A friend passed this article along to me from the New York Times; “Researchers Seek to Demystify the Metabolic Magic of Sled Dogs”

The information about these fascinating dogs is what caught my attention and inspired me to share it with you, but if the research done on this topic can help humans evolve into more physically impressive bipedal primates then this could be a rather substantial breakthrough.

Here is a quick stat; before a race the sled dog’s metabolism is very similar to that of a human. Once the race begins, however, the metabolism changes as if a switch was thrown. Get this, “In a 24-hour period, they go back to the same type of metabolic baseline you see in resting subjects. But it’s while they are running 100 miles a day.” said by Dr. Michael S. Davis, an associate professor of veterinary physiology at Oklahoma State University.

There is some money being put into this project with hopes of understanding how they do it, so that we can then do it ourselves. The thought is to help soldiers in combat not get fatigued from such an emotionally and physically draining act such as combat.