New Plant Species in Hawaii

Its name is Clermontia hanaulaensis and it was discovered during routine survey of Pohakea Gulch on Maui. The plant has a purple flower on a shrub that seemed familiar to biologist Frank Oppenheimer, Clermontia gaudich This plant is slightly different-- its flower having white variegations, convex petals, and elongated lobes. [photo]

Earlier this year after study the plant was named a new species of the genus being morphologically different from all other known species. It is present on six of the Hawaii islands. The genus dispersed from the oldest island, Kauai'i (5.1 mya). The discovery was somewhat surprising since the area--mountain terrain east of Lahaina--has been studied for over one hundred fifty years. If the plant had not been flowering at the time of discovery, it might not been distinquished from the other Clermontia growing nearby. C. hanaulaensis immediately became targeted for conservation. The Plant Extinction Prevention Program (PEPP) collects seeds from wild plants to preserve their existence. Oppenheimer thinks plants like the newly discovered species have a right to exist, even if it is only in cultivation. 

Approximately 250 endemic Hawaiian plants have less than fifty individuals surviving in the wild. Scientists estimate that 130 plants have gone extinct. Key threats to Hawaii's native plants include invasive species such as slugs, pigs and rats. On Maui the invasive axis deer are a particular problem, along with the lack of native forest birds that provide pollination services. PEPP works with partners in conservation to save native plants from extinction. Sometimes that means working with reluctant land owners who need convincint that conservation is worthwhile. Despite obstacles, Oppenheimer remains optimistic. “All the issues can be addressed and the problems solved if we have enough resources,” he told an interviewer. He continued, “It would be easy to be sucked into a negative thought process of gloom and doom, It’s surprisingly emotional; To me, that underscores the kind of people that work in conservation.”

Wolves Coming Home to Colorado

Wolves have not inhabited Colorado since they were exterminated there in the 1940s. Coloradans wisely voted to reintroduce the species in 2020, but it has taken until now for their return to become a reality. The first wolves are expected to be released in December to selected west slope habitats.

Oregon has said it is willing to donate ten of its wolves to the Rocky Mountain state. They will be captured in the northeast which has a strong population of wolves. Wolves have had a hard time in Oregon with the total population flat-lining due to poaching and state-sponsored culling.  Wildlife authorities here are appreciative of having another method of non-lethal removal at their disposal. The Nez Perce tribe has also expressed interest in donating some of its wolves to Colorado. Support the effort to re-establish wolves by buying an attractive T-shirt here. US Person did! A portion of the purchase price will go to the Endangered Species Coalition.

TWIT: Trump Tracker

Latest: Ivanka Trump has been ordered to testify against her father in the New York fraud trail. Her attorneys attempted to dispute a subpoena served on her at her office on Fifth Avenue.  Judge Erdogan ruled she is a material witness over whom the Superior court has personal jurisdiction.  Don 'Legit' has also been called as an adverse witness by the state.

Update:  Six more defendants have been offered plea deals in the Georgia RICO case.  Three have been named: Robert Cheeley, Mike Roman and Misty Hampton.  Attorney Cheeley has rejected an offer.  It appears the DA is reserving trial for the main players: Trump, Giuliani, Eastman and Meadows.  Meadows is especially important since he has already received federal immunity from Special Counsel Jack Smith in an effort to get the goods on Don 'Legit', but that immunity deal does not affect a state prosecution. So far, thanks to some smart lawyering and despite ignoring a congressional subpoena to testify, Meadows has escaped unscathed.  DA Willis is approaching the point where she can conveniently try the remaining defendants, perhaps in two batches with the principal conspirators going first.  US Person sees the main event being the televised trial of Trump, Meadows, Eastman and Guiliani.  The second batch consists of Robert Cheeley, Jeffrey Clark, Ray Smith, David Shafer, Shawn Still, “Pastor” Stephan Lee, Harrison Floyd, Cathy Latham, and Trevian Kutti.  If the reporting is right, only three deals remain unidentified.  It is doubtful Clark gets a plea offer since he is a significant conspirator involved in attempting to pressure Georgia officials to alter the election results, and might be logically tried with the first group. Latham is a friend of Hampton, who has agreed to be a state's witness, so she is likely to accept a deal too.  A couple of these remaining defendants are simply foot soldiers, like Trevian Kutti and Harrison Floyd who coerced election worker Ruby Freemen, who would probably accept a deal, leaving a second group of six or fewer to be tried.

The New York Times has provided a convenient flow chart showing the legal troubles of Trump and his upcoming trial.  Since he has deliberately blurred the lines between his legal defense and campaigning for a second term, it is paramount that the American people have before them the complete story of his conspiracy to overturn democracy in this country.  He must be brought to trial before 2024 election, thirteen months away,  To that end, judges must be careful not to allow him to derail proceedings with an appealable restriction on his right to speak.  That consideration has to be balanced by the need to conduct fair proceedings by protecting witnesses from intimidation.   A delicate balance to be sure, and Trump can be counted on to test it.

Judge Engoron has already fined Trumpilini twice for his out-of-control press statements in the hallway outside the courtroom. The latest fine is $10,000.  Engoron took the unusual step of calling Trump to the stand to testify.  He found as the trier of fact that Trump's testimony he was referring to Michael Cohen and not his principal law clerk in his press rant to be "incredible". 

Is is interesting to note, and somewhat ironic, that American labor leader and socialist Eugene Debs campaigned for President in 1920 while incarcerated for violating the 1917 Espionage Act.  He received his highest popular vote total, 915,000, in that campaign. There is no constitutional restriction on a convicted felon holding office.  He would be disqualified from voting however.  Trump is certainly no Eugene Debs, but a narcissistic conman bent on destroying our republic.

"Ohh....that hurt!"

Scientist Determine Cause of Elephant Deaths

US Person posted in 202 0some time ago about the mass die-off of elephants in Botswana and Zimbabwe.  It was speculated that they might have died from cyanide poisoning put in water holes by agriculturalists.  Some 350 elephants were found dead in the Okavango delta.  Thirty-five were found dead in Zimbabwe.E lephants of all ages were affected.  Some walked in circles until the dropped dead on their faces.  Tests done on the elephants in Zimbabwe have finally been reported.  The Botswana elephants were not tested.

credit: Reuters

Scientists have concluded that a little known bacterium, Pastuerella Bisgaard taxon 45, caused theelephant deaths by septicemia or blood poisoning.  An international team of researchers wrote in Nature Communications journal that the infection was not known in elephants before, but is responsible for the death of 200,000 saga antelope in Kazakhstan in 2018.  The bacteria normally lives in the tonsils of antelope, but extreme high temperatures caused it to migrate to the blood stream, killing the animals.  Elephants are highly social animals and were stressed by extreme heat and drought, which  may have had a role in the disease spreading.

A participant in the study said obtaining useful samples was challenging.  Working with a large carcass that is infected with an unknown pathogen that could infect humans is potentially dangerous.  Researchers at first suspected anthrax could be a cause of the disease. Cyanide was also a suspected cause.  Wild elephant populations are decreasing in Africa by 8% per year, primarily from poaching.  Infectious diseases should be added the list of threats facing the survival of elephants.

TWIT: Melania in a Bikini at the Pool

Really?

Before US Person gets to that top line, Jenna Ellis, former Trumpillini mouthpiece and "disloyal wench", entered a plea to a single felony in the Georgia election interference case on Tuesday. [photo] The prosecution is recommending five years probation and a $5,000 fine for aiding and abetting the submission  of false documents.  That makes four of the original 19 defendants who have pleaded guilty to charges brought by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. Ellis read a tearful written statement to the court in which she claimed that "as a Christian" she takes her responsibilities as a lawyer seriously. She apparently did not think through those responsibilities when representing the previous guy and department store rapist. Ellis told the court,"I relied on others, including lawyers with many more years of experience than I, to provide me with true and reliable information,” big mistake.

Trumpilini's motivation for illegally retaining national security documents became clearer after the NYT looked more closely at the relationship between Australian billionaire Anthony Pratt and Don 'Legit'. As US Person concluded in a previous post {05.10.2023, Secrets for Sale}, the relationship was purely transactional, or as Pratt assessed it, "useful". Pratt paid for access to Trump by buying a $200,000 membership to the Mar-a-Lago club.  He purchased two $50,000 dinner tickets for one million dollars to avoid the cap on individual campaign contributions. Pratt also purchased a full page Wall Street Journal ad supporting Trumpilini's presidential bid. Trump told him about secrets about US submarines.

60 Minutes Australia added more background to this influence peddling, exposing the slimy world of pay for play politics as practiced by the ersatz mafia don.  Tapes of Pratt talking about his 'friend' and his access to Trump's inner circle were obtained by the program. In one of the recordings, Pratt claims Trump suggested his wife Melania parade around the Mar-a-lago pool in her bikini to, "show them what they are missing". The guy is a slime ball, full stop. You can listen to the Australian reporting here:

Bad News From Antarctica

Climate scientists have concluded that rapid ice melt in Antarctica will increase sea levels by as much as five meters--enough to endanger coastal cities--regardless of how much humans reduce their carbon dioxide emmissions in this century.  In other words, the infamous "tipping point" in West Antarctica has been reached.  Analysis of data shows that melting of floating ice shelfs in the Amundsen Sea will be three times faster than the previous century.  If the entire ice sheet in West Antarctica is lost die to melting then sea levels will rise as much as five meters, which may cause abandonment of coastal settlements. More than a third of global population lives with 100 kms of the sea.

An example of the rapid rate of melting is the 1,255-sq-mile (3,250-sq-km) Larsen B ice shelf. It was known to be melting fast but no one had predicted that it would take just one month for the 200-meter-thick behemoth to completely disintegrate.

Horseshoe Island, credit: Getty Images

The new research into the rise of Antarctic sea temperatures is led by the British Antarctic Survey. Warming of Antarctic waters is causing the rapid acceleration of ice melt. Dr. Kaitlin Naughten told interviewers that work on reducing fossil fuel burning should continue despite the dire assessments based on her work because global warming has other equally adverse impacts that can be avoided or reduced by greenhouse gas reductions. The study is published in Nature Cimate Change and agrees in some aspects with previous climate studies.

GM Bacteria Light Up Tumors for Attack

Back at the turn of the last century, a surgeon noticed a remarkable correlation between cancer patients with Streptococci infections (erysipelas) and sudden remissions of their cancer tumors. Dr William Coley [photo] wrote about the strange correlation ans speculated that it might have something to do with the bacteria eliminating tumor cells. He began injecting patients with the bacteria, hoping to achieve the same remission he saw in other cases. He had some success, but also some patients died of sepsis (blood poisoning). Despite the initial success his idea faded with the advent of radiation therapy considered to be more controllable.

Now, in the age of nanobots and genetic modification of organisms, using bacteria as cancer fighting agents is getting a second look. Oncologists are always on the lookout for agents that can distinquish between normal cells and cancer cells in the body. Some bacteria will colonize tumors and leave the rest of the body alone. Motile bacteria are especially adapted to this function, as are those which can survive anerobic enviroments such as inside a tumor. Finding such bacteria is half the battle. Modifying them to destroys a tumor is the more difficult part of the problem. 

Research is starting to bear fruit. Scientist have reported a modified probiotic bacteria used in conjunction with human T-cells seems to work. Rather than introduce a toxin into the body, the modified bacteria give off a signal using the green florescent protein (GFP) modified to cause the protein to stick to the tumor's surface. The body's own immune system in the form of modified T-cells responds to this signal as an invader and begins attacking the tumor, which is a good thing since solid tumors are insidious, not giving the immune system an obvious indication of their presence. The bacterium literally explodes giving off a green flash. Its like a flare on a battlefield identifying the enemy's location.

Bacteria that are not harmful to the body and that have been genetically atenuated gives added protection to the patient. In one interesting experimental trial with mice, E. Coli Nissle 1917, a non-toxic bacterium, was modified and injected in mice with tumors modeling human brest cancer. Some mice were then treated with E. Coli having the GFP gene and a protein that attracts T-cells generally; some received bacteria with only the GFP gene and T-cells modified to recognize the GFP signal; the control group were injected with saline. The results are remarkable. Mice with the GPF gene had tumor growth of only 40%; mice treated with bacteria having both modifications had no tumor growth, while the control group had tumors that tripled in size because the strain of mouse used in the experiment has no active immune response.  Researchers looked for the engineered bacteria in other organs and found none; the bacteria are highly specific. Clinical trials are next. Dr. Coley's hunch a hundred fifty years was correct; only the proper tools had to be developed first.