Science Caturday: The Mysteries of Pudge

maybe

Plenty of evidence says that average portion sizes of food have increased over the last fifty years, and obesity rates have risen too. But the seemingly obvious conclusion – that the former is to blame for the latter – may not hold up, according to a new paper released this week.

Every smart kitty knows that correlation does not equal causation. The paper published this week in Physiology and Behavior (paywall) suggests that there is little evidence that large portions are making us fat.  While the authors concede that further studies covering longer time periods may find stronger evidence of a causative link between big portions and bigger hoomins, it’s just not there yet. “It is at least conceivable that larger portions at home could simply mean more leftovers,” the authors write.

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Kate Wheeling in Pacific Standard explains that the authors of the paper “present at least one other reason to be skeptical such a link exists: The obesity epidemic has not struck the population evenly. Mean weight has increased faster than median weight, which means the heavier end of the spectrum has become much heavier, while the lighter end has barely budged. What data we have on the portion size effect so far indicates that it does not discriminate; people of all shapes and sizes fall victim to the psychological trap, so larger portion sizes alone can’t explain the pattern of obesity we see today. The focus on portion size, the authors argue, blinds us from targeting other potential culprits of obesity, such as the increase in meal frequency—another well-documented trend.”

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Hmmm, so maybe we’re eating too often? Again, clever cats know that anecdotes are not data, but a story from England backs up this case. Clive the cat went missing from his home in Toton, England, more than a year ago…and turned up recently at a pet food warehouse nearby. On being reunited with Clive, his hoomin, Tanya Irons, said “I can’t believe he’s so porky!” (I personally would count this as evidence that that she is quite rude and none too bright.)

Clive was astutely taking advantage of the opportunities he was offered, Tanya. Be like Clive.

 

 

 

 

 


Filed under: Science Caturday

Science Caturday: Nautical Naughty Cat

moveboat

Despite heavy competition, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen emerged as obnoxious billionaire of the week, amid reports that his 300-foot luxury yacht destroyed 14,000 square feet of protected coral reef near the Cayman Islands.

According to the Cayman News Service, the anchor chain of Allen’s yacht, the MV Tatoosh, caused “extensive damage” to the reef earlier this month. The incident comes just five months after Allen announced that he would provide funds for research to “stabilize and restore coral reefs” through his Seattle-based company, Vulcan.

A spokesman for Vulcan said Wednesday that the boat’s mooring position was “explicitly directed” by the local port authority and that Allen was not on board at the time. It added that Vulcan and the ship’s crew had immediately moved the ship from the affected area and were “actively and cooperatively working with local authorities to determine the details of what happened.”

Well, OK…but still, bad billionaire! Coral is precious. Fat Cats should be more careful.


Filed under: Science Caturday Tagged: Cayman Islands, Coral reefs, Paul Allen, science cat

Science Caturday:Buzzed Off

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A report released this week by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) showed a link between a major class of pesticides and harm to honeybees, but only when used on certain types of crops. The report showed that pesticides known as neonicotinoids posed a significant risk to honeybees when used on cotton plants and citrus trees but not when used on other big crops like corn and tobacco.

Both the pesticide manufacturer and anti-pesticide advocates were unhappy with the report, which failed to make a clear case for either continued use of neonicotinoids or an outright ban.

Neonicotinoids, chemicals that work on insects’ central nervous systems, have been the subject of intense debate in Europe, where several countries have enacted full or partial bans on their use.  Despite this, most scientific bee experts agree that neonicotinoids alone are not to blame for the problem of dwindling bee populations, although they may be a factor in some cases.

Entomologist May Berenbaum of the University of Illinois noted that the health of honeybees, agriculture’s top pollinator, is a complex puzzle that includes climate, food for bees, parasites, disease and the way different pesticides and fungicides interact. “People would like a nice simple story with a guy in a black hat as the bad guy, but it’s complicated.”

Our science kitteh, on the other hand, seems to have identified a villain. Oh, dear.

 

 

 


Filed under: Science Caturday, Uncategorized Tagged: bee cat, colony collapse disorder, entomology cat, neonicotinoids, science cat

Science Caturday: Meme Sandwich

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By now you’ve probably all heard the story of Hamdog, in which a guy posted a funny picture of his dog on Facebook with a slice of ham on its face, claimed that the dog had been seriously burned trying to save his family from a house fire, and asked for prayers in the form of likes and shares. Well, it worked: the picture was shared 110,000 times in a week and got over 54,000 likes before the truth came out. We could condemn the hoax or chuckle at the gullibility of internet folk, but instead, we’re going with option 3 – showing people how much better cats are than dogs at this sort of thing. Years before anyone draped ham over a dog’s snout, possibly as early as 2004, someone threw cheese at a cat’s head and gave birth to two classic memes – “Doing it Wrong” and “Who Throws Cheese, Honestly?”

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In 2011, a Reddit user posted a photo of a cat with its head stuck in a piece of bread and spawned a “cat-breading” craze that lasted until 2013.

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So I guess you could say that the arrival of Hamdog completes a meme sandwich that’s been in the works for a decade, with cats (naturally) leading the way for the slower  canines. Sure, I’ll take some chips with that.

chips


Filed under: Science Caturday

Science Caturday: The Cats Awaken

This week, researchers with USAMRIID published findings on Sphingosine kinase 2 as a host factor….oh look, who are we kidding here? This week’s big nerd story was STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS. This post contains absolutely no spoilers, only a collection of all the best Star Wars lolcats the internet had to offer. Enjoy them we hope you will.

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whoutink

 


Filed under: Science Caturday Tagged: jedi cat, sci fi cats, star wars cats, star wars lolcats, yoda cat

Science Caturday: Editing Teh Hoomins

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Scientists, journalists and policy-makers gathered in Washington, DC this week for the International Summit on Human Gene Editing at the National Academies of Science. The meeting, which NAS co-hosted with the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the U.K.’s Royal Society, was billed as a global discussion of “the scientific, ethical, and governance issues associated with human gene-editing research.” In particular, the summit focused on the implications of the emergence of CRISPR, a new gene-editing technique which is cheaper, more versatile and more precise than any currently in use.

This topic is a little complex for cats, so we’ll let the experts help out. Ed Yong, in The Atlantic, outlines the basics of the technique and what scientists are working on to make it even better, while Tina Saey writes in Science News about the significant safety and ethical issues and the guidelines in place for further development.

While scientists work on the fancy new stuff, cats will continue to use their traditional techniques for editing your jeans – shedding, clawing and nomming.

 

 


Filed under: Science Caturday, Uncategorized Tagged: CRISPR, gene editing, Genetics Cat, genetics kitteh, science cat

Where’s Tiger? #camouflage #finchstagram

Photo by Josh Witten (CC BY-NC-SA) via Instagram http://ift.tt/21lQCGI

Filed under: Items of Interest, Science Caturday Tagged: Finchstagram, Instagram

Science Caturday: Bigger Fish Faster? Yes, Please!

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This week, the US Food and Drug Administration approved its first genetically modified animal, the AquAdvantage salmon, as safe to eat. The FDA found that the GM salmon are “as safe to eat as any non-genetically engineered Atlantic salmon, and also as nutritious.” It will not require that stores label the salmon as genetically modified, although they may still do so.

The AquAdvantage salmon, created in 1989, is similar to the Atlantic salmon, but is modified so that it carries a growth hormone found in the Chinook salmon and a segment of DNA taken from the pout fish, which boost its growth. As a result, the AquAdvantage salmon grows much faster than normal Atlantic salmon, reaching a market-ready size in about half the time. Bigger fish faster? Our science cats give this genetic tweak two paws up.


Filed under: Science Caturday, Uncategorized Tagged: GMO fish, GMO salmon, science cat, science lolcat

Science Caturday: Like cats, neutrinos don’t interact with you when you want them to

WotUmeanNeutrinosGoinThruMe

The Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded this week to Arthur McDonald and Takaaki Kajita for their work with neutrinos.

The two were honored for their contributions to experiments demonstrating that subatomic particles called neutrinos change identities. The neutrinos transform themselves among three types: electron-type, muon-type and tau-type.

The transformation requires that neutrinos have mass, dispelling the long-held notion that they were massless. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, which awards the Nobels, said the discovery “has changed our understanding of the innermost workings of matter.”

This is super impressive and, more importantly, gives us an excuse to re-run this awesome lolcat.


Filed under: Science Caturday Tagged: neurtino cat, Nobel prize cat, physcis cat, science cat, science lolcat

Science Caturday: Water on Mars Confirmed

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Scientists this week announced the strongest evidence yet that there may be liquid water on Mars. A paper published in Nature Geoscience described observations made by researchers over the past three years that indicate that water – most likely in the form of a salty brine –  appears seasonally on Mars, forming dark lines as it trickles down steep slopes. Although scientists have known for years that Mars once had water, the new evidence provides hope that one day humans may discover life on the red planet. The latest announcement was based on the study of photographs of the surface of Mars. However, we can reveal here exclusively that a super-sekrit kitteh mission led by Commander Kibbles flew up to have a look and can confirm the findings. Yes, there is water, and yes, it is yucky.


Filed under: Science Caturday Tagged: mars cat, science cat, science lolcat, Space Cat, water on mars