An eagerly awaited report about endangered species has managed the rare feat of pleasing both environmentalists and the pesticide industry. The National Academy of Sciences report examines processes used by federal agencies to evaluate the risk that pesticides pose to protected species.
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An article in Science Daily suggests that they are. (Hat tip: Bruce Ross)
As Halloween approaches, tales of monsters and creepy crawlies abound. Among the most fearsome is the legendary beast known as the chupacabras.So why do these animals attack livestock? The article explains:
But the real fiend is not the hairless, fanged animal purported to attack and drink the blood of livestock; it's a tiny, eight-legged creature that turns a healthy, wild animal into a chupacabras, says University of Michigan biologist Barry OConnor.
The existence of the chupacabras, also known as the goatsucker, was first surmised from livestock attacks in Puerto Rico, where dead sheep were discovered with puncture wounds, completely drained of blood. Similar reports began accumulating from other locations in Latin America and the U.S. Then came sightings of evil-looking animals, variously described as dog-like, rodent-like or reptile-like, with long snouts, large fangs, leathery or scaly greenish-gray skin and a nasty odor. Locals put two and two together and assumed the ugly varmints were responsible for the killings.
Scientists studied some of the chupacabras carcasses and concluded that the dreaded monsters actually were coyotes with extreme cases of mange -- a skin condition caused by mites burrowing under the skin. OConnor, who studies the mites that cause mange, concurs and has an idea why the tiny assailants affect wild coyotes so severely, turning them into atrocities.
Do mite infestations also alter the animals' behavior, turning them into bloodthirsty killers? Not exactly, but there is an explanation for why they may be particularly likely to prey on small livestock such as sheep and goats.
"Because these animals are greatly weakened, they're going to have a hard time hunting," OConnor said. "So they may be forced into attacking livestock because it's easier than running down a rabbit or a deer."
OK, the real reason for this post was to practice uploading photos onto the blog. But as you make your plans for the Fourth of July weekend, you might want to make your way to Newport, Ore., where my wife and I took these pictures recently. The famous aquarium is one of many attractions in that beautiful coastline city.
From the Geelong Advertiser:
GEELONG scientists are preparing to inject pigs with swine flu to see how it affects herds.
They would then be able to give pig farmers a list of symptoms to alert them to the unlikely scenario the H1N1 virus had jumped back to animals.
Australian Animal Health Laboratory assistant director Dr. Peter Daniels said the research was urgent given the recent outbreak of the disease, but he moved to reassure consumers there was no evidence of the animal disease, classic swine fever, in Australia and that pigs and pork posed no threat.
"It is the responsibility of the Australian Animal Health Laboratory to provide a diagnostic program for disease," Dr. Daniels said.
"It's part of our program to have Australia best prepared ... it's important that we do know how that particular strain of influenza virus does affect Australian pigs."
Could they have a role in the ongoing stem cell debate?
From the BBC:
Chinese scientists have given cells from adult pigs the ability to turn into any tissue in the body, just like embryonic stem cells.
They hope the breakthrough could aid research into human disease, and the breeding of animals for organ transplants for humans.
It may also enable the development of pigs that are resistant to diseases such as swine flu.
The study appears online in the Journal of Molecular Cell Biology.
This breakthrough to produce pig stem cells potentially reinvigorates the quest to grow humanised pig organs
Lead researcher Dr Lei Xiao, of the Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, said many other attempts had been made to transform adult cells from animals such as pigs into "pluripotent" stem cells, but they had failed.
He said: "Therefore, it is entirely new, very important and has a number of applications for both human and animal health."
I came across a video today that was done as part of a high school project at High Tech High School charter school in San Diego. Given it's title, "Earth Watch — Agriculture Chemicals," I expected it to contain a pro-environment (i.e. anti-agriculture) message. But I was impressed that the student(s) who produced the video report put together a video that recognizes there are benefits to using agriculture chemical, like fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides, as well as dangers if they are misused.
The information contained in the report may not contain information unknown to people working day-to-day in the ag industry, but I thought it was worth sharing anyway. If nothing else, is shows how the process of doing a school report has changed. Apparently writing a report isn't enough anymore and school reports have gone multimedia, at least at this Souther California charter school. Note the long list of credits at the end of the report (although I challenge anyone to actually read them and decipher what they say in this YouTube format).
When I watch such things, I always wonder what my dad's reaction to it would be. My father owns an agriculture aviation operation that applies agriculture fertilizers and chemicals by air. I'm sure he would have field day with the part of the report where the narrator is talking about pesticides over video images of an airplane using a spreader to apply some sort of granular material, which I'm assuming is fertilizer. Maybe it's a good thing Dad isn't part of the YouTube generation.
When asked in the sales meeting this week about the dynamics of writing the recent successful newspaper special section, Climate Change in recent months, the managing editor of the Capital Press remarked, "Climate change is not news, but a discussion about the politics of science."
- Carl Sampson, Managing Editor, Capital Press Agriculture Weekly
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