Have you touched a cute dog recently? If that dog touches you with its nose, you may find how wet and cold it is. If dogs are so warm and fluffy (毛茸茸的), then why are their noses so cold?
Before, people thought that dogs had cold noses to help them control their body temperature(温度). But, a new study has shown some interesting findings about dogs' noses. The study finds that when the air temperature is 30℃, the tip of a dog's nose is about five degrees cooler than the air. But why is this?
The researchers believe that the tip of a dog's nose has a special sensory function (探测功能). So, they do an experiment to test it. The study shows that dogs can find weak heat sources—like a small animal—with their noses from 1. 5 meters away.
The research team studies three dogs named Charlie, Delfi and Kevin. For the experiment, the dogs have to tell the difference between two objects. The two objects are heated to different temperatures. Amazingly, all three dogs are able to sense the temperature difference between both objects.
The study also finds that the heat from the objects in the experiment is too weak to be felt by human hands, even at very short distances. The dogs are able to sense these heated objects from a distance, but humans are only able to feel the warmth of the object if they touch it.
To know more about it, the research team also studies the brain activity of 13 dogs. When a warm object is put near their noses, there is an increase in brain activity.
