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My Life is Crap

Purple Reign

12/31/2016

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TODAY 3pm EST @ the GEORGIA DOME
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Tomorrow I will have no voice.
GO DAWGS! WOOF!
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On the Seventh Day of Christmas...

12/31/2016

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my true love gave to me:

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Day 7
Date: December 31st
Celebration: New Years Eve
Gift: Seven Swans a Swimming
Meaning: The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit
(I Corinthians 12:8-11; Romans 12, Ephesians 4; I Peter 4:10-11).

MY true love gave to ME tickets to the Peach Bowl where my alma mater (Washington Huskies) will be playing his alma mater (Alabama Crimson Tide) in the College Football Semifinals!
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On the Sixth Day of Christmas...

12/30/2016

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my true love gave to me:

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Day 6
Date: December 30th
Celebration: St Egwin of Worcester
        Founder of  Evesham Abbey. Died December 30, 717
Gift: Six Geese a Laying
Meaning: The six days of creation.
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On the Fifth Day of Christmas...

12/29/2016

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my true love gave to me:

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Day 5
Date: December 29th
Celebration: St Thomas Becket
        He was Archbishop of Canterbury, murdered on
        December 29th, 1170 for challenging the King’s
        authority over Church.

Gift: Five Golden Rings
Meaning:  The Books of Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy
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On the Fourth Day of Christmas...

12/28/2016

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my true love gave to me:

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Day 4
Date: December 28th
Celebration: The Feast of the Holy Innocents
        When people remember 
the baby boys which King Herod
​        killed when he was trying to find and kill the Baby Jesus
.
Gift: Four Calling Birds
Meaning: The Four Gospels
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On the Third Day of Christmas...

12/27/2016

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my true love gave to me:

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Day 3
Date: December 27th
Celebration: St John the Apostle
        One of Jesus's Disciples and friends
Gift: Three French Hens
Meaning: faith, hope and love (I Corinthians 13)

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On the Second Day of Christmas...

12/26/2016

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my true love gave to me:

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Day 2
Date: December 26th
Celebration: St Stephen’s Day (ie Boxing Day)
        He was the first Christian martyr.
Gift: Two Turtle Doves
Meaning: The Old and New Testiment

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On the First Day of Christmas....

12/25/2016

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MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!! 
For the next 12 days, I will be going through the 12 Day of Christmas, a tradition celebrated in Europe since the middle ages. We all know the song, but I bet most of us have no idea what those 12 days actually are. No, it's not just a song about someone frivilously purchasing their true love gifts for 12 days, it's a series of Christian celebrations leading up to the Twelfth Night (a party making the end of medieval "winter" (All Hallow's Eve to Twelfth Night), not the comedy by William Shakespeare - although the play was likely written as entertainment for said celebration).

So, without further adieu...

On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me:

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Day 1
Date: December 25th
Celebration: The birth of Jesus
Gift: A partridge in a pear tree
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Under Her Skin

12/22/2016

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​This week at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, one of the new additions to the rhino family, Wallis, a Southern White Rhino from South Africa, revealed a harsh reality of what is happening to her species throughout Africa. Wallis has been at the Park for just over a year and since her arrival has been exhibiting a wound that just wouldn’t heal. This week keepers noticed something sticking out of her skin at the site of the wound. Vets were called in and removed a bullet casing! Discovery of the bullet suggests a botched poaching attempt. Based on the angle of the wound, vets speculate that the rhino turned toward her shooter before being shot saving her life but leaving her with a stark reminder of the current plight of her species. 
Park staff tried to determine the extent of the wound and find the lead from the bullet but traditional equipment wasn’t strong enough to penetrate the rhino’s thick skin. The San Diego Fire-Rescue Bomb Squad was called in and using a device used to conduct investigations of explosive devices, they confirmed the presence of a metal fragment (likely the bullet). The next step will be removing the bullet but, in the meantime, the casing will be sent to a forensic lab to be included in investigations to aid in the fight against poaching in Africa.

A photo posted by San Diego Zoo Safari Park (@sdzsafaripark) on Dec 21, 2016 at 5:34pm PST

​Wallis is a very special addition to the Park’s rhino family. She is as part of the Park's White Rhino breeding program planned to be a surrogate for the critically endangered Northern White Rhino whose only remaining females are all too old to breed.
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Let It Snow!

12/16/2016

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A few days ago, pandas at the Toronto Zoo took full advantage of the cold weather having a BLAST playing in the snow!
Giant pandas are from the remote, mountainous regions of central China, in the Min Mountains and Qinling Mountains of the Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu provinces, where it often snows in the winter months. The pandas in Canada feel right at home in the cold. While the San Diego Pandas don't get any naturally cold weather, they do get a special delivery of snow a couple times a year and they know just what to do when it arrives!
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United We Stand

12/15/2016

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​This is another shining example of why I love Texas A&M University. Last week, many Aggies were up in arms about alt-right proponent, Richard B. Spencer, coming to our campus to speak and I think the University handled the situation with class. 
​As not to impede anyone's First Amendment rights, they still allowed the speech to take place but offered an uplifting, University-sponsored alternative for those on campus, Aggies United. This event was not just something else to attend but a way to show how we are adamantly against what Spencer stands for. And, on December 6, 2016, Aggies came together to show what we stand for: Diversity, Excellence, Integrity, Leadership, Loyalty, Respect & Selfless Service. 
It was encouraging that inside the Richard B. Spencer event, a majority of the 400 attendees were there in protest. While Spencer inappropriately reacted to questions asked by the protesters, Aggies stepped up to the podium one after another questioning his motives. A genetics program professor, Dr. Alan Pepper, asked a question about DNA testing to establish white identity but not before Spencer tried to belittle Dr. Pepper by saying “look how fat you are” and stating he has “utter contempt for losers like you” in regards to Dr. Pepper’s BTHO Hate t-shirt. Dr. Pepper, an expert in adaptive evolution, asked if Spencer has gotten his genome sequenced to find out his true heritage. Spender’s response was, “most all of science and the google corporation disapprove of you” ... No sir, you’re talking about yourself.
​To hear Spencer's whole (contradictory) response, watch the video above from 1:24:00 to 1:27:10.
While the protests were still what primarily took over coverage on CNN, I am proud that the Aggies put forth something centered around unity and not hatred, putting a positive spin on an event that, on its own, would otherwise draw so much negativity. (Unfortunately, in the media, negativity usually gets more airtime than positivity. While Aggies United didn't receive a lot of coverage itself, it's presence helped keep even more negative coverage at bay.)
​
I wasn’t able to attend Aggies United in person but I was able to take part by streaming most of it live. It was pretty impressive how so many Aggies pulled together against hatred and I can honestly say, I am a proud Aggie.
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Throwback Third Thursday - December 2016

12/15/2016

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Merry Christmas
​&
Happy Holidays!

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The Curry's at our Merry Martinis Christmas Party 2007
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Like UDub-opoly!

12/9/2016

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Look what I found!!!

Christmas Cheer Curry Style from Wally World on Myspace.

Thank you Claire, for getting me to look at my long forgotten MySpace page that I can't even log into.
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Lions are the Smartest of the Big Cats!

12/7/2016

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The social nature of the lion may be more beneficial than just having someone around to groom the tough spots.
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Scientists at the University of Miami tested a total of 48 captive carnivores using puzzle boxes filled with beef to test the "social intelligence hypothesis." To get to the tasty morsel, these lions, leopards, tigers and hyenas had to channel their inner Einstein to activate a spring-loaded door latch by pulling on a rope attached to the box. ​

The "social intelligence hypothesis" proposes that social complexity results in cognitive complexity. Living a communal life requires problem solving skills that may not be needed for a solitary lifestyle. Keeping track of the group (who is friend or foe), working cohesively as a group, and learning from group members privides an advantage to those living in said group. And, being a better group member typically results in greater fitness, therefore, better social behavior results in improved problem solving leading to greater cognitive abilities within the species. ​So, does the social intelligence hypothesis have any merrit?

​It seems to in big cats! Out of twelve lions tested at Florida's Lion Country Safari (
some pictured left), eleven figured out how to get themselves a treat. Of those eleven, seven figured it out on their own and four learned how to do it from watching the other seven. Then, ten of the eleven were able to recall how to get the treat 5-7 months later.
How did ALL the species do throughout the whole study?
​
  1. Hyena - 8/9 successful (88%); these guys are social, living in "clans" up to as many as 80 individuals!
  2. Lion - 16/21 successful (76%); the only social big cat, living in "prides" which are typically around 10-15 individuals
  3. Leopard - 6/11 successful (54%); solitary and territorial, only social learning is between mother and cub
  4. Tiger - 2/7 successful (29%); same as the leopard, except they like to swim

So, the more social the carnivore, the better they were at solving the puzzle. Other studies have found that across unrelated species, brain size has more to do with the ability to problem solve than social structure, but this study seems to suggest that in species that are more closely related (the Pathera genus is estimated to have a divergence time of only 3-4 million year ago), social stucture may be a factor in how well you're able to problem solve. 

Citation: Borrego N, Gaines M. Social carnivores outperform asocial carnivores on an innovative problem. Anim Behav. 2016;114:21–6. 
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    Caitlin Curry

    I am a biologist and my life is crap!

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