@15:40, 2/10/14

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U.S.

One Month After Toxic Spill, West Virginians Face ‘Crisis of Confidence’

By TRIP GABRIEL | Feb 9th 2014

Officials have repeatedly backtracked since lifting a tap-water ban after a chemical spill last month, and residents are expressing growing distrust of health authorities’ reassurances.

Water Pollution; Hazardous and Toxic Substances; Accidents and Safety; Coal; Chemicals; Water 

Just as if the officials will drink the water.

It sounds like the answer is no.

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Sports

No. 1 UConn’s Top Challenge Seems to Be Not Running Out of Players

By HARVEY ARATON | Feb 9th 2014

Missing several key players, the Huskies beat their most formidable league opponent, Louisville, by 17 points.

Basketball (College) 

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2014/02/09/sports/ncaabasketball/ap-bkc-t25-uconn-ucf.html?ref=ncaabasketball

"ORLANDO, Fla. — Lasan Kromah and Shabazz Napier each had 17 points and seven rebounds, and No. 22 Connecticut easily defeated skidding Central Florida 75-55 on Sunday night.

DeAndre Daniels had 16 points and seven rebounds for the Huskies (18-5, 6-4 American Athletic Conference), and Ryan Boatright scored 11. UConn led by 17 at halftime and withstood a mild second-half rally by the Knights to win for the fourth time in five games."

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Science

For Cows, Daughters Mean More Milk

By SINDYA N. BHANOO | Feb 10th 2014

Cows who birthed back-to-back daughters had a bonanza of milk, nearly 1,000 pounds more than those that had given birth to sons, a new study reports.

Cattle; Milk; Breastfeeding 

"The amount of milk a cow produces is affected by the sex of her fetus, a new study reports.

Cows that gave birth to a daughter produced considerably more milk than those that had sons. And back-to-back daughters led to a bonanza of milk from their mothers — over two 305-day lactation periods, nearly 1,000 pounds more milk than from cows that had given birth to sons, an increase of 3 percent.

The study, described in the journal PLoS ONE, could have implications for dairy farmers and for new discoveries about human breast milk.

“Nobody knew if the fetus could possibly be affecting the mammary glands,” said the first author, Katie Hinde, an evolutionary biologist at Harvard. But she added, “It might just be that the developmental needs for sons and daughters are different.”

The study examined 2.4 million lactations by nearly 1.5 million Holstein dairy cows in the United States. The data was drawn from numbers recorded from 1995 to 1999. Though there were striking differences in quantity between the mothers of sons and of daughters, the milk did not differ in terms of fat or protein content.

Whether human mothers produce different milk for sons and daughters deserves more research, Dr. Hinde said, adding that closer study could lead to more customized infant milk formulas and to better matches in neonatal units for babies who need donor breast milk."

I will be away from my machine until late.

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