‘Pokemon Go’ Inspired This Mom To Craft Pocket Monsters For Kids To Discover In The Wild.

Pokemon-fever is in full-effect as Pokemon Go continues to be one of the hottest apps on both Android and iPhone. So while a lot of the stories surrounding Pokemon Go tend to be sensationalized — the kind of stories about creeps in vans or people being attacked — it’s a breath of fresh air to see someone doing something positive for Pokemon Go players. According to Kotaku, a mom in Dallas decided to begin crafting her own Pokemon characters and started leaving them hidden at local Pokestops for children to discover. She’s hiding them all over and the response is staggering, with people hunting down her creations and sharing photos and stories of their kids finding and adoring said knitted-pocket monsters. What’s even better is that she’s sharing the patterns that she created to craft these Pokemon with the world — for free — so that other crafty-type individuals can follow her patterns and create their own pocket monsters and bring the same kind of joy to kids hunting down Pokemon with their parents. While the rest of the world is focused on Pokemon players walking into walls and people attempting to mug players, this woman is helping to make the game just a little bit more magical. credit((Via Kotaku)

Experts Warn That Siberia’s Melting Permafrost Could Raise Smallpox From The Grave.

A new report from The Siberian Times cautions that smallpox could be on the way back as the Siberian permafrost continues to melt. This troubling forecast comes of the heels of news that anthrax has made an unwelcome return to western Siberia. “Back in the 1890s, there occurred a major epidemic of smallpox,” said Boris Kershengolts, deputy director for research at the Institute for Biological Problems of Cryolithozone, of the Siberian Branch of the Academy of Sciences “There was a town where up to 40% of the population died. Naturally, the bodies were buried under the upper layer of permafrost soil, on the bank of the Kolyma River. Now, a little more than 100 years later, Kolyma’s floodwaters have started eroding the banks.” Considering that naturally occurring smallpox was said to be eradicated worldwide in the ’80s, a melting stockpile of smallpox-riddled corpses can comfortably be designated as a “bad thing.” If there’s a positive to this report, it’s the accompanying news that if smallpox is unleashed, it may be summoned by something else. “Our results thus further substantiate the possibility that infectious viral pathogens might be released from ancient permafrost layers exposed by thawing, mining, or drilling,” says a study on the matter according to TRT World. (Via The Siberian Times)

Saving elephants with condoms.

Battles have been fought in many African countries over the commercialization of elephant tusks which result in poaching of elephants but even as that phenomenon slows down, another threat in the form of community members protecting their homes and crops from the roaming animals have arisen. Conservationists in Tanzania have, however, introduced some rather unorthodox methods of keeping elephants from wandering into human settlements and one of them involves using condoms. Honeyguid Foundation hit upon the idea several years ago and U.S.-based Nature Conservancy has stepped up its promotion, training volunteers in villages in north Tanzania to use a non-violent four-step way of protecting their homes and crops without hurting the animals. The first of these methods involves simply shining a torch at the trespassing elephant and consequently sounding a horn. if those two, which make up the first two-steps of the plan do not deter the animal, they can now move on to the third step which involves the condom. Chilli powder mixed with soil is packed with a firecracker into a condom, its end is twisted shut with just the fuse exposed. When lit, the condom bursts open with a bang, spraying a fine dust of chilli powder into the air. One whiff is usually enough to send an elephant the other way. It is known as a ‘chilli cloud’. If the chilli cloud fails, the last resort is a launcher that shoots a Roman candle firework into the air, producing a loud, bright explosion. The steps are pretty simple compared to the duty we have to protect elephants. courtesy answersafrica.

Oklahoma State University(OSU) veterinarians save six-month old puppy.

Oklahoma State University veterinarians needed to perform a life-saving procedure on six-month old puppy.The procedure had never been done before at OSU’s Veterinary Medical Hospital but Marley’s owners, Marcene and Fred Warford of Muskogee, Oklahoma, had faith the veterinarians would be able to help their golden retriever puppy.The dog was vomiting, had diarrhea and would go into stupors, just really zone out(oblivious) of environment. When the dog was examined and they found a shunt, a diversion of blood, in Marley’s liver that wasn’t operable by a traditional laparotomy, where they go in through the belly and try to put a constriction device on that. The shunt was inside of the liver so they gave us a call. They knew we had the equipment to do the procedure,but had not done it before. Baumwart and his colleague, Dr. Andrew Hanzlicek, a small animal internal medicine specialist, invited a professor from Purdue University to help out. The doctors carried out the surgery and the prognosis is positive ,they made a very small incision in the neck to put a catheter in that allowed us to inject dye to outline the abnormal blood vessel that we needed to try to decrease the amount of blood flow. Once we did that, we were able to size a stent that went into the vena cava. The stent held the device in place that we needed to put into the abnormal blood vessel,they also had a plugging device outside of the stent. The idea was to decrease the amount of blood flow through this vessel that was a shunt around the liver. The liver is the detoxification center of the body and blood was actually getting bypassed around the liver, so by closing this shunt, blood can be put back into the liver and allow the dog to act more normally once the detoxification occurs in the blood. The procedure was a minimally invasive procedure : the dog had two very small incisions in his neck,instead of a large abdominal incision . The entire procedure was done through the vein This is to allow the dog recovers more quickly and with minimal pain. Source; NEWSOK

Wildlife-friendly farming shown to benefit UK moths.

Wildlife-friendly farming schemes can help boost the abundance of many UK moth species.Large moths (macro-moths) play an important role as pollinators, but numbers have fallen in the UK by 28% since 1968. The situation is particularly bad in southern Britain, where numbers are down by 40%, with habitat loss thought to be behind the decline. The kinds of moths that benefited the most from the schemes were those commonly found on grassland, but there was a group of specialized chalk grassland moths that only benefited when the schemes were close to remnants of this rare habitat. Scientists from the University of Liverpool and Natural England assessed the impact of schemes which are creating grassland habitats on the edge of arable farming fields.The team surveyed macro-moths species on arable fields with and without wide grass margins, and on protected flower-rich chalk grasslands in southern England. The findings, which are published in the Journal of Applied Ecology, show that even small-scale habitat creation can benefit the moth population, with the abundance of grassland moths 40% higher on wide grass margins compared to margins outside schemes. Furthermore, moth species that are normally specialised to chalk grassland habitats also benefited from these schemes, provided that habitats were created close to existing chalk grassland. Agri-environment schemes provide funding to farmers and land managers to farm in a way that supports biodiversity, enhances the landscape, and improves the quality of water, air and soil. Source science daily.

Researchers, farmers collaborate to prevent E. coli.

A collaborative study involving microbiologists, epidemiologists, animal scientists, veterinarians, graduate students, undergraduates and farmers could lead to better prevention practices to limit dangerous E. coli bacteria transmissions. The study, published in Applied and Environmental Microbiology, a journal of the American Society for Microbiology, found that dairy cattle under stress from hot weather and energy loss from milk production were significantly more likely to shed Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli -- or STEC -- a type of E. coli that can cause serious illnesses in humans through the production of a potent toxin. Shedding is the process of expelling bacteria from the body, whether through the respiratory tract, the genital tract, or in the case of cattle, the intestinal tract through their feces. This new finding provides an opportunity for targeting prevention practices to reduce the prevalence of these potentially deadly strains of E. coli, which cause approximately 100,000 illnesses, 3,000 hospitalizations and 90 deaths annually in the United States.The study sampled more than 1,000 cattle from six dairy farms and five feedlots in Michigan. Cattle are a common carrier of STEC, and food or water contaminated with cattle feces is a common source of E. coli infections in humans. source Science daily.

RED MEAT BUSINESS: CROWD COW.

Crowd Cow, an idea that allows individuals to buy shares of a cow before it is butchered and delivered to owners of the share.Cows aren’t butchered until all shares of that cow are sold, according to the website. Once the deed is done, the fresh 100% grass-fed beef is shipped immediately to the front doors of owners of the shares.

 Crowd Cow’s stated mission is to deliver convenience, quality and taste of their product and services. Meat lovers are able to buy the exact cuts and quantity directly from the rancher through online ordering. 

Consumers have become increasingly aware of the kinds of food they choose to put into their bodies and a handful of them are opting to eat grass-fed beef. While it’s difficult to trace the origins of the meat grocery shoppers purchase in their deli section of the store,

 Crowd Cow ensures that people know exactly where their beef comes from.  

 The unique startup allows people to purchase shares that range anywhere from $9 to $45 depending on the type of cut. Owners have the option to buy in bulk with share packages such as the “Steak-Only Share” or the “Grill Master Share.” continue