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"content": "\u003cp>We’re just not all that special. At least that’s the consensus from scientists looking at data from a \u003ca title=\"NASA - Kepler\" href=\"http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/kepler/overview/#.UngqdFOw6lI\">NASA mission\u003c/a> to find “habitable” planets out there. The bottom line: one in five sun-like stars may harbor an Earth-like planet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There may be tens of billions of Earth-like planets in our Milky Way Galaxy alone, say astronomers working with data collected by the Kepler telescope. These planets are roughly the same size as Earth and exist at just the right “Goldilocks” temperature that could sustain liquid water and, maybe, life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The closest of these planets is a scant 12 light years away, orbiting a star that’s visible to the naked eye.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10658\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/kepler-candidates-lined-up-4_0_2.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-10658\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10658\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/kepler-candidates-lined-up-4_0_2.jpg\" alt=\"Using data from the Kepler telescope, scientists have identified 3,538 planets, 647 of which are roughly Earth-sized. \" width=\"640\" height=\"640\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Using data from the Kepler telescope, scientists have identified 3,538 planets, 647 of which are roughly Earth-sized. (NASA)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The universe appears to be “crowded” with Earth-like planets, said NASA space scientist Bill Borucki. “If we ever get star travel, we’ll probably see a lot of traffic jams,” he told reporters at a Monday briefing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The profusion of Earth-like planets strongly suggests we aren’t alone, says UC Berkeley astronomer and Kepler scientist Geoff Marcy. “The chance for life of some sort out there in the universe has to be essentially 100 percent.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists at the Mountain View press briefing said they were struck by the “remarkable” increase in how many of these planets they’ve been able to find.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In three years of combing through data collected by the Kepler telescope, scientists have identified 3,538 planets. Of those, 647 are roughly Earth-sized and 104 are in the “habitable zone” where liquid water could flow, potentially giving rise to life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>http://www.youtube.com/embed/pffF4S-2BCw\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Being in the “habitable zone” doesn’t necessarily mean that a planet sustains life, says Marcy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We can’t tell whether they really have oceans and lakes and ponds, the cocktail mixer of biochemistry that makes life possible. We don’t know how stable their atmospheres are. So we don’t know that the planets that are suitable for life really ever do spawn life.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Launched in 2009, the \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/2013/05/15/kepler-scientist-a-beautiful-instrument-has-died/\">now-crippled\u003c/a> Kepler telescope was designed to look for slight fluctuations in the amount of light radiating from distant stars, clues to the whereabouts of potential life-supporting planets.[contextly_sidebar id=”5e31cbcc0077abf64e7854e7da85091b”]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just as a moth passing in front of a light bulb would create a brief flicker, the same is true of a planet in orbit around a star. Based on those observations, scientists have been able to identify which stars have planets in orbit around them, as well as the size of those planets and how tightly they orbit their stars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many of these discoveries have been notable more as science fiction curiosities than as potential Edens for intelligent (or non-intelligent) life. Last week, scientists introduced the planet Kepler 78b, which hugs its star at a distance of 900,000 miles — an orbit of just eight hours, as opposed to Earth’s 360-day cycle. Like Earth, Kepler 78b is rocky and rich in iron, but – at 3,500 degrees Fahrenheit — a little too toasty for life as we know it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After four years of collecting data, the Kepler telescope hit a disabling technical snag last May. NASA scientists say they’re trying to fix it. But even if the telescope goes dark, the amount of data it collected in its four-year run could provide analytical fodder “indefinitely,” said scientists.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For more on the mission, listen to KQED’s interview with Kepler astronomer Geoffrey Marcy, of the University of California, Berkeley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/118602895″ width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists at the Mountain View press briefing said they were struck by the “remarkable” increase in how many of these planets they’ve been able to find.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In three years of combing through data collected by the Kepler telescope, scientists have identified 3,538 planets. Of those, 647 are roughly Earth-sized and 104 are in the “habitable zone” where liquid water could flow, potentially giving rise to life.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/pffF4S-2BCw'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/pffF4S-2BCw'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>Being in the “habitable zone” doesn’t necessarily mean that a planet sustains life, says Marcy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We can’t tell whether they really have oceans and lakes and ponds, the cocktail mixer of biochemistry that makes life possible. We don’t know how stable their atmospheres are. So we don’t know that the planets that are suitable for life really ever do spawn life.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Launched in 2009, the \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/2013/05/15/kepler-scientist-a-beautiful-instrument-has-died/\">now-crippled\u003c/a> Kepler telescope was designed to look for slight fluctuations in the amount of light radiating from distant stars, clues to the whereabouts of potential life-supporting planets.\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just as a moth passing in front of a light bulb would create a brief flicker, the same is true of a planet in orbit around a star. Based on those observations, scientists have been able to identify which stars have planets in orbit around them, as well as the size of those planets and how tightly they orbit their stars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many of these discoveries have been notable more as science fiction curiosities than as potential Edens for intelligent (or non-intelligent) life. Last week, scientists introduced the planet Kepler 78b, which hugs its star at a distance of 900,000 miles — an orbit of just eight hours, as opposed to Earth’s 360-day cycle. Like Earth, Kepler 78b is rocky and rich in iron, but – at 3,500 degrees Fahrenheit — a little too toasty for life as we know it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After four years of collecting data, the Kepler telescope hit a disabling technical snag last May. NASA scientists say they’re trying to fix it. But even if the telescope goes dark, the amount of data it collected in its four-year run could provide analytical fodder “indefinitely,” said scientists.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For more on the mission, listen to KQED’s interview with Kepler astronomer Geoffrey Marcy, of the University of California, Berkeley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cdiv class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__shortcodes__shortcodeWrapper'>\n \u003ciframe width='”100%”' height='”166″'\n scrolling='no' frameborder='no'\n src='https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/118602895″&visual=true&undefined'\n title='”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/118602895″'>\n \u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/div>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Poor Understanding of Genetics Can Lead to Separated Families",
"headTitle": "Poor Understanding of Genetics Can Lead to Separated Families | KQED",
"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10506\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10506\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/RomaInUkraine.jpg\" alt=\"Three children were taken by the authorities from Roma families like this one because they had fairer skin and hair than their parents. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.\" width=\"640\" height=\"440\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Three children were taken by the authorities from Roma families like this one because they had fairer skin and hair than their parents. Image courtesy of \u003ca href=\"http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Romani_people_Lviv_Ukraine.jpg\">Wikimedia Commons\u003c/a>.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In Greece, a Roma child was taken away from her family because she didn’t look much like her parents. DNA testing revealed that she \u003ca href=\"http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/greek-roma-community-on-edge-after-couple-accused-of-abducting-girl/article14956988/\">was not their biological child\u003c/a> and so the authorities thought that she had been kidnapped. Turns out, she hadn’t been; her biological mother had given her up because \u003ca href=\"http://jezebel.com/dna-test-reveals-blonde-angel-roma-girl-is-child-of-b-1452075768\">she was too poor to keep her\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Something similar then happened in Ireland where two Roma children were removed from their families because, again, they did not look like their parents. This time, the DNA test results showed that \u003ca href=\"http://news.yahoo.com/irish-authorities-second-child-roma-inquiry-131509106.html;_ylt=AwrTWfzclGpSigEAx2fQtDMD\">the children were with their biological parents\u003c/a>. The children have been returned to their families.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These events are disturbing for a couple of different reasons. The first is the strong whiff of prejudice associated with them. The authorities appear to have assumed that these children were kidnapped because they were living among the Roma (more commonly known as gypsies). I haven’t heard of any children being removed and tested from any other communities. And believe me, if these kids were taken only because they looked different from their parents, lots more kids would have been removed from their families.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Which brings us to the second disturbing part of the story—the lack of understanding of genetics by the authorities that are taking these children away from their parents. Parents can and do \u003ca href=\"http://genetics.thetech.org/ask-a-geneticist/different-looking-siblings\">have children who look very different from themselves\u003c/a>. And sometimes as this video shows, the differences can be quite extreme:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KKwkSsZemA\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Imagine that the mom was out of the picture in the family portrayed in this video (as appears to be true for one of the Irish families). One of these twins doesn’t look much like dad at all and, if the same sort of logic were applied here as was applied to the Roma, then this child would be taken away and tested. But of course, he wouldn’t be because he wasn’t Roma.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the case in Greece and both cases in Ireland, the children were taken because they were blonde and fair and the parents had darker hair and skin. Parents having children with lighter hair and skin is actually pretty common. Sometimes the child’s hair and skin darken over time but sometimes it just stays much lighter than the parents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And though less common, the opposite can happen too. Fair parents can have kids with darker hair and darker skin. These are not the only traits where this occurs, either.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Parents with brown eyes \u003ca href=\"http://genetics.thetech.org/ask/ask2\">can have blue-eyed children\u003c/a> and despite what you may have learned in high school, the reverse can happen too. Blue-eyed parents can and do sometimes \u003ca href=\"http://genetics.thetech.org/how-blue-eyed-parents-can-have-brown-eyed-children\">have brown-eyed kids\u003c/a>. The same is true for red hair. There are so many cases of parents with darker hair and skin \u003ca href=\"http://genetics.thetech.org/ask/ask44\">having fair-skinned children with red hair and freckles\u003c/a> that there are even milkman jokes about it!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And yet, the Irish authorities aren’t searching homes in Dublin, looking for redheads in families without red hair. They aren’t even looking for the rarer case of red-haired parents who \u003ca href=\"http://genetics.thetech.org/ask/ask400\">have a child without red hair\u003c/a>. No the authorities focused on Roma children who looked different from their parents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Given that they only looked at Roma families, maybe a better understanding of dominant and recessive genes and other fundamental genetics concepts wouldn’t have stopped this all from happening. But still, maybe it would have made it a bit less likely.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10506\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10506\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/RomaInUkraine.jpg\" alt=\"Three children were taken by the authorities from Roma families like this one because they had fairer skin and hair than their parents. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.\" width=\"640\" height=\"440\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Three children were taken by the authorities from Roma families like this one because they had fairer skin and hair than their parents. Image courtesy of \u003ca href=\"http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Romani_people_Lviv_Ukraine.jpg\">Wikimedia Commons\u003c/a>.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In Greece, a Roma child was taken away from her family because she didn’t look much like her parents. DNA testing revealed that she \u003ca href=\"http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/greek-roma-community-on-edge-after-couple-accused-of-abducting-girl/article14956988/\">was not their biological child\u003c/a> and so the authorities thought that she had been kidnapped. Turns out, she hadn’t been; her biological mother had given her up because \u003ca href=\"http://jezebel.com/dna-test-reveals-blonde-angel-roma-girl-is-child-of-b-1452075768\">she was too poor to keep her\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Something similar then happened in Ireland where two Roma children were removed from their families because, again, they did not look like their parents. This time, the DNA test results showed that \u003ca href=\"http://news.yahoo.com/irish-authorities-second-child-roma-inquiry-131509106.html;_ylt=AwrTWfzclGpSigEAx2fQtDMD\">the children were with their biological parents\u003c/a>. The children have been returned to their families.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These events are disturbing for a couple of different reasons. The first is the strong whiff of prejudice associated with them. The authorities appear to have assumed that these children were kidnapped because they were living among the Roma (more commonly known as gypsies). I haven’t heard of any children being removed and tested from any other communities. And believe me, if these kids were taken only because they looked different from their parents, lots more kids would have been removed from their families.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Which brings us to the second disturbing part of the story—the lack of understanding of genetics by the authorities that are taking these children away from their parents. Parents can and do \u003ca href=\"http://genetics.thetech.org/ask-a-geneticist/different-looking-siblings\">have children who look very different from themselves\u003c/a>. And sometimes as this video shows, the differences can be quite extreme:\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/4KKwkSsZemA'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/4KKwkSsZemA'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Imagine that the mom was out of the picture in the family portrayed in this video (as appears to be true for one of the Irish families). One of these twins doesn’t look much like dad at all and, if the same sort of logic were applied here as was applied to the Roma, then this child would be taken away and tested. But of course, he wouldn’t be because he wasn’t Roma.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the case in Greece and both cases in Ireland, the children were taken because they were blonde and fair and the parents had darker hair and skin. Parents having children with lighter hair and skin is actually pretty common. Sometimes the child’s hair and skin darken over time but sometimes it just stays much lighter than the parents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And though less common, the opposite can happen too. Fair parents can have kids with darker hair and darker skin. These are not the only traits where this occurs, either.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Parents with brown eyes \u003ca href=\"http://genetics.thetech.org/ask/ask2\">can have blue-eyed children\u003c/a> and despite what you may have learned in high school, the reverse can happen too. Blue-eyed parents can and do sometimes \u003ca href=\"http://genetics.thetech.org/how-blue-eyed-parents-can-have-brown-eyed-children\">have brown-eyed kids\u003c/a>. The same is true for red hair. There are so many cases of parents with darker hair and skin \u003ca href=\"http://genetics.thetech.org/ask/ask44\">having fair-skinned children with red hair and freckles\u003c/a> that there are even milkman jokes about it!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And yet, the Irish authorities aren’t searching homes in Dublin, looking for redheads in families without red hair. They aren’t even looking for the rarer case of red-haired parents who \u003ca href=\"http://genetics.thetech.org/ask/ask400\">have a child without red hair\u003c/a>. No the authorities focused on Roma children who looked different from their parents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Given that they only looked at Roma families, maybe a better understanding of dominant and recessive genes and other fundamental genetics concepts wouldn’t have stopped this all from happening. But still, maybe it would have made it a bit less likely.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "ZomBees: Flight of the Living Dead",
"headTitle": "ZomBees: Flight of the Living Dead | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>Professor John Hafernik of San Francisco State University doesn’t leave home without an empty vial in his pocket. Entomology isn’t just a job; it’s a way of life, and Hafernik never knows when he’ll come across an interesting specimen during his daily travels. It was this personal habit that led to his accidental discovery that Bay Area bees were falling victim to an insidious insect, a parasitic fly that would come to be known as the “Zombie fly”.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10396\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 288px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/Phorid-on-bee-1Christopher-Quock640x360-288x162.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-10396\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/Phorid-on-bee-1Christopher-Quock640x360-288x162.jpg\" alt=\"A female Phorid fly injects her eggs between the armored plates on a honeybee's abdomen. Christopher Quock/SFSU\" width=\"288\" height=\"162\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A female Phorid fly injects her eggs between the armored plates on a honeybee’s abdomen. Christopher Quock/SFSU\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In the school’s entomology museum, Hafernik lifts up a vial full of dead bees surrounded by tiny brown pupae. “This is the stuff of horror movies,” he said, “with maggots eating the insides out of these bees. Altering their behavior, perhaps, and causing their ultimate destruction.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I made this discovery entirely by accident, walking into the biology building on the San Francisco State campus one morning. I noticed that there were honey bees in front of the building that were on the ground, behaving strangely, walking around in circles.” Hafernik scooped up a few of the honeybees to feed a praying mantis that he was keeping in his office as a pet. “I put them on my desk and forgot about them. When I came back in a week or so and looked at it, that vial was filled with just a large number of these little brown fly pupae. And that’s when I knew that those bees were parasitized.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10533\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 295px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/A.-borealis-female-Jessica-Van-Den-Berg.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10533\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/A.-borealis-female-Jessica-Van-Den-Berg.jpg\" alt=\"A female Zombie fly (A. borealis). Photo by Jessica Andrieux/SFSU\" width=\"295\" height=\"324\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A female Zombie fly (A. borealis). Photo by Jessica Andrieux/SFSU\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Originally described in the boreal forests of Maine, this Phorid fly, \u003cem>Apocephalon borealis\u003c/em>, is distributed over virtually all of the United States and Canada. “It’s a very small fly, smaller than a fruit fly. It’s the kind of fly that most people would not notice, even entomologists often don’t notice these flies,” said Hafernik. But despite their diminutive size, \u003cem>A. borealis\u003c/em> can have a catastrophic effect on the host organisms that they parasitize. The female fly is equipped with a specialized ova-depositor, a needle-like stinger that she uses to inject her eggs into the abdomen of a hapless insect host. The eggs hatch and the juvenile larvae, or maggots, feed on their living host from the inside. At some point, the host insect dies and the larvae escape their host’s carcass, often through a weak spot in the neck, emerging like the monster in the movie “Alien.”\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">“Bees that fly away at night basically are on a flight of the living dead. They’re not coming back.”\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>While this fly has traditionally made use of native bumblebees and paper wasps as hosts, it has begun making use of the European honeybee — a foreign species brought to California by ship. “My graduate students and I, Andy Core and Jonathan Ivers, have been sampling honey bee colonies in collaboration with bee keepers around the San Francisco Bay Area. And what we’ve found is that almost 80 percent of the hives that we’ve worked with are infected or have been infected by this fly. So it’s a very common phenomenon in this part of the world.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The bees that are parasitized essentially get bee insomnia. They leave their hives at night, which is a really bad time for honey bees to be leaving their hives. Bees that fly away at night basically are on a flight of the living dead. They’re not coming back,” said Hafernik. While on their nocturnal outings, parasitized honeybees also seem to be compelled to seek out light sources. This behavior differentiates them from healthy bees who do not typically show interest in lights at night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10414\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 288px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/Zombees-RF-chips-640x360-288x162.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-10414\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/Zombees-RF-chips-640x360-288x162.jpg\" alt=\"SFSU graduate student Chris Quock outfits captive honeybees with tiny radio frequency chips that allow him to monitor the nocturnal behavior of bees infected by the A. borealis parasite. Photo by Josh Cassidy/KQED \" width=\"288\" height=\"162\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">SFSU graduate student Chris Quock outfits captive honeybees with tiny radio frequency chips that allow him to monitor the nocturnal behavior of bees infected by the A. borealis parasite. Photo by Josh Cassidy/KQED\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In order to begin the pursuit of a future cure or treatment for the parasite infection, researchers must first determine what is happening to the honeybees. While SFSU graduate students like Chris Quock study the day and nighttime behavior of infected bees, Hafernik has set up a citizen scientist project in order to analyze the locations where \u003cem>A. borealis\u003c/em> has switched to parasitizing honeybees. \u003ca href=\"https://www.zombeewatch.org/\">ZomBee Watch\u003c/a> provides instructions of finding, collecting and identifying parasitized honeybees using a nighttime light trap. Participants can then upload their findings to the ZomBee Watch website, where Hafernik is able to map the phenomenon and look for trends.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10413\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 288px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/Zombees-bee-in-vial-CU-640x360-288x162.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-10413\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/Zombees-bee-in-vial-CU-640x360-288x162.jpg\" alt=\"Professor John Hafernik of SFSU inspects a honeybee that may have been parasitized by A. borealis. Photo by Josh Cassidy/KQED.\" width=\"288\" height=\"162\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Professor John Hafernik of SFSU inspects a honeybee that may have been parasitized by A. borealis. Photo by Josh Cassidy/KQED.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The plight of honeybees is of particular importance to humans. “If we lost the bees, we’d end up having to change our diet, because we rely on honey bees for pollinating many of the crops that we put on our table.” Hafernik added, “Most of the fruits and vegetables that we eat are bee pollinated. Bees really are our best friends.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Something strange and unsettling is happening to Bay Area honeybees. Entomologists at San Francisco State University have identified the culprit: a tiny parasitic fly is causing the bees to exhibit bizarre nocturnal behaviors before suffering a gruesome demise. ",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Professor John Hafernik of San Francisco State University doesn’t leave home without an empty vial in his pocket. Entomology isn’t just a job; it’s a way of life, and Hafernik never knows when he’ll come across an interesting specimen during his daily travels. It was this personal habit that led to his accidental discovery that Bay Area bees were falling victim to an insidious insect, a parasitic fly that would come to be known as the “Zombie fly”.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10396\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 288px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/Phorid-on-bee-1Christopher-Quock640x360-288x162.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-10396\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/Phorid-on-bee-1Christopher-Quock640x360-288x162.jpg\" alt=\"A female Phorid fly injects her eggs between the armored plates on a honeybee's abdomen. Christopher Quock/SFSU\" width=\"288\" height=\"162\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A female Phorid fly injects her eggs between the armored plates on a honeybee’s abdomen. Christopher Quock/SFSU\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In the school’s entomology museum, Hafernik lifts up a vial full of dead bees surrounded by tiny brown pupae. “This is the stuff of horror movies,” he said, “with maggots eating the insides out of these bees. Altering their behavior, perhaps, and causing their ultimate destruction.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I made this discovery entirely by accident, walking into the biology building on the San Francisco State campus one morning. I noticed that there were honey bees in front of the building that were on the ground, behaving strangely, walking around in circles.” Hafernik scooped up a few of the honeybees to feed a praying mantis that he was keeping in his office as a pet. “I put them on my desk and forgot about them. When I came back in a week or so and looked at it, that vial was filled with just a large number of these little brown fly pupae. And that’s when I knew that those bees were parasitized.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10533\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 295px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/A.-borealis-female-Jessica-Van-Den-Berg.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10533\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/A.-borealis-female-Jessica-Van-Den-Berg.jpg\" alt=\"A female Zombie fly (A. borealis). Photo by Jessica Andrieux/SFSU\" width=\"295\" height=\"324\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A female Zombie fly (A. borealis). Photo by Jessica Andrieux/SFSU\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Originally described in the boreal forests of Maine, this Phorid fly, \u003cem>Apocephalon borealis\u003c/em>, is distributed over virtually all of the United States and Canada. “It’s a very small fly, smaller than a fruit fly. It’s the kind of fly that most people would not notice, even entomologists often don’t notice these flies,” said Hafernik. But despite their diminutive size, \u003cem>A. borealis\u003c/em> can have a catastrophic effect on the host organisms that they parasitize. The female fly is equipped with a specialized ova-depositor, a needle-like stinger that she uses to inject her eggs into the abdomen of a hapless insect host. The eggs hatch and the juvenile larvae, or maggots, feed on their living host from the inside. At some point, the host insect dies and the larvae escape their host’s carcass, often through a weak spot in the neck, emerging like the monster in the movie “Alien.”\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">“Bees that fly away at night basically are on a flight of the living dead. They’re not coming back.”\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>While this fly has traditionally made use of native bumblebees and paper wasps as hosts, it has begun making use of the European honeybee — a foreign species brought to California by ship. “My graduate students and I, Andy Core and Jonathan Ivers, have been sampling honey bee colonies in collaboration with bee keepers around the San Francisco Bay Area. And what we’ve found is that almost 80 percent of the hives that we’ve worked with are infected or have been infected by this fly. So it’s a very common phenomenon in this part of the world.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The bees that are parasitized essentially get bee insomnia. They leave their hives at night, which is a really bad time for honey bees to be leaving their hives. Bees that fly away at night basically are on a flight of the living dead. They’re not coming back,” said Hafernik. While on their nocturnal outings, parasitized honeybees also seem to be compelled to seek out light sources. This behavior differentiates them from healthy bees who do not typically show interest in lights at night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10414\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 288px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/Zombees-RF-chips-640x360-288x162.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-10414\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/Zombees-RF-chips-640x360-288x162.jpg\" alt=\"SFSU graduate student Chris Quock outfits captive honeybees with tiny radio frequency chips that allow him to monitor the nocturnal behavior of bees infected by the A. borealis parasite. Photo by Josh Cassidy/KQED \" width=\"288\" height=\"162\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">SFSU graduate student Chris Quock outfits captive honeybees with tiny radio frequency chips that allow him to monitor the nocturnal behavior of bees infected by the A. borealis parasite. Photo by Josh Cassidy/KQED\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In order to begin the pursuit of a future cure or treatment for the parasite infection, researchers must first determine what is happening to the honeybees. While SFSU graduate students like Chris Quock study the day and nighttime behavior of infected bees, Hafernik has set up a citizen scientist project in order to analyze the locations where \u003cem>A. borealis\u003c/em> has switched to parasitizing honeybees. \u003ca href=\"https://www.zombeewatch.org/\">ZomBee Watch\u003c/a> provides instructions of finding, collecting and identifying parasitized honeybees using a nighttime light trap. Participants can then upload their findings to the ZomBee Watch website, where Hafernik is able to map the phenomenon and look for trends.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10413\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 288px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/Zombees-bee-in-vial-CU-640x360-288x162.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-10413\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/Zombees-bee-in-vial-CU-640x360-288x162.jpg\" alt=\"Professor John Hafernik of SFSU inspects a honeybee that may have been parasitized by A. borealis. Photo by Josh Cassidy/KQED.\" width=\"288\" height=\"162\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Professor John Hafernik of SFSU inspects a honeybee that may have been parasitized by A. borealis. Photo by Josh Cassidy/KQED.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The plight of honeybees is of particular importance to humans. “If we lost the bees, we’d end up having to change our diet, because we rely on honey bees for pollinating many of the crops that we put on our table.” Hafernik added, “Most of the fruits and vegetables that we eat are bee pollinated. Bees really are our best friends.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Farming for Cranes: Can Agriculture Save an Ancient Migration?",
"headTitle": "Farming for Cranes: Can Agriculture Save an Ancient Migration? | KQED",
"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10454\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 1024px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/kqedcrane-1024x575.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-10454\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-10454\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/kqedcrane-1024x575.jpg\" alt=\"Sandhill cranes at dawn, rousing from their nighttime roosting spots at Woodbridge Ecological Reserve. (Photo: Liza Gross)\" width=\"1024\" height=\"575\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sandhill cranes at dawn, rousing from their nighttime roosting spots at Woodbridge Ecological Reserve. (Photo: Liza Gross)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Half an hour before sunrise, we turn into the South Unit of the \u003ca href=\"http://www.dfg.ca.gov/lands/wa/region3/docs/WhiteSloughWAWoodbridgeER.pdf\">Woodbridge Ecological Reserve\u003c/a>, windows shut against the late October chill. We’re just five miles west of Lodi, but as soon as we open our car doors, all thoughts of civilization fade away as a noisy chorus of otherworldly calls rises from the marsh before us. Hundreds of sandhill cranes greet the day with an avian reveille, rousing the troops in preparation for a day of foraging in the San Joaquin River Delta’s Sycamore Slough with a steady stream of bugle calls, trills, squawks, and honks, just as they have for hundreds of thousands if not millions of years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A 2.5 million-year-old Pleistocene-era fossil found in Florida makes the sandhill crane (\u003cem>Grus canadensis\u003c/em>) among the oldest bird species still alive. Peering at the bird’s impressive physique through binoculars, it’s easy to see why biologists call them living fossils. Among the largest North American birds, they stand nearly five feet tall with a seven-foot wingspan, improbably skinny legs supporting a well-developed body. (Hunters long coveted the birds for their size, and though overhunting once threatened the birds with extinction, 16 states now allow hunting.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Every September, thousands of cranes flock with youngsters in tow to this Central Valley delta from their breeding grounds in Northern California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington and British Columbia. Joining hundreds of thousands of other migratory birds along the \u003ca href=\"http://conservation.audubon.org/pacific-flyway\">Pacific Flyway\u003c/a> (one of four major flyways in the United States), this Central Valley population stays through the winter, bulking up on insects, rodents and leftover grain, before heading back north in March to breed. (A lesser sandhill crane population, called the \u003ca href=\"http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1059&context=usgsnpwrc\">Pacific Flyway population\u003c/a>, also migrates here from Alaska.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10464\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 538px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/greategret-768x1024.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-10464 \" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/greategret-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Wildlife-friendly agriculture benefits some 200 species of water-adapted birds, including the great egret. (Photo: Liza Gross)\" width=\"538\" height=\"517\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Wildlife-friendly agriculture benefits some 200 species of water-adapted birds, including the great egret. (Photo: Liza Gross)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When we first spot the cranes in the misty dawn, they’re stirring from a night of roosting in the open waters of the slough, (mostly) safe from coyotes and other predators. Within a few hours, they’ll head out to forage and rest for the day in nearby corn, rice and wheat fields.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Historic Threats\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nThough sandhill cranes are the most abundant and widely distributed of the world’s 15 crane species, ranging from eastern Siberia to Cuba, the Central Valley population dropped precipitously during the early part of the last century, victims of overhunting and widespread habitat loss. The transformation of the valley’s floodplains to accommodate agriculture and development deprived waterfowl, shorebirds and waders of 90-95 percent of their seasonal wetland habitat, historically maintained by late-winter rains. By 1983, \u003ca href=\"http://cosumnes.org/about_crp/Ivy%20Crane%20Assessment.pdf\">California listed\u003c/a> the greater sandhill crane as a threatened species.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To re-create lost winter habitats, state wildlife officials and conservation organizations, notably \u003ca href=\"http://www.nature.org/\">The Nature Conservancy\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"http://www.audubon.org/\">Audubon\u003c/a>, started working with rice and corn farmers in the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys to identify management practices that would benefit both the farmers and wildlife. For decades, farmers burned their fields after harvest, a cheap way to destroy crop residue and control disease and pests. But the practice, which generated hazardous air pollutants such as hydrocarbons and sulfur dioxide, was \u003ca href=\"http://www.calrice.org/pdf/Reduction_Act_1991.pdf\">banned in 1991\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Farmers turned to post-harvest flooding to decompose husks and stubble in their fields with the happy albeit unintentional consequence of creating high-quality habitat for waterbirds like the crane—a result that may explain why millions of water-adapted birds still use the region each year despite the catastrophic loss of wetland habitat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Farming for Wildlife\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nConcerned about ongoing habitat loss in the region and to show how intentional flooding and managing fields after harvest could benefit migratory birds, The Nature Conservancy bought \u003ca href=\"http://deltarevision.com/2002_docs/2002staten-cranes%5B1%5D.pdf\">Staten Island\u003c/a>, just west of Woodbridge, in 2001. Though crops include corn, tomatoes and wheat (not rice), Staten Island now serves as a working example of what wildlife-friendly agriculture looks like. Some fields are flooded to provide roosting spots safe from coyotes (it’s easier to hear approaching predators when they splash in the water) while others retain leftover grain to feed the overwintering birds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Well aware that flooding fields can prove expensive for larger farms, a recent study published this month in \u003ca href=\"http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167880913002557\">Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment\u003c/a> evaluated different water-management practices to find the optimal balance of farmers’ costs and wildlife benefits. Although shorebirds, ducks and waders prefer different water depths for foraging and roosting, the researchers found that even one-time flooding can provide benefits to winter migrants while reducing the costs of more water-intensive management regimes. With climate change models predicting reduced precipitation in the Sierra Nevada and Central Valley, the finding demonstrates that it’s still possible to support water-sensitive wildlife in farming regions in the face of limited water availability. It’s important to note, however, that cranes face a much higher risk of predation if water levels drop too low.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We saw scores of cranes foraging in the corn fields in Staten Island last week, an indication that cranes and farms can co-exist. But loss of habitat remains a concern, as the past decade has seen more \u003ca href=\"http://deltarevision.com/2002_docs/2002staten-cranes%5B1%5D.pdf\">vineyards and orchards move into grain fields\u003c/a> historically used by cranes. With most wintering cranes \u003ca href=\"http://ca.audubon.org/sandhill-crane-0\">concentrating on private lands\u003c/a> in the valley, the future of this Pleistocene throwback will depend on the willingness of landowners to work with biologists to manage the land with wildlife in mind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNNxGCi3rAw\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>****\u003cbr>\nLodi celebrates the annual influx of avian visitors with a \u003ca href=\"http://www.cranefestival.com/\">Sandhill Crane Festival\u003c/a>, November 1-3. You can sign up for \u003ca href=\"http://www.cranefestival.com/tours.php\">guided tours\u003c/a> or \u003ca href=\"//cosumnes.org/documents/viewing.pdf\">follow this map\u003c/a> to venture out to \u003ca href=\"www.cosumnes.org\">Cosumnes River Preserve\u003c/a>, Staten Island or the \u003ca href=\"http://www.dfg.ca.gov/lands/er/region3/woodbridge.html\">Woodbridge Ecological Reserve\u003c/a> (also known as Isenberg Sandhill Crane Preserve) on your own. The best time to see cranes is around dawn and dusk.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Every September, the majestic sandhill crane migrates by the thousands from their breeding grounds as far north as British Columbia to the San Joaquin Valley Delta to fatten up for the next breeding season. Their long-term survival depends on innovative collaborations between conservation biologists and farmers to manage agricultural land as high-quality habitat.",
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"description": "Every September, the majestic sandhill crane migrates by the thousands from their breeding grounds as far north as British Columbia to the San Joaquin Valley Delta to fatten up for the next breeding season. Their long-term survival depends on innovative collaborations between conservation biologists and farmers to manage agricultural land as high-quality habitat.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10454\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 1024px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/kqedcrane-1024x575.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-10454\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-10454\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/kqedcrane-1024x575.jpg\" alt=\"Sandhill cranes at dawn, rousing from their nighttime roosting spots at Woodbridge Ecological Reserve. (Photo: Liza Gross)\" width=\"1024\" height=\"575\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sandhill cranes at dawn, rousing from their nighttime roosting spots at Woodbridge Ecological Reserve. (Photo: Liza Gross)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Half an hour before sunrise, we turn into the South Unit of the \u003ca href=\"http://www.dfg.ca.gov/lands/wa/region3/docs/WhiteSloughWAWoodbridgeER.pdf\">Woodbridge Ecological Reserve\u003c/a>, windows shut against the late October chill. We’re just five miles west of Lodi, but as soon as we open our car doors, all thoughts of civilization fade away as a noisy chorus of otherworldly calls rises from the marsh before us. Hundreds of sandhill cranes greet the day with an avian reveille, rousing the troops in preparation for a day of foraging in the San Joaquin River Delta’s Sycamore Slough with a steady stream of bugle calls, trills, squawks, and honks, just as they have for hundreds of thousands if not millions of years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A 2.5 million-year-old Pleistocene-era fossil found in Florida makes the sandhill crane (\u003cem>Grus canadensis\u003c/em>) among the oldest bird species still alive. Peering at the bird’s impressive physique through binoculars, it’s easy to see why biologists call them living fossils. Among the largest North American birds, they stand nearly five feet tall with a seven-foot wingspan, improbably skinny legs supporting a well-developed body. (Hunters long coveted the birds for their size, and though overhunting once threatened the birds with extinction, 16 states now allow hunting.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Every September, thousands of cranes flock with youngsters in tow to this Central Valley delta from their breeding grounds in Northern California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington and British Columbia. Joining hundreds of thousands of other migratory birds along the \u003ca href=\"http://conservation.audubon.org/pacific-flyway\">Pacific Flyway\u003c/a> (one of four major flyways in the United States), this Central Valley population stays through the winter, bulking up on insects, rodents and leftover grain, before heading back north in March to breed. (A lesser sandhill crane population, called the \u003ca href=\"http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1059&context=usgsnpwrc\">Pacific Flyway population\u003c/a>, also migrates here from Alaska.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10464\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 538px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/greategret-768x1024.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-10464 \" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/greategret-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Wildlife-friendly agriculture benefits some 200 species of water-adapted birds, including the great egret. (Photo: Liza Gross)\" width=\"538\" height=\"517\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Wildlife-friendly agriculture benefits some 200 species of water-adapted birds, including the great egret. (Photo: Liza Gross)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When we first spot the cranes in the misty dawn, they’re stirring from a night of roosting in the open waters of the slough, (mostly) safe from coyotes and other predators. Within a few hours, they’ll head out to forage and rest for the day in nearby corn, rice and wheat fields.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Historic Threats\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nThough sandhill cranes are the most abundant and widely distributed of the world’s 15 crane species, ranging from eastern Siberia to Cuba, the Central Valley population dropped precipitously during the early part of the last century, victims of overhunting and widespread habitat loss. The transformation of the valley’s floodplains to accommodate agriculture and development deprived waterfowl, shorebirds and waders of 90-95 percent of their seasonal wetland habitat, historically maintained by late-winter rains. By 1983, \u003ca href=\"http://cosumnes.org/about_crp/Ivy%20Crane%20Assessment.pdf\">California listed\u003c/a> the greater sandhill crane as a threatened species.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To re-create lost winter habitats, state wildlife officials and conservation organizations, notably \u003ca href=\"http://www.nature.org/\">The Nature Conservancy\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"http://www.audubon.org/\">Audubon\u003c/a>, started working with rice and corn farmers in the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys to identify management practices that would benefit both the farmers and wildlife. For decades, farmers burned their fields after harvest, a cheap way to destroy crop residue and control disease and pests. But the practice, which generated hazardous air pollutants such as hydrocarbons and sulfur dioxide, was \u003ca href=\"http://www.calrice.org/pdf/Reduction_Act_1991.pdf\">banned in 1991\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Farmers turned to post-harvest flooding to decompose husks and stubble in their fields with the happy albeit unintentional consequence of creating high-quality habitat for waterbirds like the crane—a result that may explain why millions of water-adapted birds still use the region each year despite the catastrophic loss of wetland habitat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Farming for Wildlife\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nConcerned about ongoing habitat loss in the region and to show how intentional flooding and managing fields after harvest could benefit migratory birds, The Nature Conservancy bought \u003ca href=\"http://deltarevision.com/2002_docs/2002staten-cranes%5B1%5D.pdf\">Staten Island\u003c/a>, just west of Woodbridge, in 2001. Though crops include corn, tomatoes and wheat (not rice), Staten Island now serves as a working example of what wildlife-friendly agriculture looks like. Some fields are flooded to provide roosting spots safe from coyotes (it’s easier to hear approaching predators when they splash in the water) while others retain leftover grain to feed the overwintering birds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Well aware that flooding fields can prove expensive for larger farms, a recent study published this month in \u003ca href=\"http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167880913002557\">Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment\u003c/a> evaluated different water-management practices to find the optimal balance of farmers’ costs and wildlife benefits. Although shorebirds, ducks and waders prefer different water depths for foraging and roosting, the researchers found that even one-time flooding can provide benefits to winter migrants while reducing the costs of more water-intensive management regimes. With climate change models predicting reduced precipitation in the Sierra Nevada and Central Valley, the finding demonstrates that it’s still possible to support water-sensitive wildlife in farming regions in the face of limited water availability. It’s important to note, however, that cranes face a much higher risk of predation if water levels drop too low.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We saw scores of cranes foraging in the corn fields in Staten Island last week, an indication that cranes and farms can co-exist. But loss of habitat remains a concern, as the past decade has seen more \u003ca href=\"http://deltarevision.com/2002_docs/2002staten-cranes%5B1%5D.pdf\">vineyards and orchards move into grain fields\u003c/a> historically used by cranes. With most wintering cranes \u003ca href=\"http://ca.audubon.org/sandhill-crane-0\">concentrating on private lands\u003c/a> in the valley, the future of this Pleistocene throwback will depend on the willingness of landowners to work with biologists to manage the land with wildlife in mind.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/oNNxGCi3rAw'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/oNNxGCi3rAw'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>****\u003cbr>\nLodi celebrates the annual influx of avian visitors with a \u003ca href=\"http://www.cranefestival.com/\">Sandhill Crane Festival\u003c/a>, November 1-3. You can sign up for \u003ca href=\"http://www.cranefestival.com/tours.php\">guided tours\u003c/a> or \u003ca href=\"//cosumnes.org/documents/viewing.pdf\">follow this map\u003c/a> to venture out to \u003ca href=\"www.cosumnes.org\">Cosumnes River Preserve\u003c/a>, Staten Island or the \u003ca href=\"http://www.dfg.ca.gov/lands/er/region3/woodbridge.html\">Woodbridge Ecological Reserve\u003c/a> (also known as Isenberg Sandhill Crane Preserve) on your own. The best time to see cranes is around dawn and dusk.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Controversial Genetic Engineering Technique Could Prevent Fatal Illnesses in Children",
"headTitle": "Controversial Genetic Engineering Technique Could Prevent Fatal Illnesses in Children | KQED",
"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10140\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/NuclearTransferMod.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-10140\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10140\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/NuclearTransferMod.jpg\" alt=\"Transferring the nucleus of a couple's fertilized egg to a donated egg can result in a healthy baby who shares mom's DNA. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.\" width=\"640\" height=\"448\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Transferring the nucleus of a couple’s fertilized egg to a donated egg can result in a healthy baby who shares mom’s DNA. Image courtesy of \u003ca href=\"http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Microinjection_of_a_human_egg.svg\">Wikimedia Commons\u003c/a>.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>If scientists are allowed to perform a simple genetic engineering procedure, they will be able to offer a reprieve to a small group of women who are condemned to pass certain fatal genetic diseases to each and every one of their children. This relatively straightforward procedure will allow a woman with one of these diseases to have a healthy baby with whom she will pretty much share half of her DNA. Only the tiniest snippet of DNA would come from an egg donor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This procedure isn’t for all women in this situation though; it can only help women who carry certain \u003ca href=\"http://www.umdf.org/site/pp.aspx?c=8qKOJ0MvF7LUG&b=7934627\">mitochondrial diseases\u003c/a>. People with these genetic diseases suffer because they have \u003ca href=\"http://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/mitochondria-14053590\">mitochondria\u003c/a> that don’t work properly. Since the mitochondria are the organelles in the cell responsible for making the energy that keeps each of us running, defective mitochondria can have pretty severe effects. In some cases, it causes death at a very early age.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10142\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 250px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/NuclearTransfer.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-10142\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10142\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/NuclearTransfer.jpg\" alt=\"Switching out nuclei is a relatively straightforward procedure.\" width=\"250\" height=\"422\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Switching out nuclei is a relatively straightforward procedure.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As you can see in the image on the right, the procedure to deal with this swaps out the defective mitochondria in a woman’s egg for the functioning mitochondria of a donated egg. It really is just taking a perfectly healthy nucleus from the fertilized egg and putting it into an egg with perfectly healthy mitochondria. The newly combined fertilized egg is then put back into mom where it can go on to develop into a mitochondrial disease-free baby.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unfortunately, not every woman carrying a mitochondrial disease can be helped with this procedure. Only those who carry a mitochondrial disease caused by mutation(s) in her mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) can benefit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mitochondria are unique in animal cells because they \u003ca href=\"http://genetics.thetech.org/ask/ask165\">have a tiny bit of their own DNA\u003c/a> (probably an \u003ca href=\"http://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/the-origin-of-mitochondria-14232356\">evolutionary leftover\u003c/a> from when they were free living beasts hundreds of millions of years ago). This mtDNA only makes up about 1/300,000th of our total DNA and has only about 37 genes, but it can still cause problems when it is damaged. And it is this DNA that also makes this procedure so controversial.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ever since scientists have been able to tinker with people’s DNA, it has been strictly taboo for them to engineer any DNA in egg or sperm cells. This made perfect sense in the past because the tweaking they were doing involved actually changing a patient’s DNA. They didn’t want any unintended side effects that resulted from their genetic engineering to be passed on to the next generation. Their genetic tinkering was meant to stop with the patient.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The genetic engineering here is done on an egg and does involve tinkering that could be passed on to the next generation and so would seem to be taboo as well. But this sort of genetic engineering is fundamentally different from procedures done in the past.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are no real changes in a patient’s DNA with this procedure. No one is mutating a gene or inserting a new gene in some random place in a patient’s DNA. Instead they are simply exchanging a complete, bundled set of DNA for a nearly identical, bundled set of DNA.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is like replacing your Firefox browser for the Chrome browser on your computer as opposed to tweaking the Firefox browser so it is more like Chrome. In the first case, there is very little risk of any issues but in the second, there is a real chance for some sort of fatal bug (especially since we don’t have a good grasp of the programming language we are playing with).\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10144\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 200px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/Mitochondrion.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-10144\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10144\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/Mitochondrion.jpg\" alt=\"These mitochondria have their own bit of DNA that can cause problems if mutated. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.\" width=\"200\" height=\"150\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">These mitochondria have their own bit of DNA that can cause problems if mutated. Image courtesy of \u003ca href=\"http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mitochondria,_mammalian_lung_-_TEM.jpg\">Wikimedia Commons\u003c/a>.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Given that this is such a simple and straightforward switch, it is hard to come up with why exchanging mitochondria would pose a safety issue. There is no risk of causing cancer (as has happened with adding a gene in the wrong place) or creating some never before seen trait or anything like that. It is a clean swap of a discrete bit of DNA.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And in fact, \u003ca href=\"http://genetics.thetech.org/ask/ask70\">this procedure was used over a decade ago\u003c/a> with the end result being at least twenty healthy babies being born. There have been no reports of any issues with any of these children. Thus far it appears to be safe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All of this taken together means it is extremely unlikely that children conceived this way will have any adverse side effects to pass on to the next generation. But if the worry about passing on this mtDNA is the major hurdle to letting these women give birth to healthy babies, then maybe a good compromise might be to let these women only have sons with this procedure. \u003ca href=\"http://genetics.thetech.org/ask-a-geneticist/mtdna-comes-only-mom\">Men do not pass on their mtDNA\u003c/a>, only women do. (The egg destroys any sperm mitochondria lurking around after fertilization). The genetic engineering would stop with the engineered child.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course, the safety of future generations is not the only concern. Bioethicists are concerned that these children might be confused as to their identity as they technically have three parents. Yes, this might be a concern but it seems like lots of kids are dealing with very similar issues these days. For example, if the couple had used an egg donor then the child would have to deal with the fact that their mom isn’t their biological mom. The same sorts of issues arise with same sex couples, adoptions and so on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another objection is that these women should not take even this small risk and should instead elect to adopt. Undoubtedly many women would choose this option but they probably shouldn’t be forced to. If it is important to a woman that her child share her DNA and there is a safe way to do it, then she should probably have the option.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It will be interesting to see how this all shakes out. Replacing malfunctioning mitochondria is fundamentally different than any other genetic engineering that has been done in the past and so would seem to be exempt from the previous taboo. If any genetic engineering is ever allowed in the egg, this is probably the one that should be.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Read more about this in this \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/10/09/229167219/proposed-treatment-to-fix-genetic-diseases-raising-ethics-issues\">NPR story\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10140\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/NuclearTransferMod.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-10140\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10140\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/NuclearTransferMod.jpg\" alt=\"Transferring the nucleus of a couple's fertilized egg to a donated egg can result in a healthy baby who shares mom's DNA. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.\" width=\"640\" height=\"448\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Transferring the nucleus of a couple’s fertilized egg to a donated egg can result in a healthy baby who shares mom’s DNA. Image courtesy of \u003ca href=\"http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Microinjection_of_a_human_egg.svg\">Wikimedia Commons\u003c/a>.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>If scientists are allowed to perform a simple genetic engineering procedure, they will be able to offer a reprieve to a small group of women who are condemned to pass certain fatal genetic diseases to each and every one of their children. This relatively straightforward procedure will allow a woman with one of these diseases to have a healthy baby with whom she will pretty much share half of her DNA. Only the tiniest snippet of DNA would come from an egg donor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This procedure isn’t for all women in this situation though; it can only help women who carry certain \u003ca href=\"http://www.umdf.org/site/pp.aspx?c=8qKOJ0MvF7LUG&b=7934627\">mitochondrial diseases\u003c/a>. People with these genetic diseases suffer because they have \u003ca href=\"http://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/mitochondria-14053590\">mitochondria\u003c/a> that don’t work properly. Since the mitochondria are the organelles in the cell responsible for making the energy that keeps each of us running, defective mitochondria can have pretty severe effects. In some cases, it causes death at a very early age.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10142\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 250px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/NuclearTransfer.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-10142\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10142\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/NuclearTransfer.jpg\" alt=\"Switching out nuclei is a relatively straightforward procedure.\" width=\"250\" height=\"422\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Switching out nuclei is a relatively straightforward procedure.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As you can see in the image on the right, the procedure to deal with this swaps out the defective mitochondria in a woman’s egg for the functioning mitochondria of a donated egg. It really is just taking a perfectly healthy nucleus from the fertilized egg and putting it into an egg with perfectly healthy mitochondria. The newly combined fertilized egg is then put back into mom where it can go on to develop into a mitochondrial disease-free baby.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unfortunately, not every woman carrying a mitochondrial disease can be helped with this procedure. Only those who carry a mitochondrial disease caused by mutation(s) in her mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) can benefit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mitochondria are unique in animal cells because they \u003ca href=\"http://genetics.thetech.org/ask/ask165\">have a tiny bit of their own DNA\u003c/a> (probably an \u003ca href=\"http://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/the-origin-of-mitochondria-14232356\">evolutionary leftover\u003c/a> from when they were free living beasts hundreds of millions of years ago). This mtDNA only makes up about 1/300,000th of our total DNA and has only about 37 genes, but it can still cause problems when it is damaged. And it is this DNA that also makes this procedure so controversial.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ever since scientists have been able to tinker with people’s DNA, it has been strictly taboo for them to engineer any DNA in egg or sperm cells. This made perfect sense in the past because the tweaking they were doing involved actually changing a patient’s DNA. They didn’t want any unintended side effects that resulted from their genetic engineering to be passed on to the next generation. Their genetic tinkering was meant to stop with the patient.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The genetic engineering here is done on an egg and does involve tinkering that could be passed on to the next generation and so would seem to be taboo as well. But this sort of genetic engineering is fundamentally different from procedures done in the past.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are no real changes in a patient’s DNA with this procedure. No one is mutating a gene or inserting a new gene in some random place in a patient’s DNA. Instead they are simply exchanging a complete, bundled set of DNA for a nearly identical, bundled set of DNA.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is like replacing your Firefox browser for the Chrome browser on your computer as opposed to tweaking the Firefox browser so it is more like Chrome. In the first case, there is very little risk of any issues but in the second, there is a real chance for some sort of fatal bug (especially since we don’t have a good grasp of the programming language we are playing with).\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10144\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 200px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/Mitochondrion.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-10144\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10144\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/Mitochondrion.jpg\" alt=\"These mitochondria have their own bit of DNA that can cause problems if mutated. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.\" width=\"200\" height=\"150\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">These mitochondria have their own bit of DNA that can cause problems if mutated. Image courtesy of \u003ca href=\"http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mitochondria,_mammalian_lung_-_TEM.jpg\">Wikimedia Commons\u003c/a>.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Given that this is such a simple and straightforward switch, it is hard to come up with why exchanging mitochondria would pose a safety issue. There is no risk of causing cancer (as has happened with adding a gene in the wrong place) or creating some never before seen trait or anything like that. It is a clean swap of a discrete bit of DNA.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And in fact, \u003ca href=\"http://genetics.thetech.org/ask/ask70\">this procedure was used over a decade ago\u003c/a> with the end result being at least twenty healthy babies being born. There have been no reports of any issues with any of these children. Thus far it appears to be safe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All of this taken together means it is extremely unlikely that children conceived this way will have any adverse side effects to pass on to the next generation. But if the worry about passing on this mtDNA is the major hurdle to letting these women give birth to healthy babies, then maybe a good compromise might be to let these women only have sons with this procedure. \u003ca href=\"http://genetics.thetech.org/ask-a-geneticist/mtdna-comes-only-mom\">Men do not pass on their mtDNA\u003c/a>, only women do. (The egg destroys any sperm mitochondria lurking around after fertilization). The genetic engineering would stop with the engineered child.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course, the safety of future generations is not the only concern. Bioethicists are concerned that these children might be confused as to their identity as they technically have three parents. Yes, this might be a concern but it seems like lots of kids are dealing with very similar issues these days. For example, if the couple had used an egg donor then the child would have to deal with the fact that their mom isn’t their biological mom. The same sorts of issues arise with same sex couples, adoptions and so on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another objection is that these women should not take even this small risk and should instead elect to adopt. Undoubtedly many women would choose this option but they probably shouldn’t be forced to. If it is important to a woman that her child share her DNA and there is a safe way to do it, then she should probably have the option.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It will be interesting to see how this all shakes out. Replacing malfunctioning mitochondria is fundamentally different than any other genetic engineering that has been done in the past and so would seem to be exempt from the previous taboo. If any genetic engineering is ever allowed in the egg, this is probably the one that should be.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Read more about this in this \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/10/09/229167219/proposed-treatment-to-fix-genetic-diseases-raising-ethics-issues\">NPR story\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"disqusTitle": "Road Kill or Road Crossing: California Slow to Protect Wildlife",
"title": "Road Kill or Road Crossing: California Slow to Protect Wildlife",
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"content": "\u003cp>Most drivers have had this experience: it’s late at night and out of nowhere an animal darts across the road. Thousands of animals are hit every year in California, taking a toll on both wildlife and drivers. Nationwide, wildlife collisions are estimated to cause $1 billion in damage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Several western states have built infrastructure to help wildlife cross under highways safely—projects known as “wildlife corridors.” Some experts say that while California officials know about the extent of the problem, the state is way behind in solving it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The dangers have recently become clear in the Santa Cruz Mountains, where mountain lions are crossing Highway 17, a winding, four-lane highway. The population is being studied by the \u003ca href=\"http://santacruzpumas.org/\">Santa Cruz Puma Project\u003c/a>, run out of the University of California-Santa Cruz.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On a sunny, late-spring afternoon, field biologist Paul Houghtaling meets up with Dan Tichenor, a volunteer from California Houndsmen for Conservation, and his hound dogs. They tracked the scent of a mountain lion, now in a tree to avoid the barking dogs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He’s looking at us,” Houghtaling says, looking up at the lion. “He’s interested in us but just a little while ago he had his head down on the branch. He’s gonna wait us out.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_62748\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 400px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/2013/04/280-deer.jpg\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-62748\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/2013/04/280-deer.jpg\" alt=\" Deer crossing under I-280 in the Bay Area, as captured by a wildlife camera. Scientists say fencing could help direct animals to these spots. (Photo: UC Davis Road Ecology Center)\" width=\"400\" height=\"330\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Deer crossing under I-280 in the Bay Area, as captured by a wildlife camera. Scientists say fencing could help direct animals to these spots. (Photo: UC Davis Road Ecology Center)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Houghtaling intends to put a radio and GPS tracking collar on the lion. The data will feed into a five-year project to document mountain lion movements in the area and study how they live around people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve had several lions that have crossed Highway 17 down near Santa Cruz many times,” he says. “One of them was hit and killed about a week before she was going to give birth to a single kitten.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Four other lions have been killed on Highway 17 in the last few years. Houghtaling says the data show that most of them are trying to cross the highway at the same places, which makes those locations good candidates for wildlife corridor projects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>“Circle of Death”\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We know it’s a problem and we know how to fix it,” said Fraser Shilling, director of the \u003ca href=\"http://roadecology.ucdavis.edu/\">Road Ecology Center\u003c/a> at UC Davis. “Almost every place you have a highway near an open space area, we have hotspots. So it’s sort of a circle of death around the Bay Area.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Bay Area’s highway network fragments wildlife habitat, either forcing animals to cross freeways or isolating them in “islands” of habitat. Scientists say connecting habitat will be increasingly important with climate change, as animals and plants need to move with shifting conditions. A recent effort by conservation groups \u003ca href=\"http://www.bayarealands.org/next-steps/linkages.php\">identified 14 places \u003c/a>where preserving land would connect the Bay Area's open spaces.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://www.wildlifecrossing.net/california/\">Citizen scientists have documented\u003c/a> around 7,000 dead animals on Bay Area roads over the last four years, which Shilling says represents a fraction of the total number.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_62746\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 278px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/2013/04/hotspot-map.jpg\">\u003cimg class=\"size-large wp-image-62746\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/2013/04/hotspot-map-278x360.jpg\" alt=\"Bay Area wildlife collision hotspots.\" width=\"278\" height=\"360\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bay Area wildlife collision hotspots (\u003cstrong>click to enlarge\u003c/strong>).\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Another road-kill hotspot is Interstate 280, a commuter favorite heading south out of San Francisco. The multi-lane freeway opens to rolling, grassy hills on either side.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shilling \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/news/story/2012/07/30/103810/study_tracks_deer_movement_on_interstate_280?category=science\">tracked deer behavior around the freeway\u003c/a> for six months. “They’ll come right up to the edge of highway,” he says. “They’ll also try to cross the highway and because it’s so busy, they really can’t make it. They’ll get hit.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Collisions at freeway speeds are often fatal for the deer, and sometimes for the driver. Every year, drivers hit about 40 deer along I-280, but Shilling found some deer are going under the freeway through culverts and underpasses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a report he’s drafting for Caltrans, Shilling recommends putting up wildlife fencing that would funnel deer to the underpasses, keeping them off the freeway. Those underpasses could be made more attractive to wildlife by creating separate pathways for people and animals to use. Animals tend to avoid areas that are heavily used by people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Building fences can be expensive—up to $100,000 per mile—but Shilling compares that to cost of collisions from vehicle damage and injuries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“On Interstate 280, there are places where the cost is about $10,000–40,000 per mile from collisions per year,” he says. “So when you add that up and say: what is that over ten years and would it be cost-effective to do something? Certainly, it would save society money.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other western states like Colorado and Montana have put in fences and built underpasses on major highways, and the projects have proven effective.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shilling says California is lagging behind. “We build about one wildlife underpass per year and the scale of the problem here is huge,” he says. “Because this is framed as an environmental issue, Caltrans seems to ignore it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Waiting for Report\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is a problem,” says Bob Haus, spokesman for Caltrans District 4, representing the Bay Area. “It’s very difficult for humans and wildlife to mix. If we can cut down on human injuries and wildlife injuries, then we’ll do anything we can to do that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Haus says Caltrans is building a culvert for wildlife near Napa \u003ca href=\"http://www.dot.ca.gov/dist4/12jamesoncanyon/\">as Highway 12 is widened\u003c/a>. But that’s only one of five projects being built or designed specifically for wildlife in the Bay Area that Caltrans could name.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_62750\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 360px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/2013/04/Hwy-101-Tick-Creek-Bobcat.jpg\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-62750\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/2013/04/Hwy-101-Tick-Creek-Bobcat.jpg\" alt=\"A bobcat uses an existing culvert under Highway 152, the site of a wildlife corridor research project by the Nature Conservancy (Photo: The Nature Conservancy Pajaro Connectivity Study).\" width=\"360\" height=\"262\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A bobcat uses an existing culvert under Highway 152, the site of a wildlife corridor research project by the Nature Conservancy (Photo: The Nature Conservancy Pajaro Connectivity Study).\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The agency also remains skeptical about using fencing as a guide path. “So, say if you have fencing that’s specifically designed for a deer, it might harm other species,” Haus says. “So if there’s anyway at all to avoid the fencing, we try to do that right now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Haus says his district has commissioned a report from UC Davis about Bay Area collision hotspots.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It really depends on what they recommend. If it requires any changes to what our projects already are, we’ll go from there.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fraser Shilling wants to see legislation that requires Caltrans to make all highway projects more wildlife-safe. “The agency, Caltrans, has known about this problem for a long time,” he says. “They’ve heard about it from Fish and Game. They’ve heard about it from their peers. They’re not doing it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I believe there’s a lot more that can be done in California to make habitats more connected for wildlife, particularly across roads and other kinds of barriers,” says David Wright, who works on the Resource Assessment Program at the \u003ca href=\"http://www.dfg.ca.gov/\">California Department of Fish and Wildlife\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think that if we starting thinking about every project as it comes up and trying to make sure that we include something that improves connectivity for wildlife, then I think we’ll start seeing better habitat and more wildlife in our state,\" Wright says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Progress on Highway 17\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back in the Santa Cruz mountains, Paul Houghtaling loads his rifle with a dart to sedate the mountain lion in the tree above us. He takes aim and the dart hits square in the thigh. The mountain lion leaps down and runs by at full speed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He catches up with her (turns out it’s a “she”) as she’s failing asleep under some bushes. Houghtaling takes her vitals and fits her with a radio collar, giving her the name \"\u003ca href=\"http://santacruzpumas.org/2013/05/30/meet-38f/\">38F\u003c/a>\" as the 38th mountain lion in the study.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Things could be looking up for the Santa Cruz lion population. Local land trusts, including the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County, and the Peninsula Open Space Trust, are working with another Caltrans district, District 5, to improve highway 17 by expanding culverts and putting up fencing in two locations. The group is using cameras to study animal movement in those corridors and is currently applying for state funding to complete the project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>See the mountain lion capture in KQED's \"Science on the SPOT: Chasing Pumas\":\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQyh13LOmnM&noredirect=1\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Drivers hit thousands of animals every year on California freeways, often killing the wildlife, and sometimes killing or injuring the human, too. Several western states have built fencing and other infrastructure to help wildlife cross freeways safely, and critics say California could be doing a lot more of the same.",
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"description": "Drivers hit thousands of animals every year on California freeways, often killing the wildlife, and sometimes killing or injuring the human, too. Several western states have built fencing and other infrastructure to help wildlife cross freeways safely, and critics say California could be doing a lot more of the same.",
"title": "Road Kill or Road Crossing: California Slow to Protect Wildlife | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Most drivers have had this experience: it’s late at night and out of nowhere an animal darts across the road. Thousands of animals are hit every year in California, taking a toll on both wildlife and drivers. Nationwide, wildlife collisions are estimated to cause $1 billion in damage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Several western states have built infrastructure to help wildlife cross under highways safely—projects known as “wildlife corridors.” Some experts say that while California officials know about the extent of the problem, the state is way behind in solving it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The dangers have recently become clear in the Santa Cruz Mountains, where mountain lions are crossing Highway 17, a winding, four-lane highway. The population is being studied by the \u003ca href=\"http://santacruzpumas.org/\">Santa Cruz Puma Project\u003c/a>, run out of the University of California-Santa Cruz.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On a sunny, late-spring afternoon, field biologist Paul Houghtaling meets up with Dan Tichenor, a volunteer from California Houndsmen for Conservation, and his hound dogs. They tracked the scent of a mountain lion, now in a tree to avoid the barking dogs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He’s looking at us,” Houghtaling says, looking up at the lion. “He’s interested in us but just a little while ago he had his head down on the branch. He’s gonna wait us out.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_62748\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 400px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/2013/04/280-deer.jpg\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-62748\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/2013/04/280-deer.jpg\" alt=\" Deer crossing under I-280 in the Bay Area, as captured by a wildlife camera. Scientists say fencing could help direct animals to these spots. (Photo: UC Davis Road Ecology Center)\" width=\"400\" height=\"330\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Deer crossing under I-280 in the Bay Area, as captured by a wildlife camera. Scientists say fencing could help direct animals to these spots. (Photo: UC Davis Road Ecology Center)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Houghtaling intends to put a radio and GPS tracking collar on the lion. The data will feed into a five-year project to document mountain lion movements in the area and study how they live around people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve had several lions that have crossed Highway 17 down near Santa Cruz many times,” he says. “One of them was hit and killed about a week before she was going to give birth to a single kitten.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Four other lions have been killed on Highway 17 in the last few years. Houghtaling says the data show that most of them are trying to cross the highway at the same places, which makes those locations good candidates for wildlife corridor projects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>“Circle of Death”\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We know it’s a problem and we know how to fix it,” said Fraser Shilling, director of the \u003ca href=\"http://roadecology.ucdavis.edu/\">Road Ecology Center\u003c/a> at UC Davis. “Almost every place you have a highway near an open space area, we have hotspots. So it’s sort of a circle of death around the Bay Area.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Bay Area’s highway network fragments wildlife habitat, either forcing animals to cross freeways or isolating them in “islands” of habitat. Scientists say connecting habitat will be increasingly important with climate change, as animals and plants need to move with shifting conditions. A recent effort by conservation groups \u003ca href=\"http://www.bayarealands.org/next-steps/linkages.php\">identified 14 places \u003c/a>where preserving land would connect the Bay Area's open spaces.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://www.wildlifecrossing.net/california/\">Citizen scientists have documented\u003c/a> around 7,000 dead animals on Bay Area roads over the last four years, which Shilling says represents a fraction of the total number.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_62746\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 278px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/2013/04/hotspot-map.jpg\">\u003cimg class=\"size-large wp-image-62746\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/2013/04/hotspot-map-278x360.jpg\" alt=\"Bay Area wildlife collision hotspots.\" width=\"278\" height=\"360\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bay Area wildlife collision hotspots (\u003cstrong>click to enlarge\u003c/strong>).\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Another road-kill hotspot is Interstate 280, a commuter favorite heading south out of San Francisco. The multi-lane freeway opens to rolling, grassy hills on either side.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shilling \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/news/story/2012/07/30/103810/study_tracks_deer_movement_on_interstate_280?category=science\">tracked deer behavior around the freeway\u003c/a> for six months. “They’ll come right up to the edge of highway,” he says. “They’ll also try to cross the highway and because it’s so busy, they really can’t make it. They’ll get hit.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Collisions at freeway speeds are often fatal for the deer, and sometimes for the driver. Every year, drivers hit about 40 deer along I-280, but Shilling found some deer are going under the freeway through culverts and underpasses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a report he’s drafting for Caltrans, Shilling recommends putting up wildlife fencing that would funnel deer to the underpasses, keeping them off the freeway. Those underpasses could be made more attractive to wildlife by creating separate pathways for people and animals to use. Animals tend to avoid areas that are heavily used by people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Building fences can be expensive—up to $100,000 per mile—but Shilling compares that to cost of collisions from vehicle damage and injuries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“On Interstate 280, there are places where the cost is about $10,000–40,000 per mile from collisions per year,” he says. “So when you add that up and say: what is that over ten years and would it be cost-effective to do something? Certainly, it would save society money.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other western states like Colorado and Montana have put in fences and built underpasses on major highways, and the projects have proven effective.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shilling says California is lagging behind. “We build about one wildlife underpass per year and the scale of the problem here is huge,” he says. “Because this is framed as an environmental issue, Caltrans seems to ignore it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Waiting for Report\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is a problem,” says Bob Haus, spokesman for Caltrans District 4, representing the Bay Area. “It’s very difficult for humans and wildlife to mix. If we can cut down on human injuries and wildlife injuries, then we’ll do anything we can to do that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Haus says Caltrans is building a culvert for wildlife near Napa \u003ca href=\"http://www.dot.ca.gov/dist4/12jamesoncanyon/\">as Highway 12 is widened\u003c/a>. But that’s only one of five projects being built or designed specifically for wildlife in the Bay Area that Caltrans could name.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_62750\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 360px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/2013/04/Hwy-101-Tick-Creek-Bobcat.jpg\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-62750\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/2013/04/Hwy-101-Tick-Creek-Bobcat.jpg\" alt=\"A bobcat uses an existing culvert under Highway 152, the site of a wildlife corridor research project by the Nature Conservancy (Photo: The Nature Conservancy Pajaro Connectivity Study).\" width=\"360\" height=\"262\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A bobcat uses an existing culvert under Highway 152, the site of a wildlife corridor research project by the Nature Conservancy (Photo: The Nature Conservancy Pajaro Connectivity Study).\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The agency also remains skeptical about using fencing as a guide path. “So, say if you have fencing that’s specifically designed for a deer, it might harm other species,” Haus says. “So if there’s anyway at all to avoid the fencing, we try to do that right now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Haus says his district has commissioned a report from UC Davis about Bay Area collision hotspots.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It really depends on what they recommend. If it requires any changes to what our projects already are, we’ll go from there.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fraser Shilling wants to see legislation that requires Caltrans to make all highway projects more wildlife-safe. “The agency, Caltrans, has known about this problem for a long time,” he says. “They’ve heard about it from Fish and Game. They’ve heard about it from their peers. They’re not doing it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I believe there’s a lot more that can be done in California to make habitats more connected for wildlife, particularly across roads and other kinds of barriers,” says David Wright, who works on the Resource Assessment Program at the \u003ca href=\"http://www.dfg.ca.gov/\">California Department of Fish and Wildlife\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think that if we starting thinking about every project as it comes up and trying to make sure that we include something that improves connectivity for wildlife, then I think we’ll start seeing better habitat and more wildlife in our state,\" Wright says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Progress on Highway 17\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back in the Santa Cruz mountains, Paul Houghtaling loads his rifle with a dart to sedate the mountain lion in the tree above us. He takes aim and the dart hits square in the thigh. The mountain lion leaps down and runs by at full speed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He catches up with her (turns out it’s a “she”) as she’s failing asleep under some bushes. Houghtaling takes her vitals and fits her with a radio collar, giving her the name \"\u003ca href=\"http://santacruzpumas.org/2013/05/30/meet-38f/\">38F\u003c/a>\" as the 38th mountain lion in the study.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Things could be looking up for the Santa Cruz lion population. Local land trusts, including the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County, and the Peninsula Open Space Trust, are working with another Caltrans district, District 5, to improve highway 17 by expanding culverts and putting up fencing in two locations. The group is using cameras to study animal movement in those corridors and is currently applying for state funding to complete the project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>See the mountain lion capture in KQED's \"Science on the SPOT: Chasing Pumas\":\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_9865\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/PregnantWomanSitting_flickr_StuartHandy_3235768334_6beed51726_z_640x360.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-9865\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-9865\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/PregnantWomanSitting_flickr_StuartHandy_3235768334_6beed51726_z_640x360.jpg\" alt=\"Photograph courtesy of Stuart Handy via a Creative Commons license.\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photograph courtesy of \u003ca href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/8274310@N07/3235768334/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Stuart Handy\u003c/a> via a Creative Commons license.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Every day our brains help us make sense of the world around us, interpreting the experiences we see, hear, taste, touch and smell. But if someone’s brain has trouble processing this incoming information, it can be hard to communicate, understand or learn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are characterized by difficulties in social interaction, verbal and nonverbal communication and repetitive behaviors. These disorders include \u003ca href=\"http://science.kqed.org/quest/video/autism-searching-for-causes/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">autism\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asperger_syndrome\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Asperger syndrome\u003c/a> and p\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PDD-NOS\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified\u003c/a> (PDD-NOS).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>About \u003ca title=\"CDC Fact Sheet for Autism Spectrum Disorders\" href=\"http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/data.html\">one in 88 children\u003c/a> have been identified with an autism spectrum disorder, and over 2 million people are affected in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Government statistics also suggest that the proportion of people with autism spectrum disorders have increased \u003ca title=\"Autism Speaks Frequently Asked Questions\" href=\"http://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism/faq\">10 to 17 percent annually\u003c/a> in recent years. This is in part due to wider awareness and better screening, but the continued increase is not fully understood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The cause of ASD is also not fully known, but current research indicates that it is likely due to a complex combination of genetic predisposition and environmental risk factors that influence early brain development. Significant environmental risk factors include the advance age of either parent at the time of conception, maternal illness during pregnancy, extreme prematurity and very low birth weight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over 40 years ago, \u003ca title=\"journal review article\" href=\"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3435446/pdf/nihms396261.pdf\">epidemiological studies\u003c/a> determined that the risk of having a child with ASD is increased when the mother has an infection early in the pregnancy. Since a wide range of bacterial and viral infections can increase the risk, studies suggest that activation of the mother’s general immune system is responsible. However, scientists do not completely understand how the activated immune system can disrupt normal brain development to cause ASD.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Research at the UC Davis’ Center for Neuroscience provides new insight. Recently \u003ca title=\"UCD journal article in Journal of Neuroscience\" href=\"http://www.jneurosci.org/content/33/34/13791.abstract\">published in the \u003cem>Journal of Neuroscience\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, their studies identify a new biological mechanism that links maternal immune activation to neurodevelopmental disorders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kimberley McAllister, a senior author of the study, explained in a \u003ca title=\"press release\" href=\"http://www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/publish/news/newsroom/8208\">press release\u003c/a>, “This is the first evidence that neurons in the developing brain of newborn offspring are altered by maternal immune activation. Until now, very little has been known about how maternal immune activation leads to autism spectrum disorder and schizophrenia-like pathophysiology and behaviors in the offspring.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The researchers studied pregnant mice with immune systems that were activated halfway through gestation compared to pregnant control mice without activated immune systems. They found that the mice exposed to a viral infection had offspring with dramatically elevated levels of immune molecules called major histocompatibility complex 1 (MHC1) on their brain surface.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the affected newborn mice, these high levels of MCH1 disrupted the development of neural cells in the brain. Specifically, the increase in MCH1 interfered with the neurons’ ability to form the synapses that allow neurons to pass electrical or chemical signals to other cells; consequently, these offspring had less than half as many synapses than the control offspring. When MCH1 were returned to normal levels in the neurons of maternal immune-activated offspring, the synapses density returned to normal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, MCH1 doesn’t work alone. In a series of additional experiments, the researchers identified the new biological signaling pathway that regulates synapses development caused by maternal immune activation. This signaling pathway requires calcineurin, myocyte enhancer factor-2 and MCH1 to limit synapses density.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A better understanding of the underlying biological mechanisms will hopefully lead to the development of improved prenatal health screening, diagnostic tests and eventually therapies for neurodevelopmental disorders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course, not every child of a bacterially or virally infected mother develops a neurodevelopmental disorder like autism. The effect of maternal immune activation depends on a complex interaction involving the strength of the infection and \u003ca title=\"Autism Speaks fact sheet\" href=\"http://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism/faq\">genetic predisposition\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_9865\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/PregnantWomanSitting_flickr_StuartHandy_3235768334_6beed51726_z_640x360.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-9865\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-9865\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/PregnantWomanSitting_flickr_StuartHandy_3235768334_6beed51726_z_640x360.jpg\" alt=\"Photograph courtesy of Stuart Handy via a Creative Commons license.\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photograph courtesy of \u003ca href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/8274310@N07/3235768334/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Stuart Handy\u003c/a> via a Creative Commons license.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Every day our brains help us make sense of the world around us, interpreting the experiences we see, hear, taste, touch and smell. But if someone’s brain has trouble processing this incoming information, it can be hard to communicate, understand or learn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are characterized by difficulties in social interaction, verbal and nonverbal communication and repetitive behaviors. These disorders include \u003ca href=\"http://science.kqed.org/quest/video/autism-searching-for-causes/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">autism\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asperger_syndrome\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Asperger syndrome\u003c/a> and p\u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PDD-NOS\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified\u003c/a> (PDD-NOS).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>About \u003ca title=\"CDC Fact Sheet for Autism Spectrum Disorders\" href=\"http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/data.html\">one in 88 children\u003c/a> have been identified with an autism spectrum disorder, and over 2 million people are affected in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Government statistics also suggest that the proportion of people with autism spectrum disorders have increased \u003ca title=\"Autism Speaks Frequently Asked Questions\" href=\"http://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism/faq\">10 to 17 percent annually\u003c/a> in recent years. This is in part due to wider awareness and better screening, but the continued increase is not fully understood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The cause of ASD is also not fully known, but current research indicates that it is likely due to a complex combination of genetic predisposition and environmental risk factors that influence early brain development. Significant environmental risk factors include the advance age of either parent at the time of conception, maternal illness during pregnancy, extreme prematurity and very low birth weight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over 40 years ago, \u003ca title=\"journal review article\" href=\"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3435446/pdf/nihms396261.pdf\">epidemiological studies\u003c/a> determined that the risk of having a child with ASD is increased when the mother has an infection early in the pregnancy. Since a wide range of bacterial and viral infections can increase the risk, studies suggest that activation of the mother’s general immune system is responsible. However, scientists do not completely understand how the activated immune system can disrupt normal brain development to cause ASD.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Research at the UC Davis’ Center for Neuroscience provides new insight. Recently \u003ca title=\"UCD journal article in Journal of Neuroscience\" href=\"http://www.jneurosci.org/content/33/34/13791.abstract\">published in the \u003cem>Journal of Neuroscience\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, their studies identify a new biological mechanism that links maternal immune activation to neurodevelopmental disorders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kimberley McAllister, a senior author of the study, explained in a \u003ca title=\"press release\" href=\"http://www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/publish/news/newsroom/8208\">press release\u003c/a>, “This is the first evidence that neurons in the developing brain of newborn offspring are altered by maternal immune activation. Until now, very little has been known about how maternal immune activation leads to autism spectrum disorder and schizophrenia-like pathophysiology and behaviors in the offspring.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The researchers studied pregnant mice with immune systems that were activated halfway through gestation compared to pregnant control mice without activated immune systems. They found that the mice exposed to a viral infection had offspring with dramatically elevated levels of immune molecules called major histocompatibility complex 1 (MHC1) on their brain surface.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the affected newborn mice, these high levels of MCH1 disrupted the development of neural cells in the brain. Specifically, the increase in MCH1 interfered with the neurons’ ability to form the synapses that allow neurons to pass electrical or chemical signals to other cells; consequently, these offspring had less than half as many synapses than the control offspring. When MCH1 were returned to normal levels in the neurons of maternal immune-activated offspring, the synapses density returned to normal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, MCH1 doesn’t work alone. In a series of additional experiments, the researchers identified the new biological signaling pathway that regulates synapses development caused by maternal immune activation. This signaling pathway requires calcineurin, myocyte enhancer factor-2 and MCH1 to limit synapses density.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A better understanding of the underlying biological mechanisms will hopefully lead to the development of improved prenatal health screening, diagnostic tests and eventually therapies for neurodevelopmental disorders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course, not every child of a bacterially or virally infected mother develops a neurodevelopmental disorder like autism. The effect of maternal immune activation depends on a complex interaction involving the strength of the infection and \u003ca title=\"Autism Speaks fact sheet\" href=\"http://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism/faq\">genetic predisposition\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Should Every Newborn Undergo Genetic Testing?",
"headTitle": "Should Every Newborn Undergo Genetic Testing? | KQED",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"audio-wrap\">\n\u003ch2>Listen:\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>http://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/science/2013/10/2013-10-14-science.mp3\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_9975\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/Phenylketonuria_testing.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/Phenylketonuria_testing.jpg\" alt=\"At birth, every infant in the US and many other countries undergoes a blood test to detect rare newborn diseases that are treatable if caught quickly. (U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Eric T. Sheler/Wikimedia Commons)\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"size-full wp-image-9975\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">At birth, every infant in the US and many other countries undergoes a blood test to detect rare newborn diseases that are treatable if caught quickly. (U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Eric T. Sheler/Wikimedia Commons)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When a new baby is born, anything seems possible. But we now know that this potential comes with an asterisk. Written into an infant’s DNA are instructions that may make her more vulnerable than other people are to cancer, for instance, or Alzheimer’s disease.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So how much of that information should parents be given when their baby is born?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The National Institutes of Health has launched a five-year, $25 million effort to explore this question. Researchers at the University of California-San Francisco and three other sites will receive NIH funds to tackle some of the issues that could arise, should genetic testing become routine for each of the roughly four million babies born every year in the United States.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">\nJust because we have the technology to tell parents about diseases their children might face decades down the line, does that mean we should use it?\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>At UCSF, researchers will focus on a relatively straightforward question: Are genetic tests more effective than the standard blood screening tests newborns currently get?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Barbara Koenig is a UCSF bioethicist. She says when the routine blood test became standard in the 1960s, it seemed like magic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are a couple rare conditions — like PKU and genetic hypothyroidism — that, if you identified them early, you could do an immediate intervention with the infant and prevent a life of terrible suffering, or mental retardation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>PKU is a rare metabolic disorder that, unless treated with a special diet, can lead to mental retardation. Congenital hypothyroidism, caused by an under-active thyroid, can also lead to developmental delays unless treated early on with medication. So tests like this provide a clear and obvious public health benefit, says Koenig.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Someone comes in and does a little heel stick on the baby, takes the blood. Then you don’t\u003cbr>\nhear about it anymore, unless there’s a positive result.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But these tests aren’t perfect. Sometimes there are false positives. And today, says UCSF geneticist Bob Nussbaum, there’s a technology that may be able to do a much better job: genetic testing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Could it possibly replace our current system?” Nussbaum says his study is asking. “Does it have added value above what we’re doing, providing information that’s useful and important?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_9892\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 163px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/Nussbaum-163x162.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-9892\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-9892\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/Nussbaum-163x162.jpg\" alt=\"Geneticist Robert Nussbaum heads UCSFs $4.5 million newborn screening pilot study. \" width=\"163\" height=\"162\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Geneticist Robert Nussbaum heads UCSFs $4.5 million newborn screening pilot study. (Holly Smith)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Over the next five years, Nussbaum, Koenig and others on the team will study the potential of exome testing, which focuses on the two percent of genes that are used as blueprints for the production of proteins. These tests currently cost researchers about $700 apiece.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Working with 1,400 blood samples archived in the state’s Department of Public Health, researchers will see whether exome testing does a better job predicting newborn illnesses than the current biochemical tests do.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, a second project will offer genetic testing to families whose children have already been diagnosed with an immune disorder, to see whether the genetic tests shed further light on their conditions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the implications of these questions can be thorny. Researchers at UCSF and the other sites – Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill – are asking: Just because we have the technology to tell parents about diseases their babies might one day get, does that mean we should use it?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many researchers are ambivalent, at best.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What possible value is there in knowing that piece of information now?” asks UCSF’s Nussbaum.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_9891\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 107px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/Koenig-107x162.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-9891\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-9891\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/Koenig-107x162.jpg\" alt='UCSF bioethicist Barbara Koenig calls the desire to have as much information as possible a \"distinctly American bias.\"' width=\"107\" height=\"162\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">UCSF bioethicist Barbara Koenig calls the desire to have as much information as possible a “distinctly American bias.” (Courtesy of the Mayo Clinic)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Take, for example, he says, a gene called ApoE, some variants of which indicate an increased risk for Alzheimer’s disease.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think there’s actually greater harm than good to be telling parents that a child has a three- or four-fold increased risk for a late-onset disorder for which we currently have no therapy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a doctor, this puts Nussbaum in a bind. On the one hand, he knows it can sound patronizing to deprive a parent of medical information about his or her child.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the other hand, this information can alter the course of a child’s life in many ways, including changing the way he or she is parented.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In fact, there’s a whole body of literature on this phenomenon: it’s called Vulnerable Child Syndrome.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Parents of these children, says Nussbaum “are perhaps afraid to institute the same level of discipline. They may treat one of those children differently than the siblings. You’ve introduced a psychological issue.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s a term bioethicists often use to describe what these children have lost: “open future.” It refers to a person’s right \u003cem>not\u003c/em> to know how his or her genes might impact a life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To underscore this concern, Koenig and Nussbaum point to studies done in Ireland and the United Kingdom on people at risk for Huntington’s disease, a fatal neurodegenerative disorder.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When subjects learned that the presence of a specific gene would indicate that they would inescapably come down with the disease, most declined to take the test.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">Bioethicists use the term “open future” to describe a child’s right \u003cem>not\u003c/em> to know how genes might impact his or her life.\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>So, the logic goes, if adults often choose not to know what their genes might say about their future, what right do parents, or doctors, have to make that choice for newborns?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s a concern shared by Jonathan Berg, a geneticist at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, whose NIH funds will explore how best to explain the implications of genetic tests to diverse populations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Berg says he values the choice he has, as an adult, to decide whether to undergo genetic testing — to know, for example, his ApoE status.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“But if you imagine a generation of children whose parents decide that for them, then those children no longer have the right to an open future. They won’t have the ability, as I do, to value the fact that I get to decide that information for myself.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These are not hypothetical concerns, because infant genetic testing is already happening in a limited way, not as a public health venture, but as a commercial one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Catherine Afarian works at a company called 23andMe, based in Mountain View, Califonia. For $100, the company will test for a list of genetic signatures that can provide information about a person’s ancestry and health risks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Afarian bought one for Hudson when he was eight months old.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_9893\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1538px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/Afarian-Family.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-9893\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-9893\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/Afarian-Family.jpg\" alt=\"Chris and Catherine Afarian bought a 23andMe screening test for their son Hudson when he was eight months old. \" width=\"1538\" height=\"1022\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">If there’s information out there about her son’s health, Afarian says she wants to have it, even if it’s worrisome. (Jonathan Payne)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>She learned that Hudson, like herself, has an increased sensitivity for a blood thinner called Warfarin, which is prescribed to prevent blood clots.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to the test, Hudson is also a “slow metabolizer of caffeine, as am I,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some more serious things came up, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to his 23andMe test, Hudson has an increased risk for Parkinson’s disease. This is also not a surprise, as at least one member of Afarian’s family has had Parkinson’s. Afarian says having the information about Hudson’s risk will help her focus her concerns in the future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m going to pay attention to the studies that come out about Parkinson’s,” she says. And when her family can afford to make some charitable contributions, “I want to put money into Parkinson’s research.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My son is only two and a half. Who knows what kinds of opportunities and treatments are going to be there when he’s 30, 40, 50, right?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Will a majority of parents feel the way Afarian does? That’s just one of many questions the NIH hopes to answer over the next five years. Even then, it could take much longer to sort out whether society at large will benefit from knowing what’s in our children’s genes.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cdiv class=\"audio-wrap\">\n\u003ch2>Listen:\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>http://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/science/2013/10/2013-10-14-science.mp3\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_9975\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/Phenylketonuria_testing.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/Phenylketonuria_testing.jpg\" alt=\"At birth, every infant in the US and many other countries undergoes a blood test to detect rare newborn diseases that are treatable if caught quickly. (U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Eric T. Sheler/Wikimedia Commons)\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"size-full wp-image-9975\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">At birth, every infant in the US and many other countries undergoes a blood test to detect rare newborn diseases that are treatable if caught quickly. (U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Eric T. Sheler/Wikimedia Commons)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When a new baby is born, anything seems possible. But we now know that this potential comes with an asterisk. Written into an infant’s DNA are instructions that may make her more vulnerable than other people are to cancer, for instance, or Alzheimer’s disease.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So how much of that information should parents be given when their baby is born?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The National Institutes of Health has launched a five-year, $25 million effort to explore this question. Researchers at the University of California-San Francisco and three other sites will receive NIH funds to tackle some of the issues that could arise, should genetic testing become routine for each of the roughly four million babies born every year in the United States.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">\nJust because we have the technology to tell parents about diseases their children might face decades down the line, does that mean we should use it?\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>At UCSF, researchers will focus on a relatively straightforward question: Are genetic tests more effective than the standard blood screening tests newborns currently get?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Barbara Koenig is a UCSF bioethicist. She says when the routine blood test became standard in the 1960s, it seemed like magic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are a couple rare conditions — like PKU and genetic hypothyroidism — that, if you identified them early, you could do an immediate intervention with the infant and prevent a life of terrible suffering, or mental retardation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>PKU is a rare metabolic disorder that, unless treated with a special diet, can lead to mental retardation. Congenital hypothyroidism, caused by an under-active thyroid, can also lead to developmental delays unless treated early on with medication. So tests like this provide a clear and obvious public health benefit, says Koenig.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Someone comes in and does a little heel stick on the baby, takes the blood. Then you don’t\u003cbr>\nhear about it anymore, unless there’s a positive result.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But these tests aren’t perfect. Sometimes there are false positives. And today, says UCSF geneticist Bob Nussbaum, there’s a technology that may be able to do a much better job: genetic testing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Could it possibly replace our current system?” Nussbaum says his study is asking. “Does it have added value above what we’re doing, providing information that’s useful and important?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_9892\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 163px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/Nussbaum-163x162.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-9892\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-9892\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/Nussbaum-163x162.jpg\" alt=\"Geneticist Robert Nussbaum heads UCSFs $4.5 million newborn screening pilot study. \" width=\"163\" height=\"162\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Geneticist Robert Nussbaum heads UCSFs $4.5 million newborn screening pilot study. (Holly Smith)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Over the next five years, Nussbaum, Koenig and others on the team will study the potential of exome testing, which focuses on the two percent of genes that are used as blueprints for the production of proteins. These tests currently cost researchers about $700 apiece.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Working with 1,400 blood samples archived in the state’s Department of Public Health, researchers will see whether exome testing does a better job predicting newborn illnesses than the current biochemical tests do.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, a second project will offer genetic testing to families whose children have already been diagnosed with an immune disorder, to see whether the genetic tests shed further light on their conditions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the implications of these questions can be thorny. Researchers at UCSF and the other sites – Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill – are asking: Just because we have the technology to tell parents about diseases their babies might one day get, does that mean we should use it?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many researchers are ambivalent, at best.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What possible value is there in knowing that piece of information now?” asks UCSF’s Nussbaum.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_9891\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 107px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/Koenig-107x162.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-9891\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-9891\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/Koenig-107x162.jpg\" alt='UCSF bioethicist Barbara Koenig calls the desire to have as much information as possible a \"distinctly American bias.\"' width=\"107\" height=\"162\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">UCSF bioethicist Barbara Koenig calls the desire to have as much information as possible a “distinctly American bias.” (Courtesy of the Mayo Clinic)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Take, for example, he says, a gene called ApoE, some variants of which indicate an increased risk for Alzheimer’s disease.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think there’s actually greater harm than good to be telling parents that a child has a three- or four-fold increased risk for a late-onset disorder for which we currently have no therapy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a doctor, this puts Nussbaum in a bind. On the one hand, he knows it can sound patronizing to deprive a parent of medical information about his or her child.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the other hand, this information can alter the course of a child’s life in many ways, including changing the way he or she is parented.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In fact, there’s a whole body of literature on this phenomenon: it’s called Vulnerable Child Syndrome.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Parents of these children, says Nussbaum “are perhaps afraid to institute the same level of discipline. They may treat one of those children differently than the siblings. You’ve introduced a psychological issue.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s a term bioethicists often use to describe what these children have lost: “open future.” It refers to a person’s right \u003cem>not\u003c/em> to know how his or her genes might impact a life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To underscore this concern, Koenig and Nussbaum point to studies done in Ireland and the United Kingdom on people at risk for Huntington’s disease, a fatal neurodegenerative disorder.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When subjects learned that the presence of a specific gene would indicate that they would inescapably come down with the disease, most declined to take the test.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">Bioethicists use the term “open future” to describe a child’s right \u003cem>not\u003c/em> to know how genes might impact his or her life.\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>So, the logic goes, if adults often choose not to know what their genes might say about their future, what right do parents, or doctors, have to make that choice for newborns?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s a concern shared by Jonathan Berg, a geneticist at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, whose NIH funds will explore how best to explain the implications of genetic tests to diverse populations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Berg says he values the choice he has, as an adult, to decide whether to undergo genetic testing — to know, for example, his ApoE status.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“But if you imagine a generation of children whose parents decide that for them, then those children no longer have the right to an open future. They won’t have the ability, as I do, to value the fact that I get to decide that information for myself.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These are not hypothetical concerns, because infant genetic testing is already happening in a limited way, not as a public health venture, but as a commercial one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Catherine Afarian works at a company called 23andMe, based in Mountain View, Califonia. For $100, the company will test for a list of genetic signatures that can provide information about a person’s ancestry and health risks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Afarian bought one for Hudson when he was eight months old.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_9893\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1538px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/Afarian-Family.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-9893\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-9893\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/Afarian-Family.jpg\" alt=\"Chris and Catherine Afarian bought a 23andMe screening test for their son Hudson when he was eight months old. \" width=\"1538\" height=\"1022\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">If there’s information out there about her son’s health, Afarian says she wants to have it, even if it’s worrisome. (Jonathan Payne)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>She learned that Hudson, like herself, has an increased sensitivity for a blood thinner called Warfarin, which is prescribed to prevent blood clots.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to the test, Hudson is also a “slow metabolizer of caffeine, as am I,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some more serious things came up, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to his 23andMe test, Hudson has an increased risk for Parkinson’s disease. This is also not a surprise, as at least one member of Afarian’s family has had Parkinson’s. Afarian says having the information about Hudson’s risk will help her focus her concerns in the future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m going to pay attention to the studies that come out about Parkinson’s,” she says. And when her family can afford to make some charitable contributions, “I want to put money into Parkinson’s research.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My son is only two and a half. Who knows what kinds of opportunities and treatments are going to be there when he’s 30, 40, 50, right?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Will a majority of parents feel the way Afarian does? That’s just one of many questions the NIH hopes to answer over the next five years. Even then, it could take much longer to sort out whether society at large will benefit from knowing what’s in our children’s genes.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "To Protect Wildlife, California Bans Hunting With Lead Bullets",
"headTitle": "To Protect Wildlife, California Bans Hunting With Lead Bullets | KQED",
"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_9941\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/Condor-VWS.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-9941\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-9941\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/Condor-VWS.jpg\" alt=\"Endangered California condors are among the wildlife at risk from eating lead bullets in carrion. (Tim Huntington, courtesy of the Ventana Wildlife Society)\" width=\"640\" height=\"357\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Endangered California condors are among the wildlife that can die from eating lead bullets left in carrion, according to scientific studies. (Tim Huntington/Courtesy of the Ventana Wildlife Society) \u003ccite>(Tim Huntington, courtesy of the Ventana Wildlife Society)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill Friday that bans hunters from using lead ammunition across the state. The law, the first of its kind in the country, was spearheaded in large part to protect the threatened California condor. Scientists say their recovery is being hampered by lead poisoning, because the scavengers ingest lead bullet fragments in carcasses or gut piles left behind by hunters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a fabulous, fabulous day,” says Jennifer Fearing of the Humane Society. “We certainly do hope that California is just the first state to take this step of protecting wildlife from toxic lead ammunition.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gun and hunting groups were strongly opposed to the bill, \u003ca href=\"http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201320140AB711\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">AB 711\u003c/a>, saying that copper bullets and other lead-alternatives are often twice as expensive. “This is a way to bring a cultural attack on hunting and sportsmen and women,” said National Rifle Association attorney Chuck Michel, in June. [contextly_sidebar id=”NWWWPWKzpGLbON0eUh2iSCWHwUuReThc”]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The NRA and others also challenged peer-reviewed studies pointing to lead bullets as the source of lead in condors, as we covered in\u003ca href=\"http://science.kqed.org/quest/audio/with-condors-on-the-brink-california-considers-a-lead-bullet-ban-for-hunters/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> this KQED QUEST story\u003c/a> earlier this year:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>The problem is really epidemic,” says toxicologist Myra Finkelstein. “These California condors are exposed to chronic harmful levels of lead.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In her lab at the University of California-Santa Cruz, Finkelstein holds up a vial with a small shard of metal: a lead bullet fragment found in the digestive system of a dead condor. “This is enough lead to poison and potentially kill a condor,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As scavengers, condors will feed on any dead animal, including carcasses or partial carcasses left by hunters or ranchers. “They’ll come to eat it and they inadvertently will also ingest these fragments,” Finkelstein says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Through tests on hundreds of condor blood samples and feathers, Finkelstein’s lab has worked to trace the source of lead. In the majority of cases, she says it matches the \u003ca href=\"http://news.ucsc.edu/2012/06/condors-and-lead.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">chemical profile of lead bullets\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In response, former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger banned the use of \u003ca href=\"http://www.dfg.ca.gov/wildlife/hunting/condor/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">lead bullets in hunting\u003c/a> in 1997, but only in condor territory. Condors are still showing high levels of lead, which can shut down their digestive system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It only takes one meal so that’s why the problem is so severe,” Finkelstein says.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>The 70 free-flying condors on California’s central coast are routinely tested for lead poisoning. Those with high lead levels are brought to the Los Angeles Zoo for chelation treatment. The condor population has risen from just 22 condors in 1982 with the help of an intensive captive breeding program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a \u003ca href=\"http://gov.ca.gov/docs/AB_711_2013_Signing_Message.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">signing statement\u003c/a>, Governor Brown said the lead bullets pose a danger to wildlife, adding, “I am concerned, however, the impression left from this bill is that hunters and sportsmen and women in California are not conservationists. I know that is not the case. Hunters and anglers are the original conservationists.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/2013/10/11/to-protect-wildlife-california-bans-hunting-with-lead-bullets/condor-population/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-9925\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-9925\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/condor-population.jpg\" alt=\"condor-population\" width=\"640\" height=\"394\">\u003c/a>Gun groups had expressed concerns that copper ammunition supplies are limited because the bullets are considered to be “armor-piercing.” Governor Brown pointed to a special provision that would suspend the lead ban in the event that other bullets are banned by the federal government.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lead bullets will still be available in stores for use in non-hunting activities, like at shooting ranges. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife has until July 1, 2015 to write the lead ammunition regulations and the ban must be fully in place by July 2019.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Governor Jerry Brown has approved the first statewide lead bullet ban for hunters, in the hope of helping endangered California condors.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_9941\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/Condor-VWS.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-9941\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-9941\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/Condor-VWS.jpg\" alt=\"Endangered California condors are among the wildlife at risk from eating lead bullets in carrion. (Tim Huntington, courtesy of the Ventana Wildlife Society)\" width=\"640\" height=\"357\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Endangered California condors are among the wildlife that can die from eating lead bullets left in carrion, according to scientific studies. (Tim Huntington/Courtesy of the Ventana Wildlife Society) \u003ccite>(Tim Huntington, courtesy of the Ventana Wildlife Society)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill Friday that bans hunters from using lead ammunition across the state. The law, the first of its kind in the country, was spearheaded in large part to protect the threatened California condor. Scientists say their recovery is being hampered by lead poisoning, because the scavengers ingest lead bullet fragments in carcasses or gut piles left behind by hunters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a fabulous, fabulous day,” says Jennifer Fearing of the Humane Society. “We certainly do hope that California is just the first state to take this step of protecting wildlife from toxic lead ammunition.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gun and hunting groups were strongly opposed to the bill, \u003ca href=\"http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201320140AB711\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">AB 711\u003c/a>, saying that copper bullets and other lead-alternatives are often twice as expensive. “This is a way to bring a cultural attack on hunting and sportsmen and women,” said National Rifle Association attorney Chuck Michel, in June. \u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The NRA and others also challenged peer-reviewed studies pointing to lead bullets as the source of lead in condors, as we covered in\u003ca href=\"http://science.kqed.org/quest/audio/with-condors-on-the-brink-california-considers-a-lead-bullet-ban-for-hunters/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> this KQED QUEST story\u003c/a> earlier this year:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>The problem is really epidemic,” says toxicologist Myra Finkelstein. “These California condors are exposed to chronic harmful levels of lead.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In her lab at the University of California-Santa Cruz, Finkelstein holds up a vial with a small shard of metal: a lead bullet fragment found in the digestive system of a dead condor. “This is enough lead to poison and potentially kill a condor,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As scavengers, condors will feed on any dead animal, including carcasses or partial carcasses left by hunters or ranchers. “They’ll come to eat it and they inadvertently will also ingest these fragments,” Finkelstein says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Through tests on hundreds of condor blood samples and feathers, Finkelstein’s lab has worked to trace the source of lead. In the majority of cases, she says it matches the \u003ca href=\"http://news.ucsc.edu/2012/06/condors-and-lead.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">chemical profile of lead bullets\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In response, former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger banned the use of \u003ca href=\"http://www.dfg.ca.gov/wildlife/hunting/condor/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">lead bullets in hunting\u003c/a> in 1997, but only in condor territory. Condors are still showing high levels of lead, which can shut down their digestive system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It only takes one meal so that’s why the problem is so severe,” Finkelstein says.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>The 70 free-flying condors on California’s central coast are routinely tested for lead poisoning. Those with high lead levels are brought to the Los Angeles Zoo for chelation treatment. The condor population has risen from just 22 condors in 1982 with the help of an intensive captive breeding program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a \u003ca href=\"http://gov.ca.gov/docs/AB_711_2013_Signing_Message.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">signing statement\u003c/a>, Governor Brown said the lead bullets pose a danger to wildlife, adding, “I am concerned, however, the impression left from this bill is that hunters and sportsmen and women in California are not conservationists. I know that is not the case. Hunters and anglers are the original conservationists.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/2013/10/11/to-protect-wildlife-california-bans-hunting-with-lead-bullets/condor-population/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-9925\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-9925\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/condor-population.jpg\" alt=\"condor-population\" width=\"640\" height=\"394\">\u003c/a>Gun groups had expressed concerns that copper ammunition supplies are limited because the bullets are considered to be “armor-piercing.” Governor Brown pointed to a special provision that would suspend the lead ban in the event that other bullets are banned by the federal government.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lead bullets will still be available in stores for use in non-hunting activities, like at shooting ranges. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife has until July 1, 2015 to write the lead ammunition regulations and the ban must be fully in place by July 2019.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "California's Tarantulas Are on the Move During Mating Season",
"headTitle": "California’s Tarantulas Are on the Move During Mating Season | KQED",
"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_9837\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 480px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/dussau-holds-tarantula-e1381367430751.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-9837\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-9837\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/dussau-holds-tarantula-e1381367430751.jpg\" alt=\"Wandering male tarantulas go searching for females in the fall, never to return home again. Photo by Robert Kanagaki, EBRPD\" width=\"480\" height=\"360\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Wandering male tarantulas go searching for females in the fall, never to return home again. Photo by Robert Kanagaki, EBRPD\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When the sun sets in the Bay Area in October, you may notice large hairy spiders emerging from their homes for their once-in-a-lifetime quest. After 5 to 8 years spent in a solitary, nocturnal life — largely in a burrow subsisting on insects, frogs and perhaps even snakes or mice — the male \u003ca title=\"CA Tarantula brochure, EBRPD\" href=\"http://www.ebparks.org/Assets/files/Tarantulas_Brochure.pdf\">California tarantula\u003c/a> is mature and ready to find a mate. Roaming at dusk and after dark, sometimes in large numbers, the males go in search of a willing female. They hunt to find her silk-lined burrow marked with a scent indicating she’s looking for a mate. To prevent being accidentally trapped for a future meal, he uses his front legs to drum on her doorstep. There is a good video from the \u003ca title=\"San Diego Zoo, tarantulas mating video\" href=\"http://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/tarantula\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">San Diego Zoo\u003c/a> showing this whole courtship and mating ritual with the California tarantula’s cousin, the even larger Goliath tarantula. Within about 6 months after mating, male tarantulas die. The females live for another 25-or more years; they’re built to last!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Male spiders are most often seen on trails, roads and gardens with occasional appearances in residential homes and garages this time of year. When I began my career as a naturalist at Black Diamond Mines, I often encountered them in the parking lot as I left work in September and October. For those with \u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arachnophobia\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cem>arachnophobia\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, it can seem like some kind of autumnal plague. In reality, though, these spiders are gentle giants, especially as procreation is foremost on their minds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_9838\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 210px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/Eddie-Willis-and-Tarantula-210x162.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-9838\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-9838\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/Eddie-Willis-and-Tarantula-210x162.jpg\" alt=\"Naturalist Eddie Willis at Black Diamond Mines handles a male tarantula found wandering the park. Photo by Robert Kanagaki, EBRPD\" width=\"210\" height=\"162\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Naturalist Eddie Willis at Black Diamond Mines handles a male tarantula found wandering the park. Photo by Curtis Corlew, EBRPD\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Tarantulas have a couple of defensive behaviors as they are sometimes considered food items by other animals. They defend themselves by rubbing or flicking irritating hairs off of their abdomen with their hind legs. If these get into any animals’ eyes, noses or mouths, it will be enough to dissuade them from eating the spider and can even cause blindness. Tarantulas also have large fangs with venom. Their bite hurts like a honeybee sting and some people experience a similar allergic reaction to it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The tarantula is susceptible to a wasp, called a tarantula hawk, which seeks them out. The wasp will sting the spider and drag it to an underground burrow. It then lays an egg on the paralyzed spider while it’s still alive. The larva of the tarantula hawk then consumes the fresh meal. It’s all part of nature’s balance — a female spider can produce 75 to 1,000 young per year — and the tarantula hawk helps control the numbers. You shouldn’t mess with tarantula hawks, though, as they have one of the most painful stings in nature (see \u003ca title=\"Schmidt Pain Index\" href=\"http://scienceblogs.com/retrospectacle/2007/05/16/schmidt-pain-index-which-sting/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Schmidt’s Pain Scale\u003c/a> with its evocative descriptions of pain.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists are exploring uses for t\u003ca title=\"Potential Medical Uses of Tarantula Venom, YouTube\" href=\"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPKfmLDxsGk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">arantula venom\u003c/a>. There are apparently hold potential for treatments for Multiple Sclerosis and breast cancer. As Aldo Leopold so astutely put it, “…who but a fool would discard seemingly useless parts? To keep every cog and wheel is the first precaution of intelligent tinkering.” Keeping a healthy, wild population of huge spiders might just benefit us in the end.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can catch the hairy spider show any evening this fall. Areas within various \u003ca title=\"East Bay Regional Park District website\" href=\"http://www.ebparks.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">East Bay Regional Parks\u003c/a> from the Delta, south through Mt. Diablo and Sunol-Ohlone Wilderness have their fair share of them. In the Oakland hills, you’re more likely to see a different spider species, the \u003ca title=\"Spider ID, Nature.Berkeley.edu\" href=\"http://nature.berkeley.edu/~callobius/cbcstuff/common_spiders/big_spi_quilt.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">false tarantula\u003c/a>, which looks similar. If you encounter any of these tarantulas during your travels, remember that they’re just trying to carry out their spider business — they’re not out to get you! Give them a helping hand and let them carry on.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Male California tarantulas are now roaming through the Bay Area looking for love. Find out more about where you can see them, what they're doing and what dangers they face from naturalist Sharol Nelson-Embry.",
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"description": "Male California tarantulas are now roaming through the Bay Area looking for love. Find out more about where you can see them, what they're doing and what dangers they face from naturalist Sharol Nelson-Embry.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_9837\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 480px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/dussau-holds-tarantula-e1381367430751.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-9837\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-9837\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/dussau-holds-tarantula-e1381367430751.jpg\" alt=\"Wandering male tarantulas go searching for females in the fall, never to return home again. Photo by Robert Kanagaki, EBRPD\" width=\"480\" height=\"360\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Wandering male tarantulas go searching for females in the fall, never to return home again. Photo by Robert Kanagaki, EBRPD\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When the sun sets in the Bay Area in October, you may notice large hairy spiders emerging from their homes for their once-in-a-lifetime quest. After 5 to 8 years spent in a solitary, nocturnal life — largely in a burrow subsisting on insects, frogs and perhaps even snakes or mice — the male \u003ca title=\"CA Tarantula brochure, EBRPD\" href=\"http://www.ebparks.org/Assets/files/Tarantulas_Brochure.pdf\">California tarantula\u003c/a> is mature and ready to find a mate. Roaming at dusk and after dark, sometimes in large numbers, the males go in search of a willing female. They hunt to find her silk-lined burrow marked with a scent indicating she’s looking for a mate. To prevent being accidentally trapped for a future meal, he uses his front legs to drum on her doorstep. There is a good video from the \u003ca title=\"San Diego Zoo, tarantulas mating video\" href=\"http://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/tarantula\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">San Diego Zoo\u003c/a> showing this whole courtship and mating ritual with the California tarantula’s cousin, the even larger Goliath tarantula. Within about 6 months after mating, male tarantulas die. The females live for another 25-or more years; they’re built to last!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Male spiders are most often seen on trails, roads and gardens with occasional appearances in residential homes and garages this time of year. When I began my career as a naturalist at Black Diamond Mines, I often encountered them in the parking lot as I left work in September and October. For those with \u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arachnophobia\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cem>arachnophobia\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, it can seem like some kind of autumnal plague. In reality, though, these spiders are gentle giants, especially as procreation is foremost on their minds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_9838\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 210px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/Eddie-Willis-and-Tarantula-210x162.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-9838\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-9838\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/Eddie-Willis-and-Tarantula-210x162.jpg\" alt=\"Naturalist Eddie Willis at Black Diamond Mines handles a male tarantula found wandering the park. Photo by Robert Kanagaki, EBRPD\" width=\"210\" height=\"162\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Naturalist Eddie Willis at Black Diamond Mines handles a male tarantula found wandering the park. Photo by Curtis Corlew, EBRPD\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Tarantulas have a couple of defensive behaviors as they are sometimes considered food items by other animals. They defend themselves by rubbing or flicking irritating hairs off of their abdomen with their hind legs. If these get into any animals’ eyes, noses or mouths, it will be enough to dissuade them from eating the spider and can even cause blindness. Tarantulas also have large fangs with venom. Their bite hurts like a honeybee sting and some people experience a similar allergic reaction to it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The tarantula is susceptible to a wasp, called a tarantula hawk, which seeks them out. The wasp will sting the spider and drag it to an underground burrow. It then lays an egg on the paralyzed spider while it’s still alive. The larva of the tarantula hawk then consumes the fresh meal. It’s all part of nature’s balance — a female spider can produce 75 to 1,000 young per year — and the tarantula hawk helps control the numbers. You shouldn’t mess with tarantula hawks, though, as they have one of the most painful stings in nature (see \u003ca title=\"Schmidt Pain Index\" href=\"http://scienceblogs.com/retrospectacle/2007/05/16/schmidt-pain-index-which-sting/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Schmidt’s Pain Scale\u003c/a> with its evocative descriptions of pain.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists are exploring uses for t\u003ca title=\"Potential Medical Uses of Tarantula Venom, YouTube\" href=\"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPKfmLDxsGk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">arantula venom\u003c/a>. There are apparently hold potential for treatments for Multiple Sclerosis and breast cancer. As Aldo Leopold so astutely put it, “…who but a fool would discard seemingly useless parts? To keep every cog and wheel is the first precaution of intelligent tinkering.” Keeping a healthy, wild population of huge spiders might just benefit us in the end.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can catch the hairy spider show any evening this fall. Areas within various \u003ca title=\"East Bay Regional Park District website\" href=\"http://www.ebparks.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">East Bay Regional Parks\u003c/a> from the Delta, south through Mt. Diablo and Sunol-Ohlone Wilderness have their fair share of them. In the Oakland hills, you’re more likely to see a different spider species, the \u003ca title=\"Spider ID, Nature.Berkeley.edu\" href=\"http://nature.berkeley.edu/~callobius/cbcstuff/common_spiders/big_spi_quilt.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">false tarantula\u003c/a>, which looks similar. If you encounter any of these tarantulas during your travels, remember that they’re just trying to carry out their spider business — they’re not out to get you! Give them a helping hand and let them carry on.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Your Car Could Run On Gasoline Made From Bacteria in the Future",
"headTitle": "Your Car Could Run On Gasoline Made From Bacteria in the Future | KQED",
"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_9684\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/GasPump.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-9684\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-9684\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/GasPump.jpg\" alt=\"Maybe someday the gas in these pumps will come from bacteria instead of out of the ground.\" width=\"640\" height=\"364\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Maybe someday the gas in these pumps will come from bacteria instead of out of the ground. Image courtesy of \u003ca href=\"http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gas-pump-Indiana-USA.jpg\">Wikimedia Commons\u003c/a>.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Imagine if instead of digging oil up out of the ground and refining it into gasoline, we could just have bacteria make it for us in a big vat somewhere. Since we would grow the food that the bacteria turn into gasoline, this would be a very low carbon fuel option that lets us keep the current internal combustion technology and the vast distribution system already in place. In other words, this approach would greatly decrease our carbon footprint with minimal retooling of the existing infrastructure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The downside is that for now, the bacteria need the food we eat to make the gasoline. We got a taste back in 2008 and 2011 for what happens when we try to lower carbon emissions by using food to make biofuels—\u003ca href=\"http://www.forbes.com/sites/williampentland/2012/07/28/the-coming-food-crisis-blame-ethanol/\">food price spikes and their accompanying riots\u003c/a>. Ideally, we will want to be able to feed the bacteria stuff we can’t eat so that making gas doesn’t cause starvation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is all relevant because researchers from South Korea have \u003ca href=\"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24077097\">engineered bacteria to make gasoline\u003c/a>. Through a series of genetic tweaks and add-ons, they have coaxed the laboratory workhorse, \u003cem>E. coli\u003c/em>, to make around 580 milligrams (mg) of gasoline per liter of culture. While this is an amazing bioengineering feat, 580 mg is as little as it sounds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Using this \u003ca href=\"http://www.thecalculatorsite.com/conversions/substances/oil.php\">handy calculator\u003c/a>, it looks like there are 2.9 million or so mg per gallon of gas. A little algebra shows that we would need around 5000 liters of bacterial culture to get a gallon of gas. Even with the best gas mileage, this wouldn’t be competitive. And these researchers know it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_9689\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 250px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/BioReactor.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-9689\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-9689\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/BioReactor.jpg\" alt=\"Gas might come from here one day instead of a hole in the ground. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.\" width=\"250\" height=\"188\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gas might come from here one day instead of a hole in the ground. Image courtesy of \u003ca href=\"http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jninternational4.jpg\">Wikimedia Commons\u003c/a>.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://blogs.wsj.com/korearealtime/2013/09/30/south-korean-research-team-turns-e-coli-into-gasoline/\">They claim\u003c/a> that if they can boost the bacteria so that it makes 10 or 20 grams of gasoline per liter, then it will become competitive with gasoline obtained the old-fashioned way. They can get away with this still relatively low level of production because unlike oil or tar sands, the bacterial gasoline doesn’t need any refining. The bacteria produce it ready-to-go!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Getting from half a gram to ten or twenty grams will not be trivial and will probably need some significant breakthrough. These are hard to predict which means we can’t know if they can get bacteria to this level in a year, a decade or a century. But if it happens, it may be one piece of the puzzle in dealing with global warming while maintaining our current standard of living.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is important to note that bacterial production of biofuels is not the only game in town. One of the most viable alternatives currently is biodiesel. It isn’t great in the cold but at around $2.00-2.50 per gallon to produce, it is getting pretty competitive with petroleum based diesel.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Right now large scale production of biodiesel suffers from the same issues as bacterially made gasoline—food has to be used to make it. The numbers I have seen are that it takes something like \u003ca href=\"http://www.card.iastate.edu/iowa_ag_review/winter_08/article3.aspx\">7.6 pounds of soybeans to make a single gallon of biodiesel\u003c/a>. Given that the U.S. uses around 60 billion gallons of diesel each year, it would take a whole lot of soybeans just to match our current needs. Keep in mind this number doesn’t include any increased diesel needs as more and more cars are converted to diesel.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Figuring out how this compares to the bacterially produced gasoline is no picnic! I tried a back of the napkin calculation to figure out how much food it takes for these bacteria to make a gallon of gas but it may be a bit off. Still, it does give a number that is probably in the right ballpark.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_9692\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 250px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/LotsOfCorn.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-9692\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-9692\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/LotsOfCorn.jpg\" alt=\"Right now it takes a lot of corn to make a gallon of gas. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.\" width=\"250\" height=\"179\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Right now it takes a lot of corn to make a gallon of gas. Image courtesy of \u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cornheap.jpg\">Wikimedia Commons\u003c/a>.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A little digging found that \u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corn_syrup\">3,360 pounds of corn can yield about 2000 pounds of a 90% glucose solution\u003c/a> or about 1800 pounds of glucose. Since the researchers used 5000 liters of a 20 gram per liter culture to get one gallon of gas, that means each gallon of gas would take 100,000 grams of glucose. A little algebra and we come up with 220 pounds of glucose per gallon of gas which translates to a mind boggling 411 or so pounds of corn. Suddenly biodiesel is looking pretty reasonable!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If they can really get the bacteria to produce 20 grams of gasoline per liter of culture, the amount of corn needed for each gallon of gas falls to 11.9 pounds. This is getting pretty close to the ball park of biodiesel but is still an awful lot of corn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both the soybean based biodiesel and the bacterial based gasoline simply need too much food to be useful as a substitute for petroleum based diesel and gasoline. Scientists need to find ways to use inedible plants to make biodiesel or to feed these bacteria. This is obviously an active area of research with great strides being made in turning cellulose into the gasoline additive ethanol. If scientists can get similar results with a cellulose to glucose conversion, then this bacterially produced gasoline may yet let us live happily ever after.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Learn more in this g\u003ca href=\"http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2013/06/130626-drop-in-biofuels-making-gasoline-from-plants/\">reat article on other fuels that will not require a change in infrastructure.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Imagine if instead of digging oil up out of the ground and refining it into gasoline, we could just have bacteria make it for us in a big vat somewhere. Researchers from South Korea have done just that -- engineered bacteria to make gasoline -- but many challenges remain before large scale production becomes viable.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_9684\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/GasPump.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-9684\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-9684\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/GasPump.jpg\" alt=\"Maybe someday the gas in these pumps will come from bacteria instead of out of the ground.\" width=\"640\" height=\"364\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Maybe someday the gas in these pumps will come from bacteria instead of out of the ground. Image courtesy of \u003ca href=\"http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gas-pump-Indiana-USA.jpg\">Wikimedia Commons\u003c/a>.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Imagine if instead of digging oil up out of the ground and refining it into gasoline, we could just have bacteria make it for us in a big vat somewhere. Since we would grow the food that the bacteria turn into gasoline, this would be a very low carbon fuel option that lets us keep the current internal combustion technology and the vast distribution system already in place. In other words, this approach would greatly decrease our carbon footprint with minimal retooling of the existing infrastructure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The downside is that for now, the bacteria need the food we eat to make the gasoline. We got a taste back in 2008 and 2011 for what happens when we try to lower carbon emissions by using food to make biofuels—\u003ca href=\"http://www.forbes.com/sites/williampentland/2012/07/28/the-coming-food-crisis-blame-ethanol/\">food price spikes and their accompanying riots\u003c/a>. Ideally, we will want to be able to feed the bacteria stuff we can’t eat so that making gas doesn’t cause starvation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is all relevant because researchers from South Korea have \u003ca href=\"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24077097\">engineered bacteria to make gasoline\u003c/a>. Through a series of genetic tweaks and add-ons, they have coaxed the laboratory workhorse, \u003cem>E. coli\u003c/em>, to make around 580 milligrams (mg) of gasoline per liter of culture. While this is an amazing bioengineering feat, 580 mg is as little as it sounds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Using this \u003ca href=\"http://www.thecalculatorsite.com/conversions/substances/oil.php\">handy calculator\u003c/a>, it looks like there are 2.9 million or so mg per gallon of gas. A little algebra shows that we would need around 5000 liters of bacterial culture to get a gallon of gas. Even with the best gas mileage, this wouldn’t be competitive. And these researchers know it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_9689\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 250px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/BioReactor.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-9689\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-9689\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/BioReactor.jpg\" alt=\"Gas might come from here one day instead of a hole in the ground. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.\" width=\"250\" height=\"188\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gas might come from here one day instead of a hole in the ground. Image courtesy of \u003ca href=\"http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jninternational4.jpg\">Wikimedia Commons\u003c/a>.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://blogs.wsj.com/korearealtime/2013/09/30/south-korean-research-team-turns-e-coli-into-gasoline/\">They claim\u003c/a> that if they can boost the bacteria so that it makes 10 or 20 grams of gasoline per liter, then it will become competitive with gasoline obtained the old-fashioned way. They can get away with this still relatively low level of production because unlike oil or tar sands, the bacterial gasoline doesn’t need any refining. The bacteria produce it ready-to-go!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Getting from half a gram to ten or twenty grams will not be trivial and will probably need some significant breakthrough. These are hard to predict which means we can’t know if they can get bacteria to this level in a year, a decade or a century. But if it happens, it may be one piece of the puzzle in dealing with global warming while maintaining our current standard of living.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is important to note that bacterial production of biofuels is not the only game in town. One of the most viable alternatives currently is biodiesel. It isn’t great in the cold but at around $2.00-2.50 per gallon to produce, it is getting pretty competitive with petroleum based diesel.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Right now large scale production of biodiesel suffers from the same issues as bacterially made gasoline—food has to be used to make it. The numbers I have seen are that it takes something like \u003ca href=\"http://www.card.iastate.edu/iowa_ag_review/winter_08/article3.aspx\">7.6 pounds of soybeans to make a single gallon of biodiesel\u003c/a>. Given that the U.S. uses around 60 billion gallons of diesel each year, it would take a whole lot of soybeans just to match our current needs. Keep in mind this number doesn’t include any increased diesel needs as more and more cars are converted to diesel.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Figuring out how this compares to the bacterially produced gasoline is no picnic! I tried a back of the napkin calculation to figure out how much food it takes for these bacteria to make a gallon of gas but it may be a bit off. Still, it does give a number that is probably in the right ballpark.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_9692\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 250px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/LotsOfCorn.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-9692\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-9692\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/LotsOfCorn.jpg\" alt=\"Right now it takes a lot of corn to make a gallon of gas. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.\" width=\"250\" height=\"179\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Right now it takes a lot of corn to make a gallon of gas. Image courtesy of \u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cornheap.jpg\">Wikimedia Commons\u003c/a>.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A little digging found that \u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corn_syrup\">3,360 pounds of corn can yield about 2000 pounds of a 90% glucose solution\u003c/a> or about 1800 pounds of glucose. Since the researchers used 5000 liters of a 20 gram per liter culture to get one gallon of gas, that means each gallon of gas would take 100,000 grams of glucose. A little algebra and we come up with 220 pounds of glucose per gallon of gas which translates to a mind boggling 411 or so pounds of corn. Suddenly biodiesel is looking pretty reasonable!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If they can really get the bacteria to produce 20 grams of gasoline per liter of culture, the amount of corn needed for each gallon of gas falls to 11.9 pounds. This is getting pretty close to the ball park of biodiesel but is still an awful lot of corn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both the soybean based biodiesel and the bacterial based gasoline simply need too much food to be useful as a substitute for petroleum based diesel and gasoline. Scientists need to find ways to use inedible plants to make biodiesel or to feed these bacteria. This is obviously an active area of research with great strides being made in turning cellulose into the gasoline additive ethanol. If scientists can get similar results with a cellulose to glucose conversion, then this bacterially produced gasoline may yet let us live happily ever after.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Learn more in this g\u003ca href=\"http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2013/06/130626-drop-in-biofuels-making-gasoline-from-plants/\">reat article on other fuels that will not require a change in infrastructure.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Watsonville Lacks Funds to Control Toxic Algae, Threatening Wildlife",
"headTitle": "Watsonville Lacks Funds to Control Toxic Algae, Threatening Wildlife | KQED",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"audio-wrap\">\n\u003ch2>Listen:\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>http://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/science/2013/10/2013-10-07-science.mp3\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>By Krista Almanzan\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_9661\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/PINTO1_KA_crop.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-9661\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-9661\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/PINTO1_KA_crop.jpg\" alt=\"The menace lurking in Pinto Lake isn't always obvious. (Krista Almanzan)\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The menace lurking in Pinto Lake isn’t always obvious. (Krista Almanzan/KAZU)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In the Central Coast town of Watsonville, \u003ca href=\"http://www.pintolakepark.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Pinto Lake City Park\u003c/a> is a fixture in the life of many locals, including 20-year-old Juan Perez. He’s been fishing off the jetty at the southern end of the lake since he was 8 years old. “I come out here whenever I can,” Perez said. He usually fishes for sport–catch and release–except late this summer when he caught more than 100 pounds of carp, winning Watsonville’s “Carpageddon” competition. The monthly $50 prize to the angler who removes the most carp from the lake is about all Watsonville can afford, to address the lake’s big problem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nasty stuff\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pinto Lake is \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/2013/09/24/california-lakes-toxic-algae-among-worst-in-u-s/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">plagued with chronic blooms\u003c/a> of a toxic blue-green algae called cyanobacteria. The algae feed on phosphorus from decades-old deposits of sediment in the lake. Farm fertilizers and leaky septic systems are also contributors, and the bottom-feeding carp stir that phosphorus up into the lake waters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_9662\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 350px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/PINTO-3-e1380900507238.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-9662\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-9662\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/PINTO-3-e1380900507238.jpg\" alt=\"Blue green algae near the shore of Pinto Lake in Watsonville. (Krista Almanzan)\" width=\"350\" height=\"263\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Blue green algae near the shore of Pinto Lake in Watsonville. (Krista Almanzan/KAZU)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“So if we can reduce the amount of carp in the lake we can reduce the amount of phosphorus in the water column,” said Robert Ketley, a senior utilities engineer with the city of Watsonville. The algae stay green while they’re floating on the surface of the water and then turn blue where they’ve dried on shore. “The problem really manifests in the fall months, and that’s when you come down here and the lake will look luminescent green and will have an odor that you will either distinguish as ‘gym bag’ or ‘manure,’” Ketley said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Visitors may not always notice the small patches of algae floating on the lake but it’s hard to miss the signs along the shore warning people to avoid direct contact with the water. When it gets really bad, the lake has to be roped off. Patricia McQuade, who manages Pinto Lake City Park, including its RV campground and boat rentals, says she’s had to make changes to keep people from getting sick. For example, she no longer rents boats to families with kids. “Can’t do that,” McQuade told me on a recent visit. “We can’t let them on the water because a kid \u003cem>has\u003c/em> to put their hands over the side of the boat, right? Then they’re going to have to put their hands in their mouth.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Spiking the meter\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_9665\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 350px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/PINTO-4.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-9665\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-9665\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/PINTO-4.jpg\" alt=\"Signs warn of the blue green algae at Watsonville's Pinto Lake. (Krista Almanzan)\" width=\"350\" height=\"263\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Signs warn of the blue green algae at Watsonville’s Pinto Lake. (Krista Almanzan/KAZU)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The algae produce a toxin called \u003ca href=\"http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/eh/hazardous/topics/bluegreenalgae.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">microcystin\u003c/a> that when touched or ingested can cause effects ranging from nausea to liver damage. The California health limit for the toxin is 0.8 parts-per-billion. Between 2009 and 2012, Pinto Lake averaged 84 ppb: 100 times the health limit. And one sample back in 2007 showed nearly 2.9 million ppb of microcystin. That’s the highest level of that toxin ever recorded in California: more than 3 million times the health limit. A \u003ca href=\"http://www.toxicalgaenews.com/toxic-algae-report-2013.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">new study\u003c/a> sponsored by the \u003ca href=\"http://www.nwf.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">National Wildlife Federation\u003c/a> ranks Pinto Lake’s algae among the worst in the nation. The blooms have been linked to the deaths of birds, fish and even sea otters in nearby Monterey Bay. That’s because the lake’s waters eventually flow into the Pajaro River, which empties into the bay. Once Ketley and a researcher showed symptoms of exposure themselves. Otherwise there are no documented cases of people getting sick from the slime.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ketley says the algae will get worse when the rainy season kicks in. That’s when runoff from nearby agricultural fields and neighborhoods gives the biggest boost to phosphorus levels in the lake. The city plans to educate homeowners and businesses in the watershed about the effects of runoff, but that will only go so far. It’s also considering treating the lake with a chemical compound called \u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alum\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">alum\u003c/a>. “You put alum into the lake,” Ketley said, “it binds up the phosphorus in the water column, and you create a barrier on the bottom of the lake, over the sediment, so that the phosphorus from the sediments can’t get up in the water column.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_9671\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 450px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/PINTO-2.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-9671\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-9671\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/PINTO-2.jpg\" alt=\"Watsonville engineer Robert Ketley wants Pinto Lake to be a successful laboratory for countering algae. (Krista Almanzan) \" width=\"450\" height=\"338\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Watsonville engineer Robert Ketley wants Pinto Lake to be a successful laboratory for countering algae. (Krista Almanzan/KAZU)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>He says the alum treatment will cost several hundred thousand dollars. It’s money Watsonville does not have. The city hasn’t recovered from the economic downturn, when it had to cut staff and services. So Ketley applied for a grant from the State Water Resources Control Board. He says Pinto is the perfect-sized laboratory lake for other California communities. “One of the things I really feel strongly about,” Ketley said, “is I want to make sure people see this as an opportunity to have a success story rather than doom and gloom–‘Oh no, toxic lake, bad situation.’ We can fix this.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>McQuade and other community members say it must be fixed. They recently formed a group called \u003ca href=\"http://friendsofpintolake.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Friends of Pinto Lake\u003c/a>. “When you think of how hard we work to save a redwood, maybe 300 years old,” McQuade offers for perspective, “this is 8,000 years old, so we have to do it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It could be months before Watsonville knows if it will get any state money to help clean up the algae and preserve this treasured lake.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Krista Almanzan reports for public radio station KAZU in the Monterey Bay Area. She has also produced stories for NPR and KQED.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "The city of Watsonville has an expensive problem on its hands: toxic algae stirred up from the bottom of Pinto Lake makes the lake poisonous to humans and deadly to birds, fish, and even the otters in Monterey Bay, where the lake water eventually empties into the sea. Knowing how to clean it is one thing; paying for it is another.\r\n",
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"description": "The city of Watsonville has an expensive problem on its hands: toxic algae stirred up from the bottom of Pinto Lake makes the lake poisonous to humans and deadly to birds, fish, and even the otters in Monterey Bay, where the lake water eventually empties into the sea. Knowing how to clean it is one thing; paying for it is another.\r\n",
"title": "Watsonville Lacks Funds to Control Toxic Algae, Threatening Wildlife | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cdiv class=\"audio-wrap\">\n\u003ch2>Listen:\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>http://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/science/2013/10/2013-10-07-science.mp3\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>By Krista Almanzan\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_9661\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/PINTO1_KA_crop.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-9661\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-9661\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/PINTO1_KA_crop.jpg\" alt=\"The menace lurking in Pinto Lake isn't always obvious. (Krista Almanzan)\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The menace lurking in Pinto Lake isn’t always obvious. (Krista Almanzan/KAZU)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In the Central Coast town of Watsonville, \u003ca href=\"http://www.pintolakepark.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Pinto Lake City Park\u003c/a> is a fixture in the life of many locals, including 20-year-old Juan Perez. He’s been fishing off the jetty at the southern end of the lake since he was 8 years old. “I come out here whenever I can,” Perez said. He usually fishes for sport–catch and release–except late this summer when he caught more than 100 pounds of carp, winning Watsonville’s “Carpageddon” competition. The monthly $50 prize to the angler who removes the most carp from the lake is about all Watsonville can afford, to address the lake’s big problem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nasty stuff\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pinto Lake is \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/2013/09/24/california-lakes-toxic-algae-among-worst-in-u-s/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">plagued with chronic blooms\u003c/a> of a toxic blue-green algae called cyanobacteria. The algae feed on phosphorus from decades-old deposits of sediment in the lake. Farm fertilizers and leaky septic systems are also contributors, and the bottom-feeding carp stir that phosphorus up into the lake waters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_9662\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 350px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/PINTO-3-e1380900507238.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-9662\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-9662\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/PINTO-3-e1380900507238.jpg\" alt=\"Blue green algae near the shore of Pinto Lake in Watsonville. (Krista Almanzan)\" width=\"350\" height=\"263\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Blue green algae near the shore of Pinto Lake in Watsonville. (Krista Almanzan/KAZU)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“So if we can reduce the amount of carp in the lake we can reduce the amount of phosphorus in the water column,” said Robert Ketley, a senior utilities engineer with the city of Watsonville. The algae stay green while they’re floating on the surface of the water and then turn blue where they’ve dried on shore. “The problem really manifests in the fall months, and that’s when you come down here and the lake will look luminescent green and will have an odor that you will either distinguish as ‘gym bag’ or ‘manure,’” Ketley said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Visitors may not always notice the small patches of algae floating on the lake but it’s hard to miss the signs along the shore warning people to avoid direct contact with the water. When it gets really bad, the lake has to be roped off. Patricia McQuade, who manages Pinto Lake City Park, including its RV campground and boat rentals, says she’s had to make changes to keep people from getting sick. For example, she no longer rents boats to families with kids. “Can’t do that,” McQuade told me on a recent visit. “We can’t let them on the water because a kid \u003cem>has\u003c/em> to put their hands over the side of the boat, right? Then they’re going to have to put their hands in their mouth.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Spiking the meter\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_9665\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 350px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/PINTO-4.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-9665\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-9665\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/PINTO-4.jpg\" alt=\"Signs warn of the blue green algae at Watsonville's Pinto Lake. (Krista Almanzan)\" width=\"350\" height=\"263\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Signs warn of the blue green algae at Watsonville’s Pinto Lake. (Krista Almanzan/KAZU)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The algae produce a toxin called \u003ca href=\"http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/eh/hazardous/topics/bluegreenalgae.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">microcystin\u003c/a> that when touched or ingested can cause effects ranging from nausea to liver damage. The California health limit for the toxin is 0.8 parts-per-billion. Between 2009 and 2012, Pinto Lake averaged 84 ppb: 100 times the health limit. And one sample back in 2007 showed nearly 2.9 million ppb of microcystin. That’s the highest level of that toxin ever recorded in California: more than 3 million times the health limit. A \u003ca href=\"http://www.toxicalgaenews.com/toxic-algae-report-2013.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">new study\u003c/a> sponsored by the \u003ca href=\"http://www.nwf.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">National Wildlife Federation\u003c/a> ranks Pinto Lake’s algae among the worst in the nation. The blooms have been linked to the deaths of birds, fish and even sea otters in nearby Monterey Bay. That’s because the lake’s waters eventually flow into the Pajaro River, which empties into the bay. Once Ketley and a researcher showed symptoms of exposure themselves. Otherwise there are no documented cases of people getting sick from the slime.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ketley says the algae will get worse when the rainy season kicks in. That’s when runoff from nearby agricultural fields and neighborhoods gives the biggest boost to phosphorus levels in the lake. The city plans to educate homeowners and businesses in the watershed about the effects of runoff, but that will only go so far. It’s also considering treating the lake with a chemical compound called \u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alum\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">alum\u003c/a>. “You put alum into the lake,” Ketley said, “it binds up the phosphorus in the water column, and you create a barrier on the bottom of the lake, over the sediment, so that the phosphorus from the sediments can’t get up in the water column.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_9671\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 450px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/PINTO-2.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-9671\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-9671\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/PINTO-2.jpg\" alt=\"Watsonville engineer Robert Ketley wants Pinto Lake to be a successful laboratory for countering algae. (Krista Almanzan) \" width=\"450\" height=\"338\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Watsonville engineer Robert Ketley wants Pinto Lake to be a successful laboratory for countering algae. (Krista Almanzan/KAZU)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>He says the alum treatment will cost several hundred thousand dollars. It’s money Watsonville does not have. The city hasn’t recovered from the economic downturn, when it had to cut staff and services. So Ketley applied for a grant from the State Water Resources Control Board. He says Pinto is the perfect-sized laboratory lake for other California communities. “One of the things I really feel strongly about,” Ketley said, “is I want to make sure people see this as an opportunity to have a success story rather than doom and gloom–‘Oh no, toxic lake, bad situation.’ We can fix this.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>McQuade and other community members say it must be fixed. They recently formed a group called \u003ca href=\"http://friendsofpintolake.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Friends of Pinto Lake\u003c/a>. “When you think of how hard we work to save a redwood, maybe 300 years old,” McQuade offers for perspective, “this is 8,000 years old, so we have to do it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It could be months before Watsonville knows if it will get any state money to help clean up the algae and preserve this treasured lake.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Krista Almanzan reports for public radio station KAZU in the Monterey Bay Area. She has also produced stories for NPR and KQED.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\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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