More Than They Bargained For?

Many people are attracted to the idea of 'natural' herbal remedies even for complex issues like obesity and erectile dysfunction but a report suggests that some of these preparations are contaminated with pharmaceutical agents (https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/feb/03/herbal-supplements-illegal-ingredients-pose-health-risk-experts). Some of these banned drugs may have found their way into supplements accidentally but others appear to be deliberate introductions to enhance the preparation's properties. One of the most commonly found is Sibutramine, which was licenced as Reductil, until it was banned in Europe and the US in 2010, after being linked to a high incidence of heart attacks and strokes. It is difficult to know what you are likely to get in supplements especially if they are bought online. If the side-effects of regulated drugs can be problematic, those associated with supplements can be a nightmare! It also seems wrong to be using 'naturalness' as a sales point if the preparation is no such thing.

The Missing Lynx?

A predictable stand-off seems to be developing at the Kielder Forest Reserve in Northumberland (https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/feb/03/plan-to-introduce-lynx-to-kielder-forest-angers-farmers). A group (Lynx Trust UK) is exploring the possibility of introducing the European lynx (Lynx lynx) to the reserve. This big cat has not been seen in Britain for over 1300 years but enthusiasts think that a population of lynx would be a big tourism boost for the region and could improve biodiversity in the forest as they would prey on the Roe deer that eat many developing seedlings (such benefits have been seen with other predator introductions in other countries). The plan has, however, caused great concern in the farming community around the area as many fear that the lynx could damage their sheep flocks (by direct predation or causing miscarriage in pregnant ewes). It will be interesting to see how this pans out but I have been to the Donana National Park in Southern Spain where the lynx seems to thrive without causing obvious problems for the surrounding populice.

Frog Spit

A study (https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/feb/01/special-spit-is-the-secret-of-uniquely-sticky-frog-tongues-study-reveals) has confirmed that frog saliva has thixotropic properties. This is revealed when the frog flicks out its tongue to capture and swallow insect prey. As the tongue is flicked, the spits is liquid and runny but when it comes into contact with the insect, the spit becomes thick and sticky. This means that the saliva spreads all over the frog's prey before re-forming as an inescapable trap. Fluids with this property are exploited in a number biological activities including burrowing by sand dwelling bivalves.

Mini Dalek Ancestors?

Scientists have studied fossils of tiny (about 1mm long) creatures from rocks deposits, around 540 million years old, from central China they have named Saccorhytus coronarious   (https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/jan/30/huge-mouth-and-no-anus-earliest-known-ancestor-saccorhytus-coronarious-evolution). Although the beasts were small, they appear to have had a disproportionately large mouth but no obvious anus (it is suggested that they swallowed their prey and had vents, comparable to gill slits, to remove excess water that they must have ingested in that process). These beasts are thought to be the first Deuterostomes (although that group gets its name from the fact that its members generally convert their first embryonic opening into an anus). Current Deuterostomes include Echinoderms (starfish and sea-urchins) as well as the Chordates (sea squirts and vertebrates). It's pushing the description a bit but they have been described as our earliest known ancestors.

Cyborgs Walk Amongst Us!

Heard an interesting account on the current development of cyborgs in the sense of these being persons whose physiological (and sensory) function is changed by mechanical and/or electronic means (www,bbc.com/future/story/20140924-the-greatest-myths-about-cyborgs). It seems that some people are choosing to enhance their abilities, often by combining electronics with piercings (devices can be implanted). It was remarkable how many of the cases involved people who came to see their device as part of themselves. Sometimes cyborg development is linked to particular problems (such as developing a way of hearing different colours in response to an eye condition producing a monochrome world or 'hacking' an insulin-dispensing device for a diabetic so that it predicts and corrects the direction of blood sugar changes rather than simply being triggered by very deviant blood values) and sometimes a desire to develop a new sense (such as an ability to hear nearby wifi networks, to know the direction of north or to be able to sensitively detect seismic events). Occasionally, the sense was utilised in art. There seemed to be at least 2 serious issues requiring attention. The first is that the cyborg modifications are currently unregulated and issues around legal and moral responsibility seem far from clarified (e.g. if an individual hacks a device and something goes wrong, is it that individual's responsibility or the manufacturer's for selling an easily hackable device?). The second is that criminals may also be able to hack some devices in cyborgs to take information from them or even, in some cases, to kill them.

Seeing the Changes 1134

Mild and wet in Loughor, so the fungi return.

Phew!

I am somewhat relieved that a study in Vienna on 156 people has concluded that people who appreciate dark humour tend to be high in intelligence and low in aggression (taskandpurpose.com/science-a-dark-sense-of-humor-is-a-mark-of-higher-intelligence). Having said that, the study is small, looks at only one cohort, uses the cartoons of a single artist and there are the problems of accurately 'measuring' intelligence and propensity for aggression.