Tuesday 17 AUGUST 2021
Wondrous Praying Mantis Facts
See on page 4-5
Greece Facing Ecological Disaster
See on page 3 Is it Time for Retirement? Not Made By Risidra Mendis constantly being on hard surfaces For Captivity Ceylon Today Features such as concrete or tarmac will The world’s biggest land mammals, definitely cause musculoskeletal elephants are known to wander the He is the tallest captive elephant issues in elephants. Their bodies world in Asia and Africa. These facts in Sri Lanka. With his long tusks and feet are constructed to spend about elephants will help you learn and majestic look, he can be seen most of their time on soft yielding more about these iconic animals. carrying the sacred tooth relic at ground such as soil. To claim It’s true! While most people assume the Kandy Esala perahera. The differently is against science. there are only two—Asian and 67-year-old tusker Nadungamuwa There have been many scientific African—there are actually three: the Raja has for many years carried the studies and expert observations African bush elephant, the African sacred tooth relic during the annual conducted on elephants’ feet forest elephant, and the Asian Kandy Esala perahera. around the world on all types of elephant. Forest elephants are smaller A recent footage of the tusker’s elephants. Captive elephant studies than bush elephants at about half the journey to Kandy to partake in the are not based only on zoo size and their tusks are straighter and annual procession was doing rounds elephants,” Arachchige explains. downward pointing while African bush and has caused animal welfare elephants have more curved tusks. activists to voice their concern over Spreading Both evolved from a common ancestor the health of the elephant. misinformation and have distinctly different DNA. “Wild born Indian tusker Ears are the easiest way to tell Nadungamuwa Raja was brought to She says his scarred and battered elephant species apart. Sri Lanka in 1956 and is one of the body bears witness to his endless The easiest ways to tell a species of most celebrated captive elephants suffering, a veritable road map of elephant apart is from the shape of in Sri Lanka. He has carried the cruelty, yet this mere shell of a their ears. Both forest and bush sacred tooth relic in the Kandy majestic elephant is described as African elephants have ears Esala Perahera on many occasions. being a ‘much-worshipped Tusker resembling the geometry of Africa As the tallest captive elephant in Sri king’ by captive elephant ghouls in while Asian elephants have ears that Lanka he towers at around 10.5 feet Sri Lanka? “Enslaved, Beaten, resemble the geometric shape of (3.2 metres) in height and as battered, subjugated, and deprived continental Asia. Asian elephants Nadungamuwa Raja refuses to … surely doesn’t sound much like have significantly smaller ears than board a truck, each year he is ‘royal’ treatment. Spreading their African counterparts. walked the 90 km to Kandy to misinformation to defend and African elephants are the largest participate in the Kandy Esala excuse abuse or neglect may land mammals. perahera,” Founder Rally for ingratiate organisations with The African elephants species can Animal Rights & Environment elephant owners and supporters, reach a staggering 13 feet tall at (RARE) Maneesha Arachchige said. but it does not help elephants. Until shoulder height. To put it in such time as elephant owners and perspective, Asian elephants can Left foot swollen followers understand clearly what reach about 10 feet tall and are a After a three-year absence from constitutes ‘good care’, poor care minimum height of 6.8 feet. In relation the Kandy perahera this year his will continue to be accepted and to humans, the tallest man on record journey of 90 km to Kandy started captive elephants in Sri Lanka will is Sultan Kösen who grew to be 8 foot, on 2 August. “Within a few days of continue to suffer,” Arachchige 2 inches. African elephants are just the journey we noticed his left foot explains. about twice the size of Michael starting to swell. In a video footage She says he must be retired and Jordan! shot on 9 August, eight days into given to a sanctuary at least at About one-third of Asian his journey it is apparent that Ridiyagama Safari Park, where he elephants live in captivity. Nadungamuwa Raja’s left leg now can live his life chain free as an As Asian elephant populations has significant swelling and he elephant, and that this case shows decrease (they’re listed as endangered appears to be limping and unable to why a mandatory retirement age for by IUCN), the numbers of elephants in bend it. Forcing an elderly ailing captive elephants must be captivity continue to rise for various elephant to complete this journey is introduced in Sri Lanka. “Our exploitative industries. In the US, animal cruelty. His journey should country and people were shamed Asian elephants have been used in end now and be examined and internationally by the Tikiri affair circuses like the now defunct Ringling treated by a team expert veterinary back in 2019, this is like history Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, Cole doctors without delay,” Arachchige repeating itself. We appear to have Bros. Circus, and Shiners (which still explained. learnt nothing,” Arachchige said. continues to travel and perform). In She goes on to say that he should When Ceylon Today spoke to Thailand, these elephants are being not be allowed to participate in the Nadungamuwe Raja’s owner, used for riding, bathing, for selfies, perahera this year or in the future ayurvedic doctor Harsha and in the logging industry. World and should be retired from service Dharmavijaya, he said the tusker Animal Protection is working to end and kept in a chain free, free walks 10 km to 12 km per day for elephant entertainment through roaming environment to live out at eight days to get to Kandy. “He walks legislation in the US and by least the rest of his life in freedom for six hours and then takes a break. transforming commercial Thai venues and peace. “We owe this to him for If the tusker is finding it difficult to to stop all direct contact interactions. the service that he has done all walk he will not walk but stay under Most illegal ivory comes from these years. We are very concerned a tree, no matter what the mahout African elephants. that an elderly elephant was will do. Nadungamuwa Raja is Nearly 35,000 African elephants are permitted to commence such an healthy and fit because he is made poached for their tusks each year for arduous journey in the first to walk every day. When walking to traditional Chinese medicine. While instance. The fact that he has now Kandy for the perahera, the tusker Asian elephants are still poached for sustained an injury was entirely illness?’” Arachchige questioned. perahera – Tikiri in 2019 who died a has a van following him and every their tusks, all species are at risk for predictable. Elephant feet are very “Has Nadungamuwa Raja ever even few weeks later after walking in the three to four km water is sprayed on poaching due to demand for their sensitive and a foot injury can be had his legs x-rayed or scanned?” parade. “Just like Tikiri before him, the animal to keep his body cool,” skin, which is fashioned into jewellery. fatal for an elephant,” Arachchige he will be forced to work until the Dr. Dharmavijaya explained. Conservation organisations estimate said. Pressure sores day he dies. The sole of the foot of nearly 100 elephants are poached Almost all elderly captive Pressure sores traditionally an elephant is not made of a Tusker’s mahout each day. elephants who have spent their known as ‘nidipola’ are caused by substance like a polymer like alpha Nadungamuwa Raja’s mahout Most tuskers are male, with the lives on concrete or walking on lying on hard surfaces like concrete keratin that a human nail or animal Kalu Aiya is 74 years old. He walks largest tusks being targeted for the tarmac have a degenerative for too long and they get infected claw is made up of. Anyone that by the side of the tusker with a bull most ivory. However, most recently orthopaedic condition such as due to lying on urine and faeces for knows how to use Google can find hook and stick in hand. “The tusker tuskers have been found with smaller arthritis and the existence of such a too long. Nadungamuwe Raja is that out. The bottom of an elephant has never been hit by the bull hook tusks either as a protective condition in Nadungamuwa Raja is made to walk 90 km for 10 days foot is made up of a pad of adipose or with a stick. The mahout has evolutionary trait or because larger apparent by his slow gait. “The fact then again in the perahera with tissue covered by a dermis and a these only to control the animal and males have been poached out of the that this hasn’t been officially noise and fire in heavy clothing, keratinised squamous epithelium not to use it on him. The kabara on gene pool. diagnosed is no surprise, as few with the casket on his back and epidermis, very similar to that of his legs are seen by Animal Welfare Elephants suffer in captivity. captive elephants are given any then walk back the 90 km again. what human foot sole pads are Activists as wounds. The tusker Elephants in the wild have one of definitive diagnosis for any Arachchige reiterated the covered of, and are sensitive and was not sent for the perahera in the largest home ranges, often walking condition that isn’t immediately participation in the parade will wear prone to bruises, wounds, cracks previous years because he was in up to 40 miles each day. In captivity, apparent in Sri Lanka, due to the him out severely because, as it is and tearing” . musth. But people keep saying the whether it’s a circus, zoo, or other lack of advanced veterinary care, she notes, there clearly is a swelling She says the claim that wild animal is not well,” Dr. commercial venue, captivity cannot expertise and hi-tech veterinary on his left ankle, indicative of elephants walk on tarmac roads to Dharmavijaya said. nearly replicate their natural equipment! Can you recall the last pressure sore and scars of wounds justify captive elephants spending a The tusker’s owner assures there environment. time that a captive elephant in Sri by chains and bull hook. lifetime on concrete is funny. is only a thin chain round his neck (worldanimalprotection) Lanka received a proper diagnosis Arachchige recalls the last time a “Whilst wild elephants may venture and no chains on his legs and he is other than the vague ‘age related 68-year-old elephant went in a onto roads from time to time well taken care off all year round. c2 tuesday 17 august 2021 Sneak peeks LOOK Discussing A Win For Britney The 39-year-old singer, Diagnosis Britney, has been under a Christina Applegate has More than 2.3 million conservatorship since 2008, announced that she has people have a diagnosis of and her father Jamie Spears multiple sclerosis, MS worldwide, according had been her primary describing her diagnosis as to the National Multiple conservator for almost all of a “tough road.” Sclerosis Society in the US. that time before he stepped The Emmy Award- Nearly 1 million people aside to be her co-conservator winning actress, 49, said over the age of 18 live with following health issues. in a tweet recently that she a diagnosis of MS in the Britney has been in court was diagnosed “a few US, the nonprofit trying to have her father — months ago.” organisation adds. who was in charge of her “It’s been a strange Applegate has previously financial affairs including her journey. But I have been so discussed her 2008 battle estate — removed from her supported by people that I with breast cancer, after conservatorship, and last know who also have this which she had a double week it was reported she has condition,” wrote mastectomy, as well as her been successful, as her Applegate. “It’s been a ovaries and fallopian tubes father will step down after an tough road. But as we all removed. “orderly transition”. know, the road keeps “My decision, after Jamie’s legal team said in a going.” looking at all the treatment court filing obtained by TMZ She added in a later plans that were that he would be stepping post, “Now I ask for possibilities for me, the down because the “public privacy. As I go through only one that seemed the battle” that is ongoing is not this thing.” most logical and the one in his daughter’s “best “Nevertheless, even as his daughter’s new attorney Multiple sclerosis – also that was going to work for interests”, although the team Spears is the unremitting to prepare for an orderly known as MS – affects the me was to have a bilateral insisted the “attacks” against target of unjustified attacks, transition to a new nervous system and often mastectomy,” Applegate Jamie are “unjustified”. he does not believe that a conservator.” results in progressive said on Good Morning The filing read, “There are, public battle with his Responding to Jamie’s physical and cognitive America in 2009. in fact, no actual grounds for daughter over his continuing decision, Britney’s lawyer decline. (thenational) suspending or removing service as her conservator Mathew Rosengart issued a Spears as the Conservator of would be in her best statement of his own in the Estate … and it is highly interests. So, even though which he said he was happy debatable whether a change he must contest this over the outcome, but in conservator at this time unjustified Petition for his insisted his work is far from would be in Britney Spears’ removal, Mr. Spears intends over. A Beloved Star Gone best interests. to work with the Court and (bbc) Una Stubbs, the actress Sheffield Crucible and who played Mrs. Hudson on National Theatre, but also a Sherlock, has passed away wickedly funny, elegant, at the age of 84. “We will stylish, graceful, gracious miss her enormously,” her and kind and constant On A Golden Run agent said, “and remember friend,” Stubbs’ Kriti has her diaries full are not similar in any genre her always.” representative for more than as her line-up includes Hum or flavour at all. I am getting Una Stubbs died at the 20 years told NBC News in a Do Humare Do, Bachchan to play so many different age of 84 on 12 August. Her statement. “She was also a Pandey, Bhediya and kinds of characters, getting family told NBC News the highly respected and Adipurush. The actress feels to work with such amazing Sherlock star passed away exhibited artist. We will no pressure and instead is directors and stories that I quietly surrounded by miss her enormously and motivated and would not would want to be a part of. I family in Edinburgh, remember her always.” want it any other way. don’t think there is Scotland. While Stubbs’ Born in Hertfordshire, With so much riding on anything more that you can cause of death has yet to be England, Stubbs fell in love Kriti, does she feel ask as an actor and in a revealed, her agent Rebecca with the arts at an early age. pressurised? stage where you are getting Blond told the BBC the According to The Guardian, “I feel excited, motivated your due and appreciation actress had been ill for a few she enrolled in dance school and thrilled because this is you crave for as an actor,” months. at age 14 and made her first what I wanted to do. This is she said. “We are desperately sad to stage appearance when she where I wanted to be and Kirti added, “All the love have lost not only a was 16. And while she never when I have reached where I and validation is the only wonderful actress, whose studied drama specifically, have these kinds of thing we get in return. Once screen and stage career, Stubbs told the newspaper opportunities in front of that starts pouring you feel spanning over 50 years, was in 2007, “I’ve been to the me,” added the actress, who more satisfied, and so extraordinarily varied, school of observation. I appeared in Forbes India’s motivated. I am thrilled and from Till Death Us Do Part to learned everything there.” Celebrity 100 list of 2019. enjoying this beautiful Sherlock, as well as She is survived by her The 31-year-old is happy phase and I am looking memorable performances in sons Christian, Joe and with the kind of work forward to each and every the West End, at the Old Jason. coming her way. film I have done.” Vic, Donmar Warehouse, (eonline) “I am doing films which (timesofindia)
On Top Of Off the Coffee Look Back At It The World! In the Field Island Break! Peta Murgatroyd and Katie Ledecky shows Alex Rodriguez FBOY Island’s CJ Heather Rae Young Maksim Chmerkovskiy off her Olympic medals gears up for Franco turns enjoys an iced is all smiles during an during a visit to the MLB at Field of heads at Starbucks beverage while shooting outing in NYC Empire State Building Dreams in Iowa in Bel-Air a reality show in LA LOOK ENVIRONMENT TUESDAY 17 AUGUST 2021 C3 Greece Facing Ecological Disaster
Hundreds of firefighters battled 12 in the Peloponnese, with deep ravines August to contain new flare-ups in posing a challenge to firefighters. wildfire-ravaged areas of Greece, where Twenty villages have been evacuated in summer infernos have caused what the the area over the past few days and 680 prime minister described as the firefighters, including more than a country’s “greatest ecological disaster hundred sent to help from France, and in decades”. five water-dropping aircraft have been Rain overnight in some areas and relentlessly battling the flames. falling temperatures appeared to have On Evia island, meanwhile, locals have eased the situation after two weeks of lost their livelihoods. devastating blazes, and Prime Minister “I can’t take it anymore,” said farmer Kyriakos Mitsotakis said “we can be Kostis Angelou as he wandered between more optimistic today.” the corpses of his goats, all 372 of them But weeks of scorching summer burnt by a fire that devoured forests. weather lie ahead. The 44-year-old managed to survive by Greece’s most severe heatwave in spending hours under an irrigation water decades has fanned blazes that have pipe, surrounded by flames. destroyed more than 100,000 hectares “A saint saved me,” he said. of forests and farmland, the country’s worst wildfire damage since 2007, the Climate ‘code red’ European Forest Fire Information The latest extreme weather events come System said. after a “code red” report from the UN’s The fires have left three dead, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate hundreds homeless, forced thousands Change was published recently to flee, and caused economic and warning that the world is warming far environmental devastation. faster than previously feared. Greece is just one of a number of The Mediterranean has been singled countries in the Mediterranean region out as a “climate change hotspot”, that have been hit by a savage fire with increasing temperatures and season which authorities have blamed aridity lengthening fire seasons, on climate change. ongoing on the island of Evia, which and the scope of his responsibilities.” At the height of the fires in early according to a draft IPCC assessment Mitsotakis described the “mega fires” accounts for more than half of the area Greece has only just started counting August, the flames had reached the seen exclusively by AFP. as Greece’s “greatest ecological disaster burned nationwide. the cost of the damage caused by the gates of Athens, filling the sky of the city Algeria announced three days of in decades”. The PM has been placed on the weeks of fires. of four million inhabitants with grey national mourning for the 69 killed in “The climate crisis is here... and it defensive after his government as smoke. blazes there. tells us that everything must change,” recently as June was assuring Greeks ‘Can’t take it anymore’ But after weeks of punishing In Italy, 48.8 degrees Celsius was he told reporters, pointing to other that the country was fully prepared to A fire service official told AFP that temperatures often well over 40 degrees registered in Sicily on 11 August—beating devastating fires in Turkey, Italy and face the coming fire season. “the fire fronts are still active” on Evia Celsius , temperatures dropped. the previous high registered in Greece in Algeria. But after the recent incedent he was and in the Arcadia region of the The falling temperatures and overnight 1977 in what is believed to be a new “We managed to protect thousands of forced to admit, “It seemed that this Peloponnese peninsula and “fires are rain in Evia, the Peloponnese and central European record. people. But we lost forests and particular phenomenon exceeded our constantly flaring up” in both areas. Greece had helped improve the Eight people were killed in fires in properties,” he said, vowing to overhaul capabilities and the preparations put In the north of Evia, where hundreds situation, said the Mayor of Gortynia, Turkey’s south earlier in the month, while the country’s civil protection authority. in place.” have been evacuated by boat, 858 Stathis Koulis. in the north the death toll rose to 11 on Mitsotakis said that 150 homes have Main opposition leader Alexis Tsipras firefighters including reinforcements The village in a mountainous area of 12 August from flash floods that have been destroyed in greater Athens over argued that Mitsotakis had “failed to from several European countries were Arcadia 200 kilometres (120 miles) west swept across several Black Sea regions. the last week, while the count is grasp the magnitude of the disaster... battling the flames. of Athens has become the primary focus (phys) Every Ounce Adds Russian to Global Warming Investigators By Lloyd Alter Probe Oil Spill The latest report from the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is out and it paints a bleak picture. The report notes, “It is unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean, and land.” The report also does a new evaluation of the ‘carbon budget’—the amount of carbon dioxide and equivalent emissions that can be added to the atmosphere to stay under a given temperature. IPCC’s definition for carbon budget, “The term carbon budget refers to the maximum amount of cumulative net global anthropogenic CO2 emissions that would result in limiting global warming to a given level with a given probability, taking into account the effect of other anthropogenic climate forcers. This is referred to as the total carbon budget when expressed starting from the pre-industrial period, and as the remaining carbon budget when expressed from a recent specified date. 8.2 years; we don’t even get to that 2030 devices that help prop up the economy and Historical cumulative CO2 emissions deadline when we are supposed to have cut make life a little more comfortable.” determine to a large degree warming to our emissions in half. I know that readers roll their eyes when I Russia’s top criminal The committee said it performed date, while future emissions cause future This is why I keep stressing the complain about electric pickup trucks with investigation agency probed an oil searches at the Caspian Pipeline additional warming. The remaining importance of embodied carbon, or the their 40 metric tons upfront carbon spill off Russia’s Black Sea coast Consortium and inspected the carbon budget indicates how much CO2 ‘upfront carbon emissions,’ are so footprints when e-bikes can do the job. I that appeared hugely bigger than area for damage. could still be emitted while keeping important. These are the emissions that object to transit projects in concrete tunnels initially reported. Russian media said traces of oil warming below a specific temperature come from making things, be it buildings, when surface rail will do. Or steel office The spill occurred over the were spotted along the scenic level.” cars, or computers, as opposed to the towers that get replaced for no good reason. weekend at the oil terminal in Black Sea coast, including Like our favourite confusing term, operating emissions from burning things But we just can’t do this anymore and not Yuzhnaya Ozereyevka near the Abrau-Dyurso and a dolphin embodied carbon, the carbon budget is like gasoline for transportation or natural blow through 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit (2 port of Novorossiysk that belongs aquarium in Bolshoy Utrish, 25 not well understood and not well-named. gas for heating. degrees Celsius) or 5.4 degrees Fahrenheit to the Caspian Pipeline kilometres (15 miles) to the west, It should probably be called a carbon These upfront emissions are generally (3 degrees Celsius), let alone 2.7 degrees Consortium, which pumps crude where workers urgently put-up ceiling because it, as the graph notes, is ignored, but they are significant; just Fahrenheit (1.5 degrees Celsius). from Kazakhstan. The oil spilled barriers to protect the mammals. cumulative. Every metric ton of CO2 making the steel that goes into our cars, I keep coming back to this graph while being pumped into the The spill’s oily film was also emission adds to global warming. Every buildings, and washing machines total demonstrating how to reduce the carbon Minerva Symphony tanker, which spotted in the resort city of kilogram. Every ounce. eight per cent of annual emissions. emissions from buildings because it applies sails under the Greek flag. Anapa, further west down the We will be hitting the carbon ceiling According to the World Steel Association, to everything, from cities to cars to Authorities initially estimated coast. soon: In 2019 the world pumped out the industry produced 1,875,155 thousand computers. that the spill covered only about The governor of the Krasnodar 36.44 billion metric tons or metric metric tons of steel in 2019.1 That alone is We have to stop building stuff we don’t 200 square metres (2,153 square region, Veniamin Kondratyev, gigatons of CO2. It took a drop in 2020 responsible for 3.46 metric gigatons of CO2 need. We have to build smaller and make feet), but Russian scientists said sought to downplay the impact of thanks to the pandemic but is likely back emissions at 1.85 metric tons per metric less stuff. We have to build clever and Wednesday after studying satellite the spill, saying that he and other up for 2021. ton of steel, in one year. It’s mostly in that ‘lightweight’ everything, using the least images that it actually covered officials flew over the area in a We will say it again: It’s cumulative. As big blob over China, but much of it comes amount of material to do the job, whether it nearly 80 square kilometres helicopter and saw no trace of it at the IPCC notes in this chart, since 1850 back to us in solid form. As Kai Whiting is moving people or housing them. We have (nearly 31 square miles). sea. “Quick measures were taken we have pumped 2,390 metric gigatons of and Luis Gabriel Carmona wrote in ‘The to make everything last longer. We have to WWF Russia has estimated that to eliminate the consequences,” CO2 into the atmosphere and raised the hidden cost of everyday products,’ electrify everything and we have to stop about 100 metric tons of oil have Kondratyev said, according to the temperature about 1.92 degrees Fahrenheit “Heavy industry and the constant burning fossil fuels. spilled into the sea. Interfax news agency. (1.07 degrees Celsius). To have an 83 per demand for consumer goods are key We know how to do all of this, and we The Investigative Committee, The governor later met with the cent chance of keeping the temperature contributors to climate change. In fact, 30 know where the carbon ceiling is. We know the country’s top criminal head of the Caspian Pipeline rise under 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit (1.5 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions that every ounce of CO2 emissions adds to investigation agency, said it was Consortium, who assured him that degrees Celsius) we have a ceiling of 300 are produced through the process of global warming and that it’s cumulative, conducting a probe on charges of the sea has remained clean thanks metric gigatons. At the 2019 rate of converting metal ores and fossil fuels into which is why we have to do this now. inflicting significant damage to to quick efforts to contain the spill. emissions, we blow through the ceiling in the cars, washing machines and electronic (treehugger) marine biological resources. (phys) c4 tuesday 17 august 2021 Wildlife LOOK LOOK Wildlife tuesday 17 august 2021 c5 Understanding Bats Make Irrational Food Choices Too Humans often make irrational choices when Wondrous shopping for food. Sometimes that’s because it can be confusing choosing between prices and Animal Culture sizes. One well-known marketing trick is known as the decoy effect. If there’s a small cup of How loss of animals’ shared coffee for $3 or a large cup of coffee for $5, you might choose the small cup. But if they add a knowledge threatens their survival third medium ‘decoy’ cup and it’s $4.50, you might opt for the larger cup at $5 because you At the peak of the whaling industry, in the late 1800s, think you’re getting a much better deal. North Atlantic right whales were slaughtered in their Praying Mantis But it’s not just people who are fooled by an thousands. With each carcass hauled on to the deck, additional option. A new study with bats finds whalers were taking more than just bones and flesh out that when given three alternatives, bats will of the ocean. The slaughtered whales had unique also make irrational food choices. memories of feeding grounds, hunting techniques and “Irrational choices are so common in human communication styles; knowledge acquired over decision-making that they have prompted centuries, passed down through the generations, and researchers to explore them in other, non- shared between peers. The critically endangered whale human animals. Studies so far have almost clings on, but much of the species’ cultural knowledge is exclusively shown evidence for irrational now extinct. behaviour,” lead author Claire Hemingway, Whales are among the many animals known to be Facts who recently received her doctorate from the highly cultural, says Prof Hal Whitehead, a marine Named for prominent front legs that fold together in a gesture attacking with those big front legs so quickly it’s hard to see with animals. Some mantises are known to prey on hummingbirds, University of Texas, says. biologist at Dalhousie University. “Culture is what suggesting devotion, the praying mantis comes off as serene and the naked eye. In addition, they have spikes on their legs to for example, as well as warblers, sunbirds, honeyeaters, “These studies have tested food preferences, to be,” Hemingway says. “The relative individuals learn from each other, so that a bunch of soulful. They are not as docile as they appear, however. In fact, skewer and pin the victims into place. flycatchers, vireos, and European robins, in addition to frogs but also mating preferences, and habitat preferences between the two preferred options individuals behave in a similar way,” he says. praying mantises are ambush predators with lightning-fast and lizards. preferences, and have been conducted over changed quite dramatically upon the North Atlantic right whales are no longer found in moves. 5. They are masters of disguise really broad taxonomic groups including slime introduction of the decoy.” many of their ancestral feeding grounds. Whitehead These are fascinating creatures that have mastered their place 8. They do have predators of their own moulds, fish, frogs, birds, and mice.” This was different from the frog-eating bats suspects this may be because the cultural knowledge of in the natural world. About 2,000 known mantis species exist “These bats are often choosing between she had studied earlier which weren’t these places was lost when populations were wiped out around the world, exhibiting a wide and awe-inspiring array of many calling frogs, they are trying to influenced by dietary decoys she introduced by whaling. This loss could spell trouble for the species if adaptations to their environments. maximise several aspects of their choice, and into the study and always made rational human activity degrades their remaining feeding they are making these decisions rapidly, all of decisions about what foods to eat. grounds, making it hard for the whales to predict where 1. They have a great vision which are conditions in which we humans Hemingway says she can only speculate good hunting is. “The more possible feeding grounds tend to switch from making rational choices to about why the two species reacted differently they have, the more likely they are to find somewhere where good foraging is, and also which other social units making irrational ones,” Hemingway explains. when the decoy option was added. they can get the food they need,” he says. are friendly has a demonstrable knock-on effect on the Most of her research found that frog-eating “Because other animals that have more Animal culture is not limited to the ocean. Birds, bees, fertility rate of the younger females in her herd. bats are good at making rational decisions, similar diets to the fruit bats, such as naked mole-rats, fish and even fruit flies are among “If you remove individuals who have knowledge, even when their choices get complicated. So hummingbirds and bees, exhibit similar those that have been found to learn socially and create through hunting for example, that can have a much she took things a step further to find out if irrational behaviours, it seems very likely that cultures. As the list grows, researchers are starting to wider knock-on effect than just minus one from your there was something specific in their diet that diet may play some role in shaping these understand animal culture as critical to many population.” impacted their smart choices or it was the behaviours,” she says. conservation efforts. Elephants troop to a water hole at the Amboseli bats themselves. “For fruit bats, hummingbirds, and bees, Whitehead was an early voice calling for animal national reserve at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro For the new study, she opted to test the their food is advertising itself to the animal culture to be taken seriously in conservation. This is However, when a population has lost its cultural decision-making abilities of a close relative and is very nutrient-rich, both of which may because cultural diversity gives a species a larger knowledge, there may be circumstances where it can be with a different diet. This time around she reduce the costs of imperfect decisions. For behavioural toolkit when facing new challenges, he reignited. worked with Jamaican fruit bats (Artibeus frog-eating bats, frogs are actively evading argues. “We recognise this with humans, that the If a human was removed from their home, stripped of jamaicensis). them and at any given time may be far less diversity of our cultures is a strength.” everything they had ever learned from others and then The results were published in the journal abundant than fruit, which may mean that Whitehead is a member of the Committee on the plonked back, they would not survive long without Animal Behaviour. making suboptimal decisions comes at a Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada, a body that support. The same seems to be true for golden lion Bats and bananas higher price.” decides which species are endangered. “The most tamarins, a small monkey from Brazil. Learning about the food-related decisions difficult thing we do is to decide how to divide a By the early 1970s, habitat destruction and the pet Hemingway caught bats in mist nets then animals make is helpful for researchers population of a species up,” he says. With caribou, for trade had reduced the golden lion tamarin population to Praying mantises possess stereo vision, and thanks to the organised them into groups of three or four in studying those species. But it may also offer example, plains caribou are doing better than mountain as few as 200 individuals. Captive breeding, overseen by placement of their eyes, they also have a wide field of vision. Praying mantises are supremely gifted in camouflage. They flight cages because Jamaican fruit bats don’t broader assistance to other scientists. caribou. “Do we assess the mountain caribou differently 43 institutions in eight countries, increased their Each of their eyes has a fovea — a concentrated area of come in the form of leaves and sticks and branches, like many like to eat by themselves. Once they were used “By studying these behaviours outside of from the others?” Whitehead asks. numbers to the point that conservationists were able to photoreceptor cells that lets them focus and track with acuity. insects, but also take it a bit further. Some mantises moult at to their new surroundings, she took them out humans, we can begin to understand just how Typically, this decision is made by assessing how reintroduce the tamarins into the wild from 1984. But And not only can mantises see in 3D, but research has found the end of a dry season to become black, conveniently timing one at a time so they wouldn’t be influenced common they are across the animal kingdom, genetically different the groups are. “One of the things initially, the reintroduced tamarins had a low survival their 3D vision works differently from all previously known their transformation to coincide with the blackened landscape by the other animals. but we can also begin to explore which I’ve been pushing is the idea that cultural information is rate, with problems with adaptation to the new forms in nature. Aside from revealing more about mantises left by brush fires. The flower mantises are amazing — some First, she gave them a choice between a ripe conditions are likely to produce such also important.” environment causing the majority of losses. High themselves, this could help scientists develop better vision in wildly ornate, others looking so convincing that unsuspecting banana and ripe papaya and they didn’t prefer behaviours,” Hemingway says. Conservation efforts aim to maintain a species’ casualties are typical of such efforts, says Brakes. robots. insects come to collect nectar from them ... and become dinner. one over the other. Then she added a decoy “In humans, it is commonly understood that diversity, as diversity aids survival. Species diversity can So the tamarin researchers developed an intensive 2. They are good head turners 6. They only eat live food option of an unripe banana. With the third we often make irrational decisions. By be “what it does, how it looks, its physiology and so on”, post-release programme, including supplementary choice, the bats almost always chose the ripe identifying the factors that contribute to these says Whitehead. “A lot [of the diversity] is genetically feeding and the provision of nest sites, giving the banana. irrational behaviours broadly across different determined but some of it is culturally determined.” monkeys time to learn necessary survival skills for the “Because decoy effects are so common, I taxonomic groups, we can better understand The behaviours a population displays can have a jungle. This helping hand doubled survival rates, which was less surprised that they were occurring our own limitations in making decisions.” significant impact on the environment they live in. “If we was a good start. However, it was not until the next than I was by how strong the effects appeared (treehugger) lost all the mountain caribou, it might change the generation that the species began to thrive. “By giving ecology of a bunch of mountain tops,” says Whitehead. them the opportunity to learn individually in the wild Whitehead’s research into whale culture provided a and share that knowledge, the next generation of lightbulb moment for Philippa Brakes, a research fellow tamarins had a survival rate of 70 per cent, which is just at Whale and Dolphin Conservation. Brakes, a PhD amazing,” says Brakes. The intensive conservation Twice Around the Earth student at the University of Exeter, published a paper efforts paid off, and in 2003 the golden lion tamarin was with colleagues in April, which argues that conservation upgraded from critically endangered to endangered. Even though they stalk hummingbirds and are masterful efforts should consider how culture affects reproduction, Although this research is promising, animal cultures hunters, praying mantises are also hunted themselves. Their dispersal and survivorship. are becoming extinct faster than they are being predators include frogs, lizards, and birds, as well as certain Understanding who holds cultural knowledge in a reignited, says Brakes. kinds of spiders. population can be key, says Brakes, who cites African “We are just starting to understand what culture is in 9. They battle with bats elephant herds as an example. “The age of the matriarch other species and just starting to develop methods for in the herd has a significant [positive] influence on the measuring and analysing culture, as we are seeing it fertility rate of the younger females,” she says. “The disappear before our eyes.” Mantises are the only insects capable of turning their heads [matriarch] female’s experience of where water holes are, (theguardian) from side to side. Being able to turn its head without moving the rest of its body is a key advantage for a mantis when hunting, allowing for minimal movement as it sneaks up on prey. 3. They are agile just like cats
Praying mantises are carnivores with a taste for live food. They How Socially Complex can provide some helpful pest control to gardeners, as they eat potentially destructive insects like beetles, crickets, and grasshoppers. However, they aren’t picky eaters — they’re also known to prey on helpful insects like native bees and butterflies, By taking a deep look at an ancient tusk, University of Ottawa Are Giraffes ? so their overall effect on pest control is difficult to predict. scientists have traced the movements of a The woolly mammoth in this study is woolly mammoth and found this particular thought to have been closely related to the last The tallest of all land animals, the giraffe behaviour and ecology. “That is, giraffes may take part in 7. They are ambitious predators beast, over the course of its life, travelled group of its species that lived in mainland towering giraffe has been socially Then, she says, researchers felt shared parenting of offspring, and enough distance to circle the Earth almost Alaska. Before dying around the age of 28, it underestimated by researchers, a that giraffes were considered very remain in groups of related females. twice. appears the mammoth travelled numerous new study finds. ‘aloof’ and formed no long-lasting These types of social organisation Published in the journal Science, lengthy migrations across the central and Long believed to have little social relationships. are well-known in other species of researchers from the University of Alaska northern stretches of Alaska over its lifetime. structure, giraffes actually are “However, when I was working in social mammal, for example, Fairbanks looked at the isotopes inside a “It’s not clear-cut if it was a seasonal socially complex, University of Africa in 2005, this was not what I elephants, killer whales and 1.7-metre-long (5.6-foot) tusk from a woolly migrator, but it covered some serious ground,” Bristol scientists suggest. Their was seeing, and I started to primates, but nobody has ever mammoth that lived in present-day Alaska added Matthew Wooller, senior and co-lead social organisation is elaborate and question why they were described before suggested that the same just over 17,000 years ago. author of the paper from the University of comparable to elephants, as having ‘little or no social could be true for giraffes,” Muller Isotope analysis relies on the principle “you Alaska Fairbanks. “It visited many parts of chimpanzees, and cetaceans such structure’ when I could clearly says. To the surprise of scientists filming them, mantises have been are what you eat.” It’s capable of providing Alaska at some point during its lifetime, which as dolphins and whales. observe animals that would “My work suggests that giraffes found to jump with extreme precision, contorting their body surprisingly precise insights into an animal’s is pretty amazing when you think about how Lead author Zoe Muller, of the consistently be seen together,” are actually a highly complex, mid-air to land on a precarious and specific target. life, whether it’s a human or a mammoth, by big that area is.” University of Bristol’s School of Muller says. social species, that may live in looking at the concentration of certain stable Along with its marathon migrations, the Biological Sciences, started “Because the work done in the matriarchal social systems and 4. They also make swift work of their prey isotopes and chemical elements within their researchers also picked up on a few other research work on giraffes in 2005. ‘50s-’70s was so comprehensive, I include cooperative care of young.” tissues – especially bones, tusks, and teeth. important life events. A sudden shift in “I had been doing some reading think scientists thought there was The researchers estimate that As an animal goes through life, certain isotopic signature occurred when the about wildlife populations, and had nothing else interesting to find out giraffes spend almost a third of isotopes will become incorporated into their mammoth was around 15 years old. Based noticed that giraffe population about giraffes, so they were never their lives in a post-reproductive tissues through the plants they eat. These on the life of modern-day elephants, it’s numbers were declining, but yet the really studied again, until the early state when they are no longer able Praying mantises are also preyed upon by bats, but they are isotopes will vary by the underlying bedrock likely this represented the time when the conservation world did not seem to 2000s.” to reproduce. These animals live no easy victim. They can detect the bats’ echolocation sounds geology of the area, as well as environmental young male was kicked out of its herd and recognise this, or be talking about The grandmother hypothesis past menopause so they can help and when they are approached, they dive to the ground, often and climatic conditions, so they can give some was forced to go at it alone. They also noticed it,” Muller tells Treehugger. Muller was based in Kenya for take care of related offspring. In executing spirals and loops on their way. If caught, they try to indication of an individual’s whereabouts and a significant spike in nitrogen isotopes “I realised that this incredible five years, conducting research on mammals (including humans), this slash their way to freedom by use of their big spiky front legs. diet over the course of a lifetime. during its final winter, which is likely a sign creature had had hardly any giraffe herds and their social is known as the ‘grandmother 10. They engage in sexual cannibalism “From the moment they’re born until the he was suffering from starvation. scientific work done on it, which I organization. For this latest work, hypothesis.’ day they die, they’ve got a diary and it’s This new study is one of the first to reveal just found unbelievable. I decided she reviewed 404 papers about “The grandmother hypothesis Male praying mantises do not always survive the mating written in their tusks,” study author Pat that woolly mammoths were experts of long- to dedicate my career to giraffe behaviour to complete a essentially identifies those older season. Between 13 and 28 per cent of mating encounters end Druckenmiller, a palaeontologist and director distance migrations. Despite their fame, understanding this species better, meta-analysis. The results were adult females (‘grandmothers’) that with sexual cannibalism, in which the female praying mantis of the UA Museum of the North, said in a scientists actually know very little about the and to highlighting their published in the journal Mammal stay in their family groups after bites off the head of the male and eats him. In a 2016 study, statement. “Mother Nature doesn’t usually behaviour of the species – after all, conservation plight to the public.” Review. they can no longer bear offspring, researchers found that females that cannibalized their male offer up such convenient and life-long records extinction makes living things pretty hard to Muller and her team were She and her team found that pass on survival benefits to the partner produced significantly more eggs than those that did of an individual’s life.” study – so this research provides some building off pioneering work done in giraffes demonstrate many features younger members of the group,” not, suggesting that their cannibalistic behaviour may increase “It’s just amazing what we were able to see much-needed insight into the life of the 1950s, ‘60s, and ‘70s by of cooperative societies and of Muller explains. Praying mantises wait to ambush or patiently stalk their prey, Mantises don’t stop at eating insects. They also target other the chance of reproductive success. and do with this data,” adds co-lead author mammoths. biologists working to understand animals that live in a matriarchy. (treehugger) but once they’re ready to strike, they do so with lightning speed, arthropods like spiders, and sometimes even small vertebrate (treehugger) Clement Bataille, a researcher from the (iflscience) c6 tuesday 17 august 2021 Space/Puzzles LOOK Moon Trees: Seeds That Went to Space
NASA, the US space agency, has to contact him about moon trees in learned a lot since the 1940s about their community. So far, about 100 the effects of extreme conditions original moon trees are listed on the during space travel on the human site. body, from bone density loss to Today, the second generation of changes in the immune system to moon trees, sometimes referred to as effects of radiation. But what do we ‘half-moon trees,’ have been grown know about how space travel affects using cuttings or seeds from the plants? One of the early attempts to originals. One of these, a sycamore, is find out came in 1971 when the Apollo planted at Arlington National 14 mission carried hundreds of tree Cemetery in tribute to Roosa, who died seeds to the moon. in 1994. After studying the seeds back on Earth, the ‘moon trees’ were planted The ‘roots’ of plant across the United States for the research in space nation’s bicentennial, and for years after they were largely forgotten about. The original moon trees may not have But the experiment endures as a led to big breakthroughs, but they serve notable early step in understanding as tangible reminders of how far plant how space affects plants. science in space has come. One area of plant research on the International How seeds survived space Space Station today explores how When astronaut Stuart Roosa astronauts can be healthier and more blasted off on the Apollo 14 moon self-sufficient on long missions by mission in 1971, he carried the moon growing their own food. tree seeds sealed in tiny plastic bags. The space station garden grows a The idea originated with US Forest variety of leafy greens, which may help Service chief Ed Cliff, who knew Roosa protect against bone density loss, back when he was a USFS among other ailments associated with smokejumper. Cliff contacted Roosa space travel. Some plants already and initiated a joint effort with NASA sealed bags of tree seeds inside a parks, and historic sites around the Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Fifty years provide fresh produce for crew that garnered publicity for the Forest metal canister. They came from five country—many in conjunction with later, the surviving trees have reached members. In the future, scientists Service but also had a real scientific species: loblolly pine, sycamore, the 1976 bicentennial celebrations. an impressive size. hope to grow berries and beans high in purpose: to further understand the sweetgum, redwood, and Douglas fir. Some were planted next to their The moon trees might have been antioxidants, which may help protect effects of deep space on seeds. The seeds orbited with Roosa while control counterparts, which had largely lost to history if it weren’t for astronauts against radiation. It wasn’t the first time seeds had commander Alan Shephard and lunar remained behind on Earth. NASA Indiana teacher Joan Goble. In 1995, Scientists on the International travelled to space. In 1946, a NASA module pilot Edgar Mitchell set foot on reported that scientists found no Goble and her third-grade class came Space Station are also observing how V-2 rocket mission carried maize the moon. discernable differences between the across a tree at a local Girl Scouts space affects plant genes, and how seeds to observe the effects of cosmic Upon returning to Earth, both earthly and ‘lunar’ trees. camp with a modest plaque that said plants might be genetically modified to and ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Seeds in astronauts and seeds underwent a Some moon trees found homes in “moon tree.” After some poking around enhance nutrition. In addition, space are exposed to powerful decontamination process to ensure sites of special historical significance. on the then-rudimentary internet, she studying plants may help scientists radiation, low pressure, and they weren’t inadvertently bringing A loblolly pine was planted at the found a NASA web page with the email better understand the effects of space microgravity. back dangerous substances. During White House while others went to address of an agency archivist, Dave travel on humans, including clues to But they also have unique defences. decontamination, the canister popped Washington Square in Philadelphia, Williams, and contacted him. how being in space causes bone and Many seeds carry duplicate genes that open and the seeds scattered. Exposed Valley Forge, the International Forest Williams, a planetary scientist based muscle loss. All of this data will can step in when genes are damaged. to the vacuum inside the of Friendship, the Alabama birthplace at the Goddard Space Flight Centre, support long-term space expeditions. The outer coating of seeds contains decontamination chamber, the seeds of Helen Keller, and various NASA had never heard of the moon trees— The moon trees were a modest but chemicals that protect their DNA from were feared dead. But hundreds centres. A few trees even travelled to and soon discovered he wasn’t alone. memorable step, and they endure as UV radiation. Such early experiments survived to become saplings. Brazil and Switzerland, and one was NASA hadn’t even maintained records living links to those early moon helped lay the groundwork for much presented to the Emperor of Japan. of where the trees were planted. But missions. They serve not only as a more advanced research into how Where are moon trees Many of the original moon trees have eventually, Williams tracked down reminder of the distance travelled by these processes aid seeds’ survival in today? now died, though at about the same newspaper coverage of the humans beyond Earth but how space. rate as the control trees. Some died of bicentennial moon tree ceremonies. precious and unique is the planet we Roosa, the command module pilot The saplings were planted at disease, others of infestations. A moon He created a web page to document come from. for the Apollo 14 mission, carried his schools, government properties, tree in New Orleans perished after the surviving trees and invited people (treehugger) 1825 1824 SOLUTION
Yesterday’s
Crossword Puzzle 1925 CLUES Across Down 7 Mutter (6) 1 Panther (4) 8 Exaggerate (6) 2 Submarines (1-5) 9 Informal farewell remark (2-2) 3 British soldier (7) 10 Players act out a phrase for others to guess (8) 4 Now (5) 11 Humorous axiom stating that anything that can go 5 Déjà vu (4,2) wrong will go wrong (4,3) 6 Attachment (8) 13 Bombastic (5) 12 Leave undone or leave out (8) 15 Dentition (5) 14 Take the place of or have precedence over (3-4) 17 Pungent leaves used as seasoning (7) 16 Girl who behaves in a boyish manner (6) 20 Very narrow (8) 18 Laugh boisterously (6) 21 Disturb the composure of (4) 19 Plastic oor coverings (5) 23 car that is old and unreliable (6) 22 Buzzing or whizzing sound (4) 24 Public square with room for pedestrians (6)
SOLUTION C WORD 1924 LOOK Features Tuesday 17 august 2021 c7 Is Insomnia Inevitable for Creative Geniuses? With a record-breaking 28 As Barone alluded to, researchers do Grammys, four Golden Globe acknowledge a relationship between nominations, a successful athleisure creativity and sleep, but they seem to line, and all the other accolades that have yet to reach consensus as to the come with being an icon under her nature of it — which makes sense, belt, is there anything Beyoncé can’t since the concept of creativity is so do? Apparently, there is one thing, hazy, he says, and therefore hard to according to her recent interview quantify. In one study, highly creative with Harper’s Bazaar: Sleep. “I’ve children reported more sleep personally struggled with insomnia disturbances than their not-so- from touring for more than half of my creative counterparts, life,” she told the magazine. but other studies have shown sleep to Some might argue that Queen Bey’s enhance creative problem-solving. sleeplessness only cements her Barone believes that over time, creative genius status. Indeed, a chronically bad sleep could hurt number of artists across disciplines creativity. Again, because creativity is — Rih, Diddy, Roxane Gay, Lady Gaga, so difficult to study, the data on the and Van Gogh, to name a few — have association between sleep and also reportedly had trouble getting creativity isn’t as robust as the shuteye. Is there a link between findings on how long-term, low-quality creativity and shitty sleep? sleep messes with, say, memory or To investigate whether this reaction time. Based on these connection is based more in science or correlations, though, Barone says it pop culture lore, I spoke with Daniel stands to reason that poor sleep would Barone, associate medical director of also impair creativity in the long run. the Weill Cornell Centre for Sleep The conclusion pushes against the Medicine and author of Let’s Talk About “tortured artist” trope, which many Sleep: A Guide to Understanding and believe to be dangerous in how Improving Your Slumber. According to it glamorises mental health Barone, a correlation seems to exist, problems and obscures punishing but scientists are still teasing apart the working conditions. details. For now, he speculates that If you’re an artistic soul who finds creative types often struggle to sleep at yourself tossing and turning at night, night because of a combination of the rest assured that you’re not doomed to a way their minds operate and the times life of sleeplessness. “I think the key of day that they tend to work on their thing to remember is that you can’t do craft. whatever you’re doing, and then go right Barone says a major cause of poor “I don’t know if anybody knows the insomnia, let’s back up and look at the take a few days to catch up. For Bey, to sleep,” Barone says. In other words, if sleep — for creative geniuses and mere answer to that,” Barone says. But he biology of how we fall asleep. “that constant switching between time you climb into bed immediately after mortals alike — is a mind that just does point out that, at least Our brains let us know it’s time to zones never gives her body a chance to grappling with a stanza in your latest won’t quit. “It would make sense that anecdotally, creative types tend to doze off by secreting the hormone acclimate to that new time, so it’s poem, expect it to continue swirling somebody who’s very creative and have schedules that allow them to melatonin, which sets off a cascade of almost like she’s experiencing jetlag through your mind for while. whose mind is constantly active would work late at night and awaken later in molecular signals that lull us to sleep, continuously,” Barone says. Instead, set a timer for about a half have trouble kind of going into that the morning. Think of musicians and Barone says. Usually, this coincides Beyoncé might still have a hard hour to an hour before you go to bed rested state when it’s time for bed,” he other performers, or someone who with the sun, he explains, time winding down even when she’s as a signal to stop what you’re doing, says. toils over a passion project after their with melatonin levels rising at not touring because she’s probably Barone suggests. Meditate, listen to All of this raises something of a day job. “That flexibility with what nighttime and falling in the daytime. used to being “on” at night, Barone soft music — anything that draws chicken-and-egg question. While a they do, I think also perpetuates this When we jet to another time zone, says, versus a normie who needs to your mind away from your creative creative mind may very well mess with problem,” Barone says. though, that melatonin production be “on” from nine-to-five. “Her peak work and eases it into a relaxed your sleep, I can’t help but wonder if And when Bey’s on tour, she doesn’t automatically fall in step with is much, much later at night,” state. Toiling over one›s art non-stop poor sleep can also make you more performs not only at night, but across the sun’s movements in our new Barone says. “Turning back to a can take a toll, even on Queen Bey creative, perhaps by lowering your time zones. But before delving into location — as anyone who’s normal schedule would be very, very herself. inhibitions? how this might also play a role in her experienced jetlag can attest, it may difficult.” (mic) What ‘90s Kid Did On the Weekend By Megan Grant
There were a few things in the ‹90s that were sure to make a kid happy: pizza parties, getting to watch episodes of Bill Nye the Science Guy, and when the bell rang on Friday afternoons. Saturdays and Sundays were filled with all the things every ‘90s kid did on the weekend, and it never got old. Less time with schoolwork and more time with friends made for Staying in your pajamas random verbs, nouns, and How Rat-Tickling Links memories that last a until lunch adjectives in the blank lifetime. In fact, to this very And the only reason you lines? I mean, the more day, I can remember the changed was because your random, the funnier they satisfaction of waking up at parents said you couldn’t always turned out. to Our Wellbeing? 10:00 a.m. to the smell of play outside in your Renting a movie at bacon and the sound of jammies. blockbuster for Saturday Living with little to no physical contact during responses using a scoring system, according to the cartoons coming from the Video games with the night the pandemic has reminded many of us of just how poster. They compared them to a group of rats that living room. Those were the neighbours Though there’s only one much we need it. As it turns out, another member remained untickled. In general, tickled rats days. As an adult, I wake Donkey Kong and Mario Blockbuster left in the entire of the animal kingdom — one most fondly known to responded better to human handling and showed up at 6:00 a.m. — without Kart for the win! world, there were thousands occasionally haul a slice of pizza down the steps of less fear. “Content, unstressed animals that live an alarm. Think about Play time until street in the ‘90s. And every week, NYC subways — might also benefit from touch. enriched lives are better able to contribute to high that. lights came on nearing the weekend, you Scientists from the Center for Health and Medical quality research,” the researchers concluded in the I long for the carefree Back before smartphones and your parents would Research in Canberra, Australia found that rats poster. weekends of my childhood, and Instagram, we actually head to the video store to tickled every day for a month responded better to Tickling a rat isn’t as straightforward as it might before bills and mortgages, spoke to people. pick out which movie you’d human handling than their un-tickled seem. As with any technique, “there is a right and before doing endless loads of Sleepovers and building watch on Saturday night. counterparts, the New York Times reported — a wrong way to tickle a rat,” Carlee Mottley, a laundry and fighting the forts Mall meetings with which raises a question we bet you didn’t laboratory animal technician at the University of crowds at the grocery store. Not going to lie. I’ve built friends anticipate pondering at the start of the workweek: Wollongong and a certified rat tickler, who wasn’t “Seriously, people. Push forts as a grown adult If your parents dropped Could rat-tickling hold the secrets to our involved in the study, told the Times. Done your cart on the right side of because this will never stop you off alone at the mall to wellbeing? incorrectly, it can confuse and even hurt them. the aisle. This is not too being cool. ‘hang’ with the other kids The scientists who conducted the study wanted Makes sense, since tickling can feel torturous to much to ask. Please and Fighting With Your wearing plaid skirts and to know whether tickling lab rats would enhance humans if done the wrong way. thank you.” Siblings tank tops, you were in the their emotional wellbeing, which could potentially Correctly tickling a rat can involve gently holding All jokes aside, life is good “She bit me.” cool crowd. What was even allow them to be better models for research. it around its front legs and lifting it as you flip it for me, and I wouldn’t trade “She bit me first.” cooler? If you guys took the Indeed, many studies rely on rats to model human onto its back, which mirrors what the rodents do it for the world. But that Neighbourhood-sized party to the food court. biology. when they wrestle, per the Times. You could also doesn’t mean I don’t miss games of hide and go seek Create a mixtape for A poster detailing the findings explained that keep the rat on its back as you tickle its chest and late morning episodes If we wanted to be extra your crush animal technicians tickle rats to mimic play- between its front legs, the newspaper added, or of Rugrats, racing around the sneaky, we’d tell a kid to go Your crush definitely fighting behaviour among juvenile rats. “By lightly touch the back of its neck. neighbourhood on my bike, hide and then we’d never bragged about it to all of participating in this behavior with our rats, we aim If these findings inspire you to bring joy and and other things a lot of us look for them. their friends for the next to lessen the impact of handling and increase laughter to the next rat you see instead of did on the weekends as kids Waiting until the last month. positive associations with human interaction,” it shrieking or swearing at it, “it’s a mistake to in the ‘90s. minute homework Check in with friends on noted. assume all rats are into tickling, and a mistake to Saturday Morning This ranks right under AOL Messenger While the study seems to mark the first rat- assume that all humans are equally good at Cartoons fighting with our siblings on Before iMessage was ever tickling study conducted in Australia, per tickling rats,” Paul McGreevy, a professor of animal Nothing beat shuffling into our parents’ list called a thing, you had AOL the Times, earlier research from the UK, Germany, behavior and welfare at the University of New the living room on a “Things I Despise The Most.” messenger. You would come and other countries have already shown that rats England, told the Times. Saturday morning with Playing mad libs on home from school and chat make ultrasonic vocalisations — that is, Rats, like humans, benefit from touch, but only dishevelled hair and your Sunday morning to friends you saw a couple vocalisations at frequencies beyond what humans when it’s done with skill and sensitivity to what favourite blankie for some of Don’t you remember hours ago. And trust me, it can hear — when tickled. they actually want. In other words, we might have the best Saturday morning sitting with your siblings or was a lot simpler back then. The researchers in Canberra tickled a group of more in common with Pizza Rat than we think. ‘toons. friends writing totally (bustle) rats every day for four weeks and documented their (mic) c8 tuesday 17 august 2021 click LOOK
Driving Vaccination to New Heights Army Mobile Vaccination Fleet covering Wellawatta area
In hopes of accelerating the Government's public vaccination programme and prioritising vaccinations for the elderly, sick, handicapped and the feeble, who are living in the Western province and unable to visit vaccination centres, Sri Lanka Army on 12 August inaugurated the mobilisation of its Western Province-based Mobile Vaccination Fleet at the Army Headquarters. Initially, 10 special vehicles with medical teams of the Sri Lanka Army Medical Corps (SLAMC) and the Directorate of Preventive Medicine and Mental Health inside each vehicle would accordingly administer the vaccination at your doorstep. Pictured here is how the Army Mobile Vaccination Fleet administered COVID-19 vaccines in the Wellawatta area. (Pix by Sajeewa Chinthaka)
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