Seeing the Changes 1026

Another early arrival in Loughor with the flowering of the Primrose (Primula vulgaris).

The Cherry on the Top?

An interesting study involving more than 120,000 US subjects, some studied over more than 20 years (using a combination of measures and self-reported diets and life style activities), has suggested that a diet rich in brightly-coloured fruit and vegetables, rich in flavinoids, helps to limit weight gain especially in middle age (http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/jan/27/natural-compound-fruit-veg-flavonoids-help-prevent-weight-gain-study). This is interpreted as a possible help to countering the obesity epidemic (with its linkage to a variety of diseases including diabetes) but the association with these 'super foods' may be a bit more complex than meets the eye. The diets seem to have been self-selected and it is possible that the subjects eating blue berries, strawberries, cherries, citrus fruits, aubergines et cetera and drank tea were the kind of people who would be health conscious and keen to keep their weights down. These foods are also generally rich in fibre and would fill without fattening. Having said that, they sound like good food items to me!

Two Cheers?

Interesting news that some of the 24 million a day waste slices of bread in the UK are to be converted into Toast ale (http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/jan/22/toast-ale-beer-surplus-bread-feedback-food-waste). On the one hand, this is an interesting attempt to utilise some of the otherwise wasted food in the country but this news come out on the day that it is confirmed that the UK profits of beer, spirits and wine producers depend on encouraging folk to consume dangerously high levels of alcohol. The arrangement will only work if consumers of 'Toast' drink less of the other stuff.

You Can Always Count on Us?

An odd report that the Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) can apparently 'count' in order avoid wasting 'energy' whilst attempting to catch flies, in order to provide scarce nitrogen (http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/jan/21/venus-flytraps-able-to-count-in-order-to-avoid-false-alarms-study-finds). I think that this is an odd use of the word count. This vegetable predator doesn't have anything like a nervous system to calculate with but it employs systems with its thigomosensitive (touch-sensitive) hairs and its closure mechanisms (which largely involve rapid movements of water) where priming occurs. One touch to get ready, Two touches to close and More to produce digestive systems.

Birder's Bonus 159

On a car journey between Rochester and Swansea, I was somewhat surprised to spot 4 Red kite (Milvus milvus) on the stretch from Windsor to Reading.

Seeing the Changes 1025

In Bynea, Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa) and Alder (Alnus glutinosa) were both in flower.

What Did the Neanderthals Ever Do For Us?

Scientists have speculated that cross-species breeding between Homo sapiens and our Neanderthal cousins in Europe, have led to our species acquiring three genes that boost our immune competence (http://www.theguardian.com/science/neanderthals). The down side of this 'gift' may be that it causes our rejection systems to be somewhat over-active, increasing the probability of developing autoimmune diseases and allergies to items such as pollen (i.e. Hayfever).