Coffee and Provocation

The Dogs of New York
From The New York Times comes an analysis of every dog registration in New York City: "New York’s dogs are as varied as its people, and their numbers can be just as telling. They can be a cipher for understanding gentrification, and sometimes predicting it — when the designer pups arrive, rising home prices may not be far behind. They become part of the identity of a neighborhood, and their shifting numbers, rising or falling, can say much about its future."

Paleolithic People Cared for Sick Dog
Ancient people cared for a sick, domesticated pup for weeks on end before it died of distemper about 14,000 years ago.

Dr. Dirt Will Save Us All
One gram of soil contains at least 1,000 bacterial species, and scientists are now mining those species to find new antibiotics. Sean Brady and colleagues at Rockefeller University in New York City have turned up a new family of dirt-living antibiotics called ‘malacidins’ which can kill pathogen resistant to vancomycin, one of the antibiotics of last resort. When applied to the skin of rats, the new antibiotics sterilized wounds infected with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

Wood Tougher Than Steel
Genius engineers at the University of Maryland have found a way to make wood as tough as steel, as light as titanium, and far cheaper than Carbon fiber.

The Lions Would Like Dessert Now
Lions in South Africa's Kruger National Park ate a suspected poacher over the weekend. "It seems the victim was poaching in the game park when he was attacked and killed by lions," Limpopo police spokesman Moatshe Ngoepe said. "They ate his body, nearly all of it, and just left his head and some remains." Police found a hunting rifle and ammo near the body.

Trump Kills a Gun Company
The Remington gun company is filing for bankruptcy. It seems that With Trump in office, fewer people are buying guns because they don’t fear new firearms controls. It seems gun owners don't really fear the possibility that communist Russians might control the government or that a fascist police state might rise up here in America. In fact, that's exactly what Trump voters support!

Escapism Meets Reality
A couple who sold everything for an adventurous life on a sailboat had it sink, with everything they owned on board, just two days later. "Their former home sits capsized, within sight of the bars and restaurants. Their belongings floated off to who knows where. Before they abandoned ship, Walsh grabbed their social security cards, some cash, his ID and her phone — and Remy, their 2-year-old Pug. They have no jobs, no savings and nowhere to go. 'I sold everything I had to do this,' Broadwell said, 'and I lost everything in a matter of 20 minutes.'"

Americans Use a LOT of Antibiotics on the Farm
Livestock raised for food in the US are dosed with five times as much antibiotic medicine as farm animals in the UK. The difference in rates of dosage rises to at least nine times as much in the case of cattle raised for beef.

A New Invasive Species In Virginia
The Spotted Lanternfly (SLF), Lycorma delicatula, at a stone yard in Frederick County near Winchester.

The Snow in the Wizard of Oz
Was made of asbestos.