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"title": "New Test Strips Detect Harmful Toxin in Some Common California Mushrooms",
"headTitle": "New Test Strips Detect Harmful Toxin in Some Common California Mushrooms | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>In a parking lot near some woods about an hour east of San Francisco, \u003ca href=\"https://www.usda.gov/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">United States Department of Agriculture\u003c/a> (USDA) research microbiologist \u003ca href=\"https://www.ars.usda.gov/people-locations/person?person-id=52565\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Candace Bever\u003c/a> rummages around in a box containing plastic containers, slides and tubes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m going to grab a vial here,” she says. “And my saline solution.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We’ve just picked an assortment of mushrooms on a hike. One of them, a paddy straw mushroom, looks suspiciously like a specimen she’s brought along with her — Amanita phalloides, also known as the death cap.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1958008\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1958008\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/RS41765_death-caps-2-qut-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/RS41765_death-caps-2-qut-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/RS41765_death-caps-2-qut-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/RS41765_death-caps-2-qut-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/RS41765_death-caps-2-qut-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/RS41765_death-caps-2-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Amanita phalloides (death cap) mushrooms in the wild. \u003ccite>(Candace Bever)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Bever is demonstrating a simple, portable new test she’s developed with her team at the USDA’s \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.ars.usda.gov/pacific-west-area/albany-ca/wrrc/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Western Regional Research Center\u003c/a> in Albany, California \u003c/span>to detect a dangerous poison known as amatoxin that’s found in some common California fungi. The test yields results in minutes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All you need is a rice size piece of the mushroom,” Bever says, putting samples of the death cap and the paddy straw in a pair of vials filled with saline solution. She then shakes the vials and dabs a few drops of each liquid onto the ends of two white, plastic strips.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It looks a lot like a pregnancy test.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After a few minutes, two pink lines emerge in the window of the paddy straw test strip. That’s a negative result. But only one line forms in the window of the other strip — the one with the Amanita phalloides sample.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1958011\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1958011\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/RS41769_testing-materials-qut-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/RS41769_testing-materials-qut-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/RS41769_testing-materials-qut-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/RS41769_testing-materials-qut-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/RS41769_testing-materials-qut-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/RS41769_testing-materials-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Amatoxin test equipment. \u003ccite>(Chkloe Veltman/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“So that is a positive for amatoxins,” Bever says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bever says death cap fatalities are currently rare. According to 2018 data from the \u003ca href=\"https://aapcc.org/centers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Poison Control Center\u003c/a>, there were\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> only 76 Amanita phalloides poisoning cases reported nationwide. Around half of these required treatment at a health care facility. None resulted in death.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the death rate might rise, because Amanita phalloides is an invasive species.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Its range continues to spread,” Bever says of the fungi, which was accidentally introduced from Europe into Northern California in the 1930s, and can now be found all over the state and beyond.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mushroom expert and \u003ca href=\"http://bayareamushrooms.org/about_bams.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bay Area Mycological Society\u003c/a> co-founder \u003ca href=\"http://bayareamushrooms.org/about_bams.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Debbie Viess\u003c/a> says it’s hard for the average person to distinguish between the harmful death cap, which has white gills and spores and a skirt, and benign lookalikes such as the paddy straw.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1958009\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1958009\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/RS41764_Candace-Bever-and-Debbie-Viess-with-a-paddy-straw-mushroom-qut-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/RS41764_Candace-Bever-and-Debbie-Viess-with-a-paddy-straw-mushroom-qut-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/RS41764_Candace-Bever-and-Debbie-Viess-with-a-paddy-straw-mushroom-qut-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/RS41764_Candace-Bever-and-Debbie-Viess-with-a-paddy-straw-mushroom-qut-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/RS41764_Candace-Bever-and-Debbie-Viess-with-a-paddy-straw-mushroom-qut-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/RS41764_Candace-Bever-and-Debbie-Viess-with-a-paddy-straw-mushroom-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Microbiologist Candace Bever (left) and mycologist Debbie Viess pose with a paddy straw mushroom. The benign paddy straw is often mistaken for the harmful death cap. \u003ccite>(Chloe Veltman/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“So this could be a death cap,” she says, examining a paddy straw mushroom. “Except it has pink gills and spores and it doesn’t have a skirt.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new strips also test urine — not just mushroom samples.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So Viess says they could help doctors and nurses figure out if amatoxin is the cause of a poisoning and quickly respond to the symptoms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Where this test is valuable is in a clinical situation, where you have somebody who’s poisoned and you don’t know what poisoned them,” Viess says. “If you can eliminate or confirm it’s amatoxin, you can save this person’s life.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Existing methods for detecting amatoxins involve noxious chemicals, or require high-end equipment only found in a lab. \u003ca href=\"https://calpoison.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">California Poison Control\u003c/a> toxicologist Eddie Garcia says this gives the USDA’s new test strips an edge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The ease of use is the real advance here,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Garcia says it’ll be years before the strips are approved for medical staff to use them on patients in a hospital or doctor’s office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We shouldn’t jump to conclusions that this can be used in humans quite yet to detect dangerous poisoning,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The strips are expected to roll out for commercial use sometime later this year under the brand name \u003ca href=\"http://amatoxtest.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Amatoxtest\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re going to try to keep the price below $100 for three strips,” says Richard Ransom, the owner of Michigan-based Amatoxtest LLC, which is licensing the technology. “How much less will depend a bit on demand and a final cost accounting. They may end up being pretty cheap, perhaps as low as $10 or so apiece.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1958010\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1958010\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/RS41767_facebook-shot-qut-800x368.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"368\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/RS41767_facebook-shot-qut-800x368.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/RS41767_facebook-shot-qut-160x74.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/RS41767_facebook-shot-qut-768x353.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/RS41767_facebook-shot-qut-1020x469.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/RS41767_facebook-shot-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Screenshot from one of many Facebook groups where mushroom lovers have been exchanging comments about the new amatoxin test strips. \u003ccite>(Facebook)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Some mushroom community members have already taken to Facebook to complain about the new test strips, fearing they might encourage careless foraging and lead to death.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan dir=\"ltr\">\u003cspan class=\"_3l3x\">“Hooray!” wrote user Steve Moore on the \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/groups/338159107306/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Georgia Mushrooming Facebook page\u003c/a> with his tongue firmly in his cheek. “I don’t have to learn all of those stupid scientific names or spend my time learning what different mushrooms look like anymore. I can just depend on a government made doohickey to keep me safe!”\u003c/span>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mushroom expert Debbie Viess has been participating in the discussions on social media. She defends the value of the strips for their potential clinical use. But she also says when it comes to safely identifying fungi, there’s no substitute for true knowledge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think you would be foolish to rely on a test rather than your eyes,” Viess says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While some fungi enthusiasts might be wary of the strips, they could find a fanbase among dog lovers and veterinarians.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mushroom poisoning is a canine hazard, and the new test works on dog urine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A\u003cb>\u003c/b>ny diagnostic tests available to the veterinary community are often appreciated because we don’t have the same level of resources as human medicine,” says veterinarian and researcher \u003ca href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/in/catherine-hagan-ab8529a/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Catherine Hagan\u003c/a>, who’s based in the Sacramento area, and says she has seen many dog mushroom poisoning cases in California over the years. “So when a pet comes in and you’re trying to narrow down what the problem is, any tool you have available to you that’s reliable, repeatable and affordable I think is valuable.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "The USDA's test strips can detect amatoxin found in some common California mushrooms, like the lethal death cap, in a few minutes, even on the go.",
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"description": "The USDA's test strips can detect amatoxin found in some common California mushrooms, like the lethal death cap, in a few minutes, even on the go.",
"title": "New Test Strips Detect Harmful Toxin in Some Common California Mushrooms | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>In a parking lot near some woods about an hour east of San Francisco, \u003ca href=\"https://www.usda.gov/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">United States Department of Agriculture\u003c/a> (USDA) research microbiologist \u003ca href=\"https://www.ars.usda.gov/people-locations/person?person-id=52565\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Candace Bever\u003c/a> rummages around in a box containing plastic containers, slides and tubes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m going to grab a vial here,” she says. “And my saline solution.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We’ve just picked an assortment of mushrooms on a hike. One of them, a paddy straw mushroom, looks suspiciously like a specimen she’s brought along with her — Amanita phalloides, also known as the death cap.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1958008\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1958008\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/RS41765_death-caps-2-qut-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/RS41765_death-caps-2-qut-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/RS41765_death-caps-2-qut-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/RS41765_death-caps-2-qut-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/RS41765_death-caps-2-qut-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/RS41765_death-caps-2-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Amanita phalloides (death cap) mushrooms in the wild. \u003ccite>(Candace Bever)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Bever is demonstrating a simple, portable new test she’s developed with her team at the USDA’s \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.ars.usda.gov/pacific-west-area/albany-ca/wrrc/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Western Regional Research Center\u003c/a> in Albany, California \u003c/span>to detect a dangerous poison known as amatoxin that’s found in some common California fungi. The test yields results in minutes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All you need is a rice size piece of the mushroom,” Bever says, putting samples of the death cap and the paddy straw in a pair of vials filled with saline solution. She then shakes the vials and dabs a few drops of each liquid onto the ends of two white, plastic strips.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It looks a lot like a pregnancy test.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After a few minutes, two pink lines emerge in the window of the paddy straw test strip. That’s a negative result. But only one line forms in the window of the other strip — the one with the Amanita phalloides sample.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1958011\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1958011\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/RS41769_testing-materials-qut-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/RS41769_testing-materials-qut-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/RS41769_testing-materials-qut-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/RS41769_testing-materials-qut-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/RS41769_testing-materials-qut-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/RS41769_testing-materials-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Amatoxin test equipment. \u003ccite>(Chkloe Veltman/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“So that is a positive for amatoxins,” Bever says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bever says death cap fatalities are currently rare. According to 2018 data from the \u003ca href=\"https://aapcc.org/centers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Poison Control Center\u003c/a>, there were\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> only 76 Amanita phalloides poisoning cases reported nationwide. Around half of these required treatment at a health care facility. None resulted in death.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the death rate might rise, because Amanita phalloides is an invasive species.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Its range continues to spread,” Bever says of the fungi, which was accidentally introduced from Europe into Northern California in the 1930s, and can now be found all over the state and beyond.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mushroom expert and \u003ca href=\"http://bayareamushrooms.org/about_bams.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bay Area Mycological Society\u003c/a> co-founder \u003ca href=\"http://bayareamushrooms.org/about_bams.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Debbie Viess\u003c/a> says it’s hard for the average person to distinguish between the harmful death cap, which has white gills and spores and a skirt, and benign lookalikes such as the paddy straw.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1958009\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1958009\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/RS41764_Candace-Bever-and-Debbie-Viess-with-a-paddy-straw-mushroom-qut-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/RS41764_Candace-Bever-and-Debbie-Viess-with-a-paddy-straw-mushroom-qut-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/RS41764_Candace-Bever-and-Debbie-Viess-with-a-paddy-straw-mushroom-qut-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/RS41764_Candace-Bever-and-Debbie-Viess-with-a-paddy-straw-mushroom-qut-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/RS41764_Candace-Bever-and-Debbie-Viess-with-a-paddy-straw-mushroom-qut-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/RS41764_Candace-Bever-and-Debbie-Viess-with-a-paddy-straw-mushroom-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Microbiologist Candace Bever (left) and mycologist Debbie Viess pose with a paddy straw mushroom. The benign paddy straw is often mistaken for the harmful death cap. \u003ccite>(Chloe Veltman/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“So this could be a death cap,” she says, examining a paddy straw mushroom. “Except it has pink gills and spores and it doesn’t have a skirt.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new strips also test urine — not just mushroom samples.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So Viess says they could help doctors and nurses figure out if amatoxin is the cause of a poisoning and quickly respond to the symptoms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Where this test is valuable is in a clinical situation, where you have somebody who’s poisoned and you don’t know what poisoned them,” Viess says. “If you can eliminate or confirm it’s amatoxin, you can save this person’s life.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Existing methods for detecting amatoxins involve noxious chemicals, or require high-end equipment only found in a lab. \u003ca href=\"https://calpoison.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">California Poison Control\u003c/a> toxicologist Eddie Garcia says this gives the USDA’s new test strips an edge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The ease of use is the real advance here,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Garcia says it’ll be years before the strips are approved for medical staff to use them on patients in a hospital or doctor’s office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We shouldn’t jump to conclusions that this can be used in humans quite yet to detect dangerous poisoning,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The strips are expected to roll out for commercial use sometime later this year under the brand name \u003ca href=\"http://amatoxtest.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Amatoxtest\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re going to try to keep the price below $100 for three strips,” says Richard Ransom, the owner of Michigan-based Amatoxtest LLC, which is licensing the technology. “How much less will depend a bit on demand and a final cost accounting. They may end up being pretty cheap, perhaps as low as $10 or so apiece.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1958010\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1958010\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/RS41767_facebook-shot-qut-800x368.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"368\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/RS41767_facebook-shot-qut-800x368.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/RS41767_facebook-shot-qut-160x74.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/RS41767_facebook-shot-qut-768x353.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/RS41767_facebook-shot-qut-1020x469.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/RS41767_facebook-shot-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Screenshot from one of many Facebook groups where mushroom lovers have been exchanging comments about the new amatoxin test strips. \u003ccite>(Facebook)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Some mushroom community members have already taken to Facebook to complain about the new test strips, fearing they might encourage careless foraging and lead to death.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan dir=\"ltr\">\u003cspan class=\"_3l3x\">“Hooray!” wrote user Steve Moore on the \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/groups/338159107306/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Georgia Mushrooming Facebook page\u003c/a> with his tongue firmly in his cheek. “I don’t have to learn all of those stupid scientific names or spend my time learning what different mushrooms look like anymore. I can just depend on a government made doohickey to keep me safe!”\u003c/span>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mushroom expert Debbie Viess has been participating in the discussions on social media. She defends the value of the strips for their potential clinical use. But she also says when it comes to safely identifying fungi, there’s no substitute for true knowledge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think you would be foolish to rely on a test rather than your eyes,” Viess says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While some fungi enthusiasts might be wary of the strips, they could find a fanbase among dog lovers and veterinarians.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mushroom poisoning is a canine hazard, and the new test works on dog urine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A\u003cb>\u003c/b>ny diagnostic tests available to the veterinary community are often appreciated because we don’t have the same level of resources as human medicine,” says veterinarian and researcher \u003ca href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/in/catherine-hagan-ab8529a/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Catherine Hagan\u003c/a>, who’s based in the Sacramento area, and says she has seen many dog mushroom poisoning cases in California over the years. “So when a pet comes in and you’re trying to narrow down what the problem is, any tool you have available to you that’s reliable, repeatable and affordable I think is valuable.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "a-fleas-fantastic-jump-takes-more-than-muscle",
"title": "A Flea's Fantastic Jump Takes More Than Muscle",
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"headTitle": "A Flea’s Fantastic Jump Takes More Than Muscle | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>[dl_subscribe]Spring is here, and with it, the start of flea season. With the warming weather, people and their pets are spending more time outside — which increases the chances of bringing home a hungry “itch hiker.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While pet owners curse the tiny insects and look for a way to rid them from their homes, it turns out fleas actually perform some remarkable athletic feats, like jumping 50 times their height — the equivalent of a human jumping 300 feet — or leaping so fast that they take off 100 times faster than the blink of an eye.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>No larger than a sesame seed and flattened side to side, fleas can slip through fur with ease. But what makes them really elusive is their jump. It’s so fast they seem to simply vanish and reappear somewhere else.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s there and then it’s gone,” said Gregory Sutton, a professor of biomechanics at the University of Lincoln in the United Kingdom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1957981\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/DL705_FleaJump_CatFleaJumpOutside.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1957981 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/DL705_FleaJump_CatFleaJumpOutside.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An adult cat flea needs to get onto its host in order to feed and find a mate. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Sutton uses high-speed cameras and magnifying lenses to research how fleas are able to do their age-old disappearing tricks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://academic.oup.com/icb/article/59/6/1609/5545545\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">In one recent study\u003c/a>, Sutton found that the way different animals jump is apparently not one size fits all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fleas are ridiculously fast jumpers. Sutton found that a flea could complete its takeoff in as little as one millisecond.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Adult fleas use that fast jump to get away from danger, but also to leap onto their furry or feathered hosts. Once they’re aboard, fleas use their sharp tube-shaped proboscis, called a stylet, to pierce the skin and suck the host’s blood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1957982\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/DL705_FleaJump_CatFleaBiteHuman.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1957982\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/DL705_FleaJump_CatFleaBiteHuman.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fleas filter out and excrete water from the blood as they are feeding to make more space in their digestive tract for more blood. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Once both males and female fleas feed, they mate and the females lay eggs. Unlike with other pests like lice, flea eggs don’t stick to fur. Instead, they fall from the host’s fur, typically into its bedding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But eggs aren’t the only things adult fleas create. They’re also prodigious poopers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The eggs and flea poop combination are found deep in the pet’s fur, or on its bedding. It’s easy to find with a flea comb.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1957985\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/DL705_FleaJump_CatFleaComb.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1957985\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/DL705_FleaJump_CatFleaComb.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cat fleas like this one caught in a flea comb, are the most common type of flea to find on pets in the U.S. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“People call it salt and pepper,” said William Donahue, an entomologist, and owner of \u003ca href=\"http://www.sierraresearchlaboratories.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sierra Research Laboratories\u003c/a> in Modesto, where he evaluates treatments against fleas and other pests. “It will be the dark black fecal spots, plus the white pearlescent eggs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The eggs and poop fall out of the host’s fur when it moves. It’s especially common to find them in the pet’s bedding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1957986\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/DL705_FleaJump_DogFleaHatch.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1957986\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/DL705_FleaJump_DogFleaHatch.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Larval fleas may wait to hatch until they sense the arrival of a potential host animal. \u003ccite>(Bayer Animal Health; SungShik Shin, Chonnam National University)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“They’re not on the surface of hardwood floors or tiles or anything like that,” Sutton said. “They fall into the pet’s bedding, and there’s usually a microclimate in there with higher humidity, which is conducive to them surviving.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After a few days, the eggs hatch and the nearly microscopic larvae wiggle out. They look like hairy white worms the size of a piece of dust. The larvae spend weeks crawling around the bedding, or nest in the case of many birds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The larvae feed on whatever organic matter they can find. But their favorite food comes from their parents. Adult flea poop is just semi-digested blood and it tends to fall in the same places as the eggs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1957987\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/DL705_FleaJump_CatFleaEatPoop.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1957987\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/DL705_FleaJump_CatFleaEatPoop.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A flea larva feeds on the dark-colored feces of an adult flea. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>After a lot of gorging and growing, the wiggling larva encases itself in a cocoon. A couple of days later, the adult flea emerges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The first thing it needs to do is find a host to hitch a ride on. That’s where the flea’s spectacular jump comes in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fleas can jump over fifty times their own height. They need to accelerate very quickly to launch themselves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“But they’ve got short little legs,” Sutton said. “So the fleas don’t have a lot of time to accelerate before they leave the ground.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You might think fleas have special muscles in their legs that allow them to jump extra fast. Not so.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When you look at the muscles in these guys,” Sutton said, “it just looks like normal muscles, and muscles can only move so quickly. So they need something to amplify the power output.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What they have is a spring. But it’s not like the coiled metal spring that might first come to mind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When I say spring, I mean something that is storing and releasing mechanical energy in a recoil,” Sutton said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1957988\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/DL705_FleaJump_Sutton_JumpMontage.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1957988\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/DL705_FleaJump_Sutton_JumpMontage.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sutton chose to work with hedgehog fleas because they don’t bite people. \u003ccite>(Gregory Sutton, University of Lincoln, UK)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Adult fleas use their muscles to store energy by bending a part of their exoskeleton called the pleural arch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Basically, it’s their metaphorical rib cage,” Sutton said. “It’s the part of the flea’s body that would be closest to the human rib cage.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the flea releases the bending, its exoskeleton snaps back into its original shape extremely quickly. The energy from that recoil gets transmitted through the flea’s tiny body into its oversized rear legs which push off the ground, sending the flea soaring into the air. Larger animals like dogs and cats have longer legs, and they power their jumps with muscles alone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sutton likened the flea’s jump to firing a bow. An archer uses the muscles in his or her arm to load energy into a bow, which is released very suddenly, and transferred into the lightweight arrow very quickly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But for something heavier like a spear, humans wouldn’t use a bow, and instead would use muscles in their arm and shoulder to heave the heavier object directly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The two different systems seem to meet in animals around the size of a frog, with some smaller, quicker-jumping frogs using the spring system like the flea, and larger frogs, like bullfrogs, using muscles like a cat or dog.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sutton studies animal jumps in the hope that his findings will help the development of jumping robots.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“One of the things that the insects do better now than robots is generating jumps,” he said. “The jumps of small insects are much faster and more controlled than the jumps of equivalently sized robots. And insects can jump in preparation for flight. That’s incredibly useful as well, that we’re trying to figure out how to get robots to do that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But just to keep the record straight, while they are among the fastest animal jumpers, fleas did not top Sutton’s list. Froghoppers, also called spittlebugs, took the top spot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Froghoppers are the fastest of the insect jumpers, but they live on plants and they’re actually spectacularly terrified of us so we don’t see them very often and don’t notice them,” said Sutton.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We usually don’t think about things in nature moving that quickly. So that’s why I love them, said Sutton. “They just go fast.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Before they can bite your cat or dog, these little \"itch hikers\" make an amazing leap 100 times faster than the blink of an eye.",
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"title": "A Flea's Fantastic Jump Takes More Than Muscle | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Spring is here, and with it, the start of flea season. With the warming weather, people and their pets are spending more time outside — which increases the chances of bringing home a hungry “itch hiker.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While pet owners curse the tiny insects and look for a way to rid them from their homes, it turns out fleas actually perform some remarkable athletic feats, like jumping 50 times their height — the equivalent of a human jumping 300 feet — or leaping so fast that they take off 100 times faster than the blink of an eye.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>No larger than a sesame seed and flattened side to side, fleas can slip through fur with ease. But what makes them really elusive is their jump. It’s so fast they seem to simply vanish and reappear somewhere else.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s there and then it’s gone,” said Gregory Sutton, a professor of biomechanics at the University of Lincoln in the United Kingdom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1957981\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/DL705_FleaJump_CatFleaJumpOutside.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1957981 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/DL705_FleaJump_CatFleaJumpOutside.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An adult cat flea needs to get onto its host in order to feed and find a mate. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Sutton uses high-speed cameras and magnifying lenses to research how fleas are able to do their age-old disappearing tricks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://academic.oup.com/icb/article/59/6/1609/5545545\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">In one recent study\u003c/a>, Sutton found that the way different animals jump is apparently not one size fits all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fleas are ridiculously fast jumpers. Sutton found that a flea could complete its takeoff in as little as one millisecond.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Adult fleas use that fast jump to get away from danger, but also to leap onto their furry or feathered hosts. Once they’re aboard, fleas use their sharp tube-shaped proboscis, called a stylet, to pierce the skin and suck the host’s blood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1957982\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/DL705_FleaJump_CatFleaBiteHuman.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1957982\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/DL705_FleaJump_CatFleaBiteHuman.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fleas filter out and excrete water from the blood as they are feeding to make more space in their digestive tract for more blood. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Once both males and female fleas feed, they mate and the females lay eggs. Unlike with other pests like lice, flea eggs don’t stick to fur. Instead, they fall from the host’s fur, typically into its bedding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But eggs aren’t the only things adult fleas create. They’re also prodigious poopers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The eggs and flea poop combination are found deep in the pet’s fur, or on its bedding. It’s easy to find with a flea comb.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1957985\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/DL705_FleaJump_CatFleaComb.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1957985\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/DL705_FleaJump_CatFleaComb.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cat fleas like this one caught in a flea comb, are the most common type of flea to find on pets in the U.S. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“People call it salt and pepper,” said William Donahue, an entomologist, and owner of \u003ca href=\"http://www.sierraresearchlaboratories.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sierra Research Laboratories\u003c/a> in Modesto, where he evaluates treatments against fleas and other pests. “It will be the dark black fecal spots, plus the white pearlescent eggs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The eggs and poop fall out of the host’s fur when it moves. It’s especially common to find them in the pet’s bedding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1957986\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/DL705_FleaJump_DogFleaHatch.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1957986\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/DL705_FleaJump_DogFleaHatch.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Larval fleas may wait to hatch until they sense the arrival of a potential host animal. \u003ccite>(Bayer Animal Health; SungShik Shin, Chonnam National University)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“They’re not on the surface of hardwood floors or tiles or anything like that,” Sutton said. “They fall into the pet’s bedding, and there’s usually a microclimate in there with higher humidity, which is conducive to them surviving.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After a few days, the eggs hatch and the nearly microscopic larvae wiggle out. They look like hairy white worms the size of a piece of dust. The larvae spend weeks crawling around the bedding, or nest in the case of many birds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The larvae feed on whatever organic matter they can find. But their favorite food comes from their parents. Adult flea poop is just semi-digested blood and it tends to fall in the same places as the eggs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1957987\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/DL705_FleaJump_CatFleaEatPoop.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1957987\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/DL705_FleaJump_CatFleaEatPoop.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A flea larva feeds on the dark-colored feces of an adult flea. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>After a lot of gorging and growing, the wiggling larva encases itself in a cocoon. A couple of days later, the adult flea emerges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The first thing it needs to do is find a host to hitch a ride on. That’s where the flea’s spectacular jump comes in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fleas can jump over fifty times their own height. They need to accelerate very quickly to launch themselves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“But they’ve got short little legs,” Sutton said. “So the fleas don’t have a lot of time to accelerate before they leave the ground.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You might think fleas have special muscles in their legs that allow them to jump extra fast. Not so.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When you look at the muscles in these guys,” Sutton said, “it just looks like normal muscles, and muscles can only move so quickly. So they need something to amplify the power output.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What they have is a spring. But it’s not like the coiled metal spring that might first come to mind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When I say spring, I mean something that is storing and releasing mechanical energy in a recoil,” Sutton said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1957988\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/DL705_FleaJump_Sutton_JumpMontage.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1957988\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/DL705_FleaJump_Sutton_JumpMontage.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sutton chose to work with hedgehog fleas because they don’t bite people. \u003ccite>(Gregory Sutton, University of Lincoln, UK)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Adult fleas use their muscles to store energy by bending a part of their exoskeleton called the pleural arch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Basically, it’s their metaphorical rib cage,” Sutton said. “It’s the part of the flea’s body that would be closest to the human rib cage.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the flea releases the bending, its exoskeleton snaps back into its original shape extremely quickly. The energy from that recoil gets transmitted through the flea’s tiny body into its oversized rear legs which push off the ground, sending the flea soaring into the air. Larger animals like dogs and cats have longer legs, and they power their jumps with muscles alone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sutton likened the flea’s jump to firing a bow. An archer uses the muscles in his or her arm to load energy into a bow, which is released very suddenly, and transferred into the lightweight arrow very quickly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But for something heavier like a spear, humans wouldn’t use a bow, and instead would use muscles in their arm and shoulder to heave the heavier object directly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The two different systems seem to meet in animals around the size of a frog, with some smaller, quicker-jumping frogs using the spring system like the flea, and larger frogs, like bullfrogs, using muscles like a cat or dog.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sutton studies animal jumps in the hope that his findings will help the development of jumping robots.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“One of the things that the insects do better now than robots is generating jumps,” he said. “The jumps of small insects are much faster and more controlled than the jumps of equivalently sized robots. And insects can jump in preparation for flight. That’s incredibly useful as well, that we’re trying to figure out how to get robots to do that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But just to keep the record straight, while they are among the fastest animal jumpers, fleas did not top Sutton’s list. Froghoppers, also called spittlebugs, took the top spot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Froghoppers are the fastest of the insect jumpers, but they live on plants and they’re actually spectacularly terrified of us so we don’t see them very often and don’t notice them,” said Sutton.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We usually don’t think about things in nature moving that quickly. So that’s why I love them, said Sutton. “They just go fast.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Coronavirus: If You're Infected, All Your Close Contacts Have to Be Tracked Down. Here's How That Works",
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"headTitle": "Coronavirus: If You’re Infected, All Your Close Contacts Have to Be Tracked Down. Here’s How That Works | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>As outbreaks of the new coronavirus dominate the headlines, an army of disease researchers and public health officials have mobilized to track down infections and limit the extent of the spread. To talk about the work of these disease detectives, KQED’s Brian Watt spoke with \u003cstrong>Solano County Health Officer Dr. Bela Matyas\u003c/strong>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Matyas’ answers have been edited for length and clarity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What happens if I feel sick and call the public health department?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s going to depend on what county you’re in. Counties that have not yet had a positive case, for example, can approach things in a much more aggressive manner than counties that are inundated with cases.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1957877/live-updates-coronavirus-in-the-san-francisco-bay-area\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Live Coronavirus Updates\u003c/a>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>In counties without many cases, you would be asked a series of questions about what might have been the reason you’re sick. We would want to know what your symptoms are and see if they are consistent with COVID-19. We would want to know if you’ve had exposure to places where the disease is spreading rapidly or to people who are known cases. If the answer is yes, then we would take one path. If the answers to all of that is no, we would take a different one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What is the yes path?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you are in a county that has access to lots of testing ability, then we would want to test you. We would bring you in under safe circumstances to a place where we could take appropriate specimens. While we wait to get the results back, we would ask you to isolate yourself, essentially removing yourself from contact with everybody.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We would give you basic advice on how to take care of yourself, stay away from work or school, and stay safe at home until your symptoms go away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>How do epidemiologists actually track down people who might have been exposed?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We want to try to find out where you got it and who you might’ve given it to. In the case of COVID-19, we know that the time from when you’re exposed to when you get sick is potentially 2 to 14 days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We need to search with you for your history of exposures that occurred in that two-week time period. If you’re symptomatic, we believe that you can spread the disease while you have symptoms, so we need to find out everywhere you’ve been and everyone you’ve been in contact with during the time you’ve been having symptoms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Does this happen over the phone or do you show up at people’s door?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the most typical situation, it’s a phone call. We make the assumption that you are the best judge of who you have had interactions with. We always ask about your close contacts, your family members, your co-workers, anybody you carpool with, your closer friends, people that you socialize with. And we create a list.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s typically the case that you can tell me pretty accurately who the close contacts are. That next level of contacts is a little tougher. You might say, “You know, I was at a party at this location, or I went to this wedding, or I went to this reception,” and you won’t necessarily know who everyone was that was there. But we get as much detail from you as possible about who you could have exposed to your respiratory droplets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For example, if you go to a wedding, we’ll try to find out what table you sat at. How did you interact with the people at that table? Do you remember who you danced with? We would then have to go back to that event organizer to get the list of people you may have had that contact with.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Typically we try to accomplish as much interviewing as we can by telephone because it’s the most efficient, but sometimes we have to go out to a location. You may say, for example, “Well, I ate at this particular restaurant, and I don’t really know how close all the tables are.” And then we can go out to that restaurant and take a look at how close the tables are, and if droplets could have passed from you to the table next to you.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If the answer’s yes, then we have to go to the manager to try to identify who sat at that table that night. So there is some fieldwork that has to happen, depending on the nature of your actions in the community while you were sick.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>So counties inundated with cases are not able to be as aggressive?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Solano County we’re well beyond that; we are in a place where we couldn’t possibly keep track of all the people that could have had exposures or where they would have been exposed, because there’s just far too many people to track. We had a case of community-acquired coronavirus disease just a week ago who exposed people in two hospitals, as well as in their family and the community. And cumulatively we’ve had to follow up with over 400 people based on that one person.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Following that many people is pretty overwhelming. We focused our attention most on the hospitals, because those are critical infrastructures, and we identified multiple positive health care workers. we had to repeat this entire process for them. These circles expand very rapidly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The last couple of weeks have been all about realizing just how large this process can potentially become, and therefore moving into a mode of mitigation rather than containment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I think the most important lesson we’ve learned is that after the initial epidemiology allows us to understand how a disease spreads and who is at greatest risk, we can move from this sort of fear-driven, ‘Look at everybody the same way,’ approach, to a much more achievable, ‘Let’s figure out who’s at highest risk and protect them, and let’s protect our critical infrastructures.'”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Is what you’re doing now typical for an epidemiologist, or is it unique because of this new coronavirus?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The only thing that’s different is the scale and the pace. When you’ve got an emerging outbreak you have to move quicker, and you have to go after everybody that’s reasonable to try to identify. And so it often requires surging up personnel to do that. The outbreaks we would typically face are just much smaller in scale, so they permit us to be able to take this same type of approach, but with the staff we have. So it’s the scale and the urgency that makes it different.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "The circles of potential exposures to the coronavirus can expand rapidly. In Solano County, the health department has had to follow up with over 400 people based on a single infection, says the county's health officer.\r\n\r\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>As outbreaks of the new coronavirus dominate the headlines, an army of disease researchers and public health officials have mobilized to track down infections and limit the extent of the spread. To talk about the work of these disease detectives, KQED’s Brian Watt spoke with \u003cstrong>Solano County Health Officer Dr. Bela Matyas\u003c/strong>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Matyas’ answers have been edited for length and clarity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What happens if I feel sick and call the public health department?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s going to depend on what county you’re in. Counties that have not yet had a positive case, for example, can approach things in a much more aggressive manner than counties that are inundated with cases.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1957877/live-updates-coronavirus-in-the-san-francisco-bay-area\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Live Coronavirus Updates\u003c/a>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>In counties without many cases, you would be asked a series of questions about what might have been the reason you’re sick. We would want to know what your symptoms are and see if they are consistent with COVID-19. We would want to know if you’ve had exposure to places where the disease is spreading rapidly or to people who are known cases. If the answer is yes, then we would take one path. If the answers to all of that is no, we would take a different one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What is the yes path?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you are in a county that has access to lots of testing ability, then we would want to test you. We would bring you in under safe circumstances to a place where we could take appropriate specimens. While we wait to get the results back, we would ask you to isolate yourself, essentially removing yourself from contact with everybody.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We would give you basic advice on how to take care of yourself, stay away from work or school, and stay safe at home until your symptoms go away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>How do epidemiologists actually track down people who might have been exposed?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We want to try to find out where you got it and who you might’ve given it to. In the case of COVID-19, we know that the time from when you’re exposed to when you get sick is potentially 2 to 14 days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We need to search with you for your history of exposures that occurred in that two-week time period. If you’re symptomatic, we believe that you can spread the disease while you have symptoms, so we need to find out everywhere you’ve been and everyone you’ve been in contact with during the time you’ve been having symptoms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Does this happen over the phone or do you show up at people’s door?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the most typical situation, it’s a phone call. We make the assumption that you are the best judge of who you have had interactions with. We always ask about your close contacts, your family members, your co-workers, anybody you carpool with, your closer friends, people that you socialize with. And we create a list.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s typically the case that you can tell me pretty accurately who the close contacts are. That next level of contacts is a little tougher. You might say, “You know, I was at a party at this location, or I went to this wedding, or I went to this reception,” and you won’t necessarily know who everyone was that was there. But we get as much detail from you as possible about who you could have exposed to your respiratory droplets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For example, if you go to a wedding, we’ll try to find out what table you sat at. How did you interact with the people at that table? Do you remember who you danced with? We would then have to go back to that event organizer to get the list of people you may have had that contact with.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Typically we try to accomplish as much interviewing as we can by telephone because it’s the most efficient, but sometimes we have to go out to a location. You may say, for example, “Well, I ate at this particular restaurant, and I don’t really know how close all the tables are.” And then we can go out to that restaurant and take a look at how close the tables are, and if droplets could have passed from you to the table next to you.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If the answer’s yes, then we have to go to the manager to try to identify who sat at that table that night. So there is some fieldwork that has to happen, depending on the nature of your actions in the community while you were sick.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>So counties inundated with cases are not able to be as aggressive?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Solano County we’re well beyond that; we are in a place where we couldn’t possibly keep track of all the people that could have had exposures or where they would have been exposed, because there’s just far too many people to track. We had a case of community-acquired coronavirus disease just a week ago who exposed people in two hospitals, as well as in their family and the community. And cumulatively we’ve had to follow up with over 400 people based on that one person.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Following that many people is pretty overwhelming. We focused our attention most on the hospitals, because those are critical infrastructures, and we identified multiple positive health care workers. we had to repeat this entire process for them. These circles expand very rapidly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The last couple of weeks have been all about realizing just how large this process can potentially become, and therefore moving into a mode of mitigation rather than containment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I think the most important lesson we’ve learned is that after the initial epidemiology allows us to understand how a disease spreads and who is at greatest risk, we can move from this sort of fear-driven, ‘Look at everybody the same way,’ approach, to a much more achievable, ‘Let’s figure out who’s at highest risk and protect them, and let’s protect our critical infrastructures.'”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Is what you’re doing now typical for an epidemiologist, or is it unique because of this new coronavirus?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>[dl_subscribe]Rulon Clark had a problem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He had studied rattlesnakes for years, but he wanted to learn more about the kangaroo rat, a diminutive animal that venomous snakes try to eat in deserts of the American West.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Clark, an associate professor of biology at San Diego State University, and his team set up cameras to attempt to film interactions between predator and prey in the deserts of Southern California and Arizona, they came up empty.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Whenever they were lucky enough to actually record a rattlesnake attacking the rats, the footage only captured a blur.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You can’t really tell what’s going on,” said Malachi Whitford, a doctoral student working with Clark at San Diego State. “We couldn’t even tell that the kangaroo rat got bit, or if it did get bit, what happens. It’s usually about 200 milliseconds. This is about the same speed that you blink an eye.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Clark, Whitford and the other researchers persisted, using high-speed cameras to capture the video at a much higher quality. To their surprise, they discovered the humble kangaroo rats are actually like tiny ninjas, able to execute jaw-dropping feats of agility and defensive maneuvers — leaping as high as nine feet in the air in a split second to evade snake attacks in pitch darkness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They have this incredible athleticism — this combination of speed, power, agility and jumping,” Clark said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1957338\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1957338 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/02/DL704_k-rat_escape1.gif\" alt=\"Kangaroo rat escapes!\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Merriam’s kangaroo rat (Dipodomys merriami) survives an ambush by a Mojave rattlesnake (Crotalus scutulatus), with an incredibly fast reaction time. \u003ccite>(ninjarat.org)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As the team painstakingly gathered more examples of extreme slow-motion video of rattlesnakes ambushing kangaroo rats, the scientists discovered an astonishing array of acrobatic skills that these fuzzy seed-foragers use to survive. The slow-motion nighttime videos revealed a range of behaviors that weren’t previously observed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even more fascinating, Clark said, was that the rats often got away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the 32 interactions filmed by the researchers, they found that half of the time the snakes did manage to actually bite a kangaroo rat, but the rodent was able to kick the snake, or roll its body away in time, so that the snake was not able to inject its venom, and the rat usually survived.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Prior to seeing this slowed way down,” Clark said, “we kind of just thought, well, once the fangs are in, it squeezes the glands, venom’s in, and the whole thing’s done. But it turns out there’s this whole kind of second high-speed battle that happens.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The team published some of its findings last year in Functional Ecology, a scientific journal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To capture the intense high-speed battles in extreme slow-motion took a lot of trial and error, and highly specialized equipment. Clark, Whitford, and San Diego State University graduate student Grace Freymiller worked with Tim Higham, an associate professor of biology at UC Riverside who specializes in scientific imaging techniques, to set up high-speed cameras with infrared sensors, enabling them to essentially see in the dark.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Using a special tracking method developed to study rattlesnake ecology (implanting tiny transmitters in the snakes), the team could locate the sidewinder and Mojave rattlesnakes as they made their nighttime feeding rounds. Once they found the snakes, often curled up, lying in wait to ambush unsuspecting passersby, the scientists delicately went about setting up their infrared floodlights and remote camera setups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They used infrared light because it didn’t bother the kangaroo rats or the snakes, so the cameras they were using had sensors that were specifically tuned to record infrared images. Whenever they used their normal headlamps, it would spook the kangaroo rats.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The team hiked the cameras and infrared lights, along with the heavy 12-volt car batteries that power them, into far corners of the deserts near Mojave, California and Yuma, Arizona. Once set up, they waited — often for hours without luck. But when they were lucky enough to film a snake attempting to ambush a kangaroo rat, the results were frequently fascinating.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1957342\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1957342 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/02/DL704_kangaroo_rat_tail.gif\" alt=\"Kangaroo rat grooming its tail.\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Merriam’s kangaroo rat grooming its lengthy tail. They use their powerful tails to maintain their balance during their acrobatic leaps away from predators. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The two species the researchers recorded are the desert kangaroo rat and Merriam’s kangaroo rat, both of which are commonly found in the deserts of southern California and Arizona. Most of the snakes in the study were the sidewinder rattlesnake, but the team also recorded strikes by the Mojave rattlesnake.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kangaroo rats are considered by ecologists to be critical for dispersing seeds and aerating the desert soil with their extensive networks of burrows, spending most of their outdoor time foraging.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They pull, husk and stuff the seeds into their fur-lined cheek pouches with their tiny hands, which are tucked below their chin. The seeds provide their primary sources of food and water in the harsh deserts, and they consume so little liquid that they rarely ever pee.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As they forage, kangaroo rats need to continually scan the surrounding sandy environment for any predators — foxes, owls, and snakes — that could be anywhere. Once a well-camouflaged sidewinder rattlesnake strikes, aiming its venomous fangs at the furry seed-harvester, the kangaroo rat springs up, and away from the snake’s deadly bite, kicking its powerful hind legs at the snake’s face, and using its long tail to twist itself in mid-air, away from the snake to safety.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s not only the kangaroo rat’s ability to jump high and perform incredible acrobatics that protects it from snakes. It’s the ability to jump high at just the right moment. Biologists believe that this skill most likely comes from its keen hearing, which is 90 times more sensitive than human ears, allowing the rats to react in as little as 50 milliseconds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kangaroo rats have evolved so that the bone structure around their ears, called the tympanic bullae, act as natural amplifiers for the smallest of sounds, kind of like built-in radar dish receivers on either side of their tiny skulls.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Overall, their ear structure-to-body ratio is far higher than most other animals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1957343\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1957343 size-large\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/02/DL704_kangaroo_rat_ear1-1020x574.jpg\" alt=\"Kangaroo rat hearing is ninety times more sensitive than human hearing.\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/02/DL704_kangaroo_rat_ear1-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/02/DL704_kangaroo_rat_ear1-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/02/DL704_kangaroo_rat_ear1-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/02/DL704_kangaroo_rat_ear1-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/02/DL704_kangaroo_rat_ear1.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kangaroo rat hearing is ninety times more sensitive than human hearing. Scientists think that they can hear the slightest low frequency sounds, like the flutter of an owl wing, or the air disturbed by a lunging snake. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Relative to the size of their head they blow all the other animals out of the water,” said biologist Clint Collins at Sacramento State University.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to their finely-tuned ears, the desert kangaroo rats’ highly-evolved musculature generates lots of force very quickly, resulting in jumps almost ten times their body height. It’s not the highest jump in nature, but it’s fast enough to avoid the lunging jaws of the rattlesnake.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They seem to be kind of little balls of fast-twitch muscle fibers,” Clark said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The rats have evolved as specialists in power over endurance in their legs, similar to the difference between the muscles in a human weight-lifter and the legs of a long-distance runner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kangaroo rats have a thick tendon, surrounded by large muscles, which translates directly to more power and a faster reaction time. With its powerful hind limbs, the kangaroo rat is also able to deliver a strong kick to the jaw of the rattlesnake, sending the rattlesnake crashing to the ground, before landing away from the snake — all in fractions of a second.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The behaviors that had initially piqued Clark’s curiosity turned out to be only part of a wide range of highly evolved and effective anti-predator behaviors aimed specifically at rattlesnakes. In his earlier research Clark found that once a kangaroo rat avoids a snake strike, it appears to hang around to almost tease the foiled predator.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It will come back and kind of harass the snake,” he said. “It’ll foot drum, and sand kick, and bound around. I think they have all these harassment displays as a means to kind of drive the snake out of their territory, and get the snake to move on.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1957339\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1957339 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/02/DL704_k-rat_escape2.gif\" alt=\"The super quick reaction time of the kangaroo rat.\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A desert kangaroo rat (Dipodomys deserti) narrowly avoids being eaten by a Sonoran sidewinder rattlesnake (Crotalus cerastes). \u003ccite>(ninjarat.org)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>These behaviors also help alert other members of their species of the presence of a predator, he added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even though kangaroo rats have developed such impressive defenses against rattlesnakes, they occasionally lose the battle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of the 32 strikes the team recorded, the rats were bitten 15 times, and of those, they were eaten by the snake seven times.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although it’s easy to paint the rattlesnakes as a kind of villain, all of Clark’s years studying wild rattlesnake predatory behavior gives him a special snake’s eye view on things, and he wants people to keep things in perspective.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re not out to get you,” he said. “This is a predator that kills and consumes other animals. That’s how it makes its living.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Reporting contributed by Jazmine Mejia-Muñoz, KQED Science Fuhs Fellow, Summer 2019.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[ad fullwidth]\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Rulon Clark had a problem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He had studied rattlesnakes for years, but he wanted to learn more about the kangaroo rat, a diminutive animal that venomous snakes try to eat in deserts of the American West.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Clark, an associate professor of biology at San Diego State University, and his team set up cameras to attempt to film interactions between predator and prey in the deserts of Southern California and Arizona, they came up empty.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Whenever they were lucky enough to actually record a rattlesnake attacking the rats, the footage only captured a blur.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You can’t really tell what’s going on,” said Malachi Whitford, a doctoral student working with Clark at San Diego State. “We couldn’t even tell that the kangaroo rat got bit, or if it did get bit, what happens. It’s usually about 200 milliseconds. This is about the same speed that you blink an eye.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Clark, Whitford and the other researchers persisted, using high-speed cameras to capture the video at a much higher quality. To their surprise, they discovered the humble kangaroo rats are actually like tiny ninjas, able to execute jaw-dropping feats of agility and defensive maneuvers — leaping as high as nine feet in the air in a split second to evade snake attacks in pitch darkness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They have this incredible athleticism — this combination of speed, power, agility and jumping,” Clark said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1957338\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1957338 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/02/DL704_k-rat_escape1.gif\" alt=\"Kangaroo rat escapes!\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Merriam’s kangaroo rat (Dipodomys merriami) survives an ambush by a Mojave rattlesnake (Crotalus scutulatus), with an incredibly fast reaction time. \u003ccite>(ninjarat.org)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As the team painstakingly gathered more examples of extreme slow-motion video of rattlesnakes ambushing kangaroo rats, the scientists discovered an astonishing array of acrobatic skills that these fuzzy seed-foragers use to survive. The slow-motion nighttime videos revealed a range of behaviors that weren’t previously observed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even more fascinating, Clark said, was that the rats often got away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the 32 interactions filmed by the researchers, they found that half of the time the snakes did manage to actually bite a kangaroo rat, but the rodent was able to kick the snake, or roll its body away in time, so that the snake was not able to inject its venom, and the rat usually survived.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Prior to seeing this slowed way down,” Clark said, “we kind of just thought, well, once the fangs are in, it squeezes the glands, venom’s in, and the whole thing’s done. But it turns out there’s this whole kind of second high-speed battle that happens.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The team published some of its findings last year in Functional Ecology, a scientific journal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To capture the intense high-speed battles in extreme slow-motion took a lot of trial and error, and highly specialized equipment. Clark, Whitford, and San Diego State University graduate student Grace Freymiller worked with Tim Higham, an associate professor of biology at UC Riverside who specializes in scientific imaging techniques, to set up high-speed cameras with infrared sensors, enabling them to essentially see in the dark.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Using a special tracking method developed to study rattlesnake ecology (implanting tiny transmitters in the snakes), the team could locate the sidewinder and Mojave rattlesnakes as they made their nighttime feeding rounds. Once they found the snakes, often curled up, lying in wait to ambush unsuspecting passersby, the scientists delicately went about setting up their infrared floodlights and remote camera setups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They used infrared light because it didn’t bother the kangaroo rats or the snakes, so the cameras they were using had sensors that were specifically tuned to record infrared images. Whenever they used their normal headlamps, it would spook the kangaroo rats.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The team hiked the cameras and infrared lights, along with the heavy 12-volt car batteries that power them, into far corners of the deserts near Mojave, California and Yuma, Arizona. Once set up, they waited — often for hours without luck. But when they were lucky enough to film a snake attempting to ambush a kangaroo rat, the results were frequently fascinating.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1957342\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1957342 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/02/DL704_kangaroo_rat_tail.gif\" alt=\"Kangaroo rat grooming its tail.\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Merriam’s kangaroo rat grooming its lengthy tail. They use their powerful tails to maintain their balance during their acrobatic leaps away from predators. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The two species the researchers recorded are the desert kangaroo rat and Merriam’s kangaroo rat, both of which are commonly found in the deserts of southern California and Arizona. Most of the snakes in the study were the sidewinder rattlesnake, but the team also recorded strikes by the Mojave rattlesnake.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kangaroo rats are considered by ecologists to be critical for dispersing seeds and aerating the desert soil with their extensive networks of burrows, spending most of their outdoor time foraging.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They pull, husk and stuff the seeds into their fur-lined cheek pouches with their tiny hands, which are tucked below their chin. The seeds provide their primary sources of food and water in the harsh deserts, and they consume so little liquid that they rarely ever pee.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As they forage, kangaroo rats need to continually scan the surrounding sandy environment for any predators — foxes, owls, and snakes — that could be anywhere. Once a well-camouflaged sidewinder rattlesnake strikes, aiming its venomous fangs at the furry seed-harvester, the kangaroo rat springs up, and away from the snake’s deadly bite, kicking its powerful hind legs at the snake’s face, and using its long tail to twist itself in mid-air, away from the snake to safety.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s not only the kangaroo rat’s ability to jump high and perform incredible acrobatics that protects it from snakes. It’s the ability to jump high at just the right moment. Biologists believe that this skill most likely comes from its keen hearing, which is 90 times more sensitive than human ears, allowing the rats to react in as little as 50 milliseconds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kangaroo rats have evolved so that the bone structure around their ears, called the tympanic bullae, act as natural amplifiers for the smallest of sounds, kind of like built-in radar dish receivers on either side of their tiny skulls.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Overall, their ear structure-to-body ratio is far higher than most other animals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1957343\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1957343 size-large\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/02/DL704_kangaroo_rat_ear1-1020x574.jpg\" alt=\"Kangaroo rat hearing is ninety times more sensitive than human hearing.\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/02/DL704_kangaroo_rat_ear1-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/02/DL704_kangaroo_rat_ear1-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/02/DL704_kangaroo_rat_ear1-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/02/DL704_kangaroo_rat_ear1-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/02/DL704_kangaroo_rat_ear1.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kangaroo rat hearing is ninety times more sensitive than human hearing. Scientists think that they can hear the slightest low frequency sounds, like the flutter of an owl wing, or the air disturbed by a lunging snake. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Relative to the size of their head they blow all the other animals out of the water,” said biologist Clint Collins at Sacramento State University.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to their finely-tuned ears, the desert kangaroo rats’ highly-evolved musculature generates lots of force very quickly, resulting in jumps almost ten times their body height. It’s not the highest jump in nature, but it’s fast enough to avoid the lunging jaws of the rattlesnake.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They seem to be kind of little balls of fast-twitch muscle fibers,” Clark said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The rats have evolved as specialists in power over endurance in their legs, similar to the difference between the muscles in a human weight-lifter and the legs of a long-distance runner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kangaroo rats have a thick tendon, surrounded by large muscles, which translates directly to more power and a faster reaction time. With its powerful hind limbs, the kangaroo rat is also able to deliver a strong kick to the jaw of the rattlesnake, sending the rattlesnake crashing to the ground, before landing away from the snake — all in fractions of a second.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The behaviors that had initially piqued Clark’s curiosity turned out to be only part of a wide range of highly evolved and effective anti-predator behaviors aimed specifically at rattlesnakes. In his earlier research Clark found that once a kangaroo rat avoids a snake strike, it appears to hang around to almost tease the foiled predator.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It will come back and kind of harass the snake,” he said. “It’ll foot drum, and sand kick, and bound around. I think they have all these harassment displays as a means to kind of drive the snake out of their territory, and get the snake to move on.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1957339\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1957339 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/02/DL704_k-rat_escape2.gif\" alt=\"The super quick reaction time of the kangaroo rat.\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A desert kangaroo rat (Dipodomys deserti) narrowly avoids being eaten by a Sonoran sidewinder rattlesnake (Crotalus cerastes). \u003ccite>(ninjarat.org)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>These behaviors also help alert other members of their species of the presence of a predator, he added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even though kangaroo rats have developed such impressive defenses against rattlesnakes, they occasionally lose the battle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of the 32 strikes the team recorded, the rats were bitten 15 times, and of those, they were eaten by the snake seven times.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although it’s easy to paint the rattlesnakes as a kind of villain, all of Clark’s years studying wild rattlesnake predatory behavior gives him a special snake’s eye view on things, and he wants people to keep things in perspective.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re not out to get you,” he said. “This is a predator that kills and consumes other animals. That’s how it makes its living.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Reporting contributed by Jazmine Mejia-Muñoz, KQED Science Fuhs Fellow, Summer 2019.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>You may think it’s quiet in the ocean, but a tiny creature is raising quite a ruckus as ocean temperatures rise. New research presented at this year’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.agu.org/Ocean-Sciences-Meeting/\">Ocean Sciences Meeting\u003c/a> in San Diego says the oceans may be getting louder.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And that’s because of shrimp.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The ocean’s acoustic environment has been drawing a lot of attention as scientists learn that many of its inhabitants use sound to communicate. Whale songs and dolphin squeals have captivated audiences of nature documentaries and animated films, but fish and invertebrates also signal one another with sound in the ocean waters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Snapping shrimp — over 300 species of them — live in coastal oceans all around the world. These shrimp may be some of the smallest critters in coral reefs, and they’re also some of the loudest. Generally less than an inch long, these tiny crustaceans snap their claws fast to create air bubbles that implode with a \u003cem>pop\u003c/em>! With these sounds, snapping shrimp communicate with each other and defend their territory. The combined snaps from shrimp colonies create a cacophony that divers and submarine crews can easily hear. You can hear the sound, which is reminiscent of spattering rain or fying bacon, by \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/02/snapping-shrimp-noises-online-audio-converter.com_.mp3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">clicking here\u003c/a> or on the audio link at the top of the article.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Pumping Up the Volume in Warmer Water\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Massachusetts, marine biologists Aran Mooney and Ashlee Lillis have studied snapping shrimp on coral reefs in the Atlantic Ocean and in the lab. They’ve \u003ca href=\"http://(https://agu.confex.com/agu/osm20/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/651501\">examined\u003c/a> how shrimp, individually and in groups, change their tune at different temperatures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We found, both in terms of observing the coral reefs and with animals in the lab, that if you increase temperature in the water, these snapping shrimp have increased their snap rates and the oceans actually get louder,” Mooney said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s likely because these animals become more active in warmer water. The heat likely increases their need to communicate with each other.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mooney’s experiments showed that changing the temperature from 70 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit nearly doubled the snap rate. As the temperature increased by one degree Celsius, the noise level rose by 1-2 decibels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That pumps up the volume for other marine animals, said Annebelle Kok, a marine ecologist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego. “I was very impressed by this work,” she said, noting the originality and creativity of the researchers’ approach to studying warming oceans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As ocean temperatures continue to rise, Mooney said, the shrimp symphony could cause problems for other communications under the sea. “We know that fish hear, but we really don’t understand that for most species of fish, especially really important commercial species of fish,” he said. “And so increasing this level of noise … we really don’t understand how that would impact these fish.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other species also rely on underwater sound to gather information, as do commercial fishermen and the U.S. Navy, which use sonar equipment that the constant background noise from chattering shrimp could interrupt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Noisier oceans could also cause problems for marine biologists. “If this really is a wider pattern and the oceans continue to warm,” Kok said, “then that might mean that it will be more difficult for people to extract other sounds from the soundscape, such as dolphin sounds.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s too early to say if this applies to other parts of the ocean,” Kok said. She’s looking forward to reviewing further research.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>You may think it’s quiet in the ocean, but a tiny creature is raising quite a ruckus as ocean temperatures rise. New research presented at this year’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.agu.org/Ocean-Sciences-Meeting/\">Ocean Sciences Meeting\u003c/a> in San Diego says the oceans may be getting louder.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And that’s because of shrimp.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The ocean’s acoustic environment has been drawing a lot of attention as scientists learn that many of its inhabitants use sound to communicate. Whale songs and dolphin squeals have captivated audiences of nature documentaries and animated films, but fish and invertebrates also signal one another with sound in the ocean waters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Snapping shrimp — over 300 species of them — live in coastal oceans all around the world. These shrimp may be some of the smallest critters in coral reefs, and they’re also some of the loudest. Generally less than an inch long, these tiny crustaceans snap their claws fast to create air bubbles that implode with a \u003cem>pop\u003c/em>! With these sounds, snapping shrimp communicate with each other and defend their territory. The combined snaps from shrimp colonies create a cacophony that divers and submarine crews can easily hear. You can hear the sound, which is reminiscent of spattering rain or fying bacon, by \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/02/snapping-shrimp-noises-online-audio-converter.com_.mp3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">clicking here\u003c/a> or on the audio link at the top of the article.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Pumping Up the Volume in Warmer Water\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Massachusetts, marine biologists Aran Mooney and Ashlee Lillis have studied snapping shrimp on coral reefs in the Atlantic Ocean and in the lab. They’ve \u003ca href=\"http://(https://agu.confex.com/agu/osm20/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/651501\">examined\u003c/a> how shrimp, individually and in groups, change their tune at different temperatures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We found, both in terms of observing the coral reefs and with animals in the lab, that if you increase temperature in the water, these snapping shrimp have increased their snap rates and the oceans actually get louder,” Mooney said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s likely because these animals become more active in warmer water. The heat likely increases their need to communicate with each other.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mooney’s experiments showed that changing the temperature from 70 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit nearly doubled the snap rate. As the temperature increased by one degree Celsius, the noise level rose by 1-2 decibels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That pumps up the volume for other marine animals, said Annebelle Kok, a marine ecologist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego. “I was very impressed by this work,” she said, noting the originality and creativity of the researchers’ approach to studying warming oceans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As ocean temperatures continue to rise, Mooney said, the shrimp symphony could cause problems for other communications under the sea. “We know that fish hear, but we really don’t understand that for most species of fish, especially really important commercial species of fish,” he said. “And so increasing this level of noise … we really don’t understand how that would impact these fish.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other species also rely on underwater sound to gather information, as do commercial fishermen and the U.S. Navy, which use sonar equipment that the constant background noise from chattering shrimp could interrupt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Noisier oceans could also cause problems for marine biologists. “If this really is a wider pattern and the oceans continue to warm,” Kok said, “then that might mean that it will be more difficult for people to extract other sounds from the soundscape, such as dolphin sounds.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s too early to say if this applies to other parts of the ocean,” Kok said. She’s looking forward to reviewing further research.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1956941\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1956941\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/02/IMG_6156-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/02/IMG_6156-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/02/IMG_6156-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/02/IMG_6156-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/02/IMG_6156-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/02/IMG_6156-1920x1440.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/02/IMG_6156.jpg 2016w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dr. Melanie Ott, senior investigator with the Gladstone Institutes, speaks at a panel on the 2019 novel coronavirus on Feb. 6, 2020. \u003ccite>(Peter Arcuni/KQED Science)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Virus experts from the University of California, San Francisco and the Gladstone Institutes research organization gathered recently to update the public about the risks associated with the \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/summary.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003ci>2019 novel coronavirus\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> that first surfaced in Wuhan City, China and has infected tens of thousands of people worldwide.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>The panel discussion, called “Understanding the Wuhan Coronavirus,” was held Thursday, Feb. 6 at Gladstone’s San Francisco headquarters. Here are some the COVID-19 basics the panelists addressed at the event.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Part of a Large Family of Viruses\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the term “coronavirus” may be new to people in the United States, this strain belongs to a large family of viruses that include the common cold and more serious diseases like \u003ca href=\"https://www.who.int/emergencies/mers-cov/en/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS)\u003c/a> and\u003ca href=\"https://www.who.int/csr/sars/en/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dr. Warner Greene, director of Gladstone’s Center for HIV Cure Research, said, “10 to 30 percent of colds are caused by one form or another of a coronavirus\u003ci>.\u003c/i>”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said the preliminary research shows that this virus may spread more easily among humans than SARS or MERS, but it appears to be less lethal. Researchers estimate the mortality rate of COVID-19 at about 2 percent, compared with about 9 percent for SARS and more than 30 percent for MERS.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Greene added that it’s still too early to know this for sure because the data are “rapidly evolving.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>“\u003c/i>My message,” he said, “is that this is an outbreak. It’s not an epidemic.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He and other panelists said \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/viruses/index.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">influenza\u003c/a> poses a greater threat to public health compared to this novel coronavirus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In general, around 35,000 people die every year of the seasonal flu,” Greene said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So far this flu season, the federal \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/burden/preliminary-in-season-estimates.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates\u003c/a> that more than 20 million people in the United States have contracted influenza, and more than 10,000 have died.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Only 15 people in the U.S. have so far tested positive for COVID-19.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Tracking the Virus\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Researchers have traced COVID-19, and viruses like it, to bats. Animal-to-human transmission, however, typically occurs through a secondary host. Scientists have traced the MERS outbreak to palm civets (a cat-like mammal), and SARS to camels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Greene said public health experts don’t yet know the secondary host for this strain of coronavirus, but they believe the outbreak began at a seafood market.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dr. Charles Chiu, director of the UCSF-Abbott Viral Diagnostics and Discovery Center, said the initial animal-to-human transmission likely occurred in late November or early December of 2019.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Since then, there’s been no evidence of ongoing animal-to-human transmission events. All of the outbreak has essentially been sustained by human to human transmission,” Chiu said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Panelists said a shortage of samples has limited their research. Chiu said scientists do have access to at least 60 genome sequences of the strain from different patients. From these sequences, scientists have discovered only seven mutations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The virus, in general, is not regarded as a very fast mutating virus. This is unlike other viruses that we have that can adapt very fast,” said Dr. Melanie Ott, a senior investigator with the Gladstone Institutes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That may be a boon to researchers working on vaccines and treatments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Containing the Outbreak\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At present there is no cure or vaccine specific to COVID-19.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ott said at least three companies have publicly announced the development of a vaccine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Interest in making a vaccine is very high currently,” she said, “… either with a DNA and RNA, or with a nanoparticle vaccine.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ott added that physicians are in the process of testing antiviral drugs for the flu, HIV, MERS and ebola in patients with COVID-19.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Researchers with the National Institutes of Health’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/nih-officials-discuss-novel-coronavirus-recently-emerged-china\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases\u003c/a> say vaccine candidates could be available for human testing in about three months. But it will likely take about a year to complete validation and safety evaluations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Greene said public health measures hold the key to containing the outbreak.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“SARS was not controlled by medicines or a vaccine. It was controlled by public health interventions, tracking infections, limiting contact of infected individuals with others. And certainly in the absence of appropriate vaccines and and highly active drugs, that’s exactly what will be undertaken here,” Greene said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He added that a strain on resources is the big challenge for health officials in China.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We now see or are hearing reports that in Wuhan that there are sick individuals who are wandering from hospital to hospital trying to get care. They’re running out of supplies. The medical system is completely stressed,” Greene said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But unlike the the more pervasive flu, he said, this novel coronavirus doesn’t have “the same type of seasonality,” meaning, once contained, it likely won’t resurface each year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Masks Not Generally Recommended\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The CDC doesn’t recommend masks for most people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Medical personnel in close contact caring for patients with chronic viruses should take all precautions. But in terms of day-to-day interactions, hand-washing is far more effective,” Greene said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The CDC does recommend masks for patients with the virus, people in their households and hospital staff treating them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>“\u003c/i>The final message I think we want,” Greene said, “is we should be watchful…we should follow this outbreak, but we should be secure in the fact that the apocalypse is not upon us. This is a viral outbreak that is running its course now.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1956941\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1956941\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/02/IMG_6156-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/02/IMG_6156-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/02/IMG_6156-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/02/IMG_6156-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/02/IMG_6156-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/02/IMG_6156-1920x1440.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/02/IMG_6156.jpg 2016w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dr. Melanie Ott, senior investigator with the Gladstone Institutes, speaks at a panel on the 2019 novel coronavirus on Feb. 6, 2020. \u003ccite>(Peter Arcuni/KQED Science)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Virus experts from the University of California, San Francisco and the Gladstone Institutes research organization gathered recently to update the public about the risks associated with the \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/summary.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003ci>2019 novel coronavirus\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> that first surfaced in Wuhan City, China and has infected tens of thousands of people worldwide.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>The panel discussion, called “Understanding the Wuhan Coronavirus,” was held Thursday, Feb. 6 at Gladstone’s San Francisco headquarters. Here are some the COVID-19 basics the panelists addressed at the event.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Part of a Large Family of Viruses\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the term “coronavirus” may be new to people in the United States, this strain belongs to a large family of viruses that include the common cold and more serious diseases like \u003ca href=\"https://www.who.int/emergencies/mers-cov/en/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS)\u003c/a> and\u003ca href=\"https://www.who.int/csr/sars/en/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dr. Warner Greene, director of Gladstone’s Center for HIV Cure Research, said, “10 to 30 percent of colds are caused by one form or another of a coronavirus\u003ci>.\u003c/i>”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said the preliminary research shows that this virus may spread more easily among humans than SARS or MERS, but it appears to be less lethal. Researchers estimate the mortality rate of COVID-19 at about 2 percent, compared with about 9 percent for SARS and more than 30 percent for MERS.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Greene added that it’s still too early to know this for sure because the data are “rapidly evolving.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>“\u003c/i>My message,” he said, “is that this is an outbreak. It’s not an epidemic.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He and other panelists said \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/viruses/index.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">influenza\u003c/a> poses a greater threat to public health compared to this novel coronavirus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In general, around 35,000 people die every year of the seasonal flu,” Greene said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So far this flu season, the federal \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/burden/preliminary-in-season-estimates.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates\u003c/a> that more than 20 million people in the United States have contracted influenza, and more than 10,000 have died.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Only 15 people in the U.S. have so far tested positive for COVID-19.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Tracking the Virus\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Researchers have traced COVID-19, and viruses like it, to bats. Animal-to-human transmission, however, typically occurs through a secondary host. Scientists have traced the MERS outbreak to palm civets (a cat-like mammal), and SARS to camels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Greene said public health experts don’t yet know the secondary host for this strain of coronavirus, but they believe the outbreak began at a seafood market.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dr. Charles Chiu, director of the UCSF-Abbott Viral Diagnostics and Discovery Center, said the initial animal-to-human transmission likely occurred in late November or early December of 2019.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Since then, there’s been no evidence of ongoing animal-to-human transmission events. All of the outbreak has essentially been sustained by human to human transmission,” Chiu said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Panelists said a shortage of samples has limited their research. Chiu said scientists do have access to at least 60 genome sequences of the strain from different patients. From these sequences, scientists have discovered only seven mutations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The virus, in general, is not regarded as a very fast mutating virus. This is unlike other viruses that we have that can adapt very fast,” said Dr. Melanie Ott, a senior investigator with the Gladstone Institutes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That may be a boon to researchers working on vaccines and treatments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Containing the Outbreak\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At present there is no cure or vaccine specific to COVID-19.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ott said at least three companies have publicly announced the development of a vaccine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Interest in making a vaccine is very high currently,” she said, “… either with a DNA and RNA, or with a nanoparticle vaccine.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ott added that physicians are in the process of testing antiviral drugs for the flu, HIV, MERS and ebola in patients with COVID-19.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Researchers with the National Institutes of Health’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/nih-officials-discuss-novel-coronavirus-recently-emerged-china\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases\u003c/a> say vaccine candidates could be available for human testing in about three months. But it will likely take about a year to complete validation and safety evaluations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Greene said public health measures hold the key to containing the outbreak.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“SARS was not controlled by medicines or a vaccine. It was controlled by public health interventions, tracking infections, limiting contact of infected individuals with others. And certainly in the absence of appropriate vaccines and and highly active drugs, that’s exactly what will be undertaken here,” Greene said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He added that a strain on resources is the big challenge for health officials in China.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We now see or are hearing reports that in Wuhan that there are sick individuals who are wandering from hospital to hospital trying to get care. They’re running out of supplies. The medical system is completely stressed,” Greene said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But unlike the the more pervasive flu, he said, this novel coronavirus doesn’t have “the same type of seasonality,” meaning, once contained, it likely won’t resurface each year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Masks Not Generally Recommended\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The CDC doesn’t recommend masks for most people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Medical personnel in close contact caring for patients with chronic viruses should take all precautions. But in terms of day-to-day interactions, hand-washing is far more effective,” Greene said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The CDC does recommend masks for patients with the virus, people in their households and hospital staff treating them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>“\u003c/i>The final message I think we want,” Greene said, “is we should be watchful…we should follow this outbreak, but we should be secure in the fact that the apocalypse is not upon us. This is a viral outbreak that is running its course now.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>[dl_subscribe]As the weather starts to warm and cold days give way to balmier, sunny days, one rite of spring returns every year, just like spring flowers: cockroaches.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1955645\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL703_cockroach_bark-1020x574.jpg\" alt=\"Madagascar hissing cockroach\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"size-large wp-image-1955645\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL703_cockroach_bark-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL703_cockroach_bark-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL703_cockroach_bark-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL703_cockroach_bark-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL703_cockroach_bark-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL703_cockroach_bark-1920x1080.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Madagascar hissing cockroach (Gromphadorhina portentosa) perches on the edge of a log. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Most people run to buy a can of bug spray or to call the exterminator when they see the scurrying little insects in their kitchens or outside their homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But not all roaches are pests. Some are pets – like the Madagascar hissing cockroach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They can be \u003ca href=\"https://www.eastbayvivarium.com/invert\">bought at pet stores\u003c/a> or online for $5 or less. They don’t bite and don’t carry diseases. They are also much larger than the run-of-the-mill roach, with adults averaging about 3 inches long. They live up to five years. They are slow-moving and mellow – kind of like an old tabby cat. But with antennae. And an appetite for fresh vegetables.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think it’s just a combination of size, cheapness, and they’re usually docile,” said Joshua Benoit, an \u003ca href=\"http://insectphysiology.uc.edu/\">assistant professor of biological sciences at the University of Cincinnati\u003c/a>. “They’re not aggressive, they don’t move fast. A combination of all those factors probably makes them pretty popular.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Native to the remote island off the Eastern coast of Africa, they’re famous for a cool sound. They hiss.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1955639\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL703_cockroaches_eat-1020x574.jpg\" alt=\"Madagascar hissing cockroaches\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"size-large wp-image-1955639\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL703_cockroaches_eat-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL703_cockroaches_eat-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL703_cockroaches_eat-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL703_cockroaches_eat-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL703_cockroaches_eat-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL703_cockroaches_eat-1920x1080.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A group of Madagascar hissing cockroaches (Gromphadorhina portentosa) eat leaves. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Most other insects, like crickets and some beetles, make noises by rubbing body parts together, known as stridulation. Insects breathe using internal air sacs and tubes that take oxygen to all over their bodies. On the outside of their bodies, they have openings called spiracles. If a hissing cockroach force air through these spiracles rapidly, then it makes that signature sound.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As far as hissing, I can’t think of any other kinds of insect that hisses. I think you have to be kind of large to do that, and maybe a small bug couldn’t do it,” said Steve Heydon, senior museum scientist at the \u003ca href=\"http://bohart.ucdavis.edu/\">Bohart Museum of Entomology at UC Davis\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The huge roaches are a big hit at the museum, especially with kids. It has dozens on hand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The males are territorial, so they’ll set up little territories,” Heydon said. “If another male comes along, then they’ll hiss and they’ll kind of ram into each other. Kind of like little deer fighting, you know?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then the males also court the females with another hiss. Kind of a softer, gentler hiss. And then there’s also an alarm hiss.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you pick them up, they’ll hiss like crazy,” Heydon said. “Just to do something unexpected in the hopes that they can get dropped and they’ll have another chance to get away.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Madagascar hissing cockroaches don’t pose a health risk because they’re cleaner than pest cockroaches, like the German or brown-banded variety.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1955637\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL703_cockroach_knife-1020x574.jpg\" alt=\"cockroach sits on spoon\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"size-large wp-image-1955637\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL703_cockroach_knife-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL703_cockroach_knife-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL703_cockroach_knife-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL703_cockroach_knife-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL703_cockroach_knife-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL703_cockroach_knife-1920x1080.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A brown-banded cockroach sits on a dirty spoon. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Nocturnal scavengers, the pest cockroaches rummage for food during the witching hours in your kitchen, bathrooms, trash and drains. They’re not that discriminating when it comes to what they eat. A \u003ca href=\"https://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/resources/vector288to301.pdf\">World Health Organization report\u003c/a> noted that they’ll feed on just about anything, in addition to human food: “their own cast-off skins, dead and crippled cockroaches, fresh and dried blood, excrement, sputum, and the fingernails and toenails of babies and sleeping or sick persons.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One reason their big exotic hissing cousins are cleaner? They’ve got special mites that live on them their entire lives. These tiny cleanup artists keep them tidier than other cockroaches.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Most people assume that they’re bad, because people assume you don’t want to get mites,” Benoit said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“But they’re actually symbiotic. They keep the surface of the cockroaches clean. They live about twice as long. And the mites are obligate, so they can’t live anywhere else, at least as far as we know, except on the surface of the cockroach.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1955641\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL703_cockroach_mites-1020x574.jpg\" alt=\"cockroach mites\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"size-large wp-image-1955641\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL703_cockroach_mites-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL703_cockroach_mites-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL703_cockroach_mites-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL703_cockroach_mites-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL703_cockroach_mites-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL703_cockroach_mites-1920x1080.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Madagascar hissing cockroach (Gromphadorhina portentosa) with mites (Gromphadorholaelaps schaeferi) on its face clings to the edge of a log. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://news.osu.edu/mites-on-hissing-coackroach-may-benefit-humans-with-allergies/\">Benoit co-authored a study\u003c/a> several years ago that showed these tiny mites eat the saliva and organic debris that fosters mold growth on the cockroaches’ bodies – thus potentially reducing allergic responses among humans who handle them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So don’t be shy about picking up a Madagascar hissing cockroach. You’ll often find them at museums and zoos for interactive educational activities. The Bohart Museum of Entomology shows off its collection regularly during educational days that are open to the public, like its upcoming \u003ca href=\"http://biodiversitymuseumday.ucdavis.edu/\">Biodiversity Museum Day\u003c/a> on Feb. 15. Or stop by your local pet shop if you’re looking for a more hypoallergenic, low-maintenance critter than Fido or Fifi.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If someone accidentally kills one, you could probably replace it for the kids,” Benoit joked. “They would never know.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Not all roaches are filthy. The Madagascar hissing cockroach actually makes a pretty sweet pet, thanks to the hungry mites that serve as its cleaning crew.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>As the weather starts to warm and cold days give way to balmier, sunny days, one rite of spring returns every year, just like spring flowers: cockroaches.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1955645\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL703_cockroach_bark-1020x574.jpg\" alt=\"Madagascar hissing cockroach\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"size-large wp-image-1955645\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL703_cockroach_bark-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL703_cockroach_bark-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL703_cockroach_bark-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL703_cockroach_bark-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL703_cockroach_bark-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL703_cockroach_bark-1920x1080.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Madagascar hissing cockroach (Gromphadorhina portentosa) perches on the edge of a log. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Most people run to buy a can of bug spray or to call the exterminator when they see the scurrying little insects in their kitchens or outside their homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But not all roaches are pests. Some are pets – like the Madagascar hissing cockroach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They can be \u003ca href=\"https://www.eastbayvivarium.com/invert\">bought at pet stores\u003c/a> or online for $5 or less. They don’t bite and don’t carry diseases. They are also much larger than the run-of-the-mill roach, with adults averaging about 3 inches long. They live up to five years. They are slow-moving and mellow – kind of like an old tabby cat. But with antennae. And an appetite for fresh vegetables.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think it’s just a combination of size, cheapness, and they’re usually docile,” said Joshua Benoit, an \u003ca href=\"http://insectphysiology.uc.edu/\">assistant professor of biological sciences at the University of Cincinnati\u003c/a>. “They’re not aggressive, they don’t move fast. A combination of all those factors probably makes them pretty popular.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Native to the remote island off the Eastern coast of Africa, they’re famous for a cool sound. They hiss.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1955639\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL703_cockroaches_eat-1020x574.jpg\" alt=\"Madagascar hissing cockroaches\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"size-large wp-image-1955639\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL703_cockroaches_eat-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL703_cockroaches_eat-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL703_cockroaches_eat-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL703_cockroaches_eat-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL703_cockroaches_eat-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL703_cockroaches_eat-1920x1080.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A group of Madagascar hissing cockroaches (Gromphadorhina portentosa) eat leaves. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Most other insects, like crickets and some beetles, make noises by rubbing body parts together, known as stridulation. Insects breathe using internal air sacs and tubes that take oxygen to all over their bodies. On the outside of their bodies, they have openings called spiracles. If a hissing cockroach force air through these spiracles rapidly, then it makes that signature sound.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As far as hissing, I can’t think of any other kinds of insect that hisses. I think you have to be kind of large to do that, and maybe a small bug couldn’t do it,” said Steve Heydon, senior museum scientist at the \u003ca href=\"http://bohart.ucdavis.edu/\">Bohart Museum of Entomology at UC Davis\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The huge roaches are a big hit at the museum, especially with kids. It has dozens on hand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The males are territorial, so they’ll set up little territories,” Heydon said. “If another male comes along, then they’ll hiss and they’ll kind of ram into each other. Kind of like little deer fighting, you know?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then the males also court the females with another hiss. Kind of a softer, gentler hiss. And then there’s also an alarm hiss.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you pick them up, they’ll hiss like crazy,” Heydon said. “Just to do something unexpected in the hopes that they can get dropped and they’ll have another chance to get away.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Madagascar hissing cockroaches don’t pose a health risk because they’re cleaner than pest cockroaches, like the German or brown-banded variety.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1955637\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL703_cockroach_knife-1020x574.jpg\" alt=\"cockroach sits on spoon\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"size-large wp-image-1955637\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL703_cockroach_knife-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL703_cockroach_knife-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL703_cockroach_knife-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL703_cockroach_knife-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL703_cockroach_knife-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL703_cockroach_knife-1920x1080.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A brown-banded cockroach sits on a dirty spoon. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Nocturnal scavengers, the pest cockroaches rummage for food during the witching hours in your kitchen, bathrooms, trash and drains. They’re not that discriminating when it comes to what they eat. A \u003ca href=\"https://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/resources/vector288to301.pdf\">World Health Organization report\u003c/a> noted that they’ll feed on just about anything, in addition to human food: “their own cast-off skins, dead and crippled cockroaches, fresh and dried blood, excrement, sputum, and the fingernails and toenails of babies and sleeping or sick persons.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One reason their big exotic hissing cousins are cleaner? They’ve got special mites that live on them their entire lives. These tiny cleanup artists keep them tidier than other cockroaches.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Most people assume that they’re bad, because people assume you don’t want to get mites,” Benoit said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“But they’re actually symbiotic. They keep the surface of the cockroaches clean. They live about twice as long. And the mites are obligate, so they can’t live anywhere else, at least as far as we know, except on the surface of the cockroach.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1955641\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL703_cockroach_mites-1020x574.jpg\" alt=\"cockroach mites\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"size-large wp-image-1955641\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL703_cockroach_mites-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL703_cockroach_mites-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL703_cockroach_mites-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL703_cockroach_mites-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL703_cockroach_mites-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL703_cockroach_mites-1920x1080.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Madagascar hissing cockroach (Gromphadorhina portentosa) with mites (Gromphadorholaelaps schaeferi) on its face clings to the edge of a log. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://news.osu.edu/mites-on-hissing-coackroach-may-benefit-humans-with-allergies/\">Benoit co-authored a study\u003c/a> several years ago that showed these tiny mites eat the saliva and organic debris that fosters mold growth on the cockroaches’ bodies – thus potentially reducing allergic responses among humans who handle them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So don’t be shy about picking up a Madagascar hissing cockroach. You’ll often find them at museums and zoos for interactive educational activities. The Bohart Museum of Entomology shows off its collection regularly during educational days that are open to the public, like its upcoming \u003ca href=\"http://biodiversitymuseumday.ucdavis.edu/\">Biodiversity Museum Day\u003c/a> on Feb. 15. Or stop by your local pet shop if you’re looking for a more hypoallergenic, low-maintenance critter than Fido or Fifi.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If someone accidentally kills one, you could probably replace it for the kids,” Benoit joked. “They would never know.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "the-flu-is-a-bigger-health-threat-in-the-u-s-than-novel-coronavirus",
"title": "The Flu Is Still a Bigger Health Threat in the U.S. than Novel Coronavirus",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Editor’s Note: Story updated February 27, 2020. \u003c/span>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m worried that coronavirus caused the tickle in my throat. I’ve wondered whether I have reason to be. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Last week I talked with more than a dozen people who had just left the epicenter of the Chinese outbreak. They were passengers on the last direct flight between Wuhan, China and San Francisco International Airport. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Fortunately, public health workers screened all of them to ensure they were not infected. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The disease (2019-nCoV), thought to originate in Wuhan, has sickened more than 80,000 people in 46 countries and killed 2,794 people. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That sounds terrifying, and it is. \u003cem>In China\u003c/em>. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In the U.S., the real threat to my health and yours is this year’s flu. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/index.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">estimates\u003c/a> influenza has caused hospitalizations and 16,000 deaths in the U.S. this season. The fatalities include 105 children.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>\u003c/b>“This new coronavirus is mysterious,” said Dr. William Schaffner, \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University.\u003c/span>\u003cb>\u003c/b>\u003cem> “\u003c/em>\u003cspan data-pm-slice='1 1 [\"paragraph-wrapper\",null,\"paragraph\",null]'>The experts don’t know very much about this virus yet and what it does. An\u003c/span>d so it’s it’s not surprising that here in the United States we have an outbreak of coronavirus anxiety.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As of this writing, health authorities have confirmed 60 cases of novel coronavirus in the U.S. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>How Deadly is the Flu?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/1918-pandemic-h1n1.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">1918 influenza pandemic\u003c/a> infected one-third of the world’s population and killed close to 50 million people. A century ago, public health was very different. These days the flu kills, on average, 10-40,000 Americans a year. Usually the risk is greatest for older people or anyone with a preexisting condition. Kids appear to be especially sensitive to this year’s flu.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We in infectious diseases regard influenza with great seriousness,” Schaffner said. “And that’s why, of course, we urge vaccination.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">He highly recommends regular hand washing. Public health experts do not recommend wearing a mask to ward off either the flu or the coronavirus. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>How Contagious is the Novel Coronavirus?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The novel coronavirus is thought to have originated in a seafood market in Wuhan, the political, cultural and economic hub of central China. Scientists have not yet identified the animal host, or the way the virus spread to humans. Now it passes from \u003ca href=\"https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30183-5/fulltext\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">person to person\u003c/a> through respiratory droplets from coughs or sneezes, pretty much like the flu and the common cold.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There are no confirmed cases in northern California. If that changes, public health officials in the region say they’re ready. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have physicians staffing call lines 24 hours a day all week,” said \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Dr. Susan Philip at the San Francisco Department of Public Health’s emergency command center. “\u003c/span>And we are able to communicate and advise providers and emergency departments about how to proceed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Philip urges anyone who has recently traveled to China to see a doctor if they experience flu-like symptoms like a cough, shortness of breath, or fever. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>How Lethal is the Novel Coronavirus?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s very difficult to know how deadly the novel coronavirus is because it’s still very early in the outbreak. According to statistics published Feb 24 in \u003cem>JAMA, \u003c/em>2.3% of infected patients have died. Half of the fatalities have occurred in patients 70 and older. That’s worse than the seasonal flu, and better than two earlier coronaviruses you may have heard about. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In 2003 \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/sars/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome\u003c/a> (SARS)\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> killed 774 people. That virus originated in civets, a mammal native to tropical Asia and Africa. It killed about one in ten people who were infected. The \u003ca href=\"https://www.who.int/emergencies/mers-cov/en/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Middle East Respiratory Syndrome\u003c/a> (MERS), which originated in camels, has killed 858 people since 2012. About one in three people who contract MERS die. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Dr. Charles Chiu, an infectious disease specialist at UCSF, said the novel coronavirus will change as it evolves in humans. \u003c/span>\u003cb>\u003c/b>“It will continue to mutate and continue to circulate as long as there are infections ongoing. There is a potential that the virus could mutate into a form that may be more or less transmissible, or more or less virulent.\u003ci>“\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "This season the flu has killed more 8,200 people in the U.S., including 54 children. ",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Editor’s Note: Story updated February 27, 2020. \u003c/span>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’m worried that coronavirus caused the tickle in my throat. I’ve wondered whether I have reason to be. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Last week I talked with more than a dozen people who had just left the epicenter of the Chinese outbreak. They were passengers on the last direct flight between Wuhan, China and San Francisco International Airport. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Fortunately, public health workers screened all of them to ensure they were not infected. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The disease (2019-nCoV), thought to originate in Wuhan, has sickened more than 80,000 people in 46 countries and killed 2,794 people. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That sounds terrifying, and it is. \u003cem>In China\u003c/em>. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In the U.S., the real threat to my health and yours is this year’s flu. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/index.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">estimates\u003c/a> influenza has caused hospitalizations and 16,000 deaths in the U.S. this season. The fatalities include 105 children.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>\u003c/b>“This new coronavirus is mysterious,” said Dr. William Schaffner, \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University.\u003c/span>\u003cb>\u003c/b>\u003cem> “\u003c/em>\u003cspan data-pm-slice='1 1 [\"paragraph-wrapper\",null,\"paragraph\",null]'>The experts don’t know very much about this virus yet and what it does. An\u003c/span>d so it’s it’s not surprising that here in the United States we have an outbreak of coronavirus anxiety.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As of this writing, health authorities have confirmed 60 cases of novel coronavirus in the U.S. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>How Deadly is the Flu?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/1918-pandemic-h1n1.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">1918 influenza pandemic\u003c/a> infected one-third of the world’s population and killed close to 50 million people. A century ago, public health was very different. These days the flu kills, on average, 10-40,000 Americans a year. Usually the risk is greatest for older people or anyone with a preexisting condition. Kids appear to be especially sensitive to this year’s flu.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We in infectious diseases regard influenza with great seriousness,” Schaffner said. “And that’s why, of course, we urge vaccination.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">He highly recommends regular hand washing. Public health experts do not recommend wearing a mask to ward off either the flu or the coronavirus. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>How Contagious is the Novel Coronavirus?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The novel coronavirus is thought to have originated in a seafood market in Wuhan, the political, cultural and economic hub of central China. Scientists have not yet identified the animal host, or the way the virus spread to humans. Now it passes from \u003ca href=\"https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30183-5/fulltext\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">person to person\u003c/a> through respiratory droplets from coughs or sneezes, pretty much like the flu and the common cold.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There are no confirmed cases in northern California. If that changes, public health officials in the region say they’re ready. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have physicians staffing call lines 24 hours a day all week,” said \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Dr. Susan Philip at the San Francisco Department of Public Health’s emergency command center. “\u003c/span>And we are able to communicate and advise providers and emergency departments about how to proceed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Philip urges anyone who has recently traveled to China to see a doctor if they experience flu-like symptoms like a cough, shortness of breath, or fever. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>How Lethal is the Novel Coronavirus?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s very difficult to know how deadly the novel coronavirus is because it’s still very early in the outbreak. According to statistics published Feb 24 in \u003cem>JAMA, \u003c/em>2.3% of infected patients have died. Half of the fatalities have occurred in patients 70 and older. That’s worse than the seasonal flu, and better than two earlier coronaviruses you may have heard about. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In 2003 \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/sars/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome\u003c/a> (SARS)\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> killed 774 people. That virus originated in civets, a mammal native to tropical Asia and Africa. It killed about one in ten people who were infected. The \u003ca href=\"https://www.who.int/emergencies/mers-cov/en/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Middle East Respiratory Syndrome\u003c/a> (MERS), which originated in camels, has killed 858 people since 2012. About one in three people who contract MERS die. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Dr. Charles Chiu, an infectious disease specialist at UCSF, said the novel coronavirus will change as it evolves in humans. \u003c/span>\u003cb>\u003c/b>“It will continue to mutate and continue to circulate as long as there are infections ongoing. There is a potential that the virus could mutate into a form that may be more or less transmissible, or more or less virulent.\u003ci>“\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "a-tsetse-fly-births-one-enormous-milk-fed-baby",
"title": "A Tsetse Fly Births One Enormous Milk-Fed Baby",
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"content": "\u003cp>[dl_subscribe]Mammalian moms aren’t the only ones to deliver babies and feed them milk. Tsetse flies, the insects best known for transmitting sleeping sickness, do it too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A researcher at the University of California, Davis is trying to understand in detail the unusual way in which these flies reproduce in order to find new ways to combat the disease, which has a crippling effect on a huge swath of Africa.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When it’s time to give birth, a female tsetse fly takes less than a minute to push out a squiggly yellowish larva almost as big as itself. The first time he watched a larva emerge from its mother, UC Davis medical entomologist \u003ca href=\"http://attardo-lab.com/\">Geoff Attardo\u003c/a> was reminded of a clown car.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1956183\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_birth.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_birth.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1956183\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A tsetse fly gives birth to a larva at the University of California, Davis. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“There’s too much coming out of it to be able to fit inside,” he recalled thinking. “The fact that they can do it eight times in their lifetime is kind of amazing to me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tsetse flies can live four to five months in a lab and they deliver those eight offspring one at a time. While the larva is growing inside them, they feed it milk. This reproductive strategy is extremely rare in the insect world, where survival usually depends on laying hundreds or thousands of eggs. Only a few other insects – deer keds, sheep keds and bat flies – are known to grow larvae that they feed with milk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1956209\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_larva_3_1920.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_larva_3_1920.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1956209\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_larva_3_1920.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_larva_3_1920-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_larva_3_1920-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_larva_3_1920-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_larva_3_1920-1020x574.jpg 1020w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A tsetse fly larva right after being born. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Attardo said he believes that tsetses’ rare reproductive strategy might have started with the threat that parasites posed to them millions of years ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Either the larvae or the adults were under very heavy parasitoid pressure,” he said. “Maybe by keeping the larva with the mother longer, it reduced the chances of the offspring being parasitized.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1956185\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_larva_burrows_2.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_larva_burrows_2.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1956185\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tsetse larvae burrow under the ground immediately after coming out of their mothers to hide from predators. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Tsetse flies, which are only found in Africa, feed exclusively on the blood of humans and other domestic and wild animals. As they feed, they can transmit microscopic parasites called trypanosomes, which cause sleeping sickness in humans and a version of the disease known as nagana in cattle and other livestock. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1956184\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_feeds.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_feeds.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1956184\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A tsetse fly pulls out its mouthpart after drinking blood from a human arm. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Nagana makes it so that cattle can’t be raised efficiently in a region across the middle of Africa that’s about the size of the United States. It means less meat and milk is available to feed the population and fewer animals to help farmers plow their fields. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the disease in cattle is “a major obstacle to the economic development of affected rural areas.” The losses are estimated to be between $1 billion and $5 billion per year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1956178\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_map_1920.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_map_1920.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1956178\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_map_1920.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_map_1920-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_map_1920-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_map_1920-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_map_1920-1020x574.jpg 1020w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tsetse flies live in the area colored green, where they can transmit a type of sleeping sickness to livestock that makes it difficult to raise cattle in this huge swath of Africa. \u003ccite>(Kia Simon/KQED and Peter Hermes Furian/Shutterstock.com. Tsetse distribution information from “Training Manual for Tsetse Control Personnel, volume 1,” edited by J.N. Pollock, reprinted in 1992.)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In humans the disease starts with fatigue, anemia and headaches. It is treatable with medication, but if trypanosomes invade the central nervous system they can cause sleep disruptions and hallucinations and eventually make patients fall into a coma and die. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Spraying insecticides and setting traps to kill the flies has helped reduce the number of people who develop sleeping sickness. While 40,000 cases were reported in 1998, fewer than 1,000 cases were recorded in 2018, according to the WHO.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Countries have also experimented with air-dropping male tsetse flies that have been irradiated to make them sterile. That way, when they breed with females, no new flies are born. But even more tools are needed, Attardo said, and he would like to figure out a way to make female flies unable to reproduce also.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To do this, he is investigating the intricacies of tsetse fly reproduction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1956180\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_pregnant_1_1920.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_pregnant_1_1920.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1956180\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_pregnant_1_1920.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_pregnant_1_1920-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_pregnant_1_1920-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_pregnant_1_1920-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_pregnant_1_1920-1020x574.jpg 1020w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A pregnant tsetse fly is ready to give birth to its larva. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>At UC Davis he studies one of 35 species of tsetses, a fly called \u003cem>Glossina morsitans morsitans\u003c/em> that can feed on humans but prefers cattle. In the lab, he feeds them warmed cow’s blood that they sip through a silicone membrane with their mouthpart. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re designed for puncturing cattle hide,” he said. “They’re pretty tough.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A female tsetse fly eats the most right after she mates. During the hour-long encounter, she receives and stores inside her all the sperm she needs to make all the offspring she’ll birth in her lifetime. She never needs to mate again, and the male makes sure she doesn’t by also delivering a substance that makes her lose interest in sex.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1956182\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_flies_mate_3.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_flies_mate_3.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1956182\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tsetse flies can mate for as long as an hour. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>If he can figure out what that substance is, Attardo could see bottling it and spraying it on flies. This could be a successful control strategy because females are known to be able to prevent males from mating with them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The females definitely are making the decisions,” said Attardo. “She’ll sort of tuck her abdomen underneath her body to prevent him from gaining access, and buzz her wings and knock him off.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If females could be made to permanently lose interest in mating, they’d become what Attardo calls “a reproductive dead end.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Researchers are also investigating exactly what happens to a female when she does mate and grow a larva inside her. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tsetses don’t use breasts to lactate, though an illustration of the inside of a pregnant tsetse created by Attardo looks curiously similar to a cross section of the inside of a human breast. Tiny tubes wind around, carrying milk to the developing larva, which sucks it up with two straw-like tubes on its head. Tsetse milk has proteins and fats with the same functions as proteins and fats in human breast milk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1956177\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_illustration_1920.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_illustration_1920.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1956177\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_illustration_1920.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_illustration_1920-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_illustration_1920-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_illustration_1920-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_illustration_1920-1020x574.jpg 1020w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An illustration of a cross section of the inside of a pregnant tsetse fly shows tubes carrying milk to the larva. \u003ccite>(Geoff Attardo/University of California, Davis)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Milk production is taxing for fly mothers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They have to produce more than their body weight in milk,” he said. “To do that they need really large amounts of protein, so they blood-feed very frequently, and that requirement to do all that blood feeding makes them a good vector.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1956175\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_1_1920.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_1_1920.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1956175\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_1_1920.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_1_1920-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_1_1920-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_1_1920-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_1_1920-1020x574.jpg 1020w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A female tsetse fly feeds on a human arm. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Researchers have found that tsetse females have a bacterium called \u003cem>Wigglesworthia glossinidia\u003c/em> growing inside them. When they kill the bacteria with antibiotics, female flies are no longer able to grow a larva. Young larvae stop growing inside their mothers and are aborted. The results of an experiment by Attardo, which he hasn’t published yet, suggest that this happens because flies without the bacteria have trouble making milk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These flies, they become almost obese,” he said. “So their fat storage organs are just filled with fat, but they don’t seem to be able to actually move it from the storage organ into the milk glands where it needs to go to make the milk.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Translating that finding into a treatment could be tricky, however.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1956174\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_Geoff_Attardo_1920.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_Geoff_Attardo_1920.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1956174\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_Geoff_Attardo_1920.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_Geoff_Attardo_1920-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_Geoff_Attardo_1920-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_Geoff_Attardo_1920-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_Geoff_Attardo_1920-1020x574.jpg 1020w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Geoff Attardo examines a cage full of tsetse flies at the University of California, Davis, where he researches their reproduction. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“You could probably pump livestock full of antibiotics,” he said. “But it’s not a good idea to be just throwing antibiotics out around the environment, because that tends to generate antibiotic-resistant microbes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A tsetse fly’s reproductive system seems “like the kind of process where there are lots of places you could throw a wrench in and disrupt it,” said Attardo. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And so his search for a wrench continues.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "A researcher at the University of California, Davis is studying the unique way in which these flies reproduce to find new ways to combat sleeping sickness.",
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"title": "A Tsetse Fly Births One Enormous Milk-Fed Baby | KQED",
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"headline": "A Tsetse Fly Births One Enormous Milk-Fed Baby",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Mammalian moms aren’t the only ones to deliver babies and feed them milk. Tsetse flies, the insects best known for transmitting sleeping sickness, do it too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A researcher at the University of California, Davis is trying to understand in detail the unusual way in which these flies reproduce in order to find new ways to combat the disease, which has a crippling effect on a huge swath of Africa.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When it’s time to give birth, a female tsetse fly takes less than a minute to push out a squiggly yellowish larva almost as big as itself. The first time he watched a larva emerge from its mother, UC Davis medical entomologist \u003ca href=\"http://attardo-lab.com/\">Geoff Attardo\u003c/a> was reminded of a clown car.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1956183\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_birth.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_birth.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1956183\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A tsetse fly gives birth to a larva at the University of California, Davis. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“There’s too much coming out of it to be able to fit inside,” he recalled thinking. “The fact that they can do it eight times in their lifetime is kind of amazing to me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tsetse flies can live four to five months in a lab and they deliver those eight offspring one at a time. While the larva is growing inside them, they feed it milk. This reproductive strategy is extremely rare in the insect world, where survival usually depends on laying hundreds or thousands of eggs. Only a few other insects – deer keds, sheep keds and bat flies – are known to grow larvae that they feed with milk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1956209\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_larva_3_1920.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_larva_3_1920.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1956209\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_larva_3_1920.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_larva_3_1920-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_larva_3_1920-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_larva_3_1920-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_larva_3_1920-1020x574.jpg 1020w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A tsetse fly larva right after being born. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Attardo said he believes that tsetses’ rare reproductive strategy might have started with the threat that parasites posed to them millions of years ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Either the larvae or the adults were under very heavy parasitoid pressure,” he said. “Maybe by keeping the larva with the mother longer, it reduced the chances of the offspring being parasitized.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1956185\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_larva_burrows_2.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_larva_burrows_2.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1956185\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tsetse larvae burrow under the ground immediately after coming out of their mothers to hide from predators. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Tsetse flies, which are only found in Africa, feed exclusively on the blood of humans and other domestic and wild animals. As they feed, they can transmit microscopic parasites called trypanosomes, which cause sleeping sickness in humans and a version of the disease known as nagana in cattle and other livestock. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1956184\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_feeds.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_feeds.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1956184\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A tsetse fly pulls out its mouthpart after drinking blood from a human arm. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Nagana makes it so that cattle can’t be raised efficiently in a region across the middle of Africa that’s about the size of the United States. It means less meat and milk is available to feed the population and fewer animals to help farmers plow their fields. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the disease in cattle is “a major obstacle to the economic development of affected rural areas.” The losses are estimated to be between $1 billion and $5 billion per year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1956178\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_map_1920.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_map_1920.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1956178\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_map_1920.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_map_1920-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_map_1920-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_map_1920-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_map_1920-1020x574.jpg 1020w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tsetse flies live in the area colored green, where they can transmit a type of sleeping sickness to livestock that makes it difficult to raise cattle in this huge swath of Africa. \u003ccite>(Kia Simon/KQED and Peter Hermes Furian/Shutterstock.com. Tsetse distribution information from “Training Manual for Tsetse Control Personnel, volume 1,” edited by J.N. Pollock, reprinted in 1992.)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In humans the disease starts with fatigue, anemia and headaches. It is treatable with medication, but if trypanosomes invade the central nervous system they can cause sleep disruptions and hallucinations and eventually make patients fall into a coma and die. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Spraying insecticides and setting traps to kill the flies has helped reduce the number of people who develop sleeping sickness. While 40,000 cases were reported in 1998, fewer than 1,000 cases were recorded in 2018, according to the WHO.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Countries have also experimented with air-dropping male tsetse flies that have been irradiated to make them sterile. That way, when they breed with females, no new flies are born. But even more tools are needed, Attardo said, and he would like to figure out a way to make female flies unable to reproduce also.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To do this, he is investigating the intricacies of tsetse fly reproduction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1956180\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_pregnant_1_1920.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_pregnant_1_1920.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1956180\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_pregnant_1_1920.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_pregnant_1_1920-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_pregnant_1_1920-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_pregnant_1_1920-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_pregnant_1_1920-1020x574.jpg 1020w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A pregnant tsetse fly is ready to give birth to its larva. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>At UC Davis he studies one of 35 species of tsetses, a fly called \u003cem>Glossina morsitans morsitans\u003c/em> that can feed on humans but prefers cattle. In the lab, he feeds them warmed cow’s blood that they sip through a silicone membrane with their mouthpart. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re designed for puncturing cattle hide,” he said. “They’re pretty tough.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A female tsetse fly eats the most right after she mates. During the hour-long encounter, she receives and stores inside her all the sperm she needs to make all the offspring she’ll birth in her lifetime. She never needs to mate again, and the male makes sure she doesn’t by also delivering a substance that makes her lose interest in sex.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1956182\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_flies_mate_3.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_flies_mate_3.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1956182\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tsetse flies can mate for as long as an hour. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>If he can figure out what that substance is, Attardo could see bottling it and spraying it on flies. This could be a successful control strategy because females are known to be able to prevent males from mating with them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The females definitely are making the decisions,” said Attardo. “She’ll sort of tuck her abdomen underneath her body to prevent him from gaining access, and buzz her wings and knock him off.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If females could be made to permanently lose interest in mating, they’d become what Attardo calls “a reproductive dead end.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Researchers are also investigating exactly what happens to a female when she does mate and grow a larva inside her. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tsetses don’t use breasts to lactate, though an illustration of the inside of a pregnant tsetse created by Attardo looks curiously similar to a cross section of the inside of a human breast. Tiny tubes wind around, carrying milk to the developing larva, which sucks it up with two straw-like tubes on its head. Tsetse milk has proteins and fats with the same functions as proteins and fats in human breast milk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1956177\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_illustration_1920.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_illustration_1920.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1956177\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_illustration_1920.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_illustration_1920-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_illustration_1920-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_illustration_1920-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_illustration_1920-1020x574.jpg 1020w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An illustration of a cross section of the inside of a pregnant tsetse fly shows tubes carrying milk to the larva. \u003ccite>(Geoff Attardo/University of California, Davis)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Milk production is taxing for fly mothers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They have to produce more than their body weight in milk,” he said. “To do that they need really large amounts of protein, so they blood-feed very frequently, and that requirement to do all that blood feeding makes them a good vector.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1956175\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_1_1920.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_1_1920.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1956175\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_1_1920.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_1_1920-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_1_1920-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_1_1920-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_tsetse_fly_1_1920-1020x574.jpg 1020w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A female tsetse fly feeds on a human arm. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Researchers have found that tsetse females have a bacterium called \u003cem>Wigglesworthia glossinidia\u003c/em> growing inside them. When they kill the bacteria with antibiotics, female flies are no longer able to grow a larva. Young larvae stop growing inside their mothers and are aborted. The results of an experiment by Attardo, which he hasn’t published yet, suggest that this happens because flies without the bacteria have trouble making milk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These flies, they become almost obese,” he said. “So their fat storage organs are just filled with fat, but they don’t seem to be able to actually move it from the storage organ into the milk glands where it needs to go to make the milk.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Translating that finding into a treatment could be tricky, however.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1956174\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_Geoff_Attardo_1920.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_Geoff_Attardo_1920.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1956174\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_Geoff_Attardo_1920.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_Geoff_Attardo_1920-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_Geoff_Attardo_1920-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_Geoff_Attardo_1920-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL702_Geoff_Attardo_1920-1020x574.jpg 1020w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Geoff Attardo examines a cage full of tsetse flies at the University of California, Davis, where he researches their reproduction. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“You could probably pump livestock full of antibiotics,” he said. “But it’s not a good idea to be just throwing antibiotics out around the environment, because that tends to generate antibiotic-resistant microbes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A tsetse fly’s reproductive system seems “like the kind of process where there are lots of places you could throw a wrench in and disrupt it,” said Attardo. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And so his search for a wrench continues.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Each fall, monarch butterflies from across the western United States flutter their way to the California coast to hole up for the winter. Mild temperatures, abundant nectar and protection offered by coastal forests have historically made California an ideal place for monarchs to survive into spring, and the majority of the population west of the Rocky Mountains make the annual trip to the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote]The conservation society that conducts the annual monarch butterfly count recommends Californians plant native milkweed in inland breeding areas, as well as nectar-producing flowers for monarchs to feed on.[/pullquote]As recently as the 1980s, these iconic orange and black butterflies numbered in the millions. This season’s count, however, was much in line with the monarch’s decades-long \u003ca href=\"https://www.westernmonarchcount.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">severe decline\u003c/a>. This year’s estimate, released last week, stands at about 29,000 monarchs, just above last year’s all-time low.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This population has declined by over 99 percent,” said Emma Pelton, a conservation biologist with the \u003ca href=\"https://xerces.org/western-monarch-call-to-action\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation\u003c/a>, which conducts the survey each year around Thanksgiving.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pelton says the numbers indicate the historic western monarch migratory population is in danger of going extinct.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the spring, monarchs fly inland to lay their eggs on milkweed plants. The caterpillars that hatch feed on the leaves. Milkweed is the \u003ca href=\"https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/pollinators/Monarch_Butterfly/habitat/index.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">only thing monarch caterpillars eat\u003c/a> and essential to their survival. The new generation will help populate areas from California to the Rockies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That first generation that’s born in the new year in California is really the generation that’s going to continue the migration.” Pelton said. “They’re going to populate the western United States.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Eastern monarchs make a similar migration to Mexico for the winter months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“California’s the only place in the U.S. where monarchs spend the winter in large numbers and that is worth protecting,” Pelton said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Reasons for the Decline\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Samantha Marcum, a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, says habitat loss, the use of pesticides, disease and the changing climate have all likely contributed to the decline of western monarchs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1956198\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1956198\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/Monarch-2-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/Monarch-2-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/Monarch-2-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/Monarch-2-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/Monarch-2-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/Monarch-2-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Monarch butterflies from the across the Western U.S. spend the winter in California. Pictured above, monarchs in Pacific Grove on the Central Coast. \u003ccite>(Carly Voight/Xerces Society)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“There’s no singular reason for the extreme drop in numbers over the last two to three decades.” Marcum said. “There’s several factors.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One major reason for the drastically reduced numbers, she says, is the loss of coastal forest groves, where monarchs can safely roost in the winter months, and their shrinking springtime breeding habitat, due to land development, forest management practices and wildfire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Drought, increased storm frequency and intensity, and temperature extremes” have also likely made California a less hospitable place for monarchs, said Marcum.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Federal officials are considering listing monarch butterflies for protection under the Endangered Species Act. A decision is expected in December.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Marcum says protecting and restoring the forest groves where monarchs spend their winter on the California coast will be key to their recovery. The Xerces Society \u003ca href=\"https://xerces.org/western-monarch-call-to-action\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">recommends\u003c/a> Californians plant native milkweed in inland breeding areas, as well as nectar-producing flowers for monarchs to feed on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pelton says citizen science efforts like monarch counts help researchers monitor butterfly populations and target conservation efforts. The \u003ca href=\"https://www.monarchmilkweedmapper.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Western Monarch Milkweed Mapper\u003c/a> and the \u003ca href=\"https://www.inaturalist.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">iNaturalist App\u003c/a> are two ways people can record their own monarch sightings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Even if you’re not someone that necessarily thinks of yourself as someone who likes bugs, you probably know what a monarch looks like,” Pelton said. “The fact that they move and travel all over the United States and Canada and Mexico is just a really incredible story of a single species connecting us across the country.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Each fall, monarch butterflies from across the western United States flutter their way to the California coast to hole up for the winter. Mild temperatures, abundant nectar and protection offered by coastal forests have historically made California an ideal place for monarchs to survive into spring, and the majority of the population west of the Rocky Mountains make the annual trip to the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>As recently as the 1980s, these iconic orange and black butterflies numbered in the millions. This season’s count, however, was much in line with the monarch’s decades-long \u003ca href=\"https://www.westernmonarchcount.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">severe decline\u003c/a>. This year’s estimate, released last week, stands at about 29,000 monarchs, just above last year’s all-time low.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This population has declined by over 99 percent,” said Emma Pelton, a conservation biologist with the \u003ca href=\"https://xerces.org/western-monarch-call-to-action\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation\u003c/a>, which conducts the survey each year around Thanksgiving.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pelton says the numbers indicate the historic western monarch migratory population is in danger of going extinct.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the spring, monarchs fly inland to lay their eggs on milkweed plants. The caterpillars that hatch feed on the leaves. Milkweed is the \u003ca href=\"https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/pollinators/Monarch_Butterfly/habitat/index.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">only thing monarch caterpillars eat\u003c/a> and essential to their survival. The new generation will help populate areas from California to the Rockies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That first generation that’s born in the new year in California is really the generation that’s going to continue the migration.” Pelton said. “They’re going to populate the western United States.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Eastern monarchs make a similar migration to Mexico for the winter months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“California’s the only place in the U.S. where monarchs spend the winter in large numbers and that is worth protecting,” Pelton said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Reasons for the Decline\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Samantha Marcum, a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, says habitat loss, the use of pesticides, disease and the changing climate have all likely contributed to the decline of western monarchs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1956198\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1956198\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/Monarch-2-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/Monarch-2-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/Monarch-2-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/Monarch-2-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/Monarch-2-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/Monarch-2-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Monarch butterflies from the across the Western U.S. spend the winter in California. Pictured above, monarchs in Pacific Grove on the Central Coast. \u003ccite>(Carly Voight/Xerces Society)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“There’s no singular reason for the extreme drop in numbers over the last two to three decades.” Marcum said. “There’s several factors.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One major reason for the drastically reduced numbers, she says, is the loss of coastal forest groves, where monarchs can safely roost in the winter months, and their shrinking springtime breeding habitat, due to land development, forest management practices and wildfire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Drought, increased storm frequency and intensity, and temperature extremes” have also likely made California a less hospitable place for monarchs, said Marcum.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Federal officials are considering listing monarch butterflies for protection under the Endangered Species Act. A decision is expected in December.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Marcum says protecting and restoring the forest groves where monarchs spend their winter on the California coast will be key to their recovery. The Xerces Society \u003ca href=\"https://xerces.org/western-monarch-call-to-action\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">recommends\u003c/a> Californians plant native milkweed in inland breeding areas, as well as nectar-producing flowers for monarchs to feed on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pelton says citizen science efforts like monarch counts help researchers monitor butterfly populations and target conservation efforts. The \u003ca href=\"https://www.monarchmilkweedmapper.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Western Monarch Milkweed Mapper\u003c/a> and the \u003ca href=\"https://www.inaturalist.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">iNaturalist App\u003c/a> are two ways people can record their own monarch sightings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Even if you’re not someone that necessarily thinks of yourself as someone who likes bugs, you probably know what a monarch looks like,” Pelton said. “The fact that they move and travel all over the United States and Canada and Mexico is just a really incredible story of a single species connecting us across the country.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Why Crickets Just Won't Shut Up",
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"content": "\u003cp>[dl_subscribe]Ask most people about crickets and you’ll probably hear that they’re all pretty much the same: just little insects that jump and chirp.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But there are actually dozens of different species of field crickets in the U.S. And because they look so similar, the most common way scientists tell them apart is not by the way they look, as with most animals, but instead, with a more subtle clue — by the sounds they make.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When I hear an evening chorus, all I hear are the different species,” said David Weissman, a research associate in entomology at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Weissman has spent the last 45 years working to identify all the species of field crickets west of the Mississippi River. In December, he published his \u003ca href=\"http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/walker/buzz/crickets.htm\">findings\u003c/a> in the journal Zootaxa, identifying 35 species of field crickets in the western states, including 17 new species. California alone hosts 12 species. But many closely resemble the others. So even for one of the nation’s top experts, telling them apart isn’t a simple task.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It turns out song is a good way to differentiate,” Weissman said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Weissman spends countless evenings making recordings of cricket songs around the Western states. He analyzes their chirps like a studio engineer closely mixing a hit soundtrack.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I listen for the songs in an area, decide how many different songs that I can distinguish, and then collect males that makes those songs,” he said. “Then once I know which songs a male sings with, and therefore which species he is, I can go back and find physical characters that will usually separate that species from the other species in the immediate area.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The trend began in the 1950s when researchers with early portable tape recorders learned there were far more cricket species than earlier scientists had realized.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Weissman isn’t the only one who needs to tell the different species apart. Female crickets need to be able to tell the males of their species apart from the males of other species. That’s because the characteristic, repetitive cricket chirp is really a mating call made by male crickets to attract females.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Most people believe they produce the songs with their legs, like grasshoppers do, but that’s a misconception,” said \u003ca href=\"http://bioacousticssensorybiology.weebly.com/\">Fernando Montealegre-Z\u003c/a>, a professor of sensory biology at the University of Lincoln in the United Kingdom. He’s written numerous articles about how crickets and their relatives, like grasshoppers and katydids, make sound.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1955686\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 720px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL701_Crickets_ChirpWings.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1955686\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL701_Crickets_ChirpWings.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"405\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A male variable field cricket runs its forewings together to create its song. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Crickets have two sets of wings — delicate hindwings and tough leathery forewings called tegmen that cover the hindwings when folded at rest. The males’ forewings have special structures for producing sounds that females lack.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the underside of each of the male cricket’s forewings is a protruding vein that runs from side to side. It’s covered in a row of about 85 to 1,000 microscopic teeth, like the edge of a zipper. The structure, which researchers call a file, is made of chitin, a rigid polymer that makes the exoskeleton of insects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1955688\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 720px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL701_Crickets_ZoomOnFile.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1955688\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL701_Crickets_ZoomOnFile.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"405\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Each of the male field cricket’s two forewings has a vein that runs across the center. The vein has tiny microscopic teeth that stick up called a file. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When it’s time to sing, the male cricket raises both of its wings, with one, typically the right, slightly above the other. It rubs the sharp edge of the lower wing, called a scraper, along the file of the upper wing. The vibrations caused by running the scraper along the file are the source of the cricket’s chirp.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This way of making sound is called stridulation. “It’s like running your thumb down the teeth on a comb,” Montealegre-Z said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1955689\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 713px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL701_Crickets_WingsUndersideSlowMotion.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1955689\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL701_Crickets_WingsUndersideSlowMotion.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"713\" height=\"395\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A cricket runs the edge of its lower wing across the file on the top wing to create a chirping sound, seen here in slow motion looking forward from the animal’s rear. \u003ccite>(Fernando Montealegre-Z/ University of Lincoln)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Crickets are able to scissor their wings together like this at remarkable speeds. Each wingstroke cycle produces a single pulse of sound.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In fact, what we hear as a single quick chirp is typically made up of a numerous pulses created by individual wingstrokes. They happen so quickly that they blend together. As crickets age and they wear down their files, they make a raspier sound than younger crickets do.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Generally speaking, crickets generate a highly pure tone at about 5 kilohertz, a frequency higher than the highest key on a piano.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re like well-made musical instruments,” Montealegre-Z said. “It’s their ability to create these pure tones. It’s what drew me to study crickets and their relatives.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But crickets don’t chirp only to advertise themselves to mates. If an adult male cricket runs into another adult male, it uses a special rivalry call to try to encourage its competitor to back off. It sounds similar to the mating call but is less rhythmic and more aggressive sounding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1955691\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 713px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL701_Crickets_MalesRivalry.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1955691\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL701_Crickets_MalesRivalry.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"713\" height=\"395\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Two male variable field crickets sound off with their rivalry calls in an attempt to get the other to yield territory. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>If a male cricket does manage to draw the female in close enough to make contact, he will then use a third type of call to woo her. This courtship call is much higher pitched and quieter, like a whisper.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s important that female crickets be able to identify males of their same species in order to avoid wasting their time pursuing the wrong male and because when they search for a mate, they are at risk of being eaten by a myriad of predators, including birds and reptiles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Misidentifying cricket songs has also proved perilous for humans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In late 2016, workers at the U.S. embassy in Havana, Cuba, reported hearing an alarming sound. The loud, constant and piercing sound and reports of various ailments, including ear pain, led some to believe that the embassy was under some type of sonic attack. Investigations began to find the source of the sound and the story made its way into the national news headlines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s where Alexander Stubbs came in. As a graduate student in the integrative biology department at UC Berkeley, Stubbs had spent time studying how animals like frogs and crickets communicate in the Caribbean and Central America.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a truly piercing trill,” Stubbs said. “It really does sound strange.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Stubbs compared the sound from the embassy that he heard in a news broadcast to songs from different species in an academic sound library of different singing animals. He used software to analyze the sound from the embassy and collaborated with Montealegre-Z to confirm his suspicions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The sound heard in the embassy matched the mating call of the Indies short-tailed cricket.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s unbelievably loud, especially in an enclosed space,” Stubbs said. But he wasn’t surprised that others didn’t recognize the song since this species of cricket hadn’t been identified in Cuba before. You can find the details of his findings \u003ca href=\"https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/510834v1.full\">here\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most people might take the sound of crickets for granted. But listening closely to them helps people become more aware of nature, scientists say.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Crickets are an important part of what we hear at night,” Weissman said. “In most areas of California, you might hear a few owls or coyotes. But in the summertime, crickets will be the major singing animals at night.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Male crickets play tunes non-stop to woo a mate or keep enemies away. But they're not playing their song with the body part you're thinking. ",
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"title": "Why Crickets Just Won't Shut Up | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Ask most people about crickets and you’ll probably hear that they’re all pretty much the same: just little insects that jump and chirp.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But there are actually dozens of different species of field crickets in the U.S. And because they look so similar, the most common way scientists tell them apart is not by the way they look, as with most animals, but instead, with a more subtle clue — by the sounds they make.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When I hear an evening chorus, all I hear are the different species,” said David Weissman, a research associate in entomology at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Weissman has spent the last 45 years working to identify all the species of field crickets west of the Mississippi River. In December, he published his \u003ca href=\"http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/walker/buzz/crickets.htm\">findings\u003c/a> in the journal Zootaxa, identifying 35 species of field crickets in the western states, including 17 new species. California alone hosts 12 species. But many closely resemble the others. So even for one of the nation’s top experts, telling them apart isn’t a simple task.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It turns out song is a good way to differentiate,” Weissman said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Weissman spends countless evenings making recordings of cricket songs around the Western states. He analyzes their chirps like a studio engineer closely mixing a hit soundtrack.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I listen for the songs in an area, decide how many different songs that I can distinguish, and then collect males that makes those songs,” he said. “Then once I know which songs a male sings with, and therefore which species he is, I can go back and find physical characters that will usually separate that species from the other species in the immediate area.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The trend began in the 1950s when researchers with early portable tape recorders learned there were far more cricket species than earlier scientists had realized.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Weissman isn’t the only one who needs to tell the different species apart. Female crickets need to be able to tell the males of their species apart from the males of other species. That’s because the characteristic, repetitive cricket chirp is really a mating call made by male crickets to attract females.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Most people believe they produce the songs with their legs, like grasshoppers do, but that’s a misconception,” said \u003ca href=\"http://bioacousticssensorybiology.weebly.com/\">Fernando Montealegre-Z\u003c/a>, a professor of sensory biology at the University of Lincoln in the United Kingdom. He’s written numerous articles about how crickets and their relatives, like grasshoppers and katydids, make sound.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1955686\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 720px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL701_Crickets_ChirpWings.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1955686\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL701_Crickets_ChirpWings.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"405\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A male variable field cricket runs its forewings together to create its song. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Crickets have two sets of wings — delicate hindwings and tough leathery forewings called tegmen that cover the hindwings when folded at rest. The males’ forewings have special structures for producing sounds that females lack.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the underside of each of the male cricket’s forewings is a protruding vein that runs from side to side. It’s covered in a row of about 85 to 1,000 microscopic teeth, like the edge of a zipper. The structure, which researchers call a file, is made of chitin, a rigid polymer that makes the exoskeleton of insects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1955688\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 720px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL701_Crickets_ZoomOnFile.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1955688\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL701_Crickets_ZoomOnFile.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"405\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Each of the male field cricket’s two forewings has a vein that runs across the center. The vein has tiny microscopic teeth that stick up called a file. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When it’s time to sing, the male cricket raises both of its wings, with one, typically the right, slightly above the other. It rubs the sharp edge of the lower wing, called a scraper, along the file of the upper wing. The vibrations caused by running the scraper along the file are the source of the cricket’s chirp.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This way of making sound is called stridulation. “It’s like running your thumb down the teeth on a comb,” Montealegre-Z said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1955689\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 713px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL701_Crickets_WingsUndersideSlowMotion.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1955689\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL701_Crickets_WingsUndersideSlowMotion.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"713\" height=\"395\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A cricket runs the edge of its lower wing across the file on the top wing to create a chirping sound, seen here in slow motion looking forward from the animal’s rear. \u003ccite>(Fernando Montealegre-Z/ University of Lincoln)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Crickets are able to scissor their wings together like this at remarkable speeds. Each wingstroke cycle produces a single pulse of sound.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In fact, what we hear as a single quick chirp is typically made up of a numerous pulses created by individual wingstrokes. They happen so quickly that they blend together. As crickets age and they wear down their files, they make a raspier sound than younger crickets do.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Generally speaking, crickets generate a highly pure tone at about 5 kilohertz, a frequency higher than the highest key on a piano.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re like well-made musical instruments,” Montealegre-Z said. “It’s their ability to create these pure tones. It’s what drew me to study crickets and their relatives.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But crickets don’t chirp only to advertise themselves to mates. If an adult male cricket runs into another adult male, it uses a special rivalry call to try to encourage its competitor to back off. It sounds similar to the mating call but is less rhythmic and more aggressive sounding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1955691\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 713px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL701_Crickets_MalesRivalry.gif\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1955691\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/DL701_Crickets_MalesRivalry.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"713\" height=\"395\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Two male variable field crickets sound off with their rivalry calls in an attempt to get the other to yield territory. \u003ccite>(Josh Cassidy/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>If a male cricket does manage to draw the female in close enough to make contact, he will then use a third type of call to woo her. This courtship call is much higher pitched and quieter, like a whisper.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s important that female crickets be able to identify males of their same species in order to avoid wasting their time pursuing the wrong male and because when they search for a mate, they are at risk of being eaten by a myriad of predators, including birds and reptiles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Misidentifying cricket songs has also proved perilous for humans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In late 2016, workers at the U.S. embassy in Havana, Cuba, reported hearing an alarming sound. The loud, constant and piercing sound and reports of various ailments, including ear pain, led some to believe that the embassy was under some type of sonic attack. Investigations began to find the source of the sound and the story made its way into the national news headlines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s where Alexander Stubbs came in. As a graduate student in the integrative biology department at UC Berkeley, Stubbs had spent time studying how animals like frogs and crickets communicate in the Caribbean and Central America.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a truly piercing trill,” Stubbs said. “It really does sound strange.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Stubbs compared the sound from the embassy that he heard in a news broadcast to songs from different species in an academic sound library of different singing animals. He used software to analyze the sound from the embassy and collaborated with Montealegre-Z to confirm his suspicions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The sound heard in the embassy matched the mating call of the Indies short-tailed cricket.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s unbelievably loud, especially in an enclosed space,” Stubbs said. But he wasn’t surprised that others didn’t recognize the song since this species of cricket hadn’t been identified in Cuba before. You can find the details of his findings \u003ca href=\"https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/510834v1.full\">here\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most people might take the sound of crickets for granted. But listening closely to them helps people become more aware of nature, scientists say.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Crickets are an important part of what we hear at night,” Weissman said. “In most areas of California, you might hear a few owls or coyotes. But in the summertime, crickets will be the major singing animals at night.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "youre-cooler-than-you-think-98-6-temperature-no-longer-the-norm",
"title": "You’re Cooler Than You Think: 98.6 Temperature No Longer the Norm",
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"content": "\u003cp>A new \u003ca href=\"https://elifesciences.org/articles/49555\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">study\u003c/a> published in the journal \u003cem>eLife\u003c/em> reports the average body temperature of Americans has declined by 1.1 degree Fahrenheit since the Civil War. The authors say the 98.6 degrees standard set in 1851 by a German physician is no longer the average in the United States.\u003cem> \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We shouldn’t be stuck on 98.6 as being some magical number that if you’re above it, you’re febrile,” said Dr. Julie Parsonnet, who teaches medicine as well as health research and policy at Stanford. “And if you’re below it, you’re not.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The researchers hypothesize that better public health and consistent indoor temperatures may be reasons for the steady decline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Thermometers Aren’t the Problem\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This isn’t the first time scientists have noted body temperatures are falling. A 2002 \u003ca href=\"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1046/j.1471-6712.2002.00069.x\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">research\u003c/a> review indicated the 98.6 degrees standard was too high. And a 2017 \u003ca href=\"https://www.bmj.com/content/359/bmj.j5468\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">study\u003c/a> concluded 97.9 degrees is the current average in Britain. Scientists, however, thought the discrepancy had to do with false readings from the thermometers of the past \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">—\u003c/span> in other words, that we weren’t really 98.6 in the first place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But now, after reviewing three additional datasets, the Stanford researchers conclude that over the past 150 years a steady cooling trend in American body temperatures has, indeed, occurred. The researchers analyzed Civil War veterans’ records, 1970s data from the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, and recent medical records from patients who visited Stanford\u003cspan class=\"apple-converted-space\"> Health Care. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Without changing our genetic makeup, we are changing physiologically over time,” Parsonnet said. “We’ve seen that people have grown taller, they’ve grown fatter, and their body temperature is declining … .”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The researchers did not offer an updated average for all Americans because body temperatures change throughout our day as well as lifetime. Age and sex influence our internal thermostats; and factors like activity level, food consumption and what time it is affect how hot we run daily.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Modern Life Influences Evolution\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The researchers surmise body temperature might be steadily declining because Americans suffer less inflammation due to improved water quality, sanitation, antibiotics, vaccines and dental hygiene.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The standard of 98.6 was set back in the mid 19th century when people were suffering all of the time from infectious diseases,” said Parsonnet. “It wouldn’t surprise me if their temperature was a little bit higher because they were fighting tuberculosis, malaria and dysentery all the time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because we live and work in more consistent environments than previous generations, she says, our bodies expend less energy. Two hundred years ago, homes did not have central heating and air conditioning, for instance.\u003cb>\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Why It Matters\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Whether or not our temperature is dropping is not merely an interesting tidbit. Body temperature affects our basal metabolic rate, which is linked to longevity and body size. A high metabolism can shorten one’s lifespan; a low metabolism can lead to weight gain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Parsonnet says researchers’ next step is to analyze temperature variability around the globe. For example, conditions in a resource-poor country may preclude a decline because chronic infections are still common. Or, perhaps people who live in harsher climates like the one in the Arctic may run hotter because their bodies must work harder to stay comfortable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"title": "You’re Cooler Than You Think: 98.6 Temperature No Longer the Norm | KQED",
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"headline": "You’re Cooler Than You Think: 98.6 Temperature No Longer the Norm",
"datePublished": "2020-01-09T13:16:12-08:00",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>A new \u003ca href=\"https://elifesciences.org/articles/49555\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">study\u003c/a> published in the journal \u003cem>eLife\u003c/em> reports the average body temperature of Americans has declined by 1.1 degree Fahrenheit since the Civil War. The authors say the 98.6 degrees standard set in 1851 by a German physician is no longer the average in the United States.\u003cem> \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We shouldn’t be stuck on 98.6 as being some magical number that if you’re above it, you’re febrile,” said Dr. Julie Parsonnet, who teaches medicine as well as health research and policy at Stanford. “And if you’re below it, you’re not.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The researchers hypothesize that better public health and consistent indoor temperatures may be reasons for the steady decline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Thermometers Aren’t the Problem\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This isn’t the first time scientists have noted body temperatures are falling. A 2002 \u003ca href=\"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1046/j.1471-6712.2002.00069.x\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">research\u003c/a> review indicated the 98.6 degrees standard was too high. And a 2017 \u003ca href=\"https://www.bmj.com/content/359/bmj.j5468\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">study\u003c/a> concluded 97.9 degrees is the current average in Britain. Scientists, however, thought the discrepancy had to do with false readings from the thermometers of the past \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">—\u003c/span> in other words, that we weren’t really 98.6 in the first place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But now, after reviewing three additional datasets, the Stanford researchers conclude that over the past 150 years a steady cooling trend in American body temperatures has, indeed, occurred. The researchers analyzed Civil War veterans’ records, 1970s data from the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, and recent medical records from patients who visited Stanford\u003cspan class=\"apple-converted-space\"> Health Care. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Without changing our genetic makeup, we are changing physiologically over time,” Parsonnet said. “We’ve seen that people have grown taller, they’ve grown fatter, and their body temperature is declining … .”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The researchers did not offer an updated average for all Americans because body temperatures change throughout our day as well as lifetime. Age and sex influence our internal thermostats; and factors like activity level, food consumption and what time it is affect how hot we run daily.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Modern Life Influences Evolution\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The researchers surmise body temperature might be steadily declining because Americans suffer less inflammation due to improved water quality, sanitation, antibiotics, vaccines and dental hygiene.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The standard of 98.6 was set back in the mid 19th century when people were suffering all of the time from infectious diseases,” said Parsonnet. “It wouldn’t surprise me if their temperature was a little bit higher because they were fighting tuberculosis, malaria and dysentery all the time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because we live and work in more consistent environments than previous generations, she says, our bodies expend less energy. Two hundred years ago, homes did not have central heating and air conditioning, for instance.\u003cb>\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Why It Matters\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Whether or not our temperature is dropping is not merely an interesting tidbit. Body temperature affects our basal metabolic rate, which is linked to longevity and body size. A high metabolism can shorten one’s lifespan; a low metabolism can lead to weight gain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Parsonnet says researchers’ next step is to analyze temperature variability around the globe. For example, conditions in a resource-poor country may preclude a decline because chronic infections are still common. Or, perhaps people who live in harsher climates like the one in the Arctic may run hotter because their bodies must work harder to stay comfortable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"tagline": "Where conversation and cultura meet",
"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
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"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
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"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
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"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
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"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
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"tagline": "Politics from a personal perspective",
"info": "Political Breakdown is a new series that explores the political intersection of California and the nation. Each week hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos are joined with a new special guest to unpack politics -- with personality — and offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics happens.",
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"possible": {
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"title": "Possible",
"info": "Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
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"pri-the-world": {
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"radiolab": {
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},
"rightnowish": {
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"title": "Rightnowish",
"tagline": "Art is where you find it",
"info": "Rightnowish digs into life in the Bay Area right now… ish. Journalist Pendarvis Harshaw takes us to galleries painted on the sides of liquor stores in West Oakland. We'll dance in warehouses in the Bayview, make smoothies with kids in South Berkeley, and listen to classical music in a 1984 Cutlass Supreme in Richmond. Every week, Pen talks to movers and shakers about how the Bay Area shapes what they create, and how they shape the place we call home.",
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},
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"info": "Science Friday is a weekly science talk show, broadcast live over public radio stations nationwide. Each week, the show focuses on science topics that are in the news and tries to bring an educated, balanced discussion to bear on the scientific issues at hand. Panels of expert guests join host Ira Flatow, a veteran science journalist, to discuss science and to take questions from listeners during the call-in portion of the program.",
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"title": "Snap Judgment",
"tagline": "Real stories with killer beats",
"info": "The Snap Judgment radio show and podcast mixes real stories with killer beats to produce cinematic, dramatic radio. Snap's musical brand of storytelling dares listeners to see the world through the eyes of another. This is storytelling... with a BEAT!! Snap first aired on public radio stations nationwide in July 2010. Today, Snap Judgment airs on over 450 public radio stations and is brought to the airwaves by KQED & PRX.",
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},
"soldout": {
"id": "soldout",
"title": "SOLD OUT: Rethinking Housing in America",
"tagline": "A new future for housing",
"info": "Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America",
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