This week's compendium

Here’s this week’s compendium. This week…

1. treehugger published an item about a pocket hydrogen fuel cell charger [1]. Great gizmo.

2. and also an item reporting that UK food inspectors studies 558 food items labelled as ‘local’, and found that 18% were undoubtedly not local and 14% were unverifiable [2]. ‘Welsh lamb’ from New Zealand!

3. in the US, the FAA mandated the removal of emergency oxygen masks from aeroplane toilets, in the interests of ‘national security’ [3]. It’s a mad, mad (etc) world, alright.

4. the journal Paediatrics reported that among formula-fed infants or infants weaned before age four months, introduction of solid foods before the age of four months increased the risk of obesity at age three years [4]. Breast fed is best fed at least for the first four months of life. It’s currently unclear when to start solid foods after then.

5. in the US, a CDC report showed continuing improved cancer survival [5]. This further reinforces the adage that ‘cancer’s a word and not a sentence’.

6. a large Australian randomised controlled trial showed that daily suncreeen use cut melanoma risk by over 50% [6]. Sunscreens work, folks.

7. I read of the iPad suit [7]. Pardon me while I visit the vomitorium.

8. I neglected to blog about (centenary) International Women’s Day [8]. I apologise. It was an oversight – not an act of disrespect.

Finally, I wish you, dear Farmdoc’s Blog readers, a wonderful week.

On sheep and maternal separation

Last 18 January I wrote [1] that ‘Sweetheart Vivienne and I are well into the HBO TV series In Treatment [2]. Since then we’ve continued to watch, enjoy and learn from this superb offering. As it’s about a psychotherapist and his patients, a recurring theme’s how when youngsters the patients were psychologically damaged by what their parents did and/or what they should’ve done but didn’t. Mobs of sheep are matriarchal. Rams don’t rear the lambs they’ve fathered. The mothers, i.e. ewes, do it all. And, I must say, ewes are super mums. At least our Border Leicester ewes are. So protective, devoted and bonded. But inevitably we must wean our lambs from their mothers. We did it yesterday. We put our 17 ewe (i.e. girl) lambs in one paddock and our 13 ram (i.e. boy) lambs in another paddock (some pictured) – both far from the paddock their mothers remained in. The mothers seemed unconcerned. They continued their business of eating grass, seemingly unaware their lambs were no longer at their sides. The lambs, in contrast, rushed around their new paddocks, bleating plaintively for their mums. Undoubtedly they’ll quieten in a day or two, then miss neither mums nor milk. Or will they? Maybe they suffer psychological trauma after forced separation from their mothers. Are sheep aware? It’s hard to tell, as they don’t have intelligible communication – at least with us humans. To learn more we may need a series of In Treatment about, written by, and starring sheep. How tantalising.