Brrrr!

Q: Do polar bears get cold?

A: The fury giants live in Alaska, Canada, Russia, Greenland, and Norway some of the coldest areas in the world where winter temperatures can drop to -45 Celsius. Brrr!

Polar bears are protected by with two layers of fur and a layer of blubber that can measure 4.5 inches thick. With such good insulation they experience almost no heat loss. But do they ever get cold?

According to the San Diego zoo, polar bears are more likely to suffer from over-heating than hypothermia. Polar bears can swim in frozen ocean water with no worry and survive even the harshest, coldest winter storm. Their two-layer fur sticks together when wet, so it serves as waterproof barrier for the bear keeping them dry and warm.

Their 4-inch blubber insulates the bear from the bone-chilling air and also acts as a nutritional reserve when its hard to find food. The blubber also helps the bear float when they're swimming in the icy ocean.

Although polar bears do not hibernate, they do make a den and sleep during times of low temperatures which will help keep them warm. Their bodies slow down and preserve their energy.

There is a catch- the bear must be healthy to withstand the Arctic cold. A young bear, sick bear, or nursing female bear may have a harder time dealing with the cold because they aren't able to reserve their fat.

Any healthy polar bear has all it needs to stay warm in the freezing cold... more power to them.

Best Lede from Discover Magazine

"Sleep deprivation. Stress positions. Waterboarding. These interrogation techniques used by the Bush administration in the war on terror were explained, at the time, as harsh but necessary tactics that forced captives to give up names, plots, and other information. But a new look at the neurobiological effects of prolonged stress on the brain suggests that torture damages the memory, and therefore often produces bad intelligence."

I loved this lede from an article at Discover Magazine. The lede begins with a list of interrogation techniques that most of us are well aware of after the Bush administration, so it draws the reader in wanting to read more and understand more about the topic. The last sentence is interesting and makes me want to continue reading the article. If the torture interrogation techniques can possibly cause memory loss then somebody should tell Dick Cheney.

Where are they Coming from???

It was still dark out when I woke up (thank you to my 3-month old son) and my stomach made that annoying gurgling sound. After 30 minutes of feeding a baby who wanted to play instead I groggily walked to the kitchen to get the last Red delicious apple. I opened up the breadbox where I always keep them and I jumped back as a swarm of fruit flies clouded my face.

I was confused. The apple was tied tightly in a plastic bag then placed in my "air-tight" breadbox. Where'd they come from? Why did they choose my last apple? I had to find out.

According to an article on discovery.com fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster ) come from the outdoors unlike popular belief that they just appear with "spontaneous generation."

The article says that up until about 100 years ago, people thought that if you left a piece of meat out flies would somehow emerge from it. Therefore, an Italian doctor decided to cover up the meat: No more flies.

Wrong. They're still here and they're still eating everyone's fruit.

Fruit flies eat a diet of yeast, which can be found in ripe fruit. They stay away from your unripe bananas and oranges. Why aren't there any fruit flies swarming the fruit section at Price Chopper? Usually because those fruits aren't ripe yet. Smart on their part.

Now to warn you about the gross factor. The flies lay eggs that turn into larvae (MAGGOTS!!!!) that will spend days eating the yeast products then hatch into fruit flies and then continue the cycle. There could be eggs on my delicious apple the instant I see a fruit fly and then only 30 hours later the disgusting squirmy maggots can appear and lots of them.

Okay so I throw the fruit away in the dumpster because I am deathly afraid of maggots. But there's still a few stragglers flying around my kitchen. Why are they still here? Marvelously, fruit flies can live on a range of other things beside your fruits. They can get nutrients from a scummy mop, the slime of a sink drain, or get this... they can live on a diet of alcohol fumes. Their tiny gross little bodies deploy a special chemical that can convert the alcohol to nutrients before it can poison them. Too bad for me.

Next bad news, their lifespan is only 8 days, but they breed at a rapid rate. Discovery.com gave an example that is absolutely mind-boggling. "one pair of flies, in one year, can produce a dynasty that, packed in a ball, would fill the void between the Earth and the Sun."

Looks like we'll never be rid of these little critters. An easy way to trap them is to use a wine bottle with just a little bit of wine left in the bottom, they'll smell the fruit and dive to their deaths. Guess I'll be finishing a bottle of wine tonight.

Lede of the Week

There are some things it is better just not to think about. Like the 10,000 bacteria you inhale with each breath in the average office building. Or the 10 million bacteria in each glass of tap water. Microbiologists have now added something else to the list of things too gross to contemplate: the deluge of bacteria that hit your face and flow deep into your lungs in the morning shower.

This lede came from a New York Times article by Nicholas Wade about a bacteria in water that can cause health problems. This lede is very catchy but still full of facts. It's interesting and it drew me in because of the gross statistic that there is 10 million bacteria in each glass of tap water. The lede left me wanting to read more.

What a Hoot!

I had no intentions of looking for a bird on my hike through a small trail in Ausable Forks, NY but I definitely found one. I heard a "hoo-hoo-hoot" coming from high up in the trees that made me stop in my tracks. Somehow in my 23 years of life I had never seen an owl in nature. I finally spotted the creature perched on the highest branch of the giant tree.

First I noticed his dark brown eyes glaring out at me. He was covered in white-gray feathers with brown stripes down his neck and chest. The feathers looked so puffy and warm. He continued to "hoot" for a few minutes longer then silence... but he never left his tree.

After my encounter with the owl, I searched online to find out what type of owl he was. I believe it was a barred owl (strix varia)- the brown horizontal stripes are a giveaway. The barred owl lives all throughout New York state in dense foliage high off the ground- just like the area I spotted him.

The barred owl is known to hunt for small animals like mice at night, but sometimes they hunt before dark on overcast days.

The loud "hoot" I heard is common for this type of owl because they are known to be very vocal and converse with others especially during mating seasons between February and March. The owls find one single partner for life and only breed once a year. Although they are a monogamous bird, they are separated from their partner most of the time until breeding season begins.

Are YOU Ready for Swine Flu?

Flu-season is fast approaching us and everyone now has to worry about the new Swine Flu or H1N1. With all the hype in the media every sniffle and cough will be feared and parents will be running to the pediatrician with their sneezing children in tow.

The New York Times article says that experts feared that the H1N1 influenza strain that appeared in the Spring would follow the same pattern as the flu in 1918, which ended up being the world's deadliest epidemic. So I guess people should be scared right?

Well- according to Dr. Neil O. Fishman, an infectious-disease specialist at the University of Pennsylvania, the virus has not mutated and "the swine flu that we're seeing still is a moderate disease that is behaving very much like ordinary season influenza."

Is Swine Flu really that bad? Dr. Fishman said in the article that it's like the ordinary flu, which happens to thousands of people every year. Yet, the ordinary flu can still be deadly, killing 36,000 people a year.

People under 60 are more at risk for Swine Flu since they have no immunity to it, unlike the older generation. The government has ordered 195 million doses of a H1N1 vaccine and they will be available by October 15.

I think the government has to be sure the right people get the vaccine and be sure they do not run out of doses. Hopefully I won't be proven wrong, but I don't think the H1N1 influenza is worth all the media hype and fear, but if it does turn out to be the world's next deadliest epidemic, we better be prepared. There is tons of information out there on the symptoms and treatments available so there should be no excuse.

We should protect ourselves from this possible outbreak so we don't regret it later.


Contact

Walk for Change!

A 65-year-old woman from Bethlehem, PA is walking for a cause- she is "Walking for the Climate." Greta Browne began her hike along the Eastern seaboard in March beginning in New Orleans and she plans on finishing this Saturday in our own backyard- Rouses Point, NY after a 1,100 mile trip.

Why would someone do this? She's hoping to bring public awareness and even possibly an outcry from the people for the end to global warming. There have been plenty of people who argue against the idea that humans can cause a climate change, but studies are proving those wrong. Sadly, even the people who do believe global warming is a serious problem, are not doing anything to stop it. “Mostly people think it is a problem,” Ms. Browne said, “but mostly they think it will not impact them anytime soon.”



If this 65-year-old woman, who is funding her cause from small donations and social security checks can do this- anyone can. But will they? It's important to show support of this woman and her cause, if you are not one of the people who believe global warming does not exist. So head up to Rouses Point this weekend and find the woman with the "Walking for the Climate" t-shirt and hand her some water, as long as it's not in a plastic bottle!