Chameleons, Crystals: and Curiosity

Chameleons may be more famous for changing color than for their high-speed tongues: but today I'll be talking about both.

1. Chameleon Tongues, Mathematically Described
   • Heads, Neck Injuries, Getting a Grip, and Designing Robots
2. Crystals in Chameleon Skin
   • Iridophores
   • Cool Chameleons

---

Brains, Curiosity, and Being Human

Using our brains is part of being human. So is learning about the universe, and using that knowledge. We're supposed to use our brains. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 154-159, 2292-2296)

But, particularly if we act without thinking, curiosity can get us killed. I've talked about Georg Wilhelm Richmann before, and why "tickling the dragon's tail" is a bad idea.

Also why Ulysses is in Dante's Malebolge, and it's not because being curious is wrong. (January 23, 2015)

Let's see, what else?

Ethics matter.

'It's for science' isn't an excuse for subjecting humans to lethal experiments: or mistreating animals. I've talked about that before. (March 27, 2015; December 5, 2014)

Basically, science and technology are fine. Ignoring ethics isn't. (Catechism, 159, 2292-2296, 2375-2377, 2414)

---

1. Chameleon Tongues, Mathematically Described

(From SPL, via BBC News, used w/o permission.)
("The chameleon feeds by snapping out its long tongue"
(BBC News))

"Chameleon's tongue gives up secrets"
Helen Briggs, BBC News (April 20, 2016)

"Scientists have built a mathematical model to explain the secrets of the chameleon's extraordinary tongue.

"It took more than 20 equations to capture mathematically how the reptile's tongue unravels at very high speed to snare insects.

"The model explains the mechanics of the animal's tongue and the inherent energy build-up and rapid release.

"British researchers say the insights will be useful in biomimetics - copying from nature in engineering and design...."

Depending on who you read, chameleons have been around for 60,000,000 years, give or take, or roughly 20,000,000 years. That's how far back we've found various iguana-like fossils.

The odds are good that the critters have been around for a lot longer, and share a common ancestor with iguanids and agamids upwards of 100,000,000 years back.

Somewhere along the line, chameleons acquired their color-changing ability. They're not the only variable-color animals. Quite a few critters go through seasonal color changes, of course; but anoles, squids, octopi, and cuttlefish change quickly.

Back to chameleons: we know of 202 species, not all can change color; they've got zygodactylous feet, which is a fancy way to say two toes point backwards; and they've got weird eyes.

A chameleon eye's lens is convex, not concave like ours. That's not obvious, looking at them, but the way they move their eyes independently of each other is.

Chameleons can swivel their eyes around a whole lot more than we do, which lets them stay still while waiting for their next meal: or avoiding being another critter's food.

Tarsiers have enormous eyes for their size, at least some can turn their heads a full 180 degrees. I'm assuming that's 180 left or right.

Oxford University's professor of mathematical biology Derek Moulton clarified — if that's the right word — what these scientists did:

"...'In mathematical terms, what we've done is we've used the theory of non linear elasticity and captured the energy in these various tongue layers and then passed that potential energy to a model of kinetic energy for the tongue dynamics.'..."
(Helen Briggs, BBC News)

I gather what that means is that the scientists found a set of equations that do a pretty good job of describing what a chameleon's tongue does.

It's a very complicated organ: modified hyoid bones at the core, then about a dozen very thin layers of fibrous material, wrapped in muscles. Energy gets stored in elastic elements — which is what the scientists now understand a bit better.

Heads, Neck Injuries, Getting a Grip, and Designing Robots

We can turn our heads something like 80 degrees left or right: apparently that's about the same for men and women, on average, although men generally have more muscle in our necks.

That may help explain why men aren't quite as likely to have neck injuries. I'd better explain that, considering the preferred reality many folks insist on.

I think humans came in two basic models, male and female: and that this is okay. (May 2, 2012)

That is not even close to yearning for the 'good old days.' I've discussed Addams Family Values, love, and moving forward, before. (January 31, 2016; August 30, 2015; July 12, 2015)

I must believe that we're all created in the image and likeness of God: with free will, masters of our own actions. I must also see all of us as people, with equal dignity: no matter where we are, who we are, or how we act. (Genesis 1:27; Catechism, 360, 1700-1706, 1730-1825, 1932-1933, 1935)

But I don't have to insist that I'm indistinguishable from Elizabeth II, John Krahn, Akihito, or Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka. I look a bit like the first two, though: largely because my recent ancestors spent a long time in northwestern Europe.

Less hair and more beard, though, and that's another topic. Topics.

Where was I? Chameleons, eyes, being human. Right.

We've known that chameleons could shoot out their tongues fast and far — and have been learning more about how they manage it. This research could help scientists and technicians design soft, elastic materials for robotics. That's not the scientists' main motive, though. They said their reason for researching was mostly just "scientific curiosity."

More than you probably need (or want) to know about chameleons, tarsiers, and humans:

• Wikipedia
  • Chameleon
    • Change of color
  • Chameleon vision
  • Newton's laws of motion
    • Newton's second law
  • Sangihe tarsier
    • Description
• "When violence strikes the head, neck, and face."
  Trauma Research Unit, Department of Orthopaedics, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus C, Denmark; via NCBI/NLM/NIH(2009)
• Range of Joint Motion Evaluation Chart
  Washington State Department of Social & Health Services
• "The elastic secrets of the chameleon tongue"
  Derek E. Moulton, Thomas Lessinnes, Stephen O’Keeffe, Luis Dorfmann, Alain Goriely; Proceedings of the Royal Society of London A (April 20, 2016)
• "Owl Mystery Unraveled: Scientists Explain How Bird Can Rotate Its Head Without Cutting Off Blood Supply to Brain"
  Johns Hopkins Medicine (January 31, 2013)
• "Sex Differences in Human Neck Musculoskeletal Biomechanics and Modeling" (.pdf download)
  Liying Zheng (MAY 2011)

---

2. Crystals in Chameleon Skin

(From Alex Hyde/SPL, via BBC News, used w/o permission.)
("The study was conducted on panther chameleons, which are popular pets"
(BBC News))

"Chameleon colours 'switched by crystals' "
Jonathan Webb, BBC News (March 11, 2016)

"Swiss researchers have discovered how chameleons accomplish their vivid colour changes: they rearrange the crystals inside specialised skin cells.

"It was previously suggested that the reptiles' famous ability came from gathering or dispersing coloured pigments inside different cells.

"But the new results put it down to a 'selective mirror' made of crystals.

"They also reveal a second layer of the cells that reflect near-infrared light and might help the animals keep cool...."

Like I said before, (some) chameleons can change color. The real animals are nowhere near as versatile as their cartoon counterparts, though.

Researchers are pretty sure chameleons change color for different reasons: blending in with their surroundings, staying warm or cool, or signalling each other.

Iridophores

(From Teyssier, Saenko, Van Der Marel, Milinkovitch, via BBC News, used w/o permission.)
("A panther chameleon can switch in minutes from camouflage colours to more strident, communicative ones"
(BBC News))

"...Some changes arise from shifting pigments. Tiny packets of the dark dye melanin, for example, can be spread throughout the tendrils of big "melanophore" cells - or gathered into the centre, to lighten the skin again. Many fish and reptiles grow lighter or darker in this way in response to stress, or to match their surroundings.

"Panther chameleons, the subjects of the new study, do this as well. But males can also change between entirely different colours, turning a camouflaged green into a more spectacular yellow, for example, when they see a potential mate or a competitor.

"Until now, many scientists had thought that these changes arose from a similar dispersion trick with yellow or red pigment. The new research suggests this is not the case...."
(Jonathan Webb, BBC News)

Color-changing chameleon skin has a layer of guanine crystals under the outer pigments. The crystals reflect different wavelengths, depending on how they're spaced and arranged: which changes the critters' colors.

Guanine is one of the four main nucleobase in DNA and RNA. We use crystalline guanine as a shampoo additive — for an iridescent look — metallic paints, eye shadow, and nail polish.

The stuff has two tautomeric forms, keto and enol: which matters to folks who make a career or hobby of organic chemistry. My guess is that you're more likely to hear someone mention iambic pentameter: which has more to do with Shakespeare than meters, and that's yet another topic.

Those guanine crystals are in iridophores, a special sort of pigment cell. Here's a photo:


(From M. Milininkovitch, via BBC News, used w/o permission.)
("Inside the 'iridophore' cells of a relaxed chameleon (left) the crystals are tightly packed; excitement causes them to loosen (right)"
(BBC News))

Cool Chameleons

(From M. Milinkovitch, Lanevol.org, via BBC News, used w/o permission.)
("An extra layer of cells that reflect near-infrared wavelengths may help chameleons stay cool in the sun"
(BBC News))

"...Beneath the layer of iridophores that contained a nice, regular lattice of crystals, the team also spotted an additional layer, where the cells were much bigger and more chaotically organised.

"Because that higgledy-piggledy structure reflects near-infrared light particularly well, they believe it might serve to reflect the sun's warming rays and keep the chameleons cool.

"This split appears to be unique to chameleons; other lizards tend to have their crystals arranged in a regular way to give bright colours, or a disorganised way that reflects the heat. With their added layer, chameleons manage to combine the two extremes...."
(Jonathan Webb, BBC News)

Merriam-Webster says "higgledy-piggledy" first showed up in 1598, means "in a confused, disordered, or random manner," and that we don't know its etymology.

Etymology is a word's derivation, entomology is the scientific study of insects, and chameleons eat insect. Insects have compound eyes, some critters with compound eyes living near hydrothermal vents can see infrared.

Quite a few insects can see ultraviolet colors. So could we, at least the wavelengths close to 'visible' light, but the lens of our eye is opaque to ultraviolet. And that's — you guessed it — still another topic.

Posts I remembered while writing this one:

• "Mutant Malaria, Designer Babies, and Ethics"
  (January 23, 2015)
  Particularly
  • Thinking, Curiosity, and Ulysses
• "A Robotic Tentacle, and Disney's Baymax"
  (May 22, 2015)
  Particularly
  • STIFF-FLOP's Robotic Tentacle
  • Cuddly Robots
• "Found: Genes for Fins, Paws, and Hands"
  (December 26, 2014)
  Particularly
  • Knowledge and Being Rational
• "Dinosaur Arms, and Ust'-Ishim Man's DNA"
  (October 31, 2014)
  Particularly
  • Faith, Reason, and the Ardent Mr. Squibbs
  • Time and Truth
  • Ust'-Ishim Man's DNA: Part of Humanity's Story
• "Men, Women, Differences, and Equality"
  (May 2, 2012)
  Particularly
  • The 'Good Old Days' - Weren't
  • Power Tools and Getting a Grip
  • "Equality" and the Olympics
  • Women aren't Men, and That's Okay

Tiny Eyeballs and Purple Socks

Some cyanobacteria — pond scum — swim toward brighter areas. Scientists didn't know how the microorganisms could tell where the light is, until now.

Other scientists discovered four new species of an odd-looking sort of critter: including one that looks like a purple sock.

I'm fascinated by this sort of thing, your experience may vary:

1. Learning How Bacteria "See"
   • "We Noticed it Accidentally"
2. Solving the Purple Sock Mystery
   • Case Closed for Xenoturbella?

---

Psalms, Wisdom, and Accepting Reality

We've known that the universe is big and old for millennia. We've also known that humanity is "little less than a god."

"The heavens declare the glory of God; the sky proclaims its builder's craft."
(Psalms 19:2)

"When I see your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and stars that you set in place -

"⁴ What are humans that you are mindful of them, mere mortals that you care for them?

"⁵ Yet you have made them little less than a god, crowned them with glory and honor. "
(Psalms 8:4-6)

"⁴ Indeed, before you the whole universe is as a grain from a balance, or a drop of morning dew come down upon the earth.

"But you have mercy on all, because you can do all things; and you overlook the sins of men that they may repent.

"For you love all things that are and loathe nothing that you have made; for what you hated, you would not have fashioned.

"And how could a thing remain, unless you willed it; or be preserved, had it not been called forth by you? "
(Wisdom 11:22-25)

I don't have a problem with that, which is just as well. Taking Sacred Scripture seriously is 'in the rules.' (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 101-133)

So is accepting reality, and I've been over that before. Often. (November 20, 2015; June 19, 2015; March 29, 2015)

Also distinctions between "little less than a god" and God. (March 29, 2015; December 12, 2014)

Truth

We've been learning that this universe is almost unimaginably huge and ancient:

• 13,798,000,000 - universe starts
• 4,540,000,000 - Earth forms
• 3,500,000,000 - life starts
• 2,600,000 - Oldowan stone tools
• 151 - Maxwell's radio equations
• 119 - Marconi's wireless telegraphy

That list's from a discussion of talking drums, the Inmarsat network, and space aliens: and that's another topic. (June 19, 2015)

I still run into folks who insist that Ussher was right, that Creation happened at nightfall on October 22, 4004 BC.

That was plausible back in 1654, but my faith doesn't involve clinging to a long-dead Calvinist's timetable.

If it did, Christianity would have started crumbling shortly after 1778, when Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, published "Les époques de la nature." I've said that before, too. (September 18, 2015)

Somewhere around the mid-19th century, some folks started saying that since the universe operates according to rational laws, a rational Creator cannot exist.

Around the same time Darwin published "On the Origin of Species," which gave tightly-wound folks conniptions — and still does. (July 15, 2014)

I keep saying this: seeking truth and seeking God are compatible — and turning my brain off isn't required. (Catechism, 154, 274, 1706)

As a Catholic, I believe that truth is very important. (Catechism, Prologue, 27, 74, more under Truth in the index)

That applies to truths that we've known about since before Genesis was written — and facets of reality we didn't know about until earlier this year.

I see humanity's expanding knowledge as opportunities for greater admiration of God's greatness. (Catechism, 283)

I also keep saying that things of faith come from God. Things of the world come from God. Honest, ethical, study of this astounding universe cannot hurt our faith in God. (Catechism, 159)

If a newly-found facet of reality doesn't match our preconceived notions of what's true: that's our problem, not God's.

If we keep studying the facts, use our brains, and don't assume our preconceived notions are the only possible explanation, sooner or later we'll understand:

"...God, the Creator and Ruler of all things, is also the Author of the Scriptures - and that therefore nothing can be proved either by physical science or archaeology which can really contradict the Scriptures. ... Even if the difficulty is after all not cleared up and the discrepancy seems to remain, the contest must not be abandoned; truth cannot contradict truth...."
("Providentissimus Deus,"¹ Pope Leo XIII (November 18, 1893) [emphasis mine])

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1. Learning How Bacteria "See"

(From Conrad Mullineaux, via BBC News, used w/o permission.)
("The idea first dawned when researchers looked down a microscope at bacteria lit from the side"
(BBC News))

"Bacteria 'see' like tiny eyeballs"
Jonathan Webb, BBC News (February 9, 2016)

"Biologists say they have solved the riddle of how a tiny bacterium senses light and moves towards it: the entire organism acts like an eyeball.

"In a single-celled pond slime, they observed how incoming rays are bent by the bug's spherical surface and focused in a spot on the far side of the cell.

"By shuffling along in the opposite direction to that bright spot, the microbe then moves towards the light.

"Other scientists were surprised and impressed by this 'elegant' discovery.

"Despite being just three micrometres (0.003mm) in diameter, the bacteria in the study use the same physical principles as the eye of a camera or a human...."

"Organism??" Describing a single-cell critter with no organs? I checked, and it's correct usage.

The Oxford American English dictionary says that organism means: "An individual animal, plant, or single-celled life form." Since that's how a BBC News article uses the term, looks like it's British usage, too.

Cyanobacteria are bacteria, prokaryotes; not algae, which are eukaryotes: but they're called blue-green algae anyway. Besides, "algae" is what most folks call pond scum — then there's seaweed like brown algae, which includes giant kelp.

Eukaryotes are critters whose cells (usually) have nuclei; prokaryotes don't have a distinct cell nucleus. We're eukaryotes, although our red blood cells don't have any nuclei, scientists have been rearranging the 'tree of life' recently, and that's yet another topic. (June 19, 2015)

Where was I? Pond scum, dictionaries, Linnaean taxonomy. Right.

Cyanobacteria would most likely have been called "plants" when I was in high school, since they get energy from light. On the other hand, they swim toward light; which was puzzling, since they're just tiny cells: no eyes.

Queen Mary University of London's Conrad Mullineaux and his team - - - back to the BBC News article —

"We Noticed it Accidentally"

(From Sinclair Stammers/Science Photo Library, via BBC News, used w/o permission.)
("Cyanobacteria are found in huge numbers in bodies of water and can form a slimy film"
(BBC News))

"...'We noticed it accidentally, because we had cells on a surface and we were shining light from one side, in order to watch the movement towards the light.

" 'We suddenly saw these focused bright spots and we thought, "bloody hell!". Immediately, it was pretty obvious what was going on.'

"After more than three centuries of scientists eyeballing bugs under microscopes, Prof Mullineaux said it was remarkable that nobody had picked up on this before.

" 'It seemed really, really obvious afterwards.'..."
(Jonathan Webb, BBC News)

I figure the 20-20 hindsight principle applies here. Anyway, the scientists studied the bacteria's 'imaging' abilities with different sorts of microscopes; and set up a test involving a laser beam.

They put the cyanobacteria in a dish with a laser beam focused on its center, and a larger light on one side. The little critters swam toward the big light, unless their path took them into the laser beam.

When its 'forward' side touched the beam the bacterium "bounced off it," starting to swim in the opposite direction.

These cyanobacteria almost certainly can't perceive images. For one thing, images formed on their cell walls are pretty fuzzy: with a resolution of about 21 degrees, compared to the 0.02 resolution of our eyes.

Mostly, though, they're single cells — with no brain to collect and process the data. They respond to light because photoreceptor molecules embedded in their cell walls react when illuminated.

Synechocystis, the species of cyanobacteria used in this study, have been around for quite a while, but didn't branch off from other cyanobacteria until after the Great Oxygenation Event, roughly 2,300,000,000 years back.

They're used as model organisms; partly because they photosynthesize and aren't particularly delicate. They're not used much for genetic engineering, though. They don't reproduce particularly fast, for one thing.

I've talked about mutant mosquitoes, CRISPR, and Laban's sheep before. Basically, there's no such thing as "safe" technology. Even basic tech like string or fire can kill if we don't use our brains. On the other hand, using tech is part of being human. (October 16, 2015; January 23, 2015)

Finally, I'd be astonished if scientists finally know everything there is to know about cyanobacteria. My guess is that this year's discovery will answer some questions: and raise a great many others.

---

2. Solving the Purple Sock Mystery

(From MBARI, via BBC News, used w/o permission.)
("This strange deep-sea beast has baffled scientists for more than 60 years"
(BBC News))

"Mystery of deep-sea 'purple sock' solved"
Rebecca Morelle, BBC News (February 3, 2016)

"The mystery of a deep-sea creature that resembles a discarded purple sock has been solved, scientists report.

"The animal, called Xenoturbella, is so bizarre that for 60 years researchers could not work out what it was - or where it fitted into the family tree.

"But the discovery of four new species in the Pacific has enabled scientists to conclude that this animal belongs to one of the earliest branches of life.

"The study is published in the journal Nature.

"Lead researcher Prof Greg Rouse, from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in the US, said: 'Our nickname for them was purple socks.

" 'So if you think of a sock that you have taken off and thrown on the floor - they literally look like that.

" 'Or a deflated balloon.'..."

The Wikipedia page says Sixten Bock noticed these odd critters in 1915, but it wasn't until 1949 that Einar Westblad published a description of them.

Four species of these critters were discovered this year: Xenoturbella monstrosa, the "purple sock;" Xenoturbella hollandorum; Xenoturbella profunda; and Xenoturbella churro. More about that:

• "Scripps-Led Team Discovers Four New Deep-Sea Worm Species"
  Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego (February 3, 2016)

The smaller ones live near(er) the surface, in water up to 650 metres (2,130 ft) deep. They grow up to 4 centimeters, 1.6 inches, long. Big ones, 10 centimeters, 3.9 inches or more long, live deeper: 1,700 to 3,700 meters 5,600 to 12,100 feet, down.

X. monstrosa is the biggest, up to 20 centimeters, 7.9 inches. Don't bother trying to remember those names, like I keep saying, there won't be a test on this.

Scientists analyzing DNA from these critters discovered mollusk genes — and suggested that they were mollusks that had 'devolved,' once-sophisticated creatures that lost their complex features as they evolved.

Turns out that they'd analyzed DNA from the critter, and what the critter had eaten. I'll get back to that.

Case Closed for Xenoturbella?

(From MBARI, via BBC News, used w/o permission.)
("Genetic tests now reveal that the organism is primitive and is positioned at the base of the evolutionary family tree"
(BBC News))

"...But the discovery of four new species from the depths of Pacific Ocean has allowed scientists to study this animal more closely.

"With Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs), they have been able to film these creatures for the first time....

"... 'We corroborate the fact that they should be thought of as a fairly primitive group,' said Prof Rouse.

"They sit near the base of the family tree, he added.

" 'A major branch on the evolutionary tree of life has now got another four new species instead of just one.'

"But if you think it is cased [!] closed for Xenoturbella, think again.

" 'We've never seen it feeding," said Prof Rouse.

" 'We find it where these molluscs are, and when we sequence it, we find these molluscs, their DNA, is inside. But when we open them up, we find their gut is empty.

" 'And they just have a tiny little mouth opening. They don't have teeth, they don't have any sucking proboscis structure that could tear off a piece of some bivalve.

" 'It is a great unsolved mystery as to how Xenoturbella eats.'..."
(Rebecca Morelle, BBC News)

If Xenoturbella eat mollusks, it's quite a trick: since they don't have teeth, eyes, or brains. Their nervous system is diffuse: a nerve net.. The only organ they've got is a statocyst, a tiny sack holding a pellet that works a bit like our semicircular canals.

Animals like hydras have nerve nets, respond the same way a stimulus no matter what part gets touched: so it looks like critters with nerve nets can tell where a stimulus comes from. Sea stars have nerve nets in their arms, connected by a nerve ring, which apparently acts a bit like a brain.

Most critters with nerve nets have radial symmetry, like sea anemones and jellyfish. Bilateral critters, with left and right sides, generally have something like a brain near the 'front' end. Then there's the typical mollusk, a nominally-bilateral critter with a lumpy nerve ring around its esophagus.

Looks like we have a great deal left to learn. And that's yet again another topic. (July 17, 2015; May 29, 2015; April 10, 2015)

More, including why God's design decisions don't offend me:

• "Big Eyes, Bonobo Squeaks"
  (September 11, 2015)
  Particularly
  • Hubris and the Man With the X-Ray Eyes
  • Truth and Secondary Causes
  • Humility, Science, and Being Reasonable
• "Early Hands, Mutant Mice"
  (August 28, 2015)
  Particularly
  • Abracadabra and Getting a Grip
• "Tiny Microbes and the Tree of Life, Big Aliens"
  (June 19, 2015)
  Particularly
  • Blink, and You'll Miss It
  • Accepting Reality
  • Rearranging the Tree of Life
• "Mutant Cows, Mass Migrations, and a Brain Gene"
  (March 6, 2015)
  Particularly
  • Science, Competence, and Ethics
  • Gene-Swapped Cows
    • Laban's Sheep
• "Mutant Malaria, Designer Babies, and Ethics"
  (January 23, 2015)
  Particularly
  • Technology and Using Our Brains
  • Thinking, Curiosity, and Ulysses
  • Mad Scientists and Ethics

Sleep and Being Human

Humans sleep, which shouldn't be surprising. Just about all critters with brains sleep: mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish — even insects and nematodes experience something like sleep.

Poets and playwrights have written of sleep:

"For in that sleep of death what dreams may come,
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause."
("Hamlet," Act III, scene 1; Shakespeare)

Cheerful fellow, Hamlet, and that's another topic.

Aristotle and others had studied sleep, but it wasn't until the 1937 that Alfred Lee Loomis and others began recording and analyzing data from folks hooked up to an electroencehalograph. Or maybe it was 1929.

Either way, we've learned quite a bit since then: and are discovering that there's much more left to learn.

1. Humans: Wakeful Primates
   • Fire and Dreams
   • Deep Sleepers
2. "How Doth the Little Crocodile"

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An Animal: and Human

I'm an animal: a creature with physical form and senses. When I look in a mirror, I see eyes, nostrils, and a mouth; pretty much like most other animals. The hair tells me I'm a mammal, and other characteristics peg me as a primate.

I can decide to act like 'just an animal,' or think about what I do before I act. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1951, 1730)

I'm better off if I think before acting, and that's yet another topic. (Catechism, 311, 1730, 1778, 1804, 2339)

I'm a Catholic, so I believe that God is making the universe: and that scientific discoveries are an invitation "to even greater admiration for the greatness of the Creator." (Catechism, 279, 283, 301-308)

If you've read these posts before, you know why I think the universe is billions, not thousands, of years old; Earth isn't flat; Adam and Eve weren't German; poetry isn't science; and thinking is not a sin.

Then there's my take on humility and the universe:

• "Why Make a Universe?
  (July 26, 2015)
• "Humility, Science, and Accepting Reality
  (March 29, 2015)
• "Science, Faith, and Leaving the 19th Century Behind
  (July 15, 2014)

Bottom line, I figure that God gave us brains and expects us to use them. Now, finally, an eye-opening bit if research about sleeping primates.

---

1. Humans: Wakeful Primates

(From RM Fauna/Alamy, via BBC News, used w/o permission.)
("Gorillas build new sleeping nests each night"
(BBC))

"Why humans need less sleep than any other primate"
Melissa Hogenboom, BBC Earth (January 21, 2016)

"I have always been envious of people who can get by with only six hours' sleep. I prefer eight, sometimes more. I can function on six, but after a few days my brain will be way below full capacity.

"How much sleep we get affects us all. Too much sleep makes us groggy and disorientated. Sleep too little and our mood and concentration suffer. If this carries on it can also cause serious health issues, heightening the risk of diabetes, obesity and high blood pressure.

"Most of us sleep between six to nine hours a night, meaning we spend about a third of our lives asleep. This may seem like a long time, but we actually sleep the least among all the primates – the group that includes monkeys, apes and us.

"So says a new analysis looking at the impact sleep has had on our evolution. The new research suggests that humans have evolved to sleep less, but also to sleep very deeply. This may help explain our success as a species...."

Hogenboom's article starts with Australopithecines, "extinct, close relatives of humans and, with the extant genus Homo, comprise the human clade," as Wikipedia puts it.

I've talked about Carl Linnaeus, taxonomy, and similarly-dry stuff before: also these four-foot tall early members of humanity's family. (May 29, 2015; June 20, 2014)

Australopithecines would have had a hard time trying to blend into a crowd these days. It wasn't just their height — they were around four feet tall for the most part. These folks had way more face and less forehead than today's model.

They had really small brains, too: 500 cubic centimeters; compared to 1300 cubic centimeters, give or take, on average now. I'm inclined to call them "who" instead of "what," though, since they quite likely had a gene that boosted the length and ability of neurons in our brains. (June 20, 2014)

Hogenboom says their bodies were more like other apes than ours are, and she's probably right. The point is that they probably slept in trees, like every other primate except humans.

This is a big deal, since about a million years later our remote ancestors had bodies shaped pretty much like ours: complete with the long legs we use to cover ground, at the expense of agility in trees. It's quite possibly that we started sleeping on the ground around that point.

The good news about that is that folks sleeping on the ground don't have to worry about falling out of a tree. On the other hand, predators had an easier time finding us on the ground. We may or may not have added fire to our toolkit by that time.

Fire and Dreams

The earliest evidence of fire use is about 1,500,000 years old, and that's debatable. I wouldn't be surprised, though, if we learn that this basic tech is goes further back.

Homo erectus apparently made abstract marks, and definitely used tools. 'It happened earlier' is a continuing theme in our increased understanding of our past. (May 29, 2015; December 12, 2014)

Sleeping by a fire and having the Oldowan or Acheulean equivalent of a Bowie knife at hand could make the difference between being some critter's midnight snack, and having fresh meat in the morning.

Small wonder that predators generally steer clear of fires these days, we don't, and that's yet again another topic. Topics. (October 16, 2015; May 29, 2015; January 30, 2015)

Getting back to sleep, which isn't what I meant, primates (except humans) sleep in trees; and sleep a lot. But we dream more.

That's not guesswork or poetry. Dreams and REM sleep go together. Interestingly, our brains sometimes use more energy while dreaming than when we're awake, and I am not going to get snarky about classroom behavior.

Where was I? Sleep, primates, dreams. Right. David Samson and Charles Nunn of Duke University in North Carolina tracked how much primates sleep, and how long each species spends dreaming.

Deep Sleepers

(From Correogsk, via Wikimedia Commons, used w/o permission.)

"...As well as noting how long the animals slept for, they looked at how much time they spent in rapid-eye movement (REM) sleep. This is when we dream, and when our brain consolidates our memories into long-term storage.

"Humans slept the least. The sleepiest primates were grey mouse lemurs and night monkeys, which slept for 15 and 17 hours respectively.

"But in contrast, humans spent the highest proportion of their sleep in an REM state: almost 25%. 'Humans therefore have the deepest sleep of any primate,' says Samson...."
(Melissa Hogenboom, BBC)

These scientists found a pattern: monkeys get a lower percentage of REM sleep than apes, and apes experience REM sleep less than humans. Maybe that's because monkeys sleep on tree limbs, apes build sleeping nests, and humans recently started making innerspring mattresses. Or maybe not.

One more point, and I'll take a look at half-asleep crocodiles.

Folks living in industrialized societies couldn't possibly sleep well, right? I mean, we've got street lights and late-night movies and instant coffee — you get the idea.

In stark contrast, the "noble savage," uncorrupted by decadent civilization — I am not going to wander off on a discussion of 18th century sentimentalism, human nature, and getting a grip. Not now, anyway.

Turns out that in at least three non-industrialized societies folks get by on substantially less sleep than I do: 5.7 to 7.1 hours per night, averaging 6.4 hours. The folks, two hunter-gatherer groups in Africa and one horticultural group in Bolivia, stayed up well after sunset and woke before dawn.

They're generally healthy, and have no more trouble thinking than any other bunch of folks — so apparently they're getting plenty of sleep.

Maybe folks in my part of the world should take a hard look on the quality of our sleep. My experience suggests that making sure the bedroom is completely dark would help, and that's almost another topic.

More:

• "Humans Evolved for Better Sleep In Less Time"
  Humans sleep shorter, deeper than our closest animal relatives
  Robin A. Smith, Duke Today (December 14, 2015)
• "Sleep intensity and the evolution of human cognition"
  David R. Samson, Charles L. Nunn; Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews, Volume 24, Issue 6, pages 225–237 (November/December 2015)
  (From onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/evan.21464/full (January 28, 2016))
• "Natural Sleep and Its Seasonal Variations in Three Pre-industrial Societies"
  Gandhi Yetish, Hillard Kaplan, Michael Gurven, Brian Wood, Herman Pontzer, Paul R. Manger, Charles Wilson, Ronald McGregor, Jerome M. Siegel; Current Biology, Cell Symposia (November 2, 2015)
  (Summary)

---

2. "How Doth the Little Crocodile"

(From Thinkstock, via BBC News, used w/o permission.)
(" 'A little snippy': The team worked with juvenile, 40-50cm saltwater crocodiles"
(BBC News))

"Crocodiles sleep with one eye watching"
Jonathan Webb, BBC News (October 22, 2015)

"Crocodiles can sleep with one eye open, according to a study from Australia.

"In doing so they join a list of animals with this ability, which includes some birds, dolphins and other reptiles.

"Writing in the Journal of Experimental Biology, the researchers say the crocs are probably sleeping with one brain hemisphere at a time, leaving one half of the brain active and on the lookout...."

The scientists haven't studied crocodile brain waves yet, but that step in their research is coming up. What they've done so far is observe the crocs, using infrared light when it's 'dark' in the critters' aquarium room.

Crocodiles are "a little snippy," as La Trobe University's Dr. Lesku said, so they worked with juveniles: 40 to 50 centimeters long.

A one-eye-open sleeping crocodile keeps its open eye on a human, or where the human was last standing; they do the same for other crocodiles, too.

We think of sleeping with both eyes shut as "normal," since that's how we sleep. But sleeping in shifts, one cerebral hemisphere at a time, may be more common. We've observed it in birds, aquatic mammals, and now crocodiles.

"Unihemispheric slow-wave sleep" may have developed independently each time. Or it may be a very old pattern, predating the days when tetrapods branched out to become today's amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals.

As I keep saying, there's much more to learn.

More:

• Unihemispheric slow-wave sleep
  Wikipedia
• Journal of Experimental Biology (2015)
  • "Slumbering crocs keep an eye out for threats"
    Kathryn Knight
  • "Unihemispheric sleep in crocodilians?"
    Michael L. Kelly, Richard A. Peters, Ryan K. Tisdale, John A. Lesku

stuff:

• "Big Eyes, Bonobo Squeaks"
  (September 11, 2015)
  Particularly
  • Truth and Secondary Causes
  • Humility, Science, and Being Reasonable
• "Early Brood Care, Four-Eyed Cambrian Predator"
  (April 3, 2015)
  Particularly
  • Getting Surprised
  • Scale Insects: A Hundred Million Years of Brood Care
  • Cambrian Arthropod: a Four-Eyed Predator
• "From Trilobites to Whales: Getting Bigger"
  (February 27, 2015)
  Particularly
  • "Greater Admiration"
  • Diverse "Crocs" of Yesterday's Amazon Basin
    • The Amazon, Antarctica, and the Drake Passage: There's More to Learn
  • Cope's Rule: Bigger May be Better
• "Precision-Grip Thumbs and a 'New' Archosaur"
  (January 30, 2015)
  Particularly
  • There's More to Learn
  • Hands, Koalas, and Genesis
  • God is Not a Magician
  • Informed Faith and Norse Mythology
  • Priorities
• "Found: Genes for Fins, Paws, and Hands"
  (December 26, 2014)
  Particularly
  • Being an Animal
  • Knowledge and Being Rational
  • Bats, Birds, and Pterosaurs

Saint Francis of Assisi and Brother Wolf

"...'Brother Wolf, you have killed and pillaged like a wanton criminal, and for that you deserve punishment! But accept instead the forgiveness of all the men you have wronged. Come now, here is my hand. In the name of the Holy One, come to me, and pledge that from this day on you will live at peace with men. Come!'...

"...He was only in time to see the berserker-wolf take the last hesitant step of its advance. To see it raise one metal paw — and with its steel claw-fingers gently touch the kneeling friar's extended hand...."

That's from Fred Saberhagen's "Brother Berserker." The "berserker-wolf" part of Saberhagen's tale is based on a legend in "Fioretti di San Francesco," written a century and a half after Francis of Assisi died.

"Firoetti" is probably the most popular collection of stories about Saint Francis: but "Scripta Leonis, Rufini et Angeli Sociorum S. Francisci," compiled by Brother Leo and other companions, comes from folks who actually knew and worked with him.

Today, Saint Francis of Assisi is the patron Saint of ecologists and animal welfare/rights workers, and may be as popular as garden gnomes and plastic flamingos in my country's yards.

"Animal rights?" I'd better explain that. Imagining that gerbils are people is, in my considered opinion, daft. However, respect for the integrity of creation — and the Creator — demands that we take proper care of critters. (Deuteronomy 25:4; Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2415-2418)

Daniel 2:79-81 Reminds me of Laudes Creaturarum/Canticle of the Creatures/Canticle of the Sun, and that's another topic.

Asisium, Assisi, and a Rich Kid's Impulsive Charity

About three millennia back, Umbri moved into the upper Tiber valley. Etruscans were taking over Umbrian territory around the time Artaxerxes I issued the decree quoted in Ezra 7:13-26.

The Etruscan — or Italic — city called Rome started adding other cities to its growing kingdom within a century or so of Egypt's 25th Dynasty.

Romans built Asisium on Monte Subasio while Bindusara ruled the Maurya Empire, Ostrogoths leveled the place when Wen ruled the Western Wei, but business was pretty good when the Jin and Song dynasties were running north and south China.

Folks were calling Asisium Assisi by that time.

That was about eight and a third centuries ago, and brings me to a young dropout named Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone. He was the son of a wealthy silk merchant living in Assisi, Pietro di Bernardone; and Pica de Bourlemont, a noblewoman originally from Provence.

Pietro nicknamed his young son Francesco, there's a story behind that. Pietro probably didn't worry much about the lad's enthusiasm for troubadours — medieval rock stars, sort of — and loud clothing. Boys will be boys, after all.

The good times didn't last. Arguments over Francesco's impulsive charity escalated into legal action. Francesco eventually dropped out of the family business, and the family; and become a beggar.

The rich-kid-turned-beggar later founded a monastic order, wrote "Laudes Creaturarum," and may have negotiated a pact between a town and a wolf.

Francis of Assisi died in 1226, and was declared a saint by Pope Gregory IX in 1228.

The Wolf of Gubbio

Umbri called their town Ikuvium, Romans called it Iguvium, the Iguvine Tablets are still there, these days it's called Gubbio, and that's yet another topic.

The point is that Gubbio is several mountains north of Assisi, and folks there had wolf problems about eight centuries back.

It was bad enough when the wolf attacked livestock, and stubbornly refused to be killed. Then it developed a taste for humans, and pretty soon was hanging around the city gates, waiting for its next meal.

That's when Francis of Assisi said he'd go have a talk with the wolf. Folks tried talking him out of becoming the wolf's next dinner-to-go, but Francis went anyway.

A crowd followed him — at what they judged a safe distance — to watch the carnage.

Maybe you've read the story before. In case you haven't: Francis made the sign of the Cross, walked out of Gubbio, and made the sign of the Cross again when the wolf rushed at him.

Francis told the wolf to stop — which, surprisingly, it did. He then explained the flawed ethics, and consequences, of eating people:

"...'Brother wolf, thou hast done much evil in this land, destroying and killing the creatures of God without his permission; yea, not animals only hast thou destroyed, but thou hast even dared to devour men, made after the image of God; for which thing thou art worthy of being hanged like a robber and a murderer.

" 'All men cry out against thee, the dogs pursue thee, and all the inhabitants of this city are thy enemies; but I will make peace between them and thee, O brother wolf, is so be thou no more offend them, and they shall forgive thee all thy past offences, and neither men nor dogs shall pursue thee any more.'..."
("Fioretti di San Francesco," trans. by Hudleston, Roger, ed. (Burns Oats (1926)); via Heritage Press and EWTN)

A great acreage of verbiage later, folks living in Gubbio learned that the wolf had been desperately hungry. They agree to feed it daily, it stopped attacking them, and quite a few folks in Gubbio started taking God a great deal more seriously.

Eventually the wolf died. Local tradition has it that Gubbio gave the wolf an honorable burial: later building the Church of Saint Francis of the Peace at the site. I'm pretty sure that's the San Francesco della Pace (Chiesa dei Muratori) in Gubbio.

Renovation work in 1872 required moving a slab near the church wall. A large wolf's skeleton, apparently several centuries old, was underneath. It's been reburied inside the church.¹

More about humans, wolves, and all that:

• "Dogs, Stone Tools, and Newly-Discovered Ancestors"
  (May 29, 2015)
  Particularly
  • Dogs, Wolves, and DNA
• "Advent: Another Year of the Long Watch"
  (November 30, 2014)
  Particularly
  • Consequences and Hope
• "Regeneration: Getting Closer to Growing Lost Organs"
  (August 29, 2014)
  Particularly
  • Natural Law, Lex Naturalis: Universal Principles, Changing Applications
• "Environmentalism: Using the Brains God Gave Us"
  (June 15, 2014)
  Particularly
  • God's Property, Our Responsibility
  • Not Lords, Not Victims: Stewards
• "Mutant Mosquitoes and a Made-to-Order Cancer Treatment"
  (June 13, 2014)
  Particularly
  • Beauty, Order, and the Universe

---

¹ "Francis of Assisi," Adrian House, Paulist Press. p. 181. (2003); ISBN 978-1587680274; via Wikipedia.)

Beavers, Floods, and Yet Another Dire Prediction

Beavers are back in England, which is good news or bad news: opinions differ on that point.

Quite a few folks died when drains blocked up in Nigeria's capital. Then a gas station exploded. There's more rain in the forecast, so their troubles are far from over.

Finally, there's a new doomsday prediction in a brand-new publication. Madagascan lemurs are imperiled: but not, I think, cockroaches, rats — or humans.

1. British Beavers
   • Beavers and "Control Freaks"
2. Accra, Nigeria: Floods, Fires, and Mass Evictions
   • Nigeria's Capital: Death and Recovery
3. Madagascan Lemurs, German Cockroaches
   • Extinction, Panic, and Cockroaches

---

"...And He Found it Very Good...."

The notion that 'spiritual' is good and 'material' is bad arguably has roots in Plato's cave and theory of Forms.

Gnosticism is more recent. It's the idea that the physical world "...is evil, the product of a fall, and is thus to be rejected or left behind...." (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 285)

It's also emphatically not what the Catholic Church teaches. (Catechism, 465)

That hasn't stopped folks from believing that God blundered when making the visible world, more's the pity.

I take my faith seriously, so I can't see the natural world as basically bad:

• God made the heavens and the earth and it was good
  (Genesis 1:1-31)
• Humans are commanded to care for God's creation
  (Genesis 2:15)
• The land itself must be given a rest and not abused
  (Leviticus 25:1-7)
• All of heaven and earth belong to the Lord
  (Deuteronomy 10:14)
• All the earth is the Lord's
  (Psalm 24:1-2)
• Creation proclaims the glory of God
  (Daniel 3:56-82)
• God loves and cares for all of creation
  (Matthew 6:25-34
• Creation reveals the nature of God
  (Romans 1:20)
• Creation and all created things are inherently good because they are of the Lord
  (1 Corinthians 10:26)

Thinking: Mandatory

There's an international environmental conference coming toward the end of November, and an American presidential election next year: so I figure we'll see a bumper crop of dire predictions in the next few months. Also folks claiming that agreeing with them is the only way to save the lemurs.

I'll be trying to make sense of what I see: and plan on writing more about environmental and climate issues than I have been. And no, I do not think the sky is falling.

On the other hand, I'm convinced that we've got brains: and are expected to use them.

That's not just my opinion. As a Catholic, I don't have to be a scientist: but I must think.

Faith isn't reason, but faith and reason get along fine. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 154, 159, 286; "Fides et Ratio," Pope St. John Paul II (September 14, 1998))

Thinking is particularly important when I decide whether something is right or wrong. Having a 'bad feeling' about something can be useful — but "...conscience is a law of the mind...." We're expected to use our brains. (Catechism, 1778)

I've been over that before. (September 7, 2014; December 8, 2013; July 21, 2013)

---

1. British Beavers

(From BBC News, used w/o permission.)
("There are no plans to attach satellite tags to the beavers just yet"
BBC News)

"England's wild beaver colony has kits"
Claire Marshall, BBC News (June 24, 2015)

"A female from the first wild beaver colony in England for centuries has given birth to at least two young.

"New footage shows the kits being helped through the water by their mother.

"The images taken in Devon by local filmmaker Tom Buckley provide the first evidence of the new arrivals.

"The Devon Wildlife Trust (DWT) said the slowly expanding population would help to provide an insight into their effect on the surrounding River Otter system in east Devon....

"...Beavers were hunted to extinction in England and Wales for their valuable fur and glandular oil during the 12th Century and disappeared from the rest of the UK 400 years later....

"...'This irresponsible programme should never have begun and it won't be long before the substantial sums spent in other European countries in dealing with problems caused by beavers will be required here in the UK.'..."[Angling Trust's Mark Owen]

I don't know how 'official' the Devon Wildlife Trust is. It's a member of the The Wildlife Trusts, another British outfit. The latter's Patron (capital "P") is HRH The Prince of Wales; their President is Simon King OBE, which stands for Order of the British Empire; and one of their vice presidents is a "Sir."

Very British. The Title of Nobility Clause in my country's constitution prohibits the national government from granting noble titles, Article Thirteen is still pending ratification after two centuries, and that's another topic.

The Angling Trust is one of the United Kingdom waterway societies — non-governmental organizations "concerned with the restoration, regeneration and use of the waterways in the United Kingdom." (Wikipedia)

Getting back to the Devon Wildlife Trust, it's a registered charity: intended to safeguard the future of the county's urban, rural, and marine wildlife and its environment. (Wikipedia)

Ducks Unlimited is an equivalent in my part of the world: an international non-governmental organization that's focused on waterfowl habitat conservation. I like their punning motto: "Banding Together for Waterfowl."

On the whole, I'm glad to see non-governmental outfits in conservation work. My guess is that they're more likely to be run by folks who remember why they were set up to begin with: and folks can decide whether or not to support them.

Beavers and "Control Freaks"

About those British beavers? That family on the River Otter isn't the first in the British Isles since the 16th century. The Eurasian beaver has been living in Great Britain at least since sometime in the late-20th or early-21st century.

Some live in enclosed wildlife parks, others on their own on the River Tay and Knapdale area of Scotland. The Devon beavers are the first south of Hadrian's Wall, apparently. There's more detail in Wikipedia.

I don't know enough about the situation to know how much the beavers will affect British waterways. My guess is that folks living in that part of the world will eventually have to manage their beaver populations, since the critters are enthusiastic dam-builders.

For now, though, I rather hope that the "control freaks" leave well enough alone: at least long enough for a wild population to get re-established. ("Stop the control freaks who want to capture England's wild beavers," George Monbiot, op-ed, TheGuardian.com (July 4, 2014))

---

2. Accra, Nigeria: Floods, Fires, and Mass Evictions

(From Reuters, used w/o permission.)
("Security forces watch as residents burn dwellings in an impoverished neighborhood in Accra, Ghana, June 20, 2015."
Reuters)

"Ghana destroys hundreds of homes in capital in bid to prevent floods"
Matthew Mpoke Bigg, Reuters (June 21, 2015)

"Bulldozers razed hundreds of homes and businesses in the poor Sodom and Gomorrah neighborhood of Ghana's capital on Saturday so the authorities can start widening a lagoon to prevent a repeat of this month's deadly floods.

"Some residents said security forces sprayed them with tear gas after they threw stones to protect their livelihoods from the bulldozers. By evening, thousands were stranded in the rain amid rubble and household goods strewn for more than a mile.

" 'What they have done is not good for us because this is where some of us work and take care of our families,' said scrap metal merchant Muhammed Abdul Karim as he surveyed the wreckage of his shack and the motorized tricycle he uses to haul iron....

"...The government's action carries a political risk. Many locals are from northern Ghana and have supported the ruling party, but some residents burned their homes in protest at the destruction, starting a blaze that raged out of control...."

I wondered about Reuters' lead sentence: "...the poor Sodom and Gomorrah neighborhood of Ghana's capital...." Near the end of the article, this suburb of Accra gets identified as Agbogbloshie. A little more digging, and I found that Newsweek claims the "Sodom and Gomorrah" moniker is what the locals call it.

Newsweek could be right — or not. I don't know. Apparently the place is filthy, with lots of crime: and allegedly-illegal dumping of electronic waste from other countries.

That last claim is what some folks in Seattle, Washington, said. The World Reuse, Repair and Recycling Association says it's an "e-waste hoax," and a Basel Convention/UNEP/EMPA report said there are "...several challenges for Nigeria to manage e-waste...."

I don't know how much of whose story to believe. What does seem certain is that a whole lot of folks lost their homes and employment. That's not good.¹

Apparently at least one fire started when someone who was getting kicked out of their own neighborhood set fire to their former home. Whether that was a legitimate way to express dissatisfaction with what was happening — again, I don't know.

Flood control is very important in Nigeria's capital this year. The Reuters article says flooding killed more than 50 folks on the third and fourth of this month, when water couldn't get through blocked drains. The same night, 96 folks who took shelter in a downtown gas station died when the place exploded.

That may be a low-end estimate. Al-Jazeera's report lines up with Reuters, with "at least 90" fatalities. BBC News and Zee News put the death toll at 150 to 200 and 200, respectively. No matter what the numbers are, that's a lot of hurting families and friends.

More:

• Accra flooding 2015
  • 2015 Accra floods
  • 2015 Accra explosion
  Wikipedia

Nigeria's Capital: Death and Recovery

Taking a close look at Accra's west side on Google Maps, I found the Agbogbloshie Onions Market and Agbogbloshie Lorry Park near Abose-Okai Road.

That part of Accra's metropolitan area is near the confluence of two streams — and I have no idea whether either of those places are still around, or what happened to the folks who worked there.

Maybe Accra's leadership was justified in forcing folks out of their homes so that their neighborhood could be used as a lagoon. I don't know, and am profoundly glad I don't have to make decisions like that.

I'd like to think that families who were evicted will be compensated for their loss — but fear that they will find recovering from this month's disasters very difficult.

More:

• "Accra in shock and mourning after deadly Ghana fire"
  Op-ed, BBC News (June 8, 2015)
• Accra
  Wikipedia
• Catholic Relief Services — Nigeria

---

3. Madagascan Lemurs, German Cockroaches

(From EPA, via BBC News, used w/o permission.)
("Climate change and deforestation are among the reasons we may be facing an extinction event"
BBC News))

"Earth 'entering new extinction phase' - US study"
BBC News (June 20, 2015)

"The Earth has entered a new period of extinction, a study by three US universities has concluded, and humans could be among the first casualties.

"The report, led by the universities of Stanford, Princeton and Berkeley, said vertebrates were disappearing at a rate 114 times faster than normal....

"...The study - published in the Science Advances journal - cites causes such as climate change, pollution and deforestation...."

Oh-kay. That's interesting. This particular study is in Science Advances, a brand-new open-access journal published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

I assume the facts in this study are accurate. Earth's climate is changing, species have been going extinct since life began on this planet, and the last I heard we're in one of Earth's glacial epochs. This isn't our home's most tranquil time. (July 11, 2014; May 8, 2015)

As for the conclusion, as stated?

We're keeping much closer track of critters these days, so some of the apparent spike in the extinction rate might reflect that increasing awareness. Or maybe we are facing a sudden shortage of lemurs.

However, I'm also aware that there's a major election coming in 2016: and the usual weirdness is well under way. The scientists who wrote that study may sincerely believe that humanity's number is up: or maybe they figure that the masses need another dose of panic.

I really don't know.

Extinction, Panic, and Cockroaches

I take environmental concerns seriously.

However, although I'm sure that we need to use our brains — I think we're no more in danger of extinction than the black or brown rat, or the German cockroach.

We're opportunistic omnivores: designed to eat just about anything we can catch and cook; plus whatever fruits; nuts, berries; or, sometimes, bark; the local smörgåsbord offers. (May 9, 2014)

We're not as spectacularly disease-resistant as some critters, but the Black Death didn't do more than slow us down — and that was before we knew about microbes. (April 19, 2015; April 4, 2014)

Don't get me wrong: I realize that the Great Pestilence, as folks called it at the time, brought death and tragedy to Eurasia in wholesale lots. But we survived.

I don't think blind complacency makes sense: but I'm convinced that an equally-blind panic is just as silly.

And that is yet another topic.

Why I'm concerned, but not spooked:

• "Environmentalism: Using the Brains God Gave Us"
  (June 15, 2014)
  Particularly
  • God's Property, Our Responsibility
• " '...Efficient Use - Not Abuse - of Natural Resources...' "
  (January 21, 2013)
  Particularly
  • "That Covenant Between Human Beings and the Environment"
• "Advanced Technologies and Responsible Stewardship"
  (January 14, 2013)
  Particularly
  • Sane Environmentalism
  • Genesis, Stewardship, and Getting a Grip
  • Technology's Okay: Irresponsibility Isn't
• "Nature: 'Wise Use,' Yes; 'Reckless Exploitation,' No"
  (November 12, 2012)
  Particularly
  • "Dominion," Yes: Ownership, No
• "Charity Demands Environmental Awareness (and God Doesn't Make Junk)"
  (April 12, 2011)

---

¹ Loving neighbors is very important. (Matthew 22:39; Luke 10:27)

Since we're social creatures, we must cooperate and respect individuals. (Catechism, 2238-1889)

This cooperation includes responsibilities of citizens to respect and obey civil leaders — within reason. (Catechism, 2238-2243)

Those in authority have responsibilities, too: which include respecting "...the fundamental rights of the human person ... according to the requirements of the common good...." (Catechism, 2235-2237)

The seventh commandment forbids theft, which has implications regarding private property, economic activity, social justice, and respect for the integrity of creation. (Exodus 20:15; Deuteronomy 5:19; Matthew 5:19; Catechism, 2401-2436)