#Breast Milk Bought Online May have High Levels of Bacteria Breast milk sold online may be contaminated with disease-causing bacteria researchers have found.
After noticing more women offering to buy and sell breast milk over the Internet researchers launched a study to see how safe that milk really is.
They sent anonymous purchasing requests to about 500 sellers on a popular U s. milk-sharing website.
and other cruciferous vegetables prevents rats exposed to lethal doses of radiation from dying. If follow-up studies show the treatment works in humans the compound could be given to people before
To find out the team exposed 40 rats to a dose of gamma-ray radiation that would normally be deadly
When it was given prior to radiation exposure the compound also shielded rats from radiation's effects.
When hunters kill gorillas and other primates for their meat the primates no longer disperse the seeds of some fruit
-and nut-bearing trees and wind-dispersed seedlings take root instead according to a study published today (March 19) in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B. The seedling communities of the forest floors are really different in a hunted forest compared to a well-protected forest said study co-author Ola Olsson an ecologist
Illegal practice Though illegal hunting for bushmeat from wild or endangered animals such as primates is now widespread in Africa.
25 Primates in Peril Population increases have forced people to live at the forest's edges.
and there are few taboos against eating nonhuman primates. New roads guns and cars also enable people to hunt gorillas
and bring carcasses to city markets where they fetch a handsome sum Olsson said. Hunted and protected To find out how primate hunting affected the forest Olsson
and his colleagues surveyed trees and mammals in the Nigerian rain forest bordering Cameroon. Park rangers protected some forested areas
which teem with monkeys and gorillas while nearby hunted areas were full of rodents such as rats and porcupines.
Whereas similar large trees dominated both types of forest the seedlings looked very different. Well-protected forests had many seedlings such as the bush mango that rely on primates to spread their seeds.
Many of these trees bear fruits or nuts that humans also eat. Hunted forests held seedling species that relied on wind to disperse their seeds.
In a generation that could fundamentally change the forest ecology he said. And whereas gorilla and monkey meat does provide protein for local people the fruit trees the primates maintain may be an even bigger economic benefit to people Olsson said.
Important work The findings show yet another devastating impact of the bushmeat trade said Joanna Lambert an ecologist at the University of Texas at San antonio who was involved not in the study.
Without primates and other large-bodied mammals forests are not regenerating in the way they've evolved to do over millions of years Lambert said.
Ending bushmeat hunting requires several tactics. Increasing fines and enforcement could help as would improving local populations'access to other protein-rich foods Lambert told Livescience.
But another strategy one that helped gorilla populations rebound in Rwanda and Uganda is to pay former hunters to serve as park rangers
The HSUS has also been fighting the opening of a horse slaughter plant in Sigourney Iowa
and other decision-makers that the people of Iowa don't approve of the killing of horses for human consumption;
Pacelle's most recent Op-Ed was Porcupine Quills to Mange Rural Pets Rely on Free Vet Clinics.
In mammals caffeine has been shown to affect circuits in the brain's memory center the hippocampus.
#Camels May be Link to Deadly MERS Virus A potential source of the newmiddle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) virus has been identified:
camels may be a carrier of the virus according to a new study. Blood tests of 50 dromedary (one hump) camels in Oman a country in the Arabian peninsula found that all had developed antibodies against the MERS virus a sign that the camels may have been infected in the past with the MERS virus
or a very similar one the researchers said. However the actual virus was not found in the animals. oethese new results suggest that dromedary camels may be one reservoir of the virus that is causing MERS infection in humans the study researchers from National Institute for Public health
and the Environment in Bilthoven The netherlands said in a statement. oedromedary camels are a popular animal species in the middle East where they are used for racing
and also for meat and milk so there are different types of contact of humans with these animals that could lead to transmission of a virus the researchers said.
The study did not find MERS antibodies in blood samples taken from closely related animals such as alpacas and llamas in The netherlands and Chile.
However humans do not have much direct contact with bats so another animal such as camels
The study cannot prove that humans caught the virus from camels. Before researchers can confirm that camels are a source of MERS future studies are needed to identify the actual virus in camels
and compare it to the MERS virus the researchers said. The study is published in today's (Aug 9) issue of the journal The Lancet Infectious diseases.
#Can Farmers Cry Wolf and then Pocket the Cash?(Op-Ed) Wayne Pacelle is the president and chief executive officer of The Humane Society of the United states (HSUS.
and Keep Michigan Wolves Protected four-fifths of the livestock killed by wolves in the western management unit (96 animals out of 120) come from this one farm.
Even though state law already allows the killing of individual wolves threatening livestock or pets the state senator from this region has shepherded two bills through the Michigan legislature to allow trophy hunting of gray wolves right after they were Gray wolf May Lose Endangered Species Status. There are only about 650 wolves in the entire state
and that number is down from the wolf census two years ago. There are only about 650 wolves in the entire state
and that number is down from the wolf census two years ago. There were 11 farms that reported wolf problems in the western region of the Upper Peninsula with most of them having only a single incident.
In an investigation conducted this past winter the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) found that the owner of that one farm John Koski did not live on the farm
and did not provide proper care for his cattle failing even to remove dead animals allowing their carcasses to attract predators.
The state provided three guard donkeys to him for free yet DNR officials found two of them dead
and the third one was in poor condition. Koski also failed to use fencing as a protective mechanism
and trapping wolves for trophies and for their pelts used Koski as a poster child for their hunt citing enormous losses from wolves.
What they didn't tell people was that the vast majority of all incidents involving wolves occurred on one farm
which was clearly exhibiting the worst management practices and inviting predators or other animals onto the farm by leaving rotting animal carcasses around.
It essentially amounts to a wolf-baiting situation and then crying crocodile tears when the wolves show up for a free meal.
The people who want to kill wolves don't want to admit that their agenda is driven by an irrational hatred and a lack of understanding of wolves.
They try to dress up their policy goal of wolf-killing in socially beneficial terms. Specifically they say the hunt will protect farmers.
The fact is the state already allows the killing of problem wolves. And the state provides free tools to farmers having wolf conflicts
and compensates them for the very infrequent losses that occur. Random killing of wolves in the forests and wilderness won't do a thing to further mitigate the remote likelihood of a wolf incident.
Sound animal husbandry practices are the solution. Wolves are an economic and ecological boon to the state driving wildlife-oriented tourism
and keeping prey populations in balance thereby reducing crop losses and automobile collisions involving deer.
That's why The HSUS urges all Michiganders to support two referenda one to nullify the wolf trophy hunting season set to start in November
and the other to restore the rights of voters to have a say on wildlife management policies
and deny the unelected political appointees at the Natural resources Commission from having all authority to open new hunting
This article was adapted from'Crying Wolf and Pocketing the Cash which first appeared as on the HSUS blog A Humane Nation.
percent of global human-induced greenhouse-gas emissions confirming that the farm-animal sector is a top contributor to one of the most pressing environmental problems of our time.
Animal advocates have long cast a suspicious eye on the practices of the pet food industry with talk over decades about hidden ingredients in canned and dried goods containing horse meat so-called 4-D meat (dead downed dying
and diseased animals) and even the carcasses of euthanized dogs and cats from shelters. Today the nutritional content and safety of pet food is a mainstream concern given growing consciousness about nutrition
The pet-food market has grown dramatically with some pet food companies even marketing organic food for dogs and cats.
This much-needed upgrade of the regulatory framework comes as the FDA is still trying to determine the precise cause of a six-year spate of pet illnesses involving more than 3500 dogs with nearly 600 known fatalities apparently stemming from jerky-style pet treats.
This latest food safety scare while substantial is small in comparison to the 2007 scandal that ultimately claimed the lives of thousands of dogs and cats.
Given the concerns about pet treats you might consider baking your own healthy dog treats as a precaution.
Healthy recipes for treats your dog will love can be found at: humanesociety. org/dogs.
Pacelle's most recent Op-Ed was Hunt club Auctions Opportunity to Kill Endangered Rhino. This article was adapted from The Case of the Terrible Treats
which first appeared on the HSUS blog A Humane Nation. The views expressed are those of the author
#Cat Poop Parasite Is Dangerously Widespread Be careful next time you change the kitty litter cat poop can carry a nefarious parasite that may be much more widespread than thought researchers say.
Cats in the United states release about 2. 6 billion pounds (1. 2 million metric tons) of feces into the environment every year.
Cat dung carries the parasite Toxoplasma gondii a single-celled organism that creates infectious agents called oocysts.
The number of cats in the United states is growing pet cats increased from 55 million to 80 million from 1989 to 2006
and the number of feral cats is estimated at between 25 million and 60 million. Studies show that approximately 1 percent of cats shed the infectious oocysts at any given time.
These oocysts can survive for at least 18 months and only a single one is needed to cause an infection according to past research.
Other animals like sheep and cattle can also acquire the parasite by ingesting the infected cat feces.
It has long been known that the parasite can survive in cat litter where the oocysts become aerosolized after 24 to 48 hours Torrey said.
because cats often relieve themselves in these areas. It's a remarkably complex parasite. It's much more complicated than a virus
and change their behavior causing them to be less afraid of the smell of cat urine.
This makes it easier for the rats to be eaten by cats returning the parasite to its host.
 In the meantime Torrey advocated controlling cat populations especially feral ones. Children's sandboxes should be covered.
And cat owners should dispose of cat litter properly in the trash not down a toilet
None of us are saying cats shouldn't be said pets Torrey but there are some downsides to all pets
and some downsides to cats we should be aware of. Follow Tanya Lewis on Twitterâ and Google+.
because the extinction of many groups of giant mammals allowing smaller species to thrive and diversify because their predators no longer existed.
The beginning of the Paleogene Period was a time for the mammals that survived from the Cretaceous period.
Later in this period rodents and small horses such as Hyracotherium are common and rhinoceroses and elephants appear.
As the period ends dogs cats and pigs become commonplace. Other than a few birds that were classified as dinosaurs most notable the Titanis the dinosaurs were gone.
Large flightless birds such as the Diatryma thrived. Â The Neogene Period gives rise to early primates including early humans.
Bovids including cattle sheep goats antelope and gazelle flourish during this period. Cave lions Sabre-toothed cats cave bears giant deer woolly rhinoceroses and woolly mammoths were prevailing species of the Quaternary period.
Without the dinosaurs plant life had an opportunity to flourish during the Cenozoic era. Nearly every plant living today had its roots in the Cenozoic era.
Due to the widening of the oceanssharks whales and other marine life proliferated. The Great lakes that formed in the western United states during the Eocene epoch were the perfect home for bass trout
Thriving populations of wolves deer lynx beaver eagles boar elk bears and other animals have been documented in the dense woodlands that now surround the silent plant.
#Chimps Have a Sense of Fairness Humans aren't the only ones who cry no fair.
In a classic test of fairness called the ultimatum game apes will dole out an equitable share of their bananas
and chimpanzees may share an evolved sense of fairness common to many cooperative species said lead study author Darby Proctor a primatologist at Emory University.
Selfish apes But past studies of the ultimatum game in chimpanzees (with raisins) had suggested our closest living relatives were rational maximizers who would accept even the stingiest offering without getting ruffled.
if the apes accepted but made them wait a full minute after rejecting the offer raising the possibility that the apes realized it was more fruitful to accept quickly to get more raisins rather than rejecting lowball offers.
Chimps and children In the new study the team trained the primates to dole out tokens that stood for bananas with one token symbolizing an equal split
while the other was an unfair deal that benefitted the first chimp. See a Video of Chimps'Ultimatum Game At first the chimps were stingy
but very quickly they switched to offering equitable splits in the ultimatum game. To test the method the researchers had 3-to 5-year-old children participate in a similar experiment using stickers instead of bananas.
The little ones started out greedy but quickly offered the tokens for fairer distributions of stickers.
me as very similar to the chimps Proctor said. They would say things like'You got more stickers than me'or
'The findings suggest chimp and human sense of fairness aren't so different Milinski said.
I am not surprised we are so similar to chimps. We are not unique Milinski told Livescience.
Some people with income to spare spend it on lavish and often outlandish wildlife luxury goods like rhino horn and elephant ivory.
and trafficked wolf pelts from Greece at Beijing's Capital International airport for example was a commendable act by China's General Administration of Customs.
Together with other recent seizures of elephant tusks and rhino horns in Hong kong the Chinese government has taken a stand in opposition to the practice of illegal commerce in wildlife.
Additionally as the single biggest investor in Africa China bears special responsibility to that continent's people and wildlife.
Through education and enforcement China and other East Asian nationsneed to address the demand for ivory rhino horn and other animal products.
Furthermore reports of the involvement of organized militia and terrorist groups in elephant poaching are highly troubling
As a vital force in the global alliance for wildlife protection China's growing commitment and efforts to combat illicit trafficking can save elephants and rhinos from extinction while inviting global commendation for its efforts.
and fuel wood endangered animals like pandas struggle to survive. China's issues with species loss extend far beyond its borders:
The slaughter of elephants for ivory the killing of rhinos for their horns and the culling of tigers for their bones (as medicine)
We still do not know why a dog says'bow-wow 'and a cat says'meow'Yoshimura said in a statement.
We are interested in the mechanism of this genetically controlled behavior and believe that chickens provide an excellent model.
and the brightly-colored tiger leg monkey frog (Phyllomedusa tomopterna) which earns its moniker from its orange-and-black underbelly and limbs.
In 2012 scientists found yet another type of BAT called beige fat which is a subset of brown fat
but that demands a high-burning capacity that BAT probably doesn't have. Capsinoids appear to induce brown fat in the same way as cold by capturing the same cellular system that the body's nervous system uses to increase heat production Yoneshiro said.
#Cold war Nuclear Radiation Creates Anti-Poaching Tool (ISNS)--Radioactive carbon atoms created during 20th-century nuclear bomb tests could help save elephants
In their new study Uno and his team tested the radiocarbon dating technique on the tusks of two elephants that died in 2006 and 2008 as well as elephant and hippo teeth monkey hair and oryx horn.
when an elephant died. Currently the radiocarbon test costs about $500 and takes about one month to complete.
and comes at a crucial time for elephants which are being slaughtered at a rate that could drive them to extinction this century.
For example if used in combination with other methods that use DNA to determine the geographical origin of an ivory sample the carbon-14 dating technique could help investigators determine how recently hotspots for elephant poaching have been active.
#Condors Drive Cougars to Kill More Cougar biologist Mark Elbroch spent more than a year in South america's Patagonia region tracking down pumas and recording
and eat riding on a horse for up to 21 hours at a time. In the course of his research Elbroch noticed something odd:
Patagonian pumas kill about 50 percent more animals than their North american counterparts and spend less time feeding on their hard-earned meals.
which was published earlier this month in the journal PLOS One the cougars abandon their kills due to harassment from Andean condors a near-threatened scavenging bird Elbroch told Ouramazingplanet.
however since the condors are physically much smaller than these mountain lions and don't directly threaten the big cats he said.
 Mountain lions under the pressure of condors act like squirrels do under the pressure of owls acting more skittish Elbroch said.
Skittish in the grasslands Elbroch said this unique behavior primarily occurs in the open grasslands where the animal's favorite prey the guanaco a large animal in the camel family are most plentiful.
When Patagonian pumas make a kill in the forest however they've been known to stay with it for up to a week gorging themselves
and only leaving after they're full (they typically get full before the meat runs out).
To make up for the relatively brief amount of time spent with kills in the grassland the big cats must kill more prey to get the same amount of meat said Elbroch who works for Panthera a conservation group dedicated to preserving big cats.
 North american cougars (also known as pumas mountain lions panthers and catamounts) usually only leave their kills when chased away by larger animals like bears or wolves Elbroch said.
Although condors don't chase the cats away apparently their presence is irritating enough to drive away the cats.
Condors rarely land alone arriving with a coterie of sharp-beaked kin. Elbroch said the cats'skittishness may also owe something to the presence of humans primarily sheep herders in the Patagonian grasslands.
Humans have hunted extensively mountain lions in the past. But cougars have rebounded slightly in the past decade or so as demand for wool and hence sheep has declined Elbroch said.
A lot of meat Female cougars weigh about 85 pounds (39 kilograms) while males average about 150 pounds (68 kg) Elbroch said.
On average they eat about 5 to 7 pounds (2 to 4 kg) of meat per day only about a quarter of
what they catch he said. Full-grown guanacos weigh about 250 pounds (113 kg. I believe this is the first study to quantify how much meat is lost
and how much extra hunting pumas are forced to do at considerable risk to feed these'kleptoparasites'said Paul Beier a researcher at Northern Arizona University referring to the many animals that make a meal of the cougar's table scraps.
Beier wasn't involved in Elbroch's research. Up to 17 different animals depend upon cougar kills for food Elbroch said.
They are providing a lot of meat to their community they are truly a keystone species Elbroch said referring to a species that provides multiple irreplaceable services that keep an ecosystem productive.
Patagonia Expedition in Pictures His group tracked cougars using dogs often chasing the cougars for up to five hours.
Then they'd dart the cougars before attaching a collar with a GPS tracking device
Information gathered from the collars allowed Elbroch to know where the cougar had traveled and spent the night after
if he could find what the cougar had been eating. His group recorded 266 different carcasses the large majority
of which were guanacos. Reach Douglas Main at dmain@techmedianetwork. com. Follow him on Twitter@Douglas main. Follow Ouramazingplanet on Twitterâ@OAPLANET. We're also onâ Facebookâ and Google+c
#Coolest Science Stories of the Week<p></p><p>Science brought us walking sharks artistic chimps and even the first human mind-meld?</
technique even among chimpanzees has won the popular vote; Brent a 37-year-old male chimpanzee paints only with his tongue.
His piece a cluster of smudges and speckles garnered the most votes in a chimpanzee art contest the Humane Society of the United states (HSUS) announced Thursday (Aug 29.</
</p><p>The judge's selection made by primatologist Jane Goodall went to Cheetah a former laboratory chimpanzee who used an autumnal palette dominated by yellow orange and red.</
</p><p>Full Story:<<a href=http://www. livescience. com/39336-tongue-painting-chimp-wins-art-contest. html target=blank>Tongue-Painting Chimp Takes 1st Place
in Art Contest</a p></p><p>Scientists have created a microscopic sphere and set it awhirl at a blistering 600 million rotations per minute.</
>If a snake eats a monkey in the forest and no one sees it does it make a difference?
and eating a howler monkey. The finding and boa-eating-monkey video is noteworthy since reports of primates being eaten by predators are relatively rare according to the study published this month in the journal Primates.</
</p><p>Full Story & Video:<<a href=http://www. livescience. com/39172-boa-constrictor-eats-howler-monkey. html target=blank>Boa constrictor Seen Eating Howler monkey in a First</a p></p><p
>One man has controlled the movements of another person by sending brain signals via the Internet.</</p><p>The demonstration is the first example of two human brains directly interacting.</
</p><p>Full Story:<<a href=http://www. livescience. com/39265-first-human-mind-meld-created. html target=blank>First Human Mind-Meld Created</a p></p><p>The concept of a time machine
and severed leg bone of a 14-year-old girl they have dubbed Jane. The bones were scattered amongst butchered dog and animal bones.
</p><p>The new study published today (May 1) in the journal PLOS ONE may explain how the carcasses of several carnivore species including saber-toothed cats and bear dogs wound up in an underground cavern
</p><p></p><p>Scientists have discovered neurons in mice that fire in response to gentle stroking touch.</
</p><p>The neurons described in the Jan 31 issue of the journal Nature may explain why animals from rats to cats to humans enjoy grooming each other
></p><p>Big dogs apparently die younger mainly because they age quickly researchers say.</</p><p>These new findings could help unravel the biological links between growth and mortality the scientists added.</
<a href=http://www. livescience. com/27676-why-small-pups-outlive-large-dogs. html target=blank>Why Small Pups Outlive Large Dog Breeds</a p><p
Since the 1950s when researchers cloned a frog scientists have cloned dozens of animal species including mice cats sheep pigs and cows.
With mice researchers were able to use thousands of eggs and conduct many experiments to work out these problems Lanza said.
But with primates eggs are a very precious resource and it is not easy to acquire them to conduct experiments Lanza said.
In addition researchers can't simply apply what they've learned from cloning mice or cows to cloning people.
In mice this isn't a problem because the embryo that is ultimately created is able to make these proteins again.
But primates aren't able to do this and researchers think it may be one reason that attempts to clone monkeys have failed Lanza said.
See How Stem Cell Cloning Works (Infographic) What's more cloned animals often have different kinds of genetic abnormalities that can prevent embryo implantation in a uterus
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