man lives with magpie

Baa-humbug! Scientists develop face test for sad sheep

LONDON -- They may look placid while grazing in fields but sheep's faces can tell us a lot, according to scientists in Britain who have developed a new system to work out if sheep are in pain or just feeling sad.

The test is based on 500 photos of sheep collected by veterinarians and used to design an algorithm by researchers at Cambridge University that measures five key markers of ovine facial expressions.

When sheep are in pain their eyes narrow, their cheeks tighten, their ears fold forwards, their lips pull down and back and their nostrils change from a U shape to a V shape, according to the scientists.

They now hope to extend the test to other species, including horses, rabbits and some rodents.

By installing cameras in sheep pens, the scientists hope the test will help farmers spot injuries or illnesses early on and find treatment.-read more

Giant sloth remains found in Los Angeles

Fossils found by workers digging a tunnel for a new railway line in Los Angeles have been identified as the remains of a giant sloth and a bison.

The "amazing discovery" of a sloth's hip bone and a fragment of a bison's radius bone was made about 16ft (5m) below ground in Park Mesa Heights.

Scientists say the Harlan's Ground Sloth could have weighed 1,500lb (680kg), and been up to 10ft in length.

The sloth and bison species have been extinct for at least 10,000 years.-read more

CAN I HAVE YOUR PERFUME SAYS TIGER.

Howletts ,the aspinall wild animal park,Kent  is asking for donations of perfume and aftershave for its tigers.These are used to spray around tiger enclosures as it is believed that the smells awaken the tiger senses and trigger natural tracking behaviour and communication.see their Facebook page video and post

5 Things You Need To Know About Direct Cremation

Basic Features Of Direct Cremation

Because direct cremation does not include a formal funeral or any pre-funeral events, many of the costs of a traditional funeral are avoided.

• The body is cremated immediately after death, which means that you may engage the services of a crematory directly rather than a funeral home. This can potentially save you a significant amount of money.
• The body is usually cremated in a simple container, rather than an expensive casket
• There is no viewing, visitation, or wake before the cremation, which eliminates the need for embalming or other body preparations
• A memorial service may be held at a later date, which eliminates the need for an expensive casket and funeral arrangements

Service Options

If you are interested in a direct cremation but want to have a formal service as well, that service will likely take the form of a memorial service at a later date. If you want to have a service before the cremation, you will not be planning a direct cremation, -READ MORE

SIR ROGER MOORE R.I.P

To me he was the James bond 007 i grew up with and watched in the cinemas ,why did i like him as the character of James bond it was due to his humour ,trademark Englishman,killer instinct and some of the greatest theme songs featured in his 7 films but he was also Simon templer aka the saint on television and did a lot of charity work -peta and unicef -and got a knighthood in 2003 for humanitarian work.I finish this bit of post with a goodnight mr bond and will revisit his films.He once said of his acting(he had 3 expessions,eyebrow up,eyebrow down and then both of them at same time.READ MORE ABOUT HIM ON WIKI LINK

Orbit of Earth-Size Exoplanet TRAPPIST-1h in Alien Solar System Nailed Down

The orbits of all seven Earth-size planets in the TRAPPIST-1 system are now known.

Astronomers have nailed down the path of TRAPPIST-1h, the outermost planet in the system, finding that this world takes just under 19 Earth days to complete one lap around its small, faint host star. 

The new result suggests that TRAPPIST-1h is too cold to host life as we know it, and it confirms that all seven TRAPPIST-1 worlds circle their star in a sort of gravitational lockstep with one another, study team members said. [Exoplanet Tour: Meet the 7 Earth-Size Planets of TRAPPIST-1]

"It's incredibly exciting that we're learning more about this planetary system elsewhere, especially about planet h, which we barely had information on until now," Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate at the agency's headquarters in Washington, D.C., said in a statement. -read more