Category: Communication

And another dog food recall!

This time it’s Harris Teeter of Mathews

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November 19, 2018 — Harris Teeter of Matthews, NC, is recallingAbound Chicken and Rice Dog Food due to elevated levels of vitamin D, which may cause renal failure.

No graphic was supplied with the official bulletin.

The following image was retrieved from the internet and is provided in good faith by The Dog Food Advisor.

The graphic below may or may not be an accurate representation of the actual recalled product.

What’s Recalled?

    The following products are being recalled by Harris Teeter.

  • Abound Chicken & Brown Rice Dog Food
    Size: 4 lb package
    UPC Code: UPC 0001111083556
  • Abound Chicken & Brown Rice Dog Food
    Size: 14 lb package
    UPC Code: 0001111083573

Batch information and Best By dates were not provided by the company in its recall bulletin.

About Elevated Levels of Vitamin D
Dogs ingesting elevated levels of Vitamin D may exhibit symptoms such as vomiting, loss of appetite, increased thirst, increased urination, excessive drooling, and weight loss.

Vitamin D, when consumed at very high levels, can lead to serious health issues in dogs including renal dysfunction.

Customers with dogs who have consumed any of the products listed above and are exhibiting any of these symptoms, should contact their veterinarian.

What to Do?

Harris Teeter has removed the recalled products from its shelves.

If you purchased these items, please do not allow your pet to consume them. Instead, return them to your Harris Teeter store for a full refund.

Customers may contact Sunshine Mills, Inc. customer service (the maker) at 800-705-2111 from 7 am to 4 pm Central Time, Monday through Friday.

Or by email at customer.service@sunshinemills.com for additional information.

U.S. citizens can report complaints about FDA-regulated pet food products by calling the consumer complaint coordinator in your area.

Or go to http://www.fda.gov/petfoodcomplaints.

Canadians can report any health or safety incidents related to the use of this product by filling out the Consumer Product Incident Report Form.

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I don’t know what to make of these. Part of me thinks there are too many dog-food recalls and part of me thinks it is much better that we have this service. Oh well.

This is the reality, folks, for us all.

A very sombre read from George Monbiot.

I read this essay first thing in the morning last Wednesday while still in bed. It struck me with a whole range of feelings and emotions; not positive ones I should add. Then I read it aloud to Jeannie with the feeling that this speaks of what it is, what it’s going to be, and how little time we have to make the sorts of gigantic changes that we all need.

Sorry to be down-in-the-dumps about the following; published with George Monbiot’s kind permission.

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Hopeless Realism

No effective means of stopping climate breakdown is deemed “politically realistic”. So we must change political realities.

By George Monbiot, published in the Guardian 14th November 2018.

It was a moment of the kind that changes lives. At a press conference held by Extinction Rebellion last week, two of us journalists pressed the activists on whether their aims were realistic. They have called, for example, for carbon emissions in the UK to be reduced to net zero by 2025. Wouldn’t it be better, we asked, to pursue some intermediate aims?

A young woman called Lizia Woolf stepped forward. She hadn’t spoken before, and I hadn’t really noticed her, but the passion, grief and fury of her response was utterly compelling. “What is it that you are asking me as a 20-year-old to face and to accept about my future and my life? … this is an emergency – we are facing extinction. When you ask questions like that, what is it you want me to feel?”. We had no answer.

Softer aims might be politically realistic, but they are physically unrealistic. Only shifts commensurate with the scale of our existential crises have any prospect of averting them. Hopeless realism, tinkering at the edges of the problem, got us into this mess. It will not get us out.

Public figures talk and act as if environmental change will be linear and gradual. But the Earth’s systems are highly complex, and complex systems do not respond to pressure in linear ways. When these systems interact (because the world’s atmosphere, oceans, land surface and lifeforms do not sit placidly within the boxes that make study more convenient) their reactions to change become highly unpredictable. Small perturbations can ramify wildly. Tipping points are likely to remain invisible until we have passed them. We could see changes of state so abrupt and profound that no continuity can be safely assumed.

Only one of the many life support systems on which we depend – soils, aquifers, rainfall, ice, the pattern of winds and currents, pollinators, biological abundance and diversity – need fail for everything to slide. For example, when Arctic sea ice melts beyond a certain point, the positive feedbacks this triggers (such as darker water absorbing more heat, melting permafrost releasing methane, shifts in the polar vortex) could render runaway climate breakdown unstoppable. When the Younger Dryas period ended 11,600 years ago, Greenland ice cores reveal temperatures rising 10°C within a decade.

I don’t believe that such a collapse is yet inevitable, or that a commensurate response is either technically or economically impossible. When the US joined the Second World War in 1941, it replaced a civilian economy with a military economy within months. As Jack Doyle records in his book Taken for a Ride, “In one year, General Motors developed, tooled, and completely built from scratch 1000 Avenger and 1000 Wildcat aircraft … Barely a year after Pontiac received a Navy contract to build antishipping missiles, the company began delivering the completed product to carrier squadrons around the world.” And this was before advanced information technology made everything faster.

The problem is political. A fascinating analysis by the social science professor Kevin Mackay contends that oligarchy has been a more fundamental cause of the collapse of civilisations than social complexity or energy demand. Oligarchic control, he argues, thwarts rational decision-making, because the short-term interests of the elite are radically different to the long-term interests of society. This explains why past civilizations have collapsed “despite possessing the cultural and technological know-how needed to resolve their crises.” Economic elites, that benefit from social dysfunction, block the necessary solutions.

The oligarchic control of wealth, politics, media and public discourse explains the comprehensive institutional failure now pushing us towards disaster. Think of Trump and his cabinet of multi-millionaires, the influence of the Koch brothers, the Murdoch empire and its massive contribution to climate science denial, the oil and motor companies whose lobbying prevents a faster shift to new technologies.

It is not just governments that have failed to respond, though they have failed spectacularly. Public sector broadcasters have deliberately and systematically shut down environmental coverage, while allowing the opaquely-funded lobbyists that masquerade as thinktanksto shape public discourse and deny what we face. Academics, afraid to upset their funders and colleagues, have bitten their lips. Even the bodies that claim to be addressing our predicament remain locked within destructive frameworks.

For example, last Wednesday I attended a meeting about environmental breakdown at the Institute for Public Policy Research. Many of the people in the room seemed to understand that continued economic growth is incompatible with sustaining the Earth’s systems. As the author Jason Hickel points out, a decoupling of rising GDP from global resource use has not happened and will not happen. While 50 billion tonnes of resources used per year is roughly the limit the Earth’s systems can tolerate, the world is already consuming 70 billion tonnes. Business as usual, at current rates of economic growth, will ensure that this rises to 180 billion tonnes by 2050. Maximum resource efficiency, coupled with massive carbon taxes and some pretty optimistic assumptions, would reduce this to 95 billion tonnes: still way beyond environmental limits. A study taking account of the rebound effect (efficiency leads to further resource use) raises the estimate to 132 billion tonnes. Green growth, as members of the Institute appear to accept, is physically impossible.

On the same day, the same Institute announced a major new economics prize for “ambitious proposals to achieve a step-change improvement in the growth rate.” It wants ideas that will enable economic growth rates in the UK at least to double. The announcement was accompanied by the usual blah about sustainability, but none of the judges of the prize has a discernible record of environmental interest.

Those to whom we look for solutions trundle on as if nothing has changed. They continue to behave as if the accumulating evidence has no purchase on their minds. Decades of institutional failure ensures that only “unrealistic” proposals – the repurposing of economic life, with immediate effect – now have a realistic chance of stopping the planetary death spiral. And only those who stand outside the failed institutions can lead this effort.

Two tasks need to be performed simultaneously: throwing ourselves at the possibility of averting collapse, as Extinction Rebellion is doing, slight though this possibility may appear. And preparing ourselves for the likely failure of these efforts, terrifying as this prospect is. Both tasks require a complete revision of our relationship with the living planet. Because we cannot save ourselves without contesting oligarchic control, the fight for democracy and justice and the fight against environmental breakdown are one and the same. Do not allow those who have caused this crisis to define the limits of political action. Do not allow those whose magical thinking got us into this mess to tell us what can and cannot be done.

www.monbiot.com

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I have a son and daughter who live in England. My daughter and her husband have a seven-year-old boy, my grandson, and I hope that I live long enough to have some decent conversations with him.  Now whether or not those conversations will turn to his future and what fears he has only time will tell.

But that doesn’t stop me from worrying, worrying big time, just what world we are leaving for him and the thousands of others of his age as they grow up. I truly fear that it is going to be a very different planet than the one we have at present.

I hope with all my heart that I am wrong!

Nature’s Promise Dog Food recall

Giant and Martin’s Recall Nature’s Promise Dog Food

November 20, 2018 — Giant Food Stores and Martin’s Food Markets are voluntarily recalling certain lots of Nature’s Promise Dog Food because they may contain excessive amounts of Vitamin D, which may cause renal failure.

No graphic was supplied with the official news wire. The following image was retrieved from the internet and is provided in good faith by The Dog Food Advisor.

What’s Recalled?

The following products are included in this recall event:

  • Nature’s Promise Chicken & Brown Rice Dog Food
    Size: 4 lb package
    Best By Dates: November 1, 2018 to November 8, 2019
  • Nature’s Promise Chicken & Brown Rice Dog Food
    Size: 14 lb package
    Best By Dates: November 1, 2018 to November 8, 2019
  • Nature’s Promise Chicken & Brown Rice Dog Food
    Size: 28 lb package
    Best By Dates: November 1, 2018 to November 8, 2019

Giant/Martin’s has removed all affected product from its shelves and urges customers to return the product to their local store for a full refund.

The companies have received no reports of illnesses to date.

About Elevated Levels of Vitamin D

Dogs ingesting elevated levels of Vitamin D may exhibit symptoms such as vomiting, loss of appetite, increased thirst, increased urination, excessive drooling, and weight loss.

Vitamin D, when consumed at very high levels, can lead to serious health issues in dogs including renal dysfunction.

Customers with dogs who have consumed any of the products listed above and are exhibiting any of these symptoms, should contact their veterinarian.

What to Do?

Customers should stop feeding the products listed above.

Customers may contact Sunshine Mills, Inc. customer service at 800-705-2111 from 7 am to 4 pm Central Time, Monday through Friday.

Or by email at customer.service@sunshinemills.com for additional information.

In addition, customers may call Giant/Martin’s Customer Support Center at 888-814-4268.

U.S. citizens can report complaints about FDA-regulated pet food products by calling the consumer complaint coordinator in your area.

Or go to http://www.fda.gov/petfoodcomplaints.

Canadians can report any health or safety incidents related to the use of this product by filling out the Consumer Product Incident Report Form.

Get Dog Food Recall Alerts by Email

Get free dog food recall alerts sent to you by email. Subscribe to The Dog Food Advisor’s emergency recall notification system.

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It’s not what I had planned for today, that will have to wait until tomorrow, but you will understand that this recall alert had to take priority!

Finally, please accept greetings from Jeannie and me for a wonderful Thanksgiving!

This is the woman I love!

Today is our anniversary.

Yes, November 20th, 2010 was the day we became married.

And in celebration of that day, and more generally in meeting Jean some three years previously, I want to republish the following. For when I met my darling Jeannie she had been vegetarian for many years and in turn we both became vegan.

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Why people become vegans: The history, sex and science of a meatless existence

By    Assistant Professor of Marketing, University of Oregon

November 19, 2018

At the age of 14, a young Donald Watson watched as a terrified pig was slaughtered on his family farm. In the British boy’s eyes, the screaming pig was being murdered. Watson stopped eating meat and eventually gave up dairy as well.

Later, as an adult in 1944, Watson realized that other people shared his interest in a plant-only diet. And thus veganism – a term he coined – was born.

Flash-forward to today, and Watson’s legacy ripples through our culture. Even though only 3 percent of Americans actually identify as vegan, most people seem to have an unusually strong opinion about these fringe foodies – one way or the other.

As a behavioral scientist with a strong interest in consumer food movements, I thought November – World Vegan Month – would be a good time to explore why people become vegans, why they can inspire so much irritation and why many of us meat-eaters may soon join their ranks.

Early childhood experiences can shape how we feel about animals – and lead to veganism, as it did for Donald Watson. HQuality/Shutterstock.com

It’s an ideology not a choice

Like other alternative food movements such as locavorism, veganism arises from a belief structure that guides daily eating decisions.

They aren’t simply moral high-grounders. Vegans do believe it’s moral to avoid animal products, but they also believe it’s healthier and better for the environment.

Also, just like Donald Watson’s story, veganism is rooted in early life experiences.

Psychologists recently discovered that having a larger variety of pets as a child increases tendencies to avoid eating meat as an adult. Growing up with different sorts of pets increases concern for how animals are treated more generally.

Thus, when a friend opts for Tofurky this holiday season, rather than one of the 45 million turkeys consumed for Thanksgiving, his decision isn’t just a high-minded choice. It arises from beliefs that are deeply held and hard to change.

Sutton and Sons is a vegan fish and chip restaurant in London. Reuters/Peter Nicholls

Veganism as a symbolic threat

That doesn’t mean your faux-turkey loving friend won’t seem annoying if you’re a meat-eater.

The late celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain famously quipped that meat avoiders “are the enemy of everything good and decent in the human spirit.”

Why do some people find vegans so irritating? In fact, it might be more about “us” than them.

Most Americans think meat is an important part of a healthy diet. The government recommends eating 2-3 portions (5-6 ounces) per day of everything from bison to sea bass. As tribal humans, we naturally form biases against individuals who challenge our way of life, and because veganism runs counter to how we typically approach food, vegans feel threatening.

Humans respond to feelings of threat by derogating outgroups. Two out of 3 vegans experience discrimination daily, 1 in 4 report losing friends after “coming out” as vegan, and 1 in 10 believe being vegan cost them a job.

Veganism can be hard on a person’s sex life, too. Recent research finds that the more someone enjoys eating meat, the less likely they are to swipe right on a vegan. Also, women find men who are vegan less attractive than those who eat meat, as meat-eating seems masculine.

The fake meat at one Fort Lauderdale restaurant supposedly tastes like real meat. AP Photo/J. Pat Carter

Crossing the vegan divide

It may be no surprise that being a vegan is tough, but meat-eaters and meat-abstainers probably have more in common than they might think.

Vegans are foremost focused on healthy eating. Six out of 10 Americans want their meals to be healthier, and research shows that plant-based diets are associated with reduced risk for heart disease, certain cancers, and Type 2 diabetes.

It may not be surprising, then, that 1 in 10 Americans are pursuing a mostly veggie diet. That number is higher among younger generations, suggesting that the long-term trend might be moving away from meat consumption.

In addition, several factors will make meat more costly in the near future.

Meat production accounts for as much as 15 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions, and clear-cutting for pasture land destroys 6.7 million acres of tropical forest per year. While some debate exists on the actual figures, it is clear that meat emits more than plants, and population growth is increasing demand for quality protein.

Seizing the opportunity, scientists have innovated new forms of plant-based meats that have proven to be appealing even to meat-eaters. The distributor of Beyond Meat’s plant-based patties says 86 percent of its customers are meat-eaters. It is rumored that this California-based vegan company will soon be publicly traded on Wall Street.

Even more astonishing, the science behind lab-grown, “cultured tissue” meat is improving. It used to cost more than $250,000 to produce a single lab-grown hamburger patty. Technological improvements by Dutch company Mosa Meat have reduced the cost to $10 per burger.

Watson’s legacy

Even during the holiday season, when meats like turkey and ham take center stage at family feasts, there’s a growing push to promote meatless eating.

London, for example, will host its first-ever “zero waste” Christmas market this year featuring vegan food vendors. Donald Watson, who was born just four hours north of London, would be proud.

Watson, who died in 2006 at the ripe old age of 95, outlived most of his critics. This may give quiet resolve to vegans as they brave our meat-loving world.

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Well all I can say is that if Donald Watson can do it then so can Jeannie and me.

Beam me up, Scotty.

Just had to share this with you!

This is a remarkable photograph. Something I have never seen.

Anyway, here’s the story behind it!

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Otherworldly light pillars captured over Whitefish Bay

MICHAEL D’ESTRIES,   November 2, 2018

Light pillars over Whitefish Bay on the shore of Lake Superior as captured by nocturnal photographer Vincent Brady. (Photo: Vincent Brady)

At first glance, the mesmerizing light display that occurred on Oct. 16 over Whitefish Bay, Michigan, had all the hallmarks of a visual effect from a science-fiction film. Instead of “first contact,” however, this beautiful shimmer is actually a fairly common optical phenomenon called a light pillar.

Light pillars form when sources of light from the ground, sun or even the moon interact with horizontal concentrations of ice crystals in the atmosphere. When viewed from a distance, these crystals align in such a way as to create the optical illusion of a dazzling pillar of light.

Photographer Vincent Brady, who specializes in capturing nocturnal scenes, said in a Facebook post that he was “pleasantly surprised” to come across the phenomenon.

“This is a shot north of Paradise, MI looking east over Whitefish Bay,” he wrote. “The red lights are around the Canadian island Ile Parisienne. I’m not entirely sure of the artificial light source of the pillars.”

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Astounding!

Anyone else seen these?

That Look – Of A Siberian Husky!

Those eyes!

Of all the dogs that we can look at the Siberian Husky takes the biscuit! I’m talking about those eyes!

Up until reading this article in the Smithsonian I hadn’t really stopped to wonder how those eyes came about.

Read on …

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How Siberian Huskies Get Their Piercing Blue Eyes

A new study suggests that the defining trait is linked to a unique genetic mutation

By Brigit Katz
smithsonian.com
(Yasser Alghofily/Flickr)

At-home DNA kits have become a popular way to learn more about one’s ancestry and genetic makeup—and the handy tests aren’t just for humans, either. Dog owners who want to delve into their fluffy friends’ family history and uncover the risks of possible diseases can choose from a number of services that screen doggie DNA.

As Kitson Jazynka reports for National Geographic, one of these services, Embark Veterinary, Inc., recently analyzed user data to unlock an enduring canine mystery: How did Siberian huskies get their brilliant blue eyes?

Piercing peepers are a defining trait of this beautiful doggo. According to the new study, published in PLOS Genetics, breeders report that blue eyes are a common and dominant trait among Siberian huskies, but appear to be rare and recessive in other breeds, like Pembroke Welsh corgis, old English sheepdogs and border collies. In some breeds, like Australian shepherds, blue eyes have been linked to patchy coat patterns known as “merle” and “piebald,” which are caused by certain genetic mutations. But it was not clear why other dogs—chief among them the Siberian husky—frequently wind up with blue eyes.

Hoping to crack this genetic conundrum, researchers at Embark studied the DNA of more than 6,000 pooches, whose owners had taken their dogs’ saliva samples and submitted them to the company for testing. The owners also took part in an online survey and uploaded photos of their dogs. According to the study authors, their research marked “the first consumer genomics study ever conducted in a non-human model and the largest canine genome-wide association study to date.”

The expansive analysis revealed that blue eyes in Siberian huskies appear to be associated with a duplication on what is known as canine chromosome 18, which is located near a gene called ALX4. This gene plays an important role in mammalian eye development, leading the researchers to suspect that the duplication “may alter expression of ALX4, which may lead to repression of genes involved in eye pigmentation,” Aaron Sams of Embark tells Inverse’s Sarah Sloat.

The genetic variation was also linked to blue eyes in non-merle Australian shepherds. Just one copy of the mutated sequence was enough to give dogs either two blue eyes, or one blue and one brown eye, a phenomenon known as “heterochromia.” It would seem, however, that duplication on chromosome 18 is not the only factor influencing blue eye color: Some dogs that had the mutation did not have blue eyes.

More research into this topic is needed to understand the genetic mechanisms at work when it comes to blue-eyed dogs. But the study shows how at-home DNA kits can be highly valuable to scientists, providing them with a wealth of genetic samples to study.

“With 6,000 people getting DNA samples from their dogs and mailing them to a centralized location and then filling out a website form detailing all the traits of their dog—that’s a game-changer for how genetics is being done in the 21st century,” Kristopher Irizarry, a geneticist with the College of Veterinary Medicine at Western University of Health Sciences, tells National Geographic’s Jazynka.

The benefits of having access to such huge troves of data go further than uncovering nifty insights into our canine companions. Scientists are also teaming up with at-home DNA test companies to learn more about human genetics and behavior.

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There’s such a wide range of information about our lovely dogs!

Oh, and I had better include the following.

Follow us: @SmithsonianMag on TwitterRead more: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/how-siberian-huskies-get-their-piercing-blue-eyes-180970507/#4cO22KfQH7w6qp6B.99
Give the gift of Smithsonian magazine for only $12! http://bit.ly/1cGUiGv
Follow us: @SmithsonianMag on Twitter

See you all tomorrow!

Lidl Recalls Orlando Brand Dog Food

Yet another dog food recall.

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Lidl Recalls Orlando Brand Dog Food

November 9, 2018

Lidl USA is voluntarily recalling specific lots of Orlando brand Grain Free Chicken & Chickpea Superfood Recipe Dog Food because the products may contain elevated levels of Vitamin D.

What’s Recalled?

The recalled Orlando brand products include the following lot numbers manufactured between March 3, 2018 and May 15, 2018:

  • TI1 3 Mar 2019
  • TB2 21 Mar 2019
  • TB3 21 Mar 2019
  • TA2 19 Apr 2019
  • TB1 15 May 2019
  • TB2 15 May 2019

Elevated Vitamin D Levels

Dogs consuming elevated levels of Vitamin D could exhibit symptoms such as vomiting, loss of appetite, increased thirst, increased urination, excessive drooling, and weight loss.

Customers with dogs who have consumed this product and are exhibiting these symptoms should contact their veterinarian as soon as possible.

No other products sold by Lidl are impacted by the recall.

This is a voluntary recall and is being conducted in cooperation with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

What to Do?

Customers who have purchased this product with the affected lot codes should stop feeding it to their dogs and discard the product immediately or return it to their nearest Lidl store for a full refund.

Customers who have questions about this recall should call the Lidl US Customer Care Hotline at 844-747-5435, 8 AM to 9 PM Eastern time, 7 days a week.

U.S. citizens can report complaints about FDA-regulated pet food products by calling the consumer complaint coordinator in your area.

Or go to http://www.fda.gov/petfoodcomplaints.

Canadians can report any health or safety incidents related to the use of this product by filling out the Consumer Product Incident Report Form.

Get Dog Food Recall Alerts by Email

Get free dog food recall alerts sent to you by email. Subscribe to The Dog Food Advisor’s emergency recall notification system.

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Please share this amongst all your friends.

Just a number, or is it!

I can do no better than republish in full the following:

(Simply because I scarcely understand it!)

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Why the number 137 is one of the greatest mysteries in physics

Famous physicists like Richard Feynman think 137 holds the answers to the Universe.

By PAUL RATNER,  31st October, 2018.

  • The fine structure constant has mystified scientists since the 1800s.
  • The number 1/137 might hold the clues to the Grand Unified Theory.
  • Relativity, electromagnetism and quantum mechanics are unified by the number.

Does the Universe around us have a fundamental structure that can be glimpsed through special numbers?

The brilliant physicist Richard Feynman (1918-1988) famously thought so, saying there is a number that all theoretical physicists of worth should “worry about”. He called it “one of the greatest damn mysteries of physics: a magic number that comes to us with no understanding by man”.

That magic number, called the fine structure constant, is a fundamental constant, with a value which nearly equals 1/137. Or 1/137.03599913, to be precise. It is denoted by the Greek letter alpha – α.

What’s special about alpha is that it’s regarded as the best example of a pure number, one that doesn’t need units. It actually combines three of nature’s fundamental constants – the speed of light, the electric charge carried by one electron, and the Planck’s constant, as explains physicist and astrobiologist Paul Davies to Cosmos magazine. Appearing at the intersection of such key areas of physics as relativity, electromagnetism and quantum mechanics is what gives 1/137 its allure.

Physicist Laurence Eaves, a professor at the University of Nottingham, thinks the number 137 would be the one you’d signal to the aliens to indicate that we have some measure of mastery over our planet and understand quantum mechanics. The aliens would know the number as well, especially if they developed advanced sciences.

The number preoccupied other great physicists as well, including the Nobel Prize winning Wolfgang Pauli (1900-1958) who was obsessed with it his whole life.

“When I die my first question to the Devil will be: What is the meaning of the fine structure constant?” Pauli joked.

Pauli also referred to the fine structure constant during his Nobel lecture on December 13th, 1946 in Stockholm, saying a theory was necessary that would determine the constant’s value and “thus explain the atomistic structure of electricity, which is such an essential quality of all atomic sources of electric fields actually occurring in nature.”

One use of this curious number is to measure the interaction of charged particles like electrons with electromagnetic fields. Alpha determines how fast an excited atom can emit a photon. It also affects the details of the light emitted by atoms. Scientists have been able to observe a pattern of shifts of light coming from atoms called “fine structure” (giving the constant its name). This “fine structure” has been seen in sunlight and the light coming from other stars.

The constant figures in other situations, making physicists wonder why. Why does nature insist on this number? It has appeared in various calculations in physics since the 1880s, spurring numerous attempts to come up with a Grand Unified Theory that would incorporate the constant since. So far no single explanation took hold. Recent research also introduced the possibility that the constant has actually increased over the last six billion years, even though slightly.

If you’d like to know the math behind fine structure constant more specifically, the way you arrive at alpha is by putting the 3 constants h,c, and e together in the equation —

As the units c, e, and h cancel each other out, the “pure” number of 137.03599913 is left behind. For historical reasons, says Professor Davies, the inverse of the equation is used 2πe2/hc = 1/137.03599913. If you’re wondering what is the precise value of that fraction – it’s 0.007297351.

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Now, as I said in my introduction, I don’t understand this. But it doesn’t stop me from marvelling at the figure.

Back to getting rid of worms!

OK, so it’s another guest post but useful nonetheless.

I have published a number of posts over the years on the topic of getting rid of worms.  But this deserves republishing as it uses things around the house.

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How to Get Rid of Worms in Dogs At Home, Without Going to the Vet

By Ashley Turner.

Did you know that there are five different types of worms your dog can get including heartworms, hookworms, roundworms, tapeworms, and whipworms? If you don’t treat them, they can lead to several complications for your dog including poor growth, slowed development, anemia, and possibly death.

However, before you treat the worm infestation, you have to know what to look for. We’ll cover the common signs and how to get rid of worms in dogs, so you know how to safely and effectively treat this parasite before it leads to health complications for your dog.

Common Clues Your Dog Has a Parasite Infection

With some internal parasites, a diagnosis can be tricky because there may not be any obvious signs that something is wrong with your dog. However, there are also several common symptoms or clues that can point to an internal parasite infection, and they include:

  • Bloating – Does your dog look bloated whether or not they’ve eaten? Having continuous bloat or seeming generally uncomfortable can be a sign of worms.
  • Coughing – Your dog naturally coughs from time to time just like a person will. However, if you notice your dog starting to cough more than normal or go on extended coughing fits, this is a sign of worms.
  • Fever – You may notice that your dog is running a fever with this type of infection. It can come and go, and it normally won’t stay constant.
  • Lethargy – Sudden changes in appetite or lethargy is common as the worms advance. This can also come with vomiting that gets worse over time.
  • Scooting – Scooting refers to your dog dragging it’s butt across the floor. It looks like they’re “scooting” across the floor when they do this.
  • Stool Problems – Your dog’s stool may be loose or covered in mucus when they go to the bathroom. Additionally, you may notice worms in their stool or what looks like small grains of rice.

Different Types of Worms

While there are five types of worms, only four types are intestinal worms, but we’re going to cover all five types. We’ll go over what each worm is, how it’s transmitted, and symptoms specific to that type of parasite infection.

Heartworms

Heartworms are almost completely preventable, but they’re also one of the most damaging and scary types of parasitic infection your dog can get. Heartworms live and thrive in your dog’s heart and in the large blood vessels, and they can grow to be over 12 inches long.

Heartworms are transmitted by a mosquito biting your dog and transmitting the heartworm larvae into your dog’s blood where it travels to their heart. These worms can cause coughing, difficulty breathing, and death in more severe cases, so prevention is the key with this parasite.

Hookworms

Hookworms are small worms with hook-like attachments on their mouths that attach to your dog’s intestinal wall. They feed on your dog’s blood, and they eject their eggs out into your dog’s intestines and into their feces.

These parasites can get into your dog’s body through your dog licking and cleaning themselves, ingesting feces or dirt, through milk by nursing puppies, or by the worms burrowing through their pads on the bottom of their feet. Since it feeds on blood, these types of worms can cause anemia, and this is especially dangerous to young puppies or older dogs.

Roundworms

Roundworms live in your dog’s small intestine, and they’re a slightly larger parasite that grows up to seven inches long and look are long and thin like spaghetti noodles. The roundworms attach to your dog’s intestine and feed on your dog’s blood as well as the nutrients from their food.

Roundworms are one of the most common parasite infections your dog can get, and your dog can get roundworm by eating infected rodents or birds, as well as through the mother dog’s milk. Common symptoms of roundworms include a potbellied look, weight loss, dull coat, and abdominal pain.

Tapeworms

Tapeworms are flat and long worms that attach to your dog’s intestines, but you can also see them on your dog’s rear end and in their feces as small, white specs that look like grains of rice. They feed on the nutrients your dog gets from their food, and there may not be any warning signs.

There are 14 different species of tapeworms, but one of the most common ways your dog gets an infection is through flea eggs. Also, if your dog eats meat that is contaminated with these worms, they can transfer from the meat to your dog and cause lethargy and weight loss.

Whipworms

Whipworms thrive in your dog’s cecum, and they’re two to three inches long with a tapered end that resembles a whip. They attach to your dog’s mucus membrane, and they feed on your dog’s blood.

Your dog can get a whipworm infection through eating soil or drinking water that is contaminated with feces containing whipworm eggs. You may notice bloody feces with this infection and a more severe infection can lead to worse complications or even death in otherwise healthy dogs.

Preventing Worms in Dogs

Prevention is the key when it comes to these parasites because it’s much easier to take preventative steps than to treat the resulting infection. There are several things that you can do to prevent these worms, and they include:

  • Make sure that you clean your yard regularly and remove any feces that you can see, and you should plan on doing this at least once a week. Over time, these feces can get infested with worms, and they can transmit to your dog if they eat it or get it on their coat and then ingest it when they clean themselves.
  • Your vet will prescribe deworming medications, and it’s important that you give these medications to your dog as recommended by your veterinarian. It’s especially important that you do this when your dog is young because puppies usually get at least three rounds of dewormer to help prevent infections as they grow.
  • If you can’t prevent your dog from getting worms, you can help to catch it quickly before the infection advances. Make sure that you’re routinely checking your dog’s fur, feces, and rear for the worms themselves, larvae, or any eggs.

How to Get Rid of Worms Naturally

Although you may want to take your dog to the veterinarian to get a professional’s opinion, there are several things that you can do at home to keep your dog healthy, happy, and free of a parasitic infection.

Apple Cider Vinegar

Almost all homes have apple cider vinegar around because it has powerful antibacterial and antimicrobial properties that make it an excellent cleaning agent. It’s natural and safe for your dog to digest, and this makes it a popular remedy for getting rid of worms.

To give this remedy to your dog, start by adding one-fourth of a teaspoon to their food or water each day, and slowly increase this over a week until you get to one teaspoon. Once you get to a teaspoon, you can keep giving them this amount each day to keep the worms away.

Black Cumin and Pumpkin Seeds

Both black cumin and pumpkin seeds along with black cumin oil are safe for your dog, and they work to prevent, expel, and maintain your dog’s worm-free state. You want to give your dog between a half and a whole teaspoon of black cumin seed each day in their food, but remember to heat it first to get rid of the very bitter aftertaste.

Pumpkin seeds work very well if you grind them before you add them to your dog’s food, and you want to add around one-fourth of a teaspoon for every 10 pounds of body weight. For black cumin oil, use half of what you use for black cumin seeds, and it’s always a good idea to start at the lower end of the dosage and work your way up to the full dose.

Chamomile

Chamomile is popular for having anti-inflammatory properties, but it’s a slower acting herb where parasites are concerned that works by reducing any discomfort your dog may have. You can make a chamomile tincture and add it to your dog’s food or water twice a day at 0.25 to 0.50 milliliters per every 20 pounds of body weight.

To make your chamomile tincture by mixing:

  • 1/2 to 1 cup of dried Chamomile flowers
  • 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 cups of boiling water
  • 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 cups rum or vodka
  • Quart glass jar with an airtight lid

Add your flowers to the bottom of the jar and pour the boiling water over the flowers. Next, pour the rum or vodka into the water and flower mixture until the jar is full and seal the lid.

Once it’s sealed, store it in a cool and dry place for four to six weeks and shake it for a few minutes each day. After four to six weeks, open the jar, strain the liquid, and it’s now ready to add to your dog’s water or food once a day.

Dried Coconut

Dried coconut is excellent for getting rid of worms due to its fiber content, and it can help expel up to 90 percent of any parasitic worms that your dog may have in under 24 hours. You do want to start your dog on a lower quantity and slowly work your way up to the regular dose over the span of a week or two to avoid digestive upset.

The maintenance dose you want to eventually end up with is one teaspoon for small dogs, two teaspoons for medium dogs, and one tablespoon for large dogs once a day sprinkled over their food. You may want to start with half of a dose or a quarter of a dose and work your way up to the full dose.

Garlic

As long as your dog isn’t on blood thinners, feeding them garlic can help to rid them of any parasitic worms. Garlic helps to remove mucus from your dog’s stomach lining, and this makes it more difficult for the worms to attach and thrive.

You do want to give your dog fresh cloves of garlic, and let it sit at room temperature for at least 15 to 20 minutes before you chop it and add it to their food because this will allow the garlic to release an amino acid called allicin. The suggested feeding guidelines are as follows:

  • Small Dogs – One-quarter of a clove of garlic twice per day.
  • Medium Dogs – One half of a clove of garlic twice per day.
  • Large Dogs – Three-quarters of a clove of garlic twice per day.
  • Giant Dogs – One clove of garlic twice per day.

Vegetables and Fruits

Anything with high levels of vitamin A is an excellent home remedy to help slow down and eradicate an infection of parasitic worms. You don’t want to feed your dog too much of these fruits and vegetables because it can cause digestive upset, especially when you first introduce it into their diet.

You may want to start feeding your dog a half of a teaspoon of fruits or vegetables for every 10 pounds of body weight once a day for at least a week to get them used to it. After a week, you can increase this dose to a half of a teaspoon for every 10 pounds of body weight twice a day at mealtimes.

Fruits and vegetables that have high levels of vitamin A include:

  • Raw Carrot
  • Squash
  • Watercress
  • Pumpkin
  • Cantaloupe
  • Asparagus
  • Apricots
  • Apples

Getting rid of worms in dogs can be an ongoing process that takes time and effort on your part. But, once you get rid of them, keeping your dog healthy, happy, and worm free is a relatively easy process, especially if you use one or more of our natural worm remedies.

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