Tardis001 at April 28, 2016 at 7:20 PM

Ever wondered if lizards dream?

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/04/160428152134.htm

It would be interesting to see if amphibians (e.g frogs) have REM sleep (dreams) because the amphibian/reptile brain is similar in structure, but the research on the bearded dragon suggests REM sleep probably originated in the earliest reptiles.

I suspect there is a greater range of visual stimuli in a terrestrial environment than in an aqueous one. Perhaps REM sleep in reptles, birds and mammals is a way of cataloguing memories of lots of different visual stimuli from a terrestrial environment and the animal’s responses to them, whereas animals that live only in aqueous environments (e.g. fish) don’t need to do this.  Amphibians spend part of their lives in a terrestrial environment, so one would expect that they would be subjected to a greater range of visual stimuli than do fish (unless they live in dark environments such as caves). So I wonder if REM sleep originated in the amphibians (rather than the reptiles) and did so as an adaptation to living in a terrestrial environment?

Tardis001 at April 28, 2016 at 7:20 PM

Ever wondered if lizards dream?

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/04/160428152134.htm

Only Silurians like Madame Vastra.   

Large Hadron Collider: Weasel shuts down world's largest particle accelerator

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-30/large-hadron-collider-shut-down-by-a-weasel/7372752

Rumpole at April 29, 2016 at 6:57 PM

Large Hadron Collider: Weasel shuts down world's largest particle accelerator

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-30/large-hadron-collider-shut-down-by-a-weasel/7372752

I hope he wasn't using any  "Weasel Words"  

We need to feed the bacteria in our intestines with a healthy balance diet in order to be healthy ourselves:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/04/160428151853.htm

This reminds me of some findings of some researchers at the University of Western Australia when I was a student there in the early 1980s.  A few Quokkas were taken from Rottnest Island each year in an attempt to re-establish wild populations in the forests of mainland South-western Australia, where they were thought to be extinct.  Before the Quokkas wer released onto the mainland they had to be quarantined in enclosures at the university for at least 3 months to make sure they were healthy animals. However, when healthy Quokkas were finally released into the wild at the end of the quarantine period, few survived, but it took a while to work out why.

During the quarantine period they were fed a special pellet that kept them healthy.  However, the pellets did not contain cellulose, whereas the Quokkas natural diet (grasses, shrubs, etc) did. Quokkas are unable to break down the cellulose, so they rely on microbes in the gut to do that for them.  Studies showed that the gut microbes in the quarantined Quokkas died off because there was no cellulose (the food source for the microbes) in the pellets. Consequently, when the Quokkas were released into the wild, they ate a lot of natural food, but literally starved to death because they did not have the gut microbes to help break down the plant material.  The problem was soon solved by the scientists who added cellulose to the pellets fed to Quokkas which were subsequently held in quarantine.

Research in WA Goldfields finds low breeding rates a problem for wedge-tailed eagles

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-28/wa-research-finds-low-breeding-rates-a-problem-for-eagles/7367010

Rumpole at May 1, 2016 at 4:50 AM

Research in WA Goldfields finds low breeding rates a problem for wedge-tailed eagles

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-28/wa-research-finds-low-breeding-rates-a-problem-for-eagles/7367010

Thanks Rumpy, that's very interesting. 

Stories like this highlight the need for long-term research because breeding success and population abundance can be cyclic.  There was a huge Wedge-tailed Eagle population crash in inland Australia, especially in the WA Goldlfields Region, in the 1990s because the release of the Rabbit Calicivirus wiped out a lot of the rabbit populations in those areas.  Rabbits are a significant food source for Wedgies, and the continent-wide rabbit plagues resulted in the abundance of Wedge-tailed Eagles to increase to abnormal levels.  But when the rabbits were affected by the Calicivirus, many Wedge-tailed Eagles starved and others spent more time scavenging road kills.  Wedge-tailed Eagles are heavy birds and it takes them a considerable amount of effort to take flight from the ground.  Therefore, there was an associated increase in Wedgies being killed by vehicles because eagles scavenging on carcasses on or to the side of the road have difficulty picking up enough speed to dodge fast vehicles. 

However, rabbit populations have since developed considerable resistance to the Calicivirus and so have begun to increase in abundance, though they are not at the same abundances prior to the 1990s.  This has helped the Wedge-tailed Eagle which now has an increased food supply, especially in coastal areas of Australia.  Inland rabbit populations have not increased as much as coastal ones over the last 15-20 years, and national surveys of raptors have shown that a significant number of Wedge-tailed Eagles have moved from inland to coastal regions, following the food source.  Therefore, I'm slightly critical of the study described in the ABC news article because the WA Goldfields are a small proportion of the overall distribution of the Wedge-tailed Eagle and I suspect a decline in the abundance and breeding sucess observed in this area is compensated by a corresponding increase in other areas of the species' range because of the variation in the distribution and abundance of food (especially rabbits). 

Rumpole at May 1, 2016 at 5:43 AM

I'm glad for the eagles but the rabbits outmy way have increased considerably. Is there any current strategy to control them ?

I'm not aware of any new strategies.  Release of new viruses into the natural environment is very risky because you have to make sure it only affects the target pest species.  The Rabbit Calicivirus had to be tested on all Australian vertebrates before it was released into the Australian environment in 1995 to make sure that only rabbits were affected.  In fact, the strain of the virus accidently escaped into the natural environment from the quarantine centre in South Australia at the time and quickly infected about 10 million rabbits. So the government authorities could not implement the planned strategy for maximising the spread of Rabbit Calicivirus Disease throughout the continent.  Consequently, rabbit immunity to the strain has developed relatively quickly, although there are some populations that are still quite vulnerable to it.

May sky guide: The Eta-Aquariid meteor shower, constellations and planets

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-05-02/may-sky-guide/7356040

Four surprising uses for algae.

Certainly surprised me. 

What will they think of next ? 

http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/futuretense/four-surprising-uses-for-algae/7370620

Photon at May 1, 2016 at 11:21 PM

Four surprising uses for algae.

Certainly surprised me. 

What will they think of next ? 

http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/futuretense/four-surprising-uses-for-algae/7370620

There was a big noise about algal bio fuels a while ago, but it seems to have stalled.

Rumpole at May 1, 2016 at 11:27 PM

Photon at May 1, 2016 at 11:21 PM

Four surprising uses for algae.

Certainly surprised me. 

What will they think of next ? 

http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/futuretense/four-surprising-uses-for-algae/7370620

There was a big noise about algal bio fuels a while ago, but it seems to have stalled.

Yes I recall Richard Branson talking about Virgin planes running on "pond scum" fuel.

Tardis001 at May 1, 2016 at 6:46 AM

Rumpole at May 1, 2016 at 5:43 AM

I'm glad for the eagles but the rabbits outmy way have increased considerably. Is there any current strategy to control them ?

I'm not aware of any new strategies.  Release of new viruses into the natural environment is very risky because you have to make sure it only affects the target pest species.  The Rabbit Calicivirus had to be tested on all Australian vertebrates before it was released into the Australian environment in 1995 to make sure that only rabbits were affected.  In fact, the strain of the virus accidently escaped into the natural environment from the quarantine centre in South Australia at the time and quickly infected about 10 million rabbits. So the government authorities could not implement the planned strategy for maximising the spread of Rabbit Calicivirus Disease throughout the continent.  Consequently, rabbit immunity to the strain has developed relatively quickly, although there are some populations that are still quite vulnerable to it.

It was mentioned on Landline on Sunday that they are testing a new strain of calicivirus prior to releasing it, this time to participating individuals who are prepared to monitor effects and send specimens of different organs to the lab for examination.  If I remember correctly, it is an Indonesioan strain more suitable for warmer climates.

Apparently they cannot afford to do it themselves, hence their recruitment of landowners.

Thanks Gussy, I'm glad something is being done.

Yes, thanks Gussy, I hadn't caught up with that news. CSIRO was responsible for monitoring the effectiveness of the Myxoma virus and the Rabbit Calicivirus over the decades.  I'm assuming that the recent budget cuts to CSIRO has impacted on its ability to monitor the impacts of the new strain of Calicivirus, which is probably why they are asking for public assistance.

An interesting bit of trivia about myxomatosis from the CSIRO website, relating to public fears of the virus before it was released into the Australian environment in 1949:

"In a remarkable demonstration designed to quell public anxiety, Professor Frank Fenner (Australian National University) and two other top Australian scientists, Dr Macfarlane Burnet (the Director of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute for Medical Research in Melbourne) and CSIRO’s Chairman Dr Ian Clunies Ross, injected themselves with doses of myxoma virus. It did them no harm and the public’s fears were allayed."  

Tardis001 at May 2, 2016 at 1:09 AM

Yes, thanks Gussy, I hadn't caught up with that news. CSIRO was responsible for monitoring the effectiveness of the Myxoma virus and the Rabbit Calicivirus over the decades.  I'm assuming that the recent budget cuts to CSIRO has impacted on its ability to monitor the impacts of the new strain of Calicivirus, which is probably why they are asking for public assistance.

An interesting bit of trivia about myxomatosis from the CSIRO website, relating to public fears of the virus before it was released into the Australian environment in 1949:

"In a remarkable demonstration designed to quell public anxiety, Professor Frank Fenner (Australian National University) and two other top Australian scientists, Dr Macfarlane Burnet (the Director of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute for Medical Research in Melbourne) and CSIRO’s Chairman Dr Ian Clunies Ross, injected themselves with doses of myxoma virus. It did them no harm and the public’s fears were allayed."  

Yes good to see them do that.

In a similar vein, but not so successful, wasn't the canine parvovirus (heartworm) designed to kill dingoes only but was later found to affect all dogs ?

I used to have to give my dogs tablets for it, but I haven't had dogs for some years, so I'm interested to know the current status of that issue.

Rumpole at May 2, 2016 at 1:15 AM

Tardis001 at May 2, 2016 at 1:09 AM

Yes, thanks Gussy, I hadn't caught up with that news. CSIRO was responsible for monitoring the effectiveness of the Myxoma virus and the Rabbit Calicivirus over the decades.  I'm assuming that the recent budget cuts to CSIRO has impacted on its ability to monitor the impacts of the new strain of Calicivirus, which is probably why they are asking for public assistance.

An interesting bit of trivia about myxomatosis from the CSIRO website, relating to public fears of the virus before it was released into the Australian environment in 1949:

"In a remarkable demonstration designed to quell public anxiety, Professor Frank Fenner (Australian National University) and two other top Australian scientists, Dr Macfarlane Burnet (the Director of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute for Medical Research in Melbourne) and CSIRO’s Chairman Dr Ian Clunies Ross, injected themselves with doses of myxoma virus. It did them no harm and the public’s fears were allayed."  

Yes good to see them do that.

In a similar vein, but not so successful, wasn't the canine parvovirus (heartworm) designed to kill dingoes only but was later found to affect all dogs ?

I used to have to give my dogs tablets for it, but I haven't had dogs for some years, so I'm interested to know the current status of that issue.

My dogs have a monthly topical application of Advocate (Bayer) which, besides dealing with several pests  such as fleas, ear mites, lice and mange, prevents heartworm and controls intestinal worms and larvae. 

The drugs are Imidacloprid and Moxidectin

gusset at May 2, 2016 at 1:52 AM

Rumpole at May 2, 2016 at 1:15 AM

Tardis001 at May 2, 2016 at 1:09 AM

Yes, thanks Gussy, I hadn't caught up with that news. CSIRO was responsible for monitoring the effectiveness of the Myxoma virus and the Rabbit Calicivirus over the decades.  I'm assuming that the recent budget cuts to CSIRO has impacted on its ability to monitor the impacts of the new strain of Calicivirus, which is probably why they are asking for public assistance.

An interesting bit of trivia about myxomatosis from the CSIRO website, relating to public fears of the virus before it was released into the Australian environment in 1949:

"In a remarkable demonstration designed to quell public anxiety, Professor Frank Fenner (Australian National University) and two other top Australian scientists, Dr Macfarlane Burnet (the Director of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute for Medical Research in Melbourne) and CSIRO’s Chairman Dr Ian Clunies Ross, injected themselves with doses of myxoma virus. It did them no harm and the public’s fears were allayed."  

Yes good to see them do that.

In a similar vein, but not so successful, wasn't the canine parvovirus (heartworm) designed to kill dingoes only but was later found to affect all dogs ?

I used to have to give my dogs tablets for it, but I haven't had dogs for some years, so I'm interested to know the current status of that issue.

My dogs have a monthly topical application of Advocate (Bayer) which, besides dealing with several pests  such as fleas, ear mites, lice and mange, prevents heartworm and controls intestinal worms and larvae. 

The drugs are Imidacloprid and Moxidectin

Yes, our dog has those drugs too.

Heartworm is still quite prevalent in dogs and the eggs, larvae and adults can be transmitted in the dog faeces. I remember when I worked at the Australian National University in the 1980s, a research student was investigating the prevalence of heatworm in pet dog faeces collected from the streets of Melbourne.  I don't know how reliable my memory is, but I think she found that 30% of the faecal specimens collected had heartworm material.  So it seems that a lot of people didn't medicate their dogs back then.  I doubt that today would be much different.

Tardis001 at May 2, 2016 at 2:02 AM

gusset at May 2, 2016 at 1:52 AM

Rumpole at May 2, 2016 at 1:15 AM

Tardis001 at May 2, 2016 at 1:09 AM

Yes, thanks Gussy, I hadn't caught up with that news. CSIRO was responsible for monitoring the effectiveness of the Myxoma virus and the Rabbit Calicivirus over the decades.  I'm assuming that the recent budget cuts to CSIRO has impacted on its ability to monitor the impacts of the new strain of Calicivirus, which is probably why they are asking for public assistance.

An interesting bit of trivia about myxomatosis from the CSIRO website, relating to public fears of the virus before it was released into the Australian environment in 1949:

"In a remarkable demonstration designed to quell public anxiety, Professor Frank Fenner (Australian National University) and two other top Australian scientists, Dr Macfarlane Burnet (the Director of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute for Medical Research in Melbourne) and CSIRO’s Chairman Dr Ian Clunies Ross, injected themselves with doses of myxoma virus. It did them no harm and the public’s fears were allayed."  

Yes good to see them do that.

In a similar vein, but not so successful, wasn't the canine parvovirus (heartworm) designed to kill dingoes only but was later found to affect all dogs ?

I used to have to give my dogs tablets for it, but I haven't had dogs for some years, so I'm interested to know the current status of that issue.

My dogs have a monthly topical application of Advocate (Bayer) which, besides dealing with several pests  such as fleas, ear mites, lice and mange, prevents heartworm and controls intestinal worms and larvae. 

The drugs are Imidacloprid and Moxidectin

Yes, our dog has those drugs too.

Heartworm is still quite prevalent in dogs and the eggs, larvae and adults can be transmitted in the dog faeces. I remember when I worked at the Australian National University in the 1980s, a research student was investigating the prevalence of heatworm in pet dog faeces collected from the streets of Melbourne.  I don't know how reliable my memory is, but I think she found that 30% of the faecal specimens collected had heartworm material.  So it seems that a lot of people didn't medicate their dogs back then.  I doubt that today would be much different.