The most common type of fox, the red fox, has a silver morph whose pelt was once worth 40 beaver skins.
Silver foxes have been raised in fur farms since the 1870s in P.E.I., for collars and cuffs and stoles and such.
In the 1950s, Soviet scientist Dimitri Belayev sought to domesticate the silver fox. He managed to carry out his work by pretending to study animal physiology, which was considered acceptable by the communist party. He proceeded by breeding the tamest foxes, as judged by their behaviour, hypothesizing that behavior is rooted in physiology.
The new foxes lost their fox smell, put down their ears, began wagging their tail when happy, and started barking.
With the breakup of the Soviet Union, the program ran into funding problems and cut the program dramatically, selling many of the foxes as pets.
Another of Belayev's fox experiments consisted of selectively breeding the most agressive specimens to create vicious, killer foxes.
2008/06/24
Tomatoes
Perhaps you know that when tomatoes were discovered in the 16th century, they were considered to be deadly poisonous.
This was because in the 3rd century, a naturalist categorized a green, tomato-like fruit which he called the wolfpeach. It was sweet tasting, but poisonous enough to kill wolves.
When explorers discovered tomatoes growing in the Incan gardens, they presumed them to be the infamous 'wolfpeach', and though they brought them to the old world, they were only grown as curiosities.
The potato, when it develops above ground, becomes what is known as a 'potato apple'; similar to a green tomato. The potato apple, unlike the potato, concentrates poisonous cyanic acid; it is probably the real 'wolfpeach'.
It is not known who discovered that tomatoes were not poisonous.
This was because in the 3rd century, a naturalist categorized a green, tomato-like fruit which he called the wolfpeach. It was sweet tasting, but poisonous enough to kill wolves.
When explorers discovered tomatoes growing in the Incan gardens, they presumed them to be the infamous 'wolfpeach', and though they brought them to the old world, they were only grown as curiosities.
The potato, when it develops above ground, becomes what is known as a 'potato apple'; similar to a green tomato. The potato apple, unlike the potato, concentrates poisonous cyanic acid; it is probably the real 'wolfpeach'.
It is not known who discovered that tomatoes were not poisonous.
2008/06/17
Sunscreen
SPF stands for sun protection factor
An SPF of 50 means you can stay in the sun fifty times longer without getting a sunburn
Only UVB rays cause sunburns; UVA cause invisible damage which increases the chance of skin cancer
The best sunscreen to get is one that has broad-spectrum UVA/B protection
The American Association of Dermatology recommends reapplying at least every two hours
after swimming
sweating
moving
and playing beach volleyball
Persistent Pigment Darkening is a method for measuring UVA protection
An SPF of 50 means you can stay in the sun fifty times longer without getting a sunburn
Only UVB rays cause sunburns; UVA cause invisible damage which increases the chance of skin cancer
The best sunscreen to get is one that has broad-spectrum UVA/B protection
The American Association of Dermatology recommends reapplying at least every two hours
after swimming
sweating
moving
and playing beach volleyball
Persistent Pigment Darkening is a method for measuring UVA protection
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