Coffee and Provocation

Dog Walking?  There's an "App" for That
The "Wag" app allows you to order a dog walker on your smartphone up to 30 minutes before you need a walker and dog walkers can also be scheduled regularly. The service launches in New York City today with 75 dog walkers throughout Manhattan and Brooklyn, and it’s already operating in Los Angeles and San Francisco.Owners can opt to meet their dog walker ahead of time and can also track their dog via the app. They’ll also receive a “report card” with a photo of their dog, a map of the walk, and a “pee-poop” status update. Each Wag walk costs $20 per half hour per dog and can be ordered either in 30- or 60-minute blocks. An additional dog from the same household is another $5.

Bringing Back the America Chestnut Thanks to GMO
There used to be over 3 billion Chestnut trees in eastern North America -- 25% of the Appalachian forest. Beginning in 1907, and spreading quickly, howevever, chestnut blight imported from Asia wiped them all out. Now scientists think they may have the solution to bringing the Chestnut back -- adding wheat genes.

Rewriting History
Scientists are pushing back the clock, and now they say that dogs have been around for about 30,000 years, and that stone tools predate humans by at least 500,000 years.

The Squirrel and Bird Partnership
It seems “squirrels understand ‘bird’ and birds understand ‘squirrel” with predator alarm calls spreading through a forest at speeds over 100 miles an hour.

Texas Ranches Saved the Scimitar-Horned Oryx
The scimitar-horned oryx has been extinct in Africa since the mid 1980’s but thanks to hunter-driven conservation efforts somewhere between 6,000 to 10,000 of the animals can still be found in Texas. 

Rhino Farms in Texas?
The Exotic Wildlife Association is proposing moving as many as one thousand African rhinoceros be moved  to Texas in order to conserve and propagate the endangered species. Rather than attempt to build a rhinoceros sanctuary, the organization intends to adopt the animals into private homes. 

Miracle Weight Loss?
The roots, leaves, and flowers of the Thunder God Vine are highly toxic, but new research suggests a compound found in the plants roots could be a brand-new approach to treat obesity. A compound called Celastrol, found in the roots of the Thunder God Vine, may increase the body’s sensitivity to leptin which helps fight obesity. Mice given oral doses of Celastrol lost an average of 45 percent of their body weight – and they lost body fat, not lean mass. The research was published in the journal Cell.