> A research expedition to Antarctica to study the region’s octopus life has returned with descriptions of four new species, and the first known sub-zero venoms. “Antarctic octopus venom works at temperatures that would stop other venoms in their tracks,” said biochemist Bryan Fry of the University of Melbourne,…
But I’m A Cheerleader only got 34% on Rotten Tomatoes, which is insane, it’s a wonderful movie
I wonder if some of it is that the movie is significantly funnier if you’ve met people like the minor characters? like if you’re not like “wow, that’s EXACTLY what masochist bisexual goths are like” or “wow, that’s EXACTLY what neurotic gay Jews are like” then it is way less funny
A large new study on elephant welfare in zoos adds science to a debate over how animals fare in captivity.
This is the sort of thing the world needs more of - real, objective scientific studies of captive animal welfare used to determine what aspects of husbandry are most important and how to adjust them for optimal quality of life. Yes, yes, yes!
“More than two dozen researchers, who gathered and analyzed data on 255 elephants at 68 zoos, found no link between the size of an exhibit and three key indicators of poor elephant welfare: obesity, reproduction problems or “stereotypical behavior,” such as repetitive rocking or swaying. Elephants that walked more each day, as measured by GPS recordings, were no less likely to be obese than their sedentary counterparts, said the lead author of the study’s overview, Cheryl Meehan, who is a research associate for the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of California at Davis and executive director of the Animal Welfare, Research and Education Institute. (…)
Instead, she said, the researchers found that the quality of the space was “extremely important.” Diverse enrichment activities and feeding methods — such as hanging or hiding food rather than plopping hay on the ground — were more closely linked to signs of positive welfare, particularly reproductive health. Hard floors were linked to musculo-skeletal and foot problems, as well as less lying down among African elephants, which the authors surmised could lead to sleep deprivation.
Big, stable and diverse social groups seem to be better for African and Asian zoo elephants of both genders. Elephants in those kinds of groups performed fewer repetitive behaviors such as rocking, Meehan said, while those that spent more time in isolation performed more. (…) Another of the study’s findings: Elephants that had been transferred more times from one zoo to another displayed more stereotypical behavior.
“The physical, actual move can be stressful, but [the researchers] also point to the disruption in social life with respect to social bonds with elephants they were living with and also human caretakers,” Meehan said. “So the social piece is really deeply woven into the question about elephant welfare.””
What is also fantastic is that this article doesn’t present the study as being the only research needed on the subject - it talks about further studies that are needed, and possibly a tone-shift for the entire conversation around elephants, space, and space-usage.
“Ron L. Kagan, executive director of the Detroit Zoo who more than a decade ago closed that zoo’s elephant exhibit because of concerns about space and cold climate, said the study is an important contribution to scientific literature on animal welfare in zoos. But he said he thinks its findings about exhibit size could be misleading. When it comes to elephants, which can roam dozens of miles each day in the wild, zoo space is always insufficient, he said.
“The problem is that we are using space in human terms, which for an elephant is an irrelevant scale,” Kagan said. “If we double the size of a house for a human, that is a huge difference. If you double the size of an environment for an elephant from half an acre to an acre, or from an acre to two acres, that’s irrelevant. … I think the conclusion may make people think that it’s not important, when in fact the problem is we’re not talking about space in the right way.”
He said the study’s broad focus also meant “it can’t reveal one of the most important questions of all, which is: Are elephants happy in captivity? And that’s what we need to get to.””
What a wonderful piece of a larger, ongoing conversation - how can we do the best for the animals already in our care? What can we do to improve their lives? This is the question the animal husbandry field is always asking.
honduran white tent bats roosting under a heliconia leaf, which they sever down the length of its midrib to create a ‘tent’ that provides a waterproof shelter and protection from potential predators. (click pic or link for credit x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x)
Does Planned Parenthood offer Hormone Replacement Therapy for transgender people?
Someone asked us:
Can Planned Parenthood provide hormones to transgender people? And if so, what are the costs?
Why yes, yes we do. There are an increasing number of Planned Parenthood health centers that offer hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for trans clients. (Cost will vary depending on your insurance and Planned Parenthood health center policies.) Currently, the Planned Parenthood health centers that offer hormone treatment for trans folks are:
IMPORTANT NOTE: OBTAINING HRT THROUGH PLANNED PARENTHOOD DOES NOT REQUIRE ANY SORT OF PSYCH DIAGNOSIS OR SEEING A SEPERATE ENDOCRINOLOGIST. IF YOU LIVE IN THESE PLACES AND WANT HRT, PLEASE SAVE YOURSELF A FEW THOUSAND DOLLARS
the primary problem with post-1950s art, as I see it, is that in a lot of it the captions are more interesting than the art itself
Ozy’s Reaction To The Art: “is that a dick made out of shit?” Ozy’s Reaction To The Caption: “OH, it’s a chocolate bunny made out of rabbit shit, that’s actually funny”
Ozy’s Reaction To The Art: “is that… words on a canvas?” Ozy’s Reaction To The Caption: “oooh, he hired a sign painter to paint it for him, that is HELLA troll-y.”
The US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has a plan to save the endangered black-footed ferret, and it involves candy. The agency has proposed delivering vaccines to a ferret colony in Montana...
We promise we did not use Mad-Libs to write this headline.
When the Nazi concentration camps were liberated by the Allies, it was a time of great jubilation for the tens of thousands of people incarcerated in them. But an often forgotten fact of this time is that prisoners who happened to be wearing the pink triangle (the Nazis’ way of marking and identifying homosexuals) were forced to serve out the rest of their sentence. This was due to a part of German law simply known as “Paragraph 175” which criminalized homosexuality. The law wasn’t repealed until 1969.
I have reblogged this in the past, but it is so ironic that it comes across my dash right now. I a currently working as a docent at my city’s Holocaust Education Center (( I say currently because I’ve also done research and translation for them )) and out current exhibit is one on loan from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum ((USHMM)). This is a little known historical fact that Paragraph 175 was not repealed after the war and those convicted under Nazi laws as a danger to society because they were gay were not released because they had be convicted in a court of law. There was no liberation or justice for them as they weren’t considered criminals, or even victims for that matter. They were criminals who remained persecuted and ostracized and kept on the fringes of society for decades after the war had been won. Paragraph175 wasn’t actually repealed until 1994. And it was only in May 2002, that the German parliament completed legislation to pardon all homosexuals convicted under Paragraph175 during the Nazi era. History has forgotten about these men and women — please educate yourselves so this does not happen again. Remember this history. Remember them.
Also, after the camps were liberated, victims of persecution because of their race or religion were given some form of aid or reparations. Those in camps for homosexuality or other “crimes” were not.
titsay
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annaxmalina
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