Hi, I don't know if this is your emails or if this will reach you, but wanted to say hi and also help understand some issues raised in your last episode.
About dogs being used to detect whale poop, I attached a paper that describes how it is done. it is really not any different than training them for any other scent and then taking them out there on a boat.
"Given the demands of working on a boat, dogs that had good physical stability,persistence in locating samples and a calm disposition were selected. Scat detection dog training follows techniques used for narcotic, search and rescue and bomb detection dogs (Wasseret al., 2004). When the dog detects the targeted scent there is a characteristic change in behaviour(recognised by tense body posture and ear position),motivated by the expectation of a reward. Scent from right whale scat was added to these dogs’ repertoires through initial exposure using a scent box (Wasser et al., 2004),followed first by searches on land, then from the bow of a boat. Previously collected scat samples from male and female right whales of varied ages were used for training"
"The dogs were positioned on the bow for the duration of the trial. On land, the dog leads the handler directly to the sample by following the scent cone along an increasing odour gradient. On the water, since the dog could not lead the handler, the helmsman steered according to the direction indicated by the dog (as interpreted by the handler)until the sample was located (Fig. 1). If the dog lost the scent during the approach, perpendicular transects were resumed until the dog’s behaviour indicated that the vessel was back in the scent cone from the sample (Fig. 2). When faecal samples were successfully collected, the dog was rewarded immediately by playing with a tennis ball on a string."
Also about the autism genes. The guy is talking about epigenetics, where the autistic behavior inducing genes are being turned on by neurotoxins like valproic acid during pregnancy. However, the same argument can be made about the epigenetically active compounds in vaccines such as thimerosal that can turn on certain genes that increase the chances of developing autistic behavior. Complicated traits like intelligence, personality and autistic behavior are caused by the interactions of many genes. After all, the children are being exposed to these compounds during crucial times in brain development, even if it is not as early as pregnancy, the brain development can easily be thwarted when a baby of 12 months is being injected by these compounds!