developed that can mediate its users’ emotions, calming them down or cheering them up by leading them through deep-breathing exercises, for example. The robo-bunny also has a pulse and can stiffen or relax its ears.

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World’s tiniest lizards discovered in Madagascar

lizard

Miniature chameleon

This little chameleon is one of four miniature lizards identified in Madagascar, adding to our growing list of amazingly teeny animals. The one on the match in this picture is a juvenile, but even the adults max out at 30 millimeters. They’re the smallest lizards in the world, and some of the smallest vertebrates found to date. (Pics)

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Extreme grooming for animals

punk-duckling

Punk Bird

Absolutely no photoshoppery involved here, no siree. I refuse to believe that punk bird is anything less than real, so I can’t tell you how Mladen Penev got animals to sit still long enough for impressive haircuts and mustache trims for ad agency Staudinger Franke and their client, the shavers and grooming equipment maker Braun.

(more photos after the jump…)

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Spending on pets in the U.S. increases during recession

pampered pet

Americans will spend more than $50 billion on their animals this year.

Mary Louise Mills has a says her three dogs are spoiled rotten 9-year-old shih tzu named Annie Lulu after Mills’ grandmother, and two Pekingese — 7-year-old Miss Daisy May and 4-year-old Elmer, whom she sometimes calls Fudd.  And she says her all three of her dogs are spoiled rotten.

 

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