From Farnam's Street Newsletter

what differs god from the devil? what differs the son of god from the antichrist? what differs extraterrestrial life and aliens from god?

National Deer Association |

The Guts of Predatory Cats Can Destroy CWD Prions

The prions that cause chronic wasting disease in deer are nearly indestructible. So it's good news to learn cat guts are their mortal enemy.

Okay. So. You know how some people want to finish exterminating all large predatory mammals so they have less competition for deer and so they don't occasionally lose livestock? And you know how native deer species in North America have been hit increasingly hard with Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in the past couple of decades due to overpopulation thanks to the eradication of large predatory mammals that normally keep them in check?

We already have evidence that reintroducing predatory mammals to their native ranges not only knocks deer populations back to a healthier level, and now we've discovered that apparently the digestive systems of cougars and bobcats are lethal to CWD prions. Prions are among the most difficult pathogens* to eliminate; you have to heat them up to about 1,800 degrees F in order to thoroughly destroy them. And prion diseases like CWD are almost universally fatal.

So to find that these wild cats can safely eat CWD-infected animals AND significantly reduce the chances that the prions will be spread to other deer is a pretty big deal, especially since some other animals like coyotes and crows do pass prions undamaged through their digestive systems. And it's just one more example of why an ecosystem needs all of the species that have evolved in it over thousands of years, not just those are convenient for humans to have around. The spread of CWD is directly related to the overpopulation of deer, and it's likely that continuing to reintroduce large predatory mammals to their native range will help quell this awful prion disease.

Wedding in Azerbaijan, photo by Lev Borodulin (1959)

The piety of the Hong Kong Chinese is illustrated by the richly decorated temples such as this one in Kowloon (below) and also in the intimate and well-concealed shrines (above).

From 'Eternal Hong Kong'. Scan

Nuu-chah-nulth tribal member wearing fringed chilkat blanket and thick neckring which is emblematic of the individuals ties to a local secret society known as the hamatsa. The mask being worn represents a recently deceased family member who had been a shaman. The Nuu-chah-nulth were one of the few indigenous peoples on the Pacific Coast who hunted whales. Whaling is essential to Nuu-chah-nulth culture and spirituality. It is reflected in stories, songs, names, family lines, and numerous place names throughout the Nuu-chah-nulth territories. From earliest contact with European explorers beginning with the invasion of Captain Cook in 1778, more than 90% of the Nuu-chah-nulth died as a result of infectious disease epidemics, namely malaria and smallpox.

Audre Lorde to her students during a poetry workshop, as shown in A Litany for Survival: The Life and Work of Audre Lorde (1996) dir. by Ada Gay Griffin and Michelle Parkerson

do you ever think about how if you dive into the ocean and go deeper and deeper you will pass through layers of darker and darker blue until everything is black and cold and the pressure will be so intense that it will kill you without protection but if you keep going you will find little glowing specks of light, and if you go up into the sky and go higher and higher you will pass through layers of darker and darker blue until everything is black and cold and the pressure will be so intense that it will kill you without protection but if you keep going you will find little glowing specks of light

Tetragonula hockingsi brood structure nest

Gertrude Abercrombie and Sonny Rollins, Chicago, c1960s