Interesting

Hi everyone

I thought I would just give an update, I have been busy working hard in the laboratory for the past few weeks, I have some even busier times coming up.

I have been looking at deadly animals recently just for some light reading and I found some interesting links which I would like to share:

I have found an interesting image recently, see this article and image (see image below)
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2615737/Forget-sharks-mosquitoes-SNAILS-worlds-deadliest-animals-Graphic-reveals-human-races-biggest-killers.html 

I thought it was quite interesting, I am not surprised by the mosquito, they carry a fair few parasites and viruses etc... I was quite surprised at how many people are killed by snakes and rabies from dogs.

I also found this list and image on deadly animals: 
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/101315-10-deadliest-animals-in-the-world/
and
http://www.care2.com/greenliving/worlds-top-10-deadliest-animals.html

Again I was surprised by some of the figures, i think its amazing how there are so many different views of which animals are the most deadly, there are so many factors that could be considered.

I found that a documentary called Worlds worst venom which is also very interesting, I think it is a very good documentary on venomous animals.

I am very interested in diseases transmitted by the mosquito, especially parasitic diseases, I may begin to focus on this in my next post.

My first conference

Hi everyone

So I have just been to my first conference, Society for General Microbiology in Liverpool. It was extremely interesting, I learnt so much from just talking to people. I stood with my poster and I got asked lots and lots of questions, I really feel this has help me build on my knowledge and consider things that I hadn't thought about.

I really enjoyed watching presentations from scientists from around the world, they were all so interesting, I even learnt about things not in my field. I feel attending conferences is really a god way to branch out and make contacts that you might need in the future.

I made some amazing new friends, who I hope to stay in contact with, I feel that talking and networking with people at a conference is very important. The days are very long starting at 9am and not finishing until 9pm, I was extremely tired every day, but it was well worth it. 

The hotel that I stayed in wasn't that great, I would't recommend Travelodge to anyone, didn't sleep well at all. The breakfast was also not the best. The food at the conference wasn't too bad, it ranged from sandwiches to pakoras and canapes in the evening, the canapes were very nice, including a mini back on toast with a quails egg. 

I had a great time and I am looking forward to doing it again

Happy conferencing!!!

Elephant facts and conservation issues

Hi all

This post will be about elephant facts and a couple of elephant conservation issues, I will post further issues next week.

Elephant facts:

1. Elephants can spend upto 16 hours a day eating
2. They are herbivores, eating leaves, plants and twigs
3. The trunk is used to pick up food and water which is then put into the mouth
4. Elephants have no natural predators. Though carnivores such as lions may prey on younger, weak, old vulnerable elephants
5. Male elephants are called bulls and females are called cow. Young elephants are called calves
6. They are the biggest land animal
7. Wild elephants are found in Africa and Asia

Poaching:

Poaching and hunting elephants for their tusks has been happening for centuries, the ivory is made into trinkets and souvenirs. Poaching may be causing an imbalance between the sexes, as males are killed for their tusks leaving only the females behind.

This website gives some good information on recent poaching incident: http://www.bloodyivory.org/

Poaching is not only for ivory, but for meat, hide, medicinal use and poaching for the entertainment industry. This involves taking elephants from the wild and using them for entertainment such as circuses.

Another interesting website: http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/iv-drip/10-things-you-need-to-know-about-elephant-poaching-8983276.html

Human elephant conflict:

In recent years conflict between humans and elephants has been increasing. With human encroaching on land that elephants have used as migration routes for centuries.

This conflict usually happens when elephants end up on farmers land, sadly some farmers shoot these animals. Many deterrents have been trialed to see if they can deter elephants from entering farm land and destroying/eating the crops. Such deterrents include bees or sounds of bees, chilies and lights.

There are many interesting articles surrounding this subject: 
http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/endangered_species/elephants/human_elephant_conflict.cfm
http://www.bornfree.org.uk/animals/asian-elephants/projects/sri-lankan-human-elephant-conflict/

An introduction to Elephants

Hi all

If you have read my previous posts you will be aware that I study Elephant Endotheliotropic Herpesvirus in the Asian elephant. I thought I would give you a brief introduction to the elephant, firstly elephant evolution and some of the differences between African and Asian elephants.

• Elephant evolution: 

(Image from: http://www.sanparks.org/parks/kruger/elephants/about/evolution.php)

It has been suggested that the African elephant diverged before Asian elephants and mammoths, this would suggest that the Asian elephant is more closely related to the Mammoth than the African elephant.

• Differences between the African and the Asian elephant: (Information from: Fowler, M., et al. 2006)

                                           African                                        Asian
Weight:                               4,000-7,000Kg                           2,000-5,500Kg
Height at shoulder:              3-4 metres                                   2-3.5 metres
Ears:                                   Larger                                         Smaller
Teeth:                                 Lozenge shaped loops                 Narrow compressed loops
Tusks:                                Both sexes, larger in males           Males usually have tusks, vestigial in females
Trunk:                                Two "fingers"                               One "Finger"

• A little on poaching (Will discuss further later): I found this interesting image whilst searching the internet and thought I would share it. (Image from: http://www.scmp.com/infographics/article/1399263/everything-you-need-know-about-ivory-poaching#comment-57879) 

References:

• Krause, J., et al. (2005). "Multiplex amplification of the mammoth mitochondrial genome and the evolution of Elephantidae." Nature 439(7077): 724-727.
• Fowler, Murray E., and Susan K. Mikota, eds. Biology, medicine, and surgery of elephants. Wiley. com, 2006.
• http://www.sanparks.org/parks/kruger/elephants/about/evolution.php
• http://www.scmp.com/infographics/article/1399263/everything-you-need-know-about-ivory-poaching#comment-57879

Christmas Holidays

I hope you all had a MERRY CHRISTMAS! and a HAPPY NEW YEAR.

I spent my Christmas and New Year on a Mediterranean cruise which was lovely, the weather as we left Southampton and the first 3 days was pretty terrible with gale force 8-12 winds.At one point the rolling of the ship got quite severe and my mum was thrown out of bed and glasses smashed in out bathroom. We sailed with Cunard on the Queen Elizabeth, it was a nice ship and was elaborate inside. The evening entertainment on board was very good, saw several shows and a comedian, me and my mum took part in a couple of quizzes and won woo hoo!.

On the cruise I visited Cartegena, Spain, Barcelona, Spain, Monte-Carlo, Monaco, Rome, Italy, Ajaccio, Corsica, Gibraltar and La Coruna, Spain. Whilst on holiday I met some really nice people from around the world who I thought had some interesting stories. I figured out how to do panoramas on my phone so I have chosen a few photos from my holiday which I like, see below:

 Monte-Carlo, Monaco

Inside the Colosseum, Rome, Italy

Trevi fountain, Rome, Italy

Me and my mum on the ship

Languages

Hi everyone

I have recently taken up learning German, i thought it would be easier than it actually is. I am currently doing 2hrs of taught study per week, I am supposed to be doing 2 hours of self study also, but I am finding this a challenge at the moment. 

This week had been one of the most tiring weeks ever, I have just had so much to do everyday, I just dont seem to have the time to do much else except work at the moment.

I am very much looking forward to going to see my family this weekend, as I haven't been home for a while will be a nice weekend, besides the fact that I also have work to do.

Laura

Day out at the zoo

Hi everyone

I went to Whipsnade zoo today with my dad, both of us had never been there before. It was a little expensive but worth it, the zoo is large and takes quite a long time to walk around. The guide book and map were rather helpful especially as the zoo does cover a large area and there are different ways you can walk around.

As I study a virus found in elephants, I really wanted to see the new baby elephant that they have, adorable:

I thought the elephant enclosure was excellent, with both inside and outside areas, with plenty of enrichment items. 
I am very impressed at all the enclosures at this zoo, the new giraffe heights recently opened, I thought was a lovely touch, enabling giraffe viewing from a different level. Whipsnade has a variety of animals which I had either not seen before (and I have been to quite a few zoos) or that I have seen very rarely. One specific example is the wolverine, I was very impressed with how this enclosure is set out as it enables viewing of a quite secretive animal, which was a joy as I have only seen one once before.

It was nice to see a pride of African lions, as the zoos I have been to tend to have Asian lions, I enjoyed how close you could see them, there was also a display of lion related items with a member of staff to explain them.

 The cheetah exhibit was also a nice experience, it is found in the passage through Asia section, the exhibit looked nice and clean, and the cheetahs seemed happy and content. The covered viewing area, contains very good information boards, and on the way out of the cheetah area there are some games for children (and adults). The cheetah family sat proud and it was nice to see such a nice family.

There are also a variety of other activities to do, such as there is a steam train, play area for children, shops and a cafe. The discovery centre was also very good, with a variety of repties, fish and amphibians. We ate at the cafe, I had spaghetti and my dad had fish cakes, both of which were very nice. Overall we both enjoyed our day out at the zoo.

Hope you all had a nice day too :)

Find me on twitter: https://twitter.com/Giddypig1987