Chernobyl Birds are Small Brained

A team of researchers from Norway, France and the US have conducted a study of 550 birds belonging to 48 different species living in the Chernobyl region and discovered that the birds had brains 5% smaller on average compared to birds not exposed to background radiation .

Insect diversity has also fallen, and previously, the same researchers found a way to predict which species there are likely to be most severely damaged by radioactive contamination, by evaluating how often they renew parts of their DNA. In their latest study, the scientists used mist nets to collect birds from eight woodland sites around Chernobyl, which have seen a decline in the numbers of larger animals and small invertebrates living within.

High levels of background radiation cause animals oxidative stress, where they have to use antioxidants in their bodies to fight its ill effects. That leaves animals exposed to radiation severely depleted of antioxidants, and the reduced brain size may be a result of this depletion.
news.bbc.co.uk...

Back to the Zone Stalkers

So... no Birdzilla... only even dumber birds. Great.

So not only radiation is related to cancer now it can be related to stupidity also..

reply to post by FraternitasSaturni


It would make sense , from memory I believe the UK got a dose , Welsh farmers couldn't sell their Sheep for a while .
I wounder if Chernobyl is to blame for the rising levels of stupidity amongst the population of my Country