Animals
In response to outbreaks of West Nile virus throughout the eastern U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has pointed out that the best way to avoid infection is to avoid mosquito bites. West Nile virus is spread by the bite of an infected mosquito, and in addition to humans can infect horses, many species of birds, and some other animals. Fortunately, most people who become infected with West Nile virus will have either no symptoms or mild ones. But on rare occasions, infection can result in West Nile encephalitis, a severe and sometimes fatal inflammation of the brain. (The risk of severe infection is higher for persons 50 years of age and older.) Officials in Washington D.C. have been getting the word out about protective measures people can take after West Nile virus infected a 55-year-old resident, who is now hospitalized with encephalitis. As of Thursday, state health departments around the U.S. have released information on 113 cases of human illness related to West Nile virus this year, including 5 deaths.
I don't know why everyone's getting excited about this crow being so smart. First, crows are woeful creatures that like as not'll ruin my corn crop again this year. They trick Pete into giving them access to the tools -- flashing fake badges, or telling Pete he's needed on another part of the farm "pronto." Then they harvest, bag and truck off the best of the ears. But that makes them smart? A half-bright bunch of third-graders could fool Pete. When a crow tells the president when the big one's coming, or picks me the right lotto numbers, then, yeah, that's pretty smart. But for now I'm just laughing. Hell, I can make bent wire tools.
Dogs, it turns out, are a lot smarter than you thought. Unless you're a dog, that is. In which case you probably figured you were clever all along. Researchers say they've found canines can perform rudimentary math and "speak" by modifying their barks situationally. Not surprisingly, the math trick was discovered using food treats. Shortchange Fido on a Scooby snack and he just knows. Regarding their speaking ability, dogs usually use high-pitched single barks when separated from their owners and a lower, harsher superbark when strangers approach, say the researchers. Playful woofs are high-pitched and unevenly spaced.
City work crews were busy Friday cleaning up 12 tons of dead and dying squid after what looks to have been the largest mass beaching of the rubbery mollusks in a century. Scientists say the squid were likely following prey, maybe grunion, when they ventured into the shallow waters off La Jolla Cove, California, and were washed up on shore. Locals were freaked. "It was just unbelievable," Bill Halsey, 26, told Reuters. "They made these strange noises like a dolphin or a seal as they were dying." Added Clif Williams: "The thing that weirds me out about the squid is that they have humanlike eyeballs." The jumbo flying squid, aka Dosidicus gigas, usually call the eastern Pacific Ocean home, but have been turning up on beaches from Orange County to the Mexican Border. Researchers think warm water currents associated with El Nino are drawing the suckers north.
A panel of scientists has determined that poison is the best way to rid a Maryland pond of the carnivorous northern snakehead. The fish, a native of China, was introduced into the pond by a pet owner who tired of caring for the animals. Only problem is, the snakeheads are eating everything in sight, devastating the pond's ecosystem. Worse, the insatiable critters can last three days out of water, often traveling short distances across land on their fins. And the Little Patuxent River is about 75 yards away. According to the Associated Press, "The panel considered several ways to get rid of the snakeheads, including removing them through trapping, netting and electroshock stunning. But those options would not ensure that every last fish was killed. The group also considered draining and filtering the pond, but that posed logistical difficulties."
A single gene change that boosts the amount of a certain protein in early brain cells causes mice to develop abnormally large brains, Reuters Health reports. Normal mice have smooth, flat brains. But tinker with the gene in question and suddenly the little furballs develop brains so big they fold in on themselves, forming the wrinkles, ridges and crevices found also in the human brain. Study author Dr. Anjen Chenn of Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard University in Boston said the finding might help researchers understand how humans came to develop brains so much bigger than those of other mammals. Whether or not more size means more smarts is uncertain, Chenn said. "It is quite an interesting question ... and that's something we want to look at in the future."
