Castanea dentata

Castanea dentata seedling
Fortunately, there are not too many parallels between COVID19 and the American Chestnut blight. But in common there is awareness and awakening. Minimize death, be careful. The awakening part… Have you planted a tree during this life? What are you waiting for? It is a rehabilitative and blessed thing to do. Plant. Now. #growingtowardthelight
large dead chestnut tree
The Family of James and Caroline Shelton pose by a large dead American chestnut tree in Tremont Falls, Tennessee, circa 1920. Courtesy of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park Library

Greatest forest loss in history

The American chestnut is an historic and beloved part of America’s landscape. Its extinction would be the loss of a symbol of American strength, endurance and resourcefulness. Saving the chestnut and restoring it to its native range at scale could also help give other endangered tree species a new lease on life and directly offset the effects of climate change and deforestation. While no single intervention can completely eradicate chestnut blight, together the science of breeding, biotechnology, and biocontrol (3BUR) offer our best hope for rescuing the American chestnut tree.—The American Chestnut Foundation

dachshund

Can’t think of a caption. Coffee in a time of cholera? Note: Rio, the dog pictured above, thinks little of animal behavioraillists.

The Most Aggressive Breed
A 2008 study by animal behavioral scientists at the University of Pennsylvania, published in the Journal of Applied Animal Behavior Science, identified the dachshund as the most aggressive breed toward strangers and the second-most aggressive breed — right behind the beagle — toward their owners. The study also found dachshunds to be among the most aggressive toward other dogs. The study measured how likely 32 breeds were to bite or try to bite others.–Scott Morgan

social distance

A new study uploaded to the research site SSRN over the weekend finds that 90 percent of the coronavirus transmissions so far have occurred within a specific temperature (37 to 63 degrees) and absolute humidity range. For areas outside this zone, the virus is still spreading, but more slowly, according to the study by two scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.–WaPo

Something good about hot and humid.