Sycamore and Box Elder Trees to Blame for Equine Atypical Myopathy
Acer negundo range map
A team of international researchers believe they have found the cause for this often fatal condition: a toxin (hypoglycin A) in the seeds of sycamore trees (Acer pseudoplatanus) in Europe and box elder trees (Acer negundo) in the US.
University of Liege
University of Minnesota
Cat Makes Full Recovery from Acute Renal Failure with Homeopathy
This is a pretty amazing story of how homeopath Carol Boyce brought her neighbor’s cat back from the brink of death with the help of 5 homeopathic remedies.
Alliance of Registered Homeopaths
Proposal for “Endangered” Classification for Captive Chimpanzees
Currently, only wild chimpanzees are classified as endangered in the US, but the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service are hoping to change that. In a new proposal, they are pushing for a change in the classification of captive chimpanzees, labeling them as endangered as well, which could mean the end of their days as lab animals. You can comment on this petition here
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
HeroRATs Finding Landmines and TB
We’ve heard of dogs detecting all kinds of things, but in Africa, African Giant Pouched rats are being trained both to find land mines and detect tuberculosis. And they’re very good at it! The clicker-trained “Hero RATs” can cover a lot of ground quickly, and once they smell a landmine, they scratch the ground and are rewarded with a piece of banana. The TB-trained rats are able to screen hundreds of saliva samples for TB in less than 20 minutes, something that would take a lab technician several days.
APOPO.org
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Funny Story of the Week: Escaped Pet Parrots Teach Wild Birds To Talk
Sydney’s Australian Museum has been getting an increased number of calls from startled people who have been addressed by wild birds with phrases such as “hello darling”, “what’s happening?” and other greetings (as well as some phrases not fit for print!). Turns out it is escaped (or let loose?) pet parrots that are teaching the wild birds to talk. Naturalist Martyn Robinson said: “We’ve had people calling us thinking they’ve had something put into their drink because they’ve gone out to look at the flock of birds in their backyard and all the birds have been saying something like “Who’s a pretty boy, then?”
Australian Geographic
