Your Cat is Making You Crazy

Your Cat is Making You Crazy - The derogatory term "crazy cat lady" is not just talk. According to Czech scientist Jaroslav Flegr, the syndrome is very real. While he is not the first scientist to point out the link, it is common knowledge that Toxoplasma gondii found in cat feces causes the illness toxoplasmosis. Flegr says the parasite manipulates a person's brain. In other words, your cat is making you crazy, according to an article in the Toronto Star.

Experts convened Sunday at the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Vancouver, British Columbia, to discuss the issues related to this prevalent parasite. The findings were conclusive in that Toxoplasmosis is dangerous, but they also state there is no need for panic. Severe pathologies are a result of several complex interactions, of which Toxoplasma gondii is only a factor.

Approximately 60 million people unknowingly carry toxoplasmosis, according to estimates from reports through the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Flegr estimates 30 percent of the Czech Republic population is infected. There are fewer cases in Canada and the U.S.

Fatal Attraction

Joanne Webster, a professor of parasite epidemiology at Imperial College London, has also studied the effects of Toxoplasma gondii in rats. She says a "toxo-infected rat looks and acts, in general, happy and healthy and very much like an uninfected rat." The striking difference is the part humans should take note of. Toxoplasma gondii manipulates the brain causing the rat to be less fearful including a strange attraction to cats. For obvious reasons this could be deadly for the rat.

Crazy cat lady, crazy cat man differences

Flegr discovered a difference in how Toxoplasmosis affects men and women. Men who are infected tend to act suspicious, while women are extra warm and caring. This may be linked to the fact that testosterone levels are affected differently, increasing in men and decreasing in women compared to uninfected counterparts.

Psychotic symptoms

Although Flegr connects the dots between psychotic symptoms and serious disorders including schizophrenia, his intention is not to scare people. Flegr wants to make society aware of the manipulation potential and wants to shine a spotlight on his studies that link traffic accidents with the illness. His research leads him to believe infected individuals need to be more careful when driving. "Latent toxoplasmosis is to blame for one million traffic-related deaths," Flegr writes in a 2010 study.

Not all cats are out to get you

Instead, not all cats carry toxoplasmosis according to CNN. In fact, they only secrete oocysts when they are young. With that said, even if only 10-percent of pet cats were infected, the number is staggering considering there are over 86 million pet cats in the U.S. alone. Final advice, wash your hands. ( yahoo.com )

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Pythons linked to Florida Everglades mammal decline

Pythons linked to Florida Everglades mammal decline - Non-native Burmese pythons are the likely cause of a severe mammal decline in Florida's Everglades.

A team studied road surveys of mammals in the Everglades National Park before and after pythons became common.

Researchers found a strong link between the spread of pythons and drops in recorded sightings of racoons, rabbits, bobcats and other species.

In PNAS journal, they report that observations of several mammal species have declined by 90% or more.

“Start Quote

They are a new top predator in Everglades National Park - one that shouldn't be there” - Prof Michael E Dorcas Davidson College, North Carolina

The national park covers the southern 25% of the original Everglades - a region of subtropical wetlands that has been drained over the last century to reclaim it for human use.

The origins of Burmese pythons in south Florida are unknown, but many were imported into the US through the pet trade.

As the pythons have made it from captivity into the wild, the absence of natural predators has allowed populations to balloon. Intermittent sightings were recorded for 20 years before the snakes were recognised as being established across the Everglades in 2000.

Pythons occasionally tackle alligators, which can end badly for both animals

The pythons are now established across thousands of sq km in southern Florida. Although there are no accurate figures for how many there are, the numbers removed from the Everglades reached nearly 400 in 2009 and this has been increasing year-on-year (apart from a slight drop in 2010 due to a cold spell).

Restoration of the Everglades remains a divisive issue in Florida

"Any snake population - you are only seeing a small fraction of the numbers that are actually out there," said Prof Michael Dorcas, one of the study's authors, from Davidson College in North Carolina.

He told BBC News: "They are a new top predator in Everglades National Park - one that shouldn't be there,"

"We have documented pythons eating alligators, we have also documented alligators eating pythons. It depends on who is biggest during the encounter."

Earlier this month, US Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced that the US was poised to approve a ban on importing Burmese pythons. But some observers remarked that the move was about 30 years too late.

Getting ambushed

Prof Dorcas and his colleagues looked at data on mammals found during roadkill surveys from 1993-1999, and on live and dead mammals encountered during nighttime road surveys from 1996-1997.

Burmese pythons are well established across thousands of sq km in south Florida

They then compared these results with similar data collected between 2003 and 2011, after the pythons were recognised as being established.

They found that observations of raccoons and opossums had dropped by about 99%. There had been a 94.1% fall in observations of white-tailed deer and an 87.5% decrease in sightings of bobcats.

No rabbits or foxes were seen during the more recent survey; rabbits were among the most common mammals in the roadkill survey between 1993 and 1999.

The majority of these species have been documented in the diet of pythons found in the Everglades National Park. Indeed, raccoons and oppossums often forage at the water's edge, where they are vulnerable to ambush by pythons.

Observations of rodents, coyotes and Florida panthers had increased slightly, but the overall number of sightings remained low.

The researchers also found that the declines in mammals coincided geographically with the spread of Burmese pythons. Mammal species are more common in areas where pythons have only been recently introduced, and are most abundant outside the snakes' current range.

Bill Nelson holds up the 5m-long skin of a Burmese python at a hearing on Capitol Hill in July 2009

Prof Dorcas said more research was needed to assess the impact of such large declines. But he added: "It's not unreasonable to assume that any time we have major declines in mammals like this it's going to have overall impacts on the ecosystem. Exactly what those are going to be, we don't know. But it's possible they could be fairly profound."

The ban on importing Burmese pythons has come after five years of debate and lobbying in Washington DC. Florida's Democrat Senator Bill Nelson was among those who campaigned for a ban, unravelling the skin of a 5m-long Everglades python at a 2009 Senate hearing to make his point.

But reptile breeders and collectors had disputed that the tropical snakes posed much risk beyond south Florida and argued that any ban would harm a multi-million dollar industry.

Although the ban will not reverse the situation in southern Florida, where the reptiles are already established, Prof Dorcas said it could help prevent their spread to other suitable habitats in the US, such as southern Louisiana and south Texas. ( bbc.co.uk )

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Most Workers Admit Using Phone in Bathroom

Most Workers Admit Using Phone in Bathroom - If you hear the sound of running water the next time you call a co-worker on his or her mobile phone, don’t be surprised. Three-fourths of Americans with mobile phones say they use them in the bathroom, a new study shows.

Approximately the same number of men and women have used the phone in the bathroom, according to a survey of 1,000 Americans by 11mark, an integrated marketing agency, although men seem more tethered to IT in the toilet: 30 percent of men versus 20 percent of women agreed with the statement, "I don't go to the bathroom without my mobile phone."

More than half the surveyed users (63 percent) said they have answered a phone call in the bathroom, and almost half (41 percent) reported initiating a phone call. That's not all, however: What goes on behind the walls of the stalls is anything a mobile phone is capable of. Sixty-seven percent said they have read a text, and 39 percent have surfed the Web. Men work more from the bathroom—20 percent said they have participated in work-related calls, versus 13 percent of their female colleagues.

As expected, Gen Y respondents are the pacesetters in the "mobile everywhere" movement, with 91 percent using their phone in the bathroom. Still, older generations are not far behind. Eighty percent of Gen X reported using the phone in the bathroom, as did 65 percent of Baby Boomers and 47 percent of the Silent Generation.

While online, they are doing more than just surfing; 16 percent of Gen Y report they have made an online purchase while in the bathroom. Users of iPhones are particularly likely to browse and buy in the bathroom – 22 percent have made a purchase, versus 10 percent of Americans with mobile phones overall.

"The writing is on the stall," said 11mark principal Nicole Burdette. "This study confirms what we all know: that the last private place is no longer private."

In the process, high-tech hygiene is taking a hit, the survey found. While 92 percent of mobile phone users said they wash their hands after using the bathroom, only 14 percent said they wash their phones. ( LiveScience.com )

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A Good Wingman Will Lie for a Buddy

A Good Wingman Will Lie for a Buddy - This just in: Researchers have found that a good friend will lie for you, though it helps if you're in the room when they're asked to fib.

This tendency toward situational dishonesty is especially strong for friends who are high in empathy, presumably because they really feel your pain and want to help out. But the research also found that if the potential for embarrassment were bad enough, even strangers would cover for you.

"People put themselves in the shoes of the other person and say, 'I would want someone to lie on my behalf so I wouldn't look bad,'" study author Jennifer Argo, a professor at the Alberta School of Business, said in a statement.

It's no surprise that people lie to save face, but there had been much less research on people lying to cover for someone else. The researchers explored people's willingness to act as a somewhat dishonest "wingman" for their friends by asking 95 undergraduate students to read a scenario in which a person tells them about a car they just bought and how much they paid for it. In some versions, the person was described as a friend of the student. In others, the car buyer was a stranger. Half of the stories had the person buying the car for $20,000, while the others had him paying $18,200.

Next, the scenario had a third person step in and say they had bought the same make and model vehicle but paid just $18,000. The experiment participants were asked what price they would tell this third person that the first car buyer had paid; essentially asking if they would lie to keep the first car buyer from looking bad, since he or she sort of got swindled.

Unsurprisingly, participants were more willing to lie for a friend than for a stranger, the researchers reported in November in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology. But even for strangers, people would downplay what the person paid if they'd been cheated of $2,000.

A nearly identical follow-up study with 117 more students compared how willing people were to lie for a friend depending on both the friend's presence in the room and the person's own feelings of empathy. Being present instead of absent makes friends more willing to lie for you, the results showed. And, of course, the more empathy the friend felt, the more willing they were to fudge the truth.

"Based on the findings, it would seem reasonable to expect that people who understand their friends should be willing to step in as a wingman in a number of different contexts if their friends are in need," Argo said.

But researchers don't yet know if the fibs are double-edged swords. Perhaps if your friends know that you'll spin tall tales for them, they'll trust you less, Argo said.

"If you're lying and I know it, it might make me question or cause me to doubt how much you lie to me," she said. ( LiveScience.com )

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Sun hurls strong geomagnetic storm toward Earth

Sun hurls strong geomagnetic storm toward Earth - The strongest geomagnetic storm in more than six years was forecast to hit Earth's magnetic field on Tuesday, and it could affect airline routes, power grids and satellites, the U.S. Space Weather Prediction Center said.

A coronal mass ejection - a big chunk of the Sun's atmosphere - was hurled toward Earth on Sunday, driving energized solar particles at about 5 million miles an hour (2,000 km per second), about five times faster than solar particles normally travel, the center's Terry Onsager said.

"When it hits us, it's like a big battering ram that pushes into Earth's magnetic field," Onsager said from Boulder, Colorado. "That energy causes Earth's magnetic field to fluctuate."

The Solar Dynamics Observatory captures an M8.7 class flare in a handout photo released by NASA January 23, 2012. The flare is shown here in teal as that is the color typically used to show light in the 131 Angstrom wavelength, a wavelength in which it is easy to view solar flares. The flare began at 10:38 PM ET on January 22, 2012, peaked at 10:59 PM and ended at 11:34 PM. REUTERS/NASA/SDO/AIA/Handout

This energy can interfere with high frequency radio communications used by airlines to navigate close to the North Pole in flights between North America, Europe and Asia, so some routes may need to be shifted, Onsager said.

It could also affect power grids and satellite operations, the center said in a statement. Astronauts aboard the International Space Station may be advised to shield themselves in specific parts of the spacecraft to avoid a heightened dose of solar radiation, Onsager said.

The space weather center said the geomagnetic storm's intensity would probably be moderate or strong, levels two and three on a five-level scale, five being the most extreme. ( Reuters )

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Breast Milk Courier Helps Indonesian Mums Balance Home and Work Lives

Breast Milk Courier Helps Indonesian Mums Balance Home and Work Lives - Febby Kemala Dewi returned to work at a Jakarta accounting firm after three months of maternity leave but struggled, like many new mums, to balance her home and work lives — especially keeping her infant daughter fed.

Unwilling to stop breastfeeding, unable to pump enough for a whole day in the morning before work and leery of giving her baby anything but the freshest milk, she finally turned to a unique Jakarta service — a breast milk motorbike courier.

“I have to work, but at the same time I can still feed my baby,” said Dewi, the wall by her desk plastered with pictures of her smiling daughter, eight-month-old Ashalina Putri. Now, the 29-year-old IT consultant pumps breast milk at her office in central Jakarta and a courier comes to pick up the bottles around lunchtime.

Placing them in a padded cooler box whose strap he then slings over his shoulder, the courier rides 45 minutes to an hour on a motorbike through choked Jakarta streets to deliver the milk to Dewi’s mother, who cares for the baby.

The service was launched in 2010 by Fikri Nauval, owner of a cargo and document shipping business, who said he was inspired by his wife’s using one of his motorcycle riders to send her breast milk home to their baby after she had to return to work.

He charges 30,000 to 40,000 rupiah ($3.30 to $4.40) a trip, keeping track of traffic conditions and the best routes for drivers to take using a GPS map on a computer. “I would like to help this nation build a better generation by helping working mothers deliver breast milk to their babies at home,” said the 40-year-old Nauval, who feels the nutrients in breast milk can’t be replicated by the powdered variety.

His feelings are echoed by the authorities, who are struggling to encourage Indonesian women to breastfeed their newborn babies. The number of women who do so fell to 38 percent in 2007, said Yulianto Santoso Kuniawan, a paediatrician who is also a consultant on breastfeeding.

Most mothers receive information promoting the benefits of formula or free samples while still in hospital after giving birth, but Kurniawan said hospitals need to do more to promote breastfeeding, especially for the natural immunity it provides.

“With this counseling, I can see mothers showing a bigger interest in breastfeeding their children,” she added. Though a ride through the chaos of Jakarta traffic might not seem the best of environments for breast milk, Nauval said his customers all understand and are fine with the idea — just as long as the bottles all arrive safe and sound. ( reuters )

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Captive Rhino Romance May be Last Hope for Species

Captive Rhino Romance May be Last Hope for Species - Puntung is a Sumatran rhino, one of roughly two hundred left in the world. Captured in a Borneo forest on Christmas Day, she is the latest addition to Malaysia’s Borneo Rhino Sanctuary — and experts say she may also be one of the last hopes for a species on the brink of extinction.

Veterinarians want to introduce Puntung to Tam, a 20-year-old male Sumatran rhinoceros in the enclosure next door, in the hopes that they will breed — although this cannot take place for a number of months yet, until Puntung is deemed ready. Estimated to be 10 to 12 years old, she was airlifted to the sanctuary in the Tabin Forest Reserve after her capture, and has since been adjusting to her new home, eating more than 60 kg (132 lb) of leaves each day.

“She doesn’t look stressed, she’s eating well ... but the stress (of a new environment) is enough to offset her cycle, her normal cycle,” said Zainal Zahari Zainuddin, a veterinarian with the Borneo Rhino Alliance.

“So she may not have a cycle now. That’s why we’re monitoring her.”

Captive breeding is now regarded as the only way to boost the population of the two-horned Sumatran rhino, which at 500 to 600 kg (1,100 to 1,322 lb) and 1.3 metres tall (4.3 feet) is the world’s smallest rhinoceros. Deforestation and illegal hunting have decimated the population in the wild, and habitat fragmentation has cut the surviving animals off from potential mates.

The animals are ageing to the point where they are too old to breed. But even the capture of Puntung, dubbed a “Christmas miracle” by scientists, does not mean success is assured.

Though she is the right age to breed, she may well turn out to be infertile, said John Payne, at the Borneo Rhino Alliance. “The rhinos that were caught in Malaysia. Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sumatra in the past ... quite a few wild caught females did have reproductive tract problems.

They weren’t producing eggs or they had cysts or tumours in the fallopian tubes,” Payne said. “So we are not over the hurdle yet. It may prove that she’s not fertile, in which case we need to go on what sort of treatments might be possible to make her fertile.”

The sanctuary’s only other female rhino, Gelegob, was unable to conceive even with the help of fertility treatment, since she could not produce eggs. She is now 30 years old and blind. If Puntung shows signs of being ready after six months of observation, she’ll be released into an enclosure with Tam, who walked out of a palm oil plantation in 2008 and refused to go back into the forest.

The two are now being kept in adjacent paddocks so each is aware of the other’s existence. But Sumatran rhinos are solitary animals and only come together in the wild for courtship and the rearing of young.

Two breeding attempts have been made since the Malaysian captive breeding project began in 1983, but neither succeeded. The last successful attempt to breed captive rhinos took place at the Cincinnati Zoo in the United States.

Rhinoceros horns are a coveted ingredient in traditional Eastern medicine, which has led to widespread illegal hunting. The WWF said last year that the Javan rhinoceros had been poached into oblivion in Vietnam and is now believed to be confined to one population of less than 50 individuals in an Indonesian national park. ( reuters )

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