On the Nature of Things | Forum

Hoosiernorm wrote:X3iFhLdWjqc

Actinidia polygama (also known as Silver Vine and Cat Powder) is a non-toxic[1] plant in the Actinidiaceae family. It grows in the mountainous areas of Japan and China at elevations between 500–1900 meters.

Silver Vine is a vine that can reach up to 5–6 meters in maturity. It is a deciduous climber and is frost tender. The petiole leaves are silver and white in color and between 6–13 cm long and 4–9 cm wide. These colorful markings make the plant identifiable from afar, until the flowering season when the leaves turn completely green.

The flowering season lasts from late June to early July, in which the plant bears white flowers about 2.5 cm in diameter. The longevity of an individual flower is 2–3 days. At this time, the plant also starts to develop small, yellow to yellow-red, egg-shaped, fleshy, and multi-seeded fruits, which mature in September to October. The fruit is approximately 1.5 cm wide and 3.0–4.0 cm long. The inside of the fruit resembles the common Kiwifruit, but it is orange in color rather than green.

The Silver Vine plant requires moist, well drained soil, and partial shade to full sun. It is a fast growing vine that makes for good cover on a fence or trellis. It is becoming increasingly popular as an edible fruit crop.

Pets

Silver Vine has long been known to elicit euphoric response in cats. It is the most popular cat treat in Asia, particularly in Japan and China[citation needed]. The reaction to Silver Vine is similar to the catnip response, but appears to be more intense[citation needed]. Typical behaviors include rolling, chin and cheek rubbing, drooling, and licking. The effect usually lasts between 5 and 30 minutes and cats will usually visit Silver Vine again after about 20–30 minutes[citation needed].

Health benefits

Silver Vine has been used for centuries in Asia as a preventative health aid and is still commonly used as an alternative therapy for hypertension, arthritic pain,[4] and now is being investigated as treatment for cancer.[3] Documenting their investigations of Silver Vine as a health booster, researchers have claimed, ”Silver vine should find applications in various fields of foods and medicals and will be increasingly regarded as a health-promoting food”.[9]

Silver Vine leaves also have a high content of ascorbic acid, flavonoids, terpenoids, saponins,[6] and beta-carotene.[10] This powerful plant is also rich in alkaloids.[6] Research has found that Silver Vine’s vitamin C content is 10 times the amount of green tea and was “much higher than those of fruit species such as garden strawberry, kiwi berry, haskap [berry], blueberry, and lemon”,.[9] The high amount of vitamin C in this plant makes it an excellent source of antioxidants. Silver Vine also has as much vitamin E as found in soybeans.

The health benefits of Silver Vine are not limited to its natural vitamins and minerals. Researchers have found that Silver Vine may be an effective treatment of hyperlipidemia,[6] and has explored the viability of Silver Vine as an anticancer drug. When the leaf powder was given orally, it was found to inhibit the spread of cancer in small animals and reduced tumor weight (Sarcoma 180, S-180) by more than 72% after day 32. Further, a lemon juice extract powder of Silver Vine tea showed hepatoprotection in rats which is attributed to antioxidant and free radical scavenging properties of Silver Vine which alleviated liver.[5]

The anti-inflammatory properties of this plant which have been used in the treatment of Rheumatoid arthritis and to alleviate arthritis pain, were put to the test against inflammation in the lungs. Research found the fruit extract from the plant had deep inhibitory effects on airway inflammation caused by allergic inflammation and asthma when combined with cyclosporine A.[11]

Cats are one of the top threats to US wildlife, killing billions of animals each year, a study suggests.

The authors estimate they are responsible for the deaths of between 1.4 and 3.7 billion birds and 6.9-20.7 billion mammals annually.

Writing in Nature Communications, the scientists said stray and feral cats were the worst offenders.

However, they added that pet cats also played a role and that owners should do more to reduce their impact.

The authors concluded that more animals are dying at the claws of cats in the United States than in road accidents, collisions with buildings or poisonings.

The domestic cat's killer instinct has been well documented on many islands around the world.

Felines accompanying their human companions have gone on to prey on the local wildlife, and they have been blamed for the global extinction of 33 species.

But their impact on mainland areas has been harder to chart.

To find out more, researchers from the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) and the US Fish and Wildlife Service carried out a review of studies that had previously looked at the predatory prowess of cats.

Their analysis revealed that the cat killings were much higher than previous studies had suggested: they found that they had killed more than four times as many birds as has been previously estimated.

Birds native to the US, such as the American Robin, were most at risk, and mice, shrews, voles, squirrels and rabbits were the mammals most likely to be killed.

Apollonius wrote:But I love them anyway.

Apollonius wrote:Cats killing billions of animals in the US - Rebecca Morelle, BBC News, 29 January 2013
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21236690

Cats are one of the top threats to US wildlife, killing billions of animals each year, a study suggests.

The authors estimate they are responsible for the deaths of between 1.4 and 3.7 billion birds and 6.9-20.7 billion mammals annually.

Writing in Nature Communications, the scientists said stray and feral cats were the worst offenders.

However, they added that pet cats also played a role and that owners should do more to reduce their impact.

The authors concluded that more animals are dying at the claws of cats in the United States than in road accidents, collisions with buildings or poisonings.

The domestic cat's killer instinct has been well documented on many islands around the world.

Felines accompanying their human companions have gone on to prey on the local wildlife, and they have been blamed for the global extinction of 33 species.

But their impact on mainland areas has been harder to chart.

To find out more, researchers from the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) and the US Fish and Wildlife Service carried out a review of studies that had previously looked at the predatory prowess of cats.

Their analysis revealed that the cat killings were much higher than previous studies had suggested: they found that they had killed more than four times as many birds as has been previously estimated.

Birds native to the US, such as the American Robin, were most at risk, and mice, shrews, voles, squirrels and rabbits were the mammals most likely to be killed.

The authors estimate they are responsible for the deaths of between 1.4 and 3.7 billion birds and 6.9-20.7 billion mammals annually.

Typhoon wrote:

Apollonius wrote:Cats killing billions of animals in the US - Rebecca Morelle, BBC News, 29 January 2013
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21236690

Cats are one of the top threats to US wildlife, killing billions of animals each year, a study suggests.

The authors estimate they are responsible for the deaths of between 1.4 and 3.7 billion birds and 6.9-20.7 billion mammals annually.

Writing in Nature Communications, the scientists said stray and feral cats were the worst offenders.

However, they added that pet cats also played a role and that owners should do more to reduce their impact.

The authors concluded that more animals are dying at the claws of cats in the United States than in road accidents, collisions with buildings or poisonings.

The domestic cat's killer instinct has been well documented on many islands around the world.

Felines accompanying their human companions have gone on to prey on the local wildlife, and they have been blamed for the global extinction of 33 species.

But their impact on mainland areas has been harder to chart.

To find out more, researchers from the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) and the US Fish and Wildlife Service carried out a review of studies that had previously looked at the predatory prowess of cats.

Their analysis revealed that the cat killings were much higher than previous studies had suggested: they found that they had killed more than four times as many birds as has been previously estimated.

Birds native to the US, such as the American Robin, were most at risk, and mice, shrews, voles, squirrels and rabbits were the mammals most likely to be killed.

I have no doubt that cats are killers, however

The authors estimate they are responsible for the deaths of between 1.4 and 3.7 billion birds and 6.9-20.7 billion mammals annually.

seems like very large numbers

According to the

Continental N America Landbird Population Estimates Database

the total continental N Am bird population is about 5 billion.

If cats killed "between 1.4 and 3.7 billion birds" annually, then the bird population of N Am would now be long extinct.

Something does not add up.

Reminds me of E. O. Wilson's not even wrong claim that 2.7% of all the species on our planet per year were going extinct.

noddy wrote:

Typhoon wrote:

Apollonius wrote:Cats killing billions of animals in the US - Rebecca Morelle, BBC News, 29 January 2013
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21236690

Cats are one of the top threats to US wildlife, killing billions of animals each year, a study suggests.

The authors estimate they are responsible for the deaths of between 1.4 and 3.7 billion birds and 6.9-20.7 billion mammals annually.

Writing in Nature Communications, the scientists said stray and feral cats were the worst offenders.

However, they added that pet cats also played a role and that owners should do more to reduce their impact.

The authors concluded that more animals are dying at the claws of cats in the United States than in road accidents, collisions with buildings or poisonings.

The domestic cat's killer instinct has been well documented on many islands around the world.

Felines accompanying their human companions have gone on to prey on the local wildlife, and they have been blamed for the global extinction of 33 species.

But their impact on mainland areas has been harder to chart.

To find out more, researchers from the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) and the US Fish and Wildlife Service carried out a review of studies that had previously looked at the predatory prowess of cats.

Their analysis revealed that the cat killings were much higher than previous studies had suggested: they found that they had killed more than four times as many birds as has been previously estimated.

Birds native to the US, such as the American Robin, were most at risk, and mice, shrews, voles, squirrels and rabbits were the mammals most likely to be killed.

I have no doubt that cats are killers, however

The authors estimate they are responsible for the deaths of between 1.4 and 3.7 billion birds and 6.9-20.7 billion mammals annually.

seems like very large numbers

According to the

Continental N America Landbird Population Estimates Database

the total continental N Am bird population is about 5 billion.

If cats killed "between 1.4 and 3.7 billion birds" annually, then the bird population of N Am would now be long extinct.

Something does not add up.

Reminds me of E. O. Wilson's not even wrong claim that 2.7% of all the species on our planet per year were going extinct.

apples and oranges and bad usage of stats.

their is the stat for the average sustained population per area and this has nothing todo with the stat for the death rate on young birds.

for example - i have 2 species of honeyeater living in my frontyard and thats a population of 4 adult birds and each year both of those have 2 to 4 offspring.

if those offspring are lucky they find new territory, if they are unlucky they die of starvation however this year for one of the species i found 2 dead on the front porch killed by cats.

so for that species my population of 2 also had a death rate of 2 due to cats and this adds up fine.

YMix wrote:jSzypUBqm9I

Heathcliff as seen in the strip is predisposed to annoying Mr. Schultz, the manager of the local fish store, called the Elite Fish Market; tipping over, and much more often somersaulting garbage cans into the air, to the annoyance of the local sanitation workers; annoying the milkman to get milk (usually by tricking them into dropping a milk bottle or two); bothering the hard-working sailors who work on the Tuna Fleet; harassing and abusing the dog population; being an informant to the local Dog Catchers; and pursuing female cats

Marcy, a neighborhood girl whom Heathcliff (dressed in baby clothes) has played play doll carriage with.