Bayard
Bayard's JournalCanadian 'super pigs' are likely to invade northern US, study warns
There is "high potential" for hogs that have gone feral in Canada to cross into South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana and Minnesota, where the pigs could inflict billions of dollars in damage.
Wild pigs (Sus scrofa) may be making their way from Canada to U.S. northern states, including North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana and Minnesota. (Image credit: Krzysztof Banot via Shutterstock)
Feral "super pigs" in Canada could soon trample across the border and invade the northern U.S., a new study finds.
The feral pigs are a mixed population of domestic swine (Sus scrofa domesticus), wild boar (Sus scrofa) — which were introduced to Canada in the late 1980s for meat and recreational shooting — and hybrids of the two, according to the Canadian Council on Invasive Species. Keepers released the boars and some pigs when the market for boar meat plunged in the early 2000s, thinking that the animals wouldn't survive the harsh Canadian prairie winter and deep snow, according to the new study. But instead, the pigs thrived.
"These pigs have high reproductive rates, are very mobile, and have a high capacity to spread," study co-author Ryan Brook, a professor of animal and poultry science at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada, told the hunting and fishing magazine Field & Stream. As it turns out, the pigs are also resistant to the cold, so Brook and his colleagues dubbed them "super pigs."
Super pigs may eventually cross the border into North and South Dakota, Montana and Minnesota, according to the study, which was published May 9 in the journal Biological Invasions. While the southern U.S. already has around 6.9 million feral hogs, much of the north remains feral pig-free thanks in part to intensive control efforts.
https://www.livescience.com/animals/land-mammals/canadian-super-pigs-are-likely-to-invade-northern-us-study-warns
(No rethuglican jokes!)
How Stephen King Predicted Trump's Rise Decades Ago
Scary how prescient this book/movie was.....
Alaska's rivers are turning bright orange and as acidic as vinegar as toxic metal escapes from melting permafrost
Alaska's melting permafrost is dumping toxic metals into the state's rivers, turning them bright orange and making the water highly acidic. The contaminated rivers are so vibrant they can be seen from space, and the problem is likely to get much worse in the future.
Toxic metals released by melting permafrost are staining Alaska's rivers bright orange and making them highly acidic. This section of the Kutuk River in the Gates of the Arctic National Park looks like it has had orange paint spilled in it when viewed from above. (Image credit: Ken Hill/National Park Service)
Dozens of Alaskan rivers have turned bright orange in recent years because melting permafrost has released high levels of toxic metals into the waterways, a worrying new study reveals. The colorful contamination, which can be seen from space, is a potential ecological nightmare — and is likely to get even worse in the coming years, researchers say.
In the new study, which was published May 20 in the journal Communications Earth & Environment, researchers identified at least 75 orange rivers and streams in a Texas-size area of Alaska's Brooks mountain range. Most of the affected waterways were initially spotted by helicopter surveys of the area.
"The more we flew around, we started noticing more and more orange rivers and streams," study lead author Jon O'Donnell, an ecologist with the National Park Service's Arctic Inventory and Monitoring Network, said in a statement. "There are certain sites that look almost like a milky orange juice."
Chemical analysis of the rusty rivers revealed high levels of zinc, nickel, copper and cadmium, as well as iron, which is largely responsible for the orange hue of the waterways. Researchers also found that the polluted waterways were unusually acidic: Some of the smaller streams had a pH of as low as 2.3, which is around the same as lemon juice or vinegar, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
https://www.livescience.com/planet-earth/rivers-oceans/alaskas-rivers-are-turning-bright-orange-and-as-acidic-as-vinegar-as-toxic-metal-escapes-from-melting-permafrost
Strong Women Quotes About What Makes A Strong Woman
https://www.yourtango.com/2018311298/best-strong-woman-quotes-womens-history-month
See May's full 'Flower Moon' rise this week close to a red supergiant star
May 2024's full moon, also known as the Flower Moon and the Planting Moon, will be at its fullest on Thursday, May 23. It will also appear bright and full on Wednesday and Friday.
The final full moon of spring in the Northern Hemisphere rises this week. (Image credit: Vicky Mahodaya via Getty Images)
May's full moon, known as the Flower Moon, will be at its fullest on Thursday, May 23, and shine close to the bright star Antares. The moon will also appear bright and full on Wednesday and Friday.
May's full moon is called the Flower Moon, after the plentiful flowers that bloom during this month in the Northern Hemisphere, according to Timeanddate.com. Other names for May's full moon include the Milk Moon, Mothers' Moon, Bright Moon, Hare Moon and Grass Moon. Many Anishinaabe, or Ojibwe, Indigenous people of the Great Lakes region know it as Nimebine Giizis, or Sucker Moon, according to the Center for Native American Studies.
Since the moon turns full at 9:53 a.m. EDT on May 23, there is no ideal time this month to watch the full moon rise in a twilight sky. On Wednesday, May 22, it will rise just before the sun sets, while on Thursday, May 23, it will rise about 50 minutes later, long after sunset, in near-darkness.
It will therefore be best to catch it twice for two very different views. Check the moonrise and moonset times for your location and find a place to observe from with a low view of the eastern horizon.
https://www.livescience.com/space/the-moon/see-mays-full-flower-moon-rise-this-week-close-to-a-red-supergiant-star
COVID pandemic knocked 1.6 years off global life expectancy, study finds
Global life expectancy had been on the rise since 1950, but this historical trend was reversed between 2019 and 2021, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.Global life expectancy — the average number of years a person can expect to live from their time of birth — dropped by 1.6 years at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, new research shows.
Global life expectancy had been on the rise until the pandemic struck, jumping from 49 years in 1950 to more than 73 years in 2019, according to the new study, published Tuesday (March 12) in the journal The Lancet. But between 2019 and 2021, this historical trend was reversed. This time frame captures the first two years of the pandemic, in which death rates peaked.
"For adults worldwide, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a more profound impact than any event seen in half a century, including conflicts and natural disasters," lead author Austin Schumacher, an acting assistant professor of health metric sciences at the University of Washington in Seattle, said in a statement.
In 2020 and 2021 combined, approximately 16 million people died either directly from COVID-19 or from the knock-on effects of the global outbreak, which included delays in seeking health care. This excess death toll reduced global life expectancy from 73.4 years in 2019 to below 71.8 years in 2021, with stark regional differences not reflected in these global averages.
The study presents updated mortality estimates from the 2021 Global Burden of Disease Study, which quantified global health trends across places and over time. In the work, researchers analyzed data from 204 countries and territories. Of these, only 32 showed an increase in life expectancy between 2019 and 2021. Those countries included Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Iceland, Ireland and Norway, which are all high-income countries.
https://www.livescience.com/health/coronavirus/covid-pandemic-knocked-16-years-off-global-life-expectancy-study-finds
Bayard's Garden
What's in bloom now......
I apologize for the sizes, apparently Imgur is one size fits all now.
Sketchy stem-cell treatments in Mexico led to drug-resistant infections
Three U.S. hospital patients contracted drug-resistant infections in Mexico in 2022 and were still being treated as of March 2024.
Bacteria related to the bug behind tuberculosis (pictured) caused a number of infections in people who got unproven stem-cell injections in Mexico. (Image credit: NIAID via Flicker (CC by 2.0))
Three people who traveled to Mexico for stem-cell injections that are not approved in the U.S. contracted difficult-to-treat, drug-resistant infections, a Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned Thursday (May 9).
The infections were caused by Mycobacterium abscessus, a bacterium that's distantly related to the ones behind tuberculosis and leprosy. The microbe commonly lurks in soil, water and dust, and it's known to sometimes contaminate medications and medical devices and thus cause infections in health care settings.
Symptoms can include boils and pus-filled bubbles, in the case of skin infections, as well as fever, chills and muscle aches, when soft-tissue infections occur. Sometimes, the bacteria can invade the bloodstream. Treating the infection involves removing infected tissues and draining pus from the body, as well as giving antibiotics for a prolonged period.
For a given patient, doctors may have to test different drugs against samples of bacteria from their body, in order to find the most lethal combination against the drug-resistant bug.
https://www.livescience.com/health/viruses-infections-disease/sketchy-stem-cell-treatments-in-mexico-led-to-drug-resistant-infections
Southern Phrases You'll Need a Dictionary For
This is in honor of my Mom, even though she's been gone many years. My parents were both from South Carolina. Here is a few phrases I grew up with, and still hear coming out of my own mouth at times.
“Madder Than a Wet Hen”
In this case, a wet hen refers to a woman who is best kept happy. If a woman is described as “madder than a wet hen,” it means that she has a mean temper. There’s really no telling what could happen when she’s angered. This is the Southern version of “hell hath no fury like a woman scorned” and carries just as much gravity. Nobody really knows what a hen is like when they get wet, but it’s likely as bad for the rooster as it is for men.
“Cattywampus”
While this word may seem strange to outsiders, cattywampus is an example of old American slang that still sees use. Back then, the word could be used to describe something that was in utter disarray. It might have also been used to describe people. Nowadays, however, Southerners mostly use cattywampus to describe something that’s askew or crooked, like a shelf or painting. However, there are still some instances of Southerners using it to describe people who never seem to have it together.
“Hold Your Horses”
A more straightforward phrase that many have come to know, “Hold your horses” is best read with a Southern drawl. It’s an easy and casual way to tell someone to relax and wait and not be so impatient. With how busy life can get, sometimes people need reminding. While this is yet another phrase that’s spread around the world, it’s a very Southern thing to say. No matter where one hears it, it’s one of those phrases that really brings images of the South to mind.
“It Doesn’t Amount to a Hill of Beans”
In the South, “a hill of beans” is a metaphorical form of measurement. While still relatively confined to the South, the film Casablanca has brought the phrase more to the mainstream. Essentially, it describes something of little significance. Beans are relatively easy to grow compared to other crops, making them a lot less valuable. To say something “doesn’t amount to a hill of beans” is to say that it has little significance. This term can describe anything from someone to something.
Many more at:
https://www.housecultures.com/trending/southern-phrases-syn
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