Growing Wild

Japanese Giant Salamander (Andrias japonicus), family Cryptobranchidae, endemic to Japan

One of the largest amphibians in the world, growing to a length of 1.5 m (~5 ft).

Vulnerable.

FINALLY SAW A MANTIS IN REAL LIFE

This confirms that there is a civilization older than the Sumerians that we have yet to find

Some people get existential dread from this

Source (non Aboriginal)

And a quote I picked out from a longer interview with an Aboriginal local elder about the area where he touched on the history

this is not life-threatening, but also who wants weeks of diarrhea and a fucking parasite in them lol. if you suspect you've already had this and it's passed, i would see a doctor. you might need an antiparasitic anyway. if you're actively sick, see a doctor and they might be able to prescribe medication to help you get over it faster.

try to avoid eating raw vegetables, scrub fruit with a produce brush and rinse thoroughly with water. again, don't bother with premade greens or bagged salads. if you buy lettuce, remove the outer 2-3 layers of leaves.

'Medicinal' does NOT mean 'good for you and safe to eat all the time'. A plant being 'medicinal' does NOT mean that eating it, without any idea of WHY and HOW it's considered medicinal, is a good idea. It is UNWISE to consume a plant that has a long history of use in a way that DOES NOT have a long history of use.

In addition to learning that a plant is edible, you need to learn how it is eaten, what part is eaten, when it's harvested, and how to harvest it sustainably and in a way that supports its continued existence (unless it's invasive). If people only eat the ripe berries as food, then don't eat unripe berries. Don't. Eat. Unripe. Berries. UNLESS! There's! precedent! For that plant!

Anyways, yes. Medicinal plants are medicines. They have drug interactions and side effects. You can overdose. Modern pharmaceuticals are a good thing because you know exactly how much of the active ingredient you are consuming, and there is a lot of information on the safety.

Turns out he was mixing up 'uncooked' and 'unripe'. What finally got him to stop was his concern for his microbiome, when I pointed out that part of how oregon grape is medicinal is as an antimicrobial. And unripe berries are sometimes not edible even when they're edible when ripe. And sometimes that's because they have more of the bioactive compounds than ripe fruit.

He luckily only had mild stomach discomfort. But you really, really shouldn't eat things in a way that no one else does.

Western Bobcat (Lynx rufus ssp. fasciatus)

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1. Back from the brink: Bettongs return to the desert

“Alongside two fenced safe havens, researchers have established a 100-square-kilometer (39-square-mile) Wild Training Zone, where invasive predators like feral cats are reduced to low levels, giving native species a chance to adapt. [… “S]ome of our team had bettongs alongside feral cats and documented good survival rates when the cats were at low densities," West says. “They also saw incredibly rapid changes in the anti-predator behavior of the bettongs[….]”

2. Netherlands to ban conversion therapy for both kids & vulnerable adults

“The country already bans some of the more extreme methods of conversion therapy, like medication and shock therapy, [… and will now] also cover the dangers of exorcism, prayer-based therapy, psychological pressure, and pseudo-therapy sessions. [… A]nyone who practices conversion therapy on children or vulnerable adults [could receive] up to two years in prison and a fine of up to 27,500 euros (about $31,500). Therapists could also lose their licenses.”

3. First of a kind “carbon refinery” to embed emissions in concrete and other building materials

“The refinery would capture carbon emissions from factories and combine it with minerals to create a solid material […] such as concrete, glass and paint[…. It] could transform up to 2500 tonnes of carbon dioxide into 10,000 tonnes of saleable products each year [… as a] a practical way to reduce pollution. […] “We’re really targeting hard-to-abate industries like steel, cement, refractories, chemicals — industries where CO2 is an intimate part of the process for making what they make,” Dr Rayson said.”

4. Teeming with turtles: Cabo Verde island sees 80-fold increase in nesting loggerheads

“In previous years, each team […] encountered between five and 10 female turtles (Caretta caretta) a night. But now, the teams were each recording between 20 and 30 females a night. By 2021, that number had grown to between 30 and 40. [… T]he new study found that the three largest nesting sites at Boa Vista reached a whopping 22,000 nests per kilometer in 2021.”

5. Former Illinois coal mine now supports 650 community solar subscribers

“The two Minonk community solar projects have a combined capacity of 9.8 MW across roughly 40 acres, sending energy directly to the ComEd grid [… and] are among the first in ComEd’s system to incorporate […] a smart grid technology that monitors and manages distributed energy resources in real time [… which helps] ComEd more effectively balance load, manage variability, and enable […] reliability[….]”

Due to where it is typically grown, coffee farms are particularly vulnerable to damage from erosion when rain comes either too intensely or too sparsely. A coalition assembled by the Global Environment Facility set up test farms to help provide local coffee farmers in Uganda with the resources to apply regenerative agricultural techniques to their local farming conditions.

The results have led to better yields, healthier soil that is less prone to erosion, and more stable income for farmers.

these are images from a 1930s pamphlet that endorsed kudzu, entitled "stop gullies: save your farm"

Canebrakes built up incredibly rich, fertile soil and are amazing at preventing erosion. They form incredibly strong mats of rhizomes. And their roots are known to go 10 feet deep into the soil.

"With genetic test results back from U.C. Davis Laboratories of toe-hair samples from each side of his body, I am excited to share that this sheep

🌟 IS INDEED a CHIMERA 🌟

His black mouflon side is a genetically different individual from his black gray side. The lab ran the test twice just to be sure!

Oh but wait, THERE IS MORE!

He is ALSO a she!

The black mouflon side is male.

The black gray side is female!

What I can tell you beyond these test results, is that this beautiful creature successfully bred four solid patterned ewes this winter that produced a total of 9 lambs, of which all were either solid pattern or mouflon pattern; 5 rams and 4 ewes. "