Category Archives: Sailing
Magic of Sled Dogs
The metabolic strategy of sled dogs is a mystery, as reported by the New York Times
Dr. Michael S. Davis, an associate professor of veterinary physiology at Oklahoma State University and an animal exercise researcher, said: “Before the race, the dogs’ metabolic makeup is similar to humans. Then suddenly they throw a switch — we don’t know what it is yet — that reverses all of that. In a 24-hour period, they go back to the same type of metabolic baseline you see in resting subjects. But it’s while they are running 100 miles a day.”
Humans get tired after repeated strenuous activity that depletes fat stores. We have to shut down and rest. The dogs seem to escape this, which is why DARPA has funded Davis to figure out why and how.
If Dr. Davis and the Texas A&M researchers identify the biomarker, or “switch,” that could help the military understand and develop ways to control and prevent the physiological effects of fatigue in strenuous cases like combat.
“Soldiers’ duties often require extreme exertion, which causes them to become fatigued,” Jan Walker of Darpa wrote in an e-mail message. “Severe fatigue can result in a compromised immune system, making soldiers more susceptible to illness or injury.”
Although this sounds magical, Dominique Grandjean (DVM, PhD, HDR Colonel, Chief veterinarian, Paris Fire Brigade Professor, Alfort National Veterinary School Head of Canine Breeding and Sport Medicine Unit) gave a presentation called “Racing sled dogs most frequent health problems” that might suggest otherwise. It lists the top five reasons given for dropping dogs during Iditarod and the number one slot is fatigue. Slide 12 says “Stress a key word for sled dogs” and calls out metabolic stress as well as cellular stress. Later in the presentation she discusses early fatigue. Thus, even if they can harness the magic of sled dogs DARPA still will need to deal with fatigue and stress symptoms.
A-Cat Life
A quiet day in Spain…
And then the Santa Cruz version by Jer and Glen:
Somalia Targeted for Nation Building
Defense experts in the US are coming forward to suggest the piracy problem with Somalia might require something like stabilizing the country, DefenseLink reported yesterday.
Whether it’s humanitarian aide to Somalia or possible military training to Somalis, [Pentagon spokesman Bryan] Whitman said, there’s no shortage in ways and means the United States and international partners could approach the piracy issue and Somalia’s lack of a legitimate government. The pure size of the region presents difficulties, he added.
“Clearly, it’s a big challenge when you’re talking about a coastline and body of water as large as it is, and you’re dealing with a country that is largely ungoverned — that certainly is a complicating situation,” Whitman said.
I have mentioned before that the US most likely wanted to destabilize the region for purposes of keeping open access to suspected terrorists. In short, sovereignty of a newly forming Islamic state with historic animosity towards the US would have made strategic anti-terror missions far more difficult in the Horn. Thus, as Somalia was on the verge of stabilizing, the US appeared to undermine the new rulers rather than support them.
Fearing the influence of militant factions within the Islamic Courts, the United States backed a loose coalition of warlords who had the savvy to dub themselves the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counterterrorism. Somali women took to the streets to protest the U.S. policy.
“Many women supported the Islamic Courts in Mogadishu because they received security,” said Alia Adem Abdi, who chairs the Hiran Women Action on Advocacy for Peace and Human Rights Organization, based in Somalia’s restive central Hiran region. “They had an access to move freely in the capital city. Also the children had access to go to school. But not now.”
Last Christmas, a weak Transitional Federal Government stormed Mogadishu with backing from neighboring Ethiopia and tacit support from the United States, sending the coalition of jihadis and militias who backed the Islamic Courts underground.
Perhaps the US did not anticipate the growth of an uncontrolled piracy market as a result of their alliance with Ethiopia and military operations in this region. On the other hand, perhaps the prior administration felt the the risks and side-effects to shipping were an acceptable cost for their anti-terror doctrine. In either case I see a change in policy regarding risk management and Islamic state relations, rather than a new approach to piracy as a result of the Maersk incident.