Because you’re doing a lot of pacing and growling these days.
Of course you’ve been reading War and Peace instead of watching the spectacularly sordid Netflix series Tiger King (just kidding, we know you watched it). Still, it may interest you to know that the population of captive big cats in the United States is estimated to be more than 7,000, thanks to the mass breeding of tigers in this country. Biology professor Elizabeth Hadly and PhD student Ellie Armstrong, who study the genetics of wild and captive tigers, spoke with Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment’s newsletter, People&Planet, about the opportunity the show’s popularity presents to educate people about tigers in captivity. Important to know, said Hadly, is that tigers bred in the U.S. don’t get released into the wild. “These animals have none of the behaviors that are key to survival in the wild; they have not been exposed to their native prey, have not learned to hunt or find mates, and—quite the contrary—they may even have been selected by breeders to be more docile, less picky about food, and more tolerant of cages, concrete and people,” she said.
As for Joe Exotic’s archenemy, Carole Baskin, don’t believe all the hype. “Carole runs an excellent facility which is certified both by the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries and the organization we work with, Tigers in America. Her animals have very large enclosures and receive top-of-the-line vet care,” Armstrong said.
Desperate times call for disruptive tools.
You just found out you tested positive for the coronavirus, so you tell an app on your phone, which anonymously alerts any app user who has been within 6 feet of you for more than 15 minutes that they may have been exposed. Mechanical engineering PhD student Tina White devised the app Covid Watch to address the privacy concerns inherent in using cell phone data to track people who have been infected. Covid Watch, which uses Bluetooth technology, needs at least 60 percent of people in a community to use the app (or one that uses the same open-source software) in order for it to be effective. “We’re working hard to develop an app that protects both public health and personal privacy,” White told Stanford Engineering Magazine. Check out what some other Stanford students are doing to solve problems created by COVID-19.
Shut-eye during shutdown.
Some people are sleeping better than ever these days, despite the spiraling uncertainty that dominates our waking hours. That's what sleep expert and psychiatry and behavioral sciences professor Rafael Pelayo told the School of Medicine’s Paul Costello in the latest 1:2:1 podcast. For some introverts, Pelayo said, leaving the house every day causes a certain amount of stress, which has now been relieved. But if getting ready for bed cues up a when-will-this-be-over playlist in your head, he said, try for a passive state of serenity. “It’s out of your control. It’s going to be over when it’s over, so there’s no point in worrying when you get into bed at night.”
The Mars rover went to the Jezero crater and all I got was this lousy T-shirt.
NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover is headed for the Jezero crater this summer, where a new study finds that layers of sediment deposited by an ancient river may have recorded evidence of life. If life did exist on Mars, scientists say, it probably didn’t evolve beyond the single-cell stage before it was snuffed out by whatever cataclysmic event made the red planet inhospitable to life billions of years ago. If that evidence was preserved, it presents a new opportunity for scientists.
“Being able to use another planet as a lab experiment for how life could have started somewhere else or where there’s a better record of how life started in the first place—that could actually teach us a lot about what life is,” said assistant geological sciences professor Mathieu Lapôtre, the lead author of the study, which used satellite imagery to analyze the layers of an ancient river delta. “These will be the first samples that we’ve seen as a rock on Mars and then brought back to Earth, so it’s pretty exciting.”
On the road back then.
What is America? That’s the question Neil Hamamoto, ’15, Caroline Doyle, ’17, and Free Tripp, ’17, asked as they roamed the country for their Free Film: USA project last fall, distributing 35 mm film to 1,500 photographers along the way. If you’ve been looking back at your own photos of far-flung places (remember going places?) and wondering if it’s OK to post old travel pics, go for it—especially if it makes you feel grateful, says adjunct psychiatry and behavioral sciences professor Thomas G. Plante.
Photo credit: Sean Andrew Jackson
Two lights, extinguished.
Barbara Babcock, the first woman to become a faculty member at Stanford Law School and a giant in the legal profession, died on April 18. She was the first director of the Public Defender Service in Washington, D.C., a pilot project that became a national model for providing criminal defense services to those who couldn’t afford them. “Barbara was not simply someone who left an enormously significant public mark, she was someone who was beloved by our students in a way most of us could only dream of,” Jenny Martinez, dean of Stanford Law School, told Stanford Lawyer magazine.
Eavan Boland, director of Stanford’s creative writing program and a preeminent Irish poet who taught at Stanford for 25 years, died April 27. “I learned more from no one else in higher education,” said creative writing professor and Pulitzer Prize–winning novelist Adam Johnson. “No one bore truer witness to the artist’s life, and no one was as dedicated to fostering the potential of all writers. How many will never know how much has been done on their behalf by Eavan Boland?”
But wait, there’s more.
Results from two eagerly awaited clinical trials of the experimental drug remdesivir have found that it helps severely ill patients recover from COVID-19. It’s the first evidence of any therapy being effective against this disease, said Lloyd Minor, dean of the Stanford School of Medicine. On May 1, the FDA approved remdesivir for emergency use.
Less than 10 percent of Stanford’s approximately 7,000 undergraduate students are living on campus right now. Here’s what life is like for those who stayed. And since campus dining halls are using less produce these days, the Stanford farm has been sending produce to a local soup kitchen.
“I put the laryngoscope in and I didn’t see anything resembling normal human anatomy.” Pediatric anesthesiologist Morgan McCarroll, ’93, left his home in Reno, Nev., to help treat COVID-19 patients in New Jersey. He shared his experience in a guest episode of “Diary of a Hospitalist.”
Don’t let lockdown stop you from commemorating graduation or another milestone with a great portrait. Art Streiber, ’84, photographer to the stars, offered pro tips for taking iPhone photos in the first episode of STANFORD magazine’s Nothing Better to Do quarantine video series.
The best advice we’ve heard so far about masks and running or cycling outside comes from Paul Auerbach, emeritus professor of emergency medicine, who suggested wearing a mask around your neck when exercising outdoors so that you can pull it up when you approach others. “It’s an act of solidarity and courtesy, letting everyone know you are trying to be respectful, smart and safe,” he told the Wall Street Journal.
Pardon our L’oops: In the last issue, the description of an interview with Yvonne Maldonado said that COVID-19 is related to SARS-CoV-2. COVID-19 is related to SARS-CoV.
Summer Moore Batte, ’99, is the editor of Stanfordmag.org. Email her at summerm@stanford.edu.
Note: The Loop sometimes links to articles outside of Stanford that may require a subscription to view.
