The monkeys of Cayo Santiago were known for their aggression – until Hurricane Maria struck in 2017. Although the humans of nearby Puerto Rico were harder hit, with 3,000 deaths, the resource depletion the monkeys suffered changed them in ways that have continued to this day.Cayo Santiago is a unique site, greatly valued by scientists. It is known as "Monkey Island" because in 1938, hundreds of rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) were imported and without predators, they have been thriving ever since. The opportunity to study large populations of our fellow primates in a semi-wild setting with relative ease exists nowhere else on Earth.When war or natural disaster makes resources more scarce, humans often become more violent and aggressive, holding on more tightly to the little we have. We might think it was the same for macaques, but the lessons of Hurricane Maria show that’s not always the case. The hurricane destroyed 63 percent of the island’s vegetation, but most macaques survived. On an island where their population density is similar to humans in New York City, that created a resource problem.In the tropical heat, macaques need shade to survive, and now there was a great deal less of it. Instead of initiating monkey wars over the little shade that was left, as primatologists expected, the inhabitants learned to live and let live.“In response to the drastic changes caused by the hurricane, macaques persistently increased tolerance and decreased aggression towards each other,” said Dr Camille Testard, of the University of Pennsylvania in a statement. “This enabled more macaques to access scarce shade.”The island is crowded for the monkeys, and when the trees are killed, things get worse.Image credit: Lauren BrentWhen Testard and colleagues studied ten years of observations from before and after the hurricane, they found being good at sharing was now a major survival enhancer.“Before the hurricane, tolerating others had no impact on risk of death,” Testard said. “Afterwards, macaques that displayed more than average social tolerance – and were therefore better able to share shade – were 42% less likely to die than those that were less tolerant.”Once you’ve shared a patch of shade with someone, it forms a bond, or so it seems. “We found that this tolerance spills over into other daily interactions,” Testard noted. “Macaques that began sharing shade also spend time together in the mornings, before the day’s heat forces them to seek shade.” That’s not something that always comes easily to the macaques, as Testard depicts in part of an extended cartoon on the topic.A chart of four primate species on a normal tolerance-aggression scale. Rhesus macaques normally don't like to share.Image credit: Caroline Hu. In collaboration with Camille Testard for scripting.This may indicate that, at least in some ways, macaques and humans are not so different. Social proximity has been proposed to overcome hostile attitudes such as bigotry, although unfortunately, it’s not failsafe. Moreover, researchers provide the macaques with plenty of food, which they managed to largely maintain after the hurricane, Perhaps if this was in short supply, instead of shade, the effect would have been different.Suddenly, on Cayo Santiago, it’s survival of the nicest, or at least the most tolerant. “For group-living animals, social relationships may allow them to cope with disturbances in the environment, including human-induced climate change,” said co-author Professor Lauren Brent of the University of Exeter. “We were surprised the macaques’ social behaviour was so flexible, making them resilient to this environmental change, but some species may not display this same flexibility.”Put it another way, “Monkeys together strong.”Sometimes a crisis brings us together.Image credit: Caroline Hu. In collaboration with Camille Testard for scripting.There probably isn’t a gene for shade-sharing, but it is likely to be a partially heritable trait. If so, the future of Cayo Santiago may be a kinder and more peaceful one. Who votes for luring a bunch of billionaires and heads of government to a tropical island just before a hurricane goes through? Even if it doesn’t work, it would make great reality TV.The study is published in Science.

Chimpanzees intentionally seek out medicinal plants with antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties when they are sick or wounded, new research has suggested. By documenting the primates’ incredible pharmaceutical practices, the study authors shine a light on the complexities of chimp behavior while also revealing potential new sources of vital medications for humans.The idea of self-medicating chimpanzees has been tentatively suggested by primatologists for a number of years, as the animals are regularly seen eating plants that have no apparent nutritional value or contain toxins. To understand exactly why the apes consume these unpalatable species, the authors of the new study monitored the health and feeding behavior of 51 chimpanzees from two populations in Uganda’s Budongo Central Forest Reserve.In total, the researchers identified 13 plants that the chimps seemed to seek out only when suffering from health problems. Lab tests revealed that 88 percent of the extracts studied inhibited the growth of pathogenic bacteria, including the six strains that make up the so-called ESKAPE group of harmful microbes that have become highly resistant to existing antibiotic medications.Commenting on these findings in a statement seen by IFLScience, study author Dr Elodie Freymann explained that “after spending months in the field collecting behavioral clues that led us to specific plant species, it was thrilling to analyze the pharmacological results and discover that many of these plants exhibited high levels of bioactivity.”For instance, the strongest antimicrobial activity was produced by the wood of the tree species Alstonia boonei, which belongs to the Dogbane family. According to the researchers, this plant is well known for its healing properties across East Africa, where it is “commonly used for a variety of reproductive, bacterial, and gastro-intestinal issues, as well as for snake bites, asthma, and dizziness.”During the study period, numerous chimpanzees were observed ingesting dead wood from this tree seemingly to treat parasitic infections such as tapeworm.Bark and resin from the East African mahogany tree (Khaya anthotheca), meanwhile, were found to be highly potent inhibitors of pathogens such as E. coli and E. faecium, both of which commonly cause illness in humans and have become increasingly resistant to treatment. The study authors observed at least three wounded chimpanzees consuming elements of this tree – possibly as a means of preventing infection – while another also ingested the bark while suffering from a persistent cough.A third of all plant extracts analyzed also displayed anti-inflammatory properties, with one of the most potent being the leaves of a type of fern called Christella parasitica. Interestingly, the only chimp that the researchers saw eating this fern happened to have an injured hand, leading them to speculate that the plant may help to reduce pain and swelling.With antibiotic resistance now among the leading global health crises, Freymann suggests that following these self-medicating primates may help us to develop new and more effective drugs against stubborn pathogens. “Our study highlights the medicinal knowledge that can be gained from observing other species in the wild and underscores the urgent need to preserve these forest pharmacies for future generations,” she said.The study is published in the journal PLOS ONE.

The post 40 Animal Pics So Adorable Your Heart Will Squeal With Joy appeared first on Animal Channel.

Golden retriever puppies are known for their playful and curious nature, but a recent event showcased their love for storytelling in a heartwarming way. A video capturing this moment went viral, delighting viewers worldwide. It all started at SunnyDreams, a family-operated breeding house for golden retrievers in Redland, California. Here, a unique bedtime ritual featured... The post Puppies are mesmerized by storytelling dragon and adorable footage melts hearts appeared first on Animal Channel.

The arrival of a new rescue elephant named Dok Koon at the Elephant Nature Park is nothing short of heartwarming. This captivating moment was beautifully captured on video, showing the heartfelt welcome Dok Koon received from the other elephants. As the newest member of the park, Dok Koon’s introduction highlights the emotional bonds and deep... The post Rescue elephants run to greet newest arrival and welcome him in sweet way appeared first on Animal Channel.

PBS’s Christiane Amanpour likes to say that journalists should be “truthful, not neutral,” but a common theme of Amanpour and Company is that her commitment to the truth only goes one way. For Wednesday’s Juneteenth show, Amanpour claimed that Donald Trump’s presidency and the Supreme Court represent “hurdles” to racial equality, while her guest, Equal Justice Initiative Executive Director Bryan Stevenson, claimed that some states are making it illegal to learn about the history of racial injustice in America. Amanpour led Stevenson with more of a declaration than a question, “So, let's talk a little bit about more hurdles that seem to be -- I mean, just rushing to get put up by the Supreme Court votes by, you know, certainly under the Trump administration. So, if Congress won't pass voting rights legislation, Supreme Court won't uphold current laws, well, obviously, there's been progress, but there seems to be so much pushback.”     Stevenson gave a long answer that began with him agreeing, “No, you're absolutely right. We are still in the middle of a really important narrative struggle in the United States for what it means to actually achieve freedom. And I do think the historical context is important. After emancipation, our Congress passed the 14th Amendment, which guaranteed equal protection to formerly enslaved people. They passed the 15th Amendment, which guaranteed the right to vote. But those rights were not enforced because we were more committed in America to maintaining racial hierarchy, to maintaining white supremacy than enforcing the rule of law.” Later in his reply, he recalled that “Now in Berlin, you can't go 200 meters without seeing markers and stones placed next to the homes of people who were killed during the Holocaust. There's a landscape that is trying to reckon with the horrors of that. Every student in Germany is required to study the Holocaust. You can't graduate without that.” Attempting to contrast that with America, he claimed, “But here in the United States, we have states passing laws trying to make it illegal, impermissible for people to study these histories, and that just speaks to the challenge that we face and so, we are in the middle of it, and we have a lot of work to do, which is why I am persuaded that we need an era of truth and justice, truth and repair, truth and restoration, truth telling about this history.” That is false, and no matter how many times people like Stevenson repeat it, it will not suddenly become true. The progressive left does not own the legacy of abolitionism, just as Amanpour does not get to claim the mantle of truthfulness in journalism. Here is a transcript for the June 19 show: PBS Amanpour and Company 6/19/2024 CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR: So, let's talk a little bit about more hurdles that seem to be -- I mean, just rushing to get put up by the Supreme Court votes by, you know, certainly under the Trump administration. So, if Congress won't pass voting rights legislation, Supreme Court won't uphold current laws, well, obviously, there's been progress, but there seems to be so much pushback. BRYAN STEVENSON: No, you're absolutely right. We are still in the middle of a really important narrative struggle in the United States for what it means to actually achieve freedom. And I do think the historical context is important. After emancipation, our Congress passed the 14th Amendment, which guaranteed equal protection to formerly enslaved people. They passed the 15th Amendment, which guaranteed the right to vote. But those rights were not enforced because we were more committed in America to maintaining racial hierarchy, to maintaining white supremacy than enforcing the rule of law. And so, we've known for a very long time that law alone will not achieve the kind of justice -- the kind of equality that we seek in this country. It took 100 years. Between the late 1860s until that horrific and challenging but triumphant struggle in the 1960s to create a Voting Rights Act, another law designed to enforce these rights. But that narrative of maintaining racial hierarchy, it was still with us. And even though we passed the civil rights laws in 1964 and the voting rights laws in 1965, there were a lot of people in this country that resisted and rejected the idea that black people should be equal to white people. And that's why I think the great challenge we face in this country is a narrative challenge. Yes, we have to have the rule of law, but we also have to push back against these ideas we have inherited that somehow black people are not as good as white people, that black people are less capable, less worthy, less trustworthy. And that's the fundamental challenge that I believe we have to approach. We never really had the transitional justice that other countries that deal with horrific human rights abuses have had. In South Africa, there was a process of truth and reconciliation after apartheid collapse. They gave voice to the victims of apartheid to speak to their harm and their injury. And the perpetrators had an opportunity to give voice to their wrongdoing. In Berlin, in Germany, you see a country and a city that engaged in transitional justice. Now in Berlin, you can't go 200 meters without seeing markers and stones placed next to the homes of people who were killed during the Holocaust. There's a landscape that is trying to reckon with the horrors of that. Every student in Germany is required to study the Holocaust. You can't graduate without that. But here in the United States, we have states passing laws trying to make it illegal, impermissible for people to study these histories, and that just speaks to the challenge that we face and so, we are in the middle of it, and we have a lot of work to do, which is why I am persuaded that we need an era of truth and justice, truth and repair, truth and restoration, truth telling about this history.

President Joe Biden has a tendency to make grand promises he can't make good on. For instance, ahead of the 2020 election, then-candidate Biden promised the American people in four debates and during his CNN town hall interview that he would build half a million new charging stations across the nation if elected. After taking the White House, Biden reiterated his promise, stating in November 2021, "We're going to build out the first-ever national network of charging stations all across the country — over 500,000 of them." Of the 1,200 billion taxpayer dollars blown on the Democratic infrastructure package supported by Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), $7.5 billion was set aside to building Biden's promised EV stations. As of last month, only eight stations had been constructed nationwide. The Biden administration made another big pledge in 2021: Unserved Americans would soon have reliable high-speed internet. Like the electric vehicle charging stations, this connectivity has failed to materialize. 'We're barreling toward a broadband blunder.' Brendan Carr, a Republican commissioner on the Federal Communications Commission, noted Friday, "In 2021, the Biden Administration got $42.45 billion from Congress to deploy high-speed Internet to millions of Americans. Years later, it has not connected even 1 person with those funds. In fact, it now says that no construction projects will even start until 2025 at earliest." The Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program is a federal grant program administered by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration that supposedly "aims to get all Americans online by funding partnerships between states or territories, communities, and stakeholders to build infrastructure where we need it to and increase adoption of high-speed internet. BEAD prioritizes unserved locations that have no internet access or that only have access under 25/3 Mbps." Grantees are supposed to receive taxpayer cash to "support broadband planning and related capacity efforts, from mapping, staffing state/territory broadband offices, to outreach and coordination with local communities." "The Biden Admin's failure to turn even a single shovel's worth of dirt with this $42.45B is not just predictable, it was predicted," continued Carr, referencing an Aug. 18, 2022, letter from a number of U.S. senators, which indicated the initiative might be ill-fated. The lawmakers noted that there were unnecessary burdens in the NTIA review process and that the Notice of Funding Opportunity process "creates a complex, nine-step, 'iterative' structure and review process that is likely to mire State broadband offices in excessive bureaucracy and delay connecting unserved and underserved Americans." The Washington Times indicated that as of this month, only nine states and the District of Columbia had secured approval for the BEAD program. Last year, Republican senators highlighted other issues with the Notice of Funding Opportunity for the BEAD program in a letter to U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce Alan Davidson. They noted that it: "actively discriminat[es] against workers in ways that could deny communities ... access to reliable broadband service"; it "gives favorable treatment to government-owned networks over private investment," thereby threatening to "divert program dollars to less capable providers — a real risk given municipal broadband's track record of costly failure"; "generally prohibits non-fiber projects from receiving BEAD funding despite Congress' technology neutral stance"; "falsely suggests that states and NTIA have the authority to regulate rates for broadband service"; and diverts resources away to address the specter of climate change. Carr added, "The Biden Administration's policy cuts make clear that we're barreling toward a broadband blunder. Rate regulation, thumb on the scale for government run networks, technology bias, union preferences plus many more problems = many of the broadband builders that would normally bid to do this work are not expressing interest in taking these dollars." The commissioner made clear that the Biden administration has not only failed to deliver, but has kneecapped those who could — revoking "an award to Starlink that would have delivered high-speed Internet to 642K rural locations." In August 2022, the FCC leadership reversed the agency's previous decision to provide an $885 million infrastructure award to Elon Musk's Starlink, which it had won at an FCC election in 2020. Fox News Digital indicated that when pressed for comment, the White House wouldn't speak to the failure of the project but cited three states' receipt of federal funding for broadband projects, apparently under other initiatives. Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Anyone who dares speak out against radical leftist ideology paints a giant red target on his or her back. Nobody knows this better than Dr. Eithan Haim who’s been indicted on four counts for violating HIPAA when he exposed Texas Children's Hospital for secretly continuing gender modification procedures on minors after Gov. Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton passed a law dictating that such procedures would be considered child abuse. “In May of 2023, Dr. Haim provided journalist Christopher Rufo with documents showing that Texas Children's was lying to the public about the existence of its transgender medicine program, including documents that had redacted ... patients’ names and identifying information, to protect himself not only from violating HIPAA but of course to protect the privacy of minors,” reports Sara Gonzales. “The very next month, just mere hours before Dr. Haim's graduation from surgical residency, he was informed by federal agents from the Department of Health and Human Services that he was under federal investigation by the DOJ.” “Earlier this month, Haim was indicted on four felony charges related to obtaining personal information, including patients’ names, treatment codes, and the attending physician from Texas Children's Hospital's electronic system without authorization. The feds allege he obtained this information under false pretenses and with intent to cause malicious harm to the hospital, and if convicted, Dr. Haim faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.” Today, Dr. Haim joins Sara to share the details of the story. “We have to do everything we can to beat these charges. We're going to win because if we don't, what happens is the door closes permanently for whistleblowers in health care,” says Dr. Haim. “It just seems like the entire medical field has just veered off the tracks,” says Sara. “It really has to do with the censorship that's been going on over the last few years. With COVID you had the complete transformation of the medical community,” where there once was “evidence-based medicine” and “rigorous debate in academic programs across the country,” Dr. Haim explained. “But after COVID, people became programmed to follow the ‘science’ ... which just means abiding by an ideology and submitting to censorship.” According to Dr. Haim, this radical shift in the medical field is what allowed “transgender ideology ... to proliferate.” And now we have doctors — people who swore under Hippocratic oath to “do no harm” — giving "confused adolescent children [and] pre-adolescent children cancer drugs, hormones, and radical surgeries to send them on a road where they're chasing a horizon that they're never going to be able to reach and turning them into chronic medical patients for the rest of their lives.” “Doctors forgot that medicine is driven by human dignity,” Haim says. “It was that morality that had made American medicine the greatest in the world, but we forgot about that when we forgot about what human dignity is.” To hear more of the interview, watch the clip below, and to learn how you can support Dr. Haim in his upcoming trial, visit https://www.givesendgo.com/texas_whistleblower. Want more from Sara Gonzales?To enjoy more of Sara's no-holds-barred take to news and culture, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

A recently released report from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services revealed that the federal government approved nearly 80,000 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals requestors who had an arrest or multiple arrests, including for violent crime, within the first five years of the program.The DACA program, created by executive order by former President Barack Obama in 2012, allows “certain people who came to the United States as children and meet several guidelines” to avoid deportation and even apply for work authorization.'Preserved and fortified DACA.'The USCIS’ report, “DACA Requestors with an IDENT Response: November 2019 Update,” revealed that from June 2012 to October 2019, the department approved 765,166 of the 888,818 DACA requestors. Of those approved, 79,398 (10.38%) were granted DACA despite having at least one arrest. Of the 77,833 requestors (38.71%) who were denied or their applications were terminated, 30,132 had at least one arrest. Nearly 68,000 of the requestors had a “prior” arrest, and roughly 16,000 had a “later” arrest, the report stated.The report provided a breakdown of DACA requestors who “received an IDENT response,” which “indicates that an alien ... was arrested or apprehended for a criminal offense or an immigration-related civil offense,” it stated. The most common type of offense was “driving-related,” followed by “immigration-related,” and theft and larceny. Nearly 7,000 recipients had a prior arrest for drug-related crimes, roughly 4,000 for driving under the influence, over 3,000 for battery, and more than 3,000 for assault. Other types of offenses DACA recipients were arrested for included alleged offenses against family and children, weapon-related, hit and run, probation and parole violations, and illegal sex-related acts. Over 300 of the DACA recipients were arrested on sexual abuse or rape charges, 15 on murder, five on manslaughter or negligent/reckless homicide, and two on child pornography.The USCIS reported that 54,500 of the approved DACA recipients had been arrested or apprehended once, while 24,898 had multiple arrests or apprehensions. More than 50 illegal aliens who were approved for the DACA program had over 10 arrests or apprehensions, the report stated.The department also reported the age groups of DACA requestors with prior arrests: more than 87,000 between the ages of 19 and 22, over 46,000 between 23 and 26, and roughly 42,000 between 15 and 18.The majority of DACA requestors with prior arrests were citizens of Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Brazil, Peru, or Ecuador, the report found.This month, President Joe Biden announced two executive actions that will expand deportation protections and work opportunities for recipients of the DACA program.The Biden administration framed the executive action as a plan to “keep families together.”“Working with advocates and organizers from across the nation, we have rejected hateful attacks on immigrants, preserved and fortified DACA, increased access to affordable health care, and expanded economic opportunity,” Vice President Kamala Harris stated. “Today, we are building on that work by taking bold action to bring relief to an estimated half a million spouses of American citizens who have been here in the country for a decade or more and their children. They deserve our protection, and should be allowed to remain with their families and contribute to our communities while they apply for a green card.” A federal judge has twice ruled that the Obama-era program is illegal. The Supreme Court is expected to decide on a lawsuit, led by Texas, against the DACA program.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Sheng Thao, the Democratic mayor of crime-ridden Oakland, California, will face a recall election in November after a group of fed-up residents successfully gathered enough signatures.The recall campaign, Oakland United to Recall Sheng Thao, submitted more than 40,000 signatures several weeks ahead of its July 22 deadline. To get on the upcoming ballot, the group only needed to secure 25,000 verified signatures.'You created a public safety crisis.'Superior Court Judge Brenda Harbin-Forte, who spearheaded the effort, told KTVU, "This historic achievement marks the first recall in Oakland's history, with Oakland voters signing with a sense of urgency and purpose to recall this dishonest and incompetent mayor.""Thao's actions have pushed Oakland to the brink, but the community is saying, 'NO MORE. We want Thao gone,'" Harbin-Forte stated.According to the recall efforts website, the group is moving to remove Thao from office for missing a retail theft grant and firing former Oakland Police Department chief LeRonne Armstrong, among many other reasons. The area has struggled with a severe uptick in crime that has prompted a number of businesses to close down."You created a public safety crisis by systematically dismantling the Oakland Police Department, leading to the city's reputation as one of the most dangerous in America," the recall effort stated about Thao. "Your unjust termination of Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong resulted in a surge of serious and violent crimes, delayed OPD's exit from 20 years of federal oversight, and extended the time Oakland must continue paying a federal monitor $1 million each year. You admittedly missed a deadline to apply for a grant to combat retail theft. You failed to implement Oakland's Encampment Management Policy, leading to open-air drug markets and chop shops, making Oakland a national leader in stolen cars. You have made numerous misleading and untrue statements to the public. You failed to keep your promise to appoint a new police chief or declare a state of emergency. In short, you lack the competency, credibility, judgment and ability to lead what was once a great American city."KNTV reported that the FBI raided a home owned by Thao on Thursday morning. While the reason for the raid has not yet been revealed, the outlet stated that the mayor's office is aware of the FBI's actions and deferred all questions to the bureau.In a statement, the FBI said that it is "conducting court authorized law enforcement activity on Maiden Lane. We are unable to provide additional information at this time."Thao was scheduled to attend an event on Thursday morning but canceled.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!