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posted by martyb on Monday June 24 2019, @06:23AM   Printer-friendly
from the not-to-be-confused-with-Reindeer-yogurt dept.

Move Over, Goat Yoga. Alaskans Now Have Reindeer Yoga

If you want to incorporate quality time with animals into your yoga practice, you have a lot of options these days. There's puppy yoga, cat yoga, and perhaps the most famous — goat yoga.

Now, in Fairbanks, Alaska, there's a new offering: a yoga class with fauna particular to the cold northern climes of the subarctic. Reindeer.

In a grassy pen at the Running Reindeer Ranch, adult and baby reindeer are milling around — grazing, nosing curiously at water bottles, and pawing yoga mats as people shake them out for class.

The air is buzzing with mosquitoes, and the sky is threatening rain, but a good two dozen or so people have shown up for this petting zoo and exercise experience.

"I've wanted to do goat yoga, but this is like one step up," says Tarah Hoxsie, one of the attendees. "This is like the ultimate, OK. So while everybody's doing goat yoga in the lower 48, we're doing reindeer yoga, which is way cooler."

Unrelated: Regular Meditation More Beneficial Than Vacation
Reindeer Collision Avoidance App
Norway to Exterminate Reindeer Herd to Combat Chronic Wasting Disease
Reindeer Are Eating Seaweed to Survive Climate Change, Scientists Say

[Ed. Note: Yes, this story submission has nothing to do with STEM. But, it did give me a chuckle. And it reminded me of a quote by George Carlin “Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.” So it's good to be aware of what some people think is a "good idea(TM)" and have a good laugh once in a while, too.]


Original Submission

Related Stories

Regular Meditation More Beneficial Than Vacation 30 comments

As mindfulness meditation and yoga have become mainstream and more extensively studied, growing evidence suggests multiple psychological and physical benefits of these mindfulness exercises, as well as for similar practices like tai chi and qi gong.

Systematic reviews and meta-analyses analyzing hundreds of research studies suggest that mindfulness-based interventions help decrease anxiety, depression, stress, and pain, and help improve general health, mental health, and quality of life. These practices also appear to reduce inflammation and increase immune response.

Trade in your luggage for yoga pants.


Original Submission

Reindeer Collision Avoidance App 19 comments

Long live Rudolph:

There's good news for Rudolph and his friends—an app is helping officials reduce the number of reindeer killed in traffic accidents in Finland. Some 300,000 reindeer freely wander the wilds of Lapland in Arctic Finland. An estimated 4,000 are killed every year through road accidents, officials say, and compensation to reindeer herders can be expensive.

[...] A simple, one-button interface allows drivers to tap their smartphone screens to register any reindeer spotted near roads. Using GPS technology, it creates a 1.5-kilometer (1-mile) warning zone that lasts for an hour and warns other app users approaching the area. "If there are reindeer, (drivers) reduce speed," Ylinampa said. "When they have passed the warning place, then they can get back to the normal speed again."


Original Submission

Norway to Exterminate Reindeer Herd to Combat Chronic Wasting Disease 13 comments

http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/04/norway-plans-exterminate-large-reindeer-herd-stop-fatal-infectious-brain-disease

A year after a deadly and highly contagious wildlife disease surfaced in Norway, the country is taking action. Chronic wasting disease (CWD), caused by misfolded proteins called prions, has already ravaged deer and elk in North America, costing rural economies millions in lost revenue from hunting. Its presence in Norway's reindeer and moose—the first cases in Europe—is "a very serious situation for the environment and for our culture and traditions," says Bjørnar Ytrehus, a veterinary researcher at the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research in Trondheim.

Last week, Norway's minister of agriculture and food gave the green light for hunters to kill off the entire herd in which three infected individuals were found, about 2000 reindeer, or nearly 6% of the country's wild population. "We have to take action now," says Karen Johanne Baalsrud, director of plant and animal health at the Norwegian Food Safety Authority in Oslo. The deer's habitat will be quarantined for at least 5 years to prevent reinfection. The odds of a successful eradication, experts say, will depend largely on how long CWD has been present in Norway.


Original Submission

Reindeer Are Eating Seaweed to Survive Climate Change, Scientists Say 21 comments

foxnews.com/science/reindeer-eating-seaweed-climate-change

Named after the group of Norwegian islands they've lived on for 5,000 years, these 20,000–plus reindeer are now eating seaweed to survive the increasingly warm winters. According to researchers from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology's Centre for Biodiversity Dynamic, the reindeer are turning to seaweed because the plants they normally eat are becoming harder to get to.

More rain is now falling instead of snow, which causes the snow on the ground to freeze over [...] burying the tundra vegetation under thick ice.

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-04/nuos-rat042419.php

[...] So they devised a way to figure out if indeed reindeer were eating seaweed, and why.

This involved -- and there is no polite way to say it -- collecting and testing their poop. It turns out that researchers can distinguish between different kinds of food animals eat by testing their hair or their scat for isotopes.

In this case, the researchers collected reindeer poop from animals that were in habitats near the shore as well as from animals that lived in areas far from the shore. They then looked at stable isotope ratios of carbon, nitrogen and sulphur, all of which will have values that are detectably different in scat from reindeer that eat seaweed compared to scat from reindeer with a more traditional diet of terrestrial plants.

The researchers also had nine years of data for ground ice thickness, which they called basal ice. They combined this with GPS collar data, and location data from a total of 2199 reindeer observations during those years. They were then able to calculate where the reindeer were with respect to the coastline, and to see if more reindeer went to the coast to feed in years when the ground ice was thicker.


Original Submission

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  • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday June 24 2019, @06:32AM (1 child)

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Monday June 24 2019, @06:32AM (#859279) Journal

    When the story was in the queue, I thought it was about reindeer yogurt. "Time to milk the reindeer!"

    • (Score: 4, Funny) by krishnoid on Monday June 24 2019, @08:25AM

      by krishnoid (1156) on Monday June 24 2019, @08:25AM (#859292)

      "Hands to yourself, pal. Last guy who tried that on us, lost his grip 10km above where the Malaysia flight went down."

  • (Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 24 2019, @08:01AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 24 2019, @08:01AM (#859289)

    Now that is a tasty creature. Mashed potatoes, reindeer sautée, M-M-MMMMMmmmm.

  • (Score: 2) by MostCynical on Monday June 24 2019, @09:56AM

    by MostCynical (2589) on Monday June 24 2019, @09:56AM (#859297) Journal

    So..it isn't byo reindeer?

    --
    "I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
  • (Score: 2) by looorg on Monday June 24 2019, @12:26PM (1 child)

    by looorg (578) on Monday June 24 2019, @12:26PM (#859319)

    This is like the ultimate, OK. So while everybody's doing goat yoga in the lower 48, we're doing reindeer yoga, which is way cooler.

    While reindeer might not make it to the top of the threat list they can still maim someone quite badly, they do after all have horns or antlers, certainly so if they allow the offspring roaming around with the people.

    That said this is can't be ultimate Yoga, after all this is Alaska so there should be some bears around, only then can you do ultimate yoga!

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 24 2019, @01:37PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 24 2019, @01:37PM (#859336)

      so what you're saying is that the monks retreated to the himalayas because there they could do ultimate yeti yoga, right?

  • (Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Monday June 24 2019, @03:16PM (11 children)

    Am I missing something here?

    Isn't yoga various kinds of stretching and isometric exercise?

    So this is doing yoga in the *presence* of reindeer? How could that possibly make any difference?

    Or are folks just calling something else [wikipedia.org] "yoga" these days?

    --
    No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
    • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 24 2019, @03:34PM (8 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 24 2019, @03:34PM (#859375)

      no, the 'in' thing for the last couple of years is various kind of yoga classes with animals running around in the exercise space.

      most famously goat yoga, which is just regular yoga except with goats (and the goats might climb on ya)

      • (Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Monday June 24 2019, @03:56PM (6 children)

        no, the 'in' thing for the last couple of years is various kind of yoga classes with animals running around in the exercise space.

        most famously goat yoga, which is just regular yoga except with goats (and the goats might climb on ya)

        Okay. Thanks. So I'll ask again, "How could that possibly make any difference?"

        Some kind of animal magnetism [wikipedia.org] that enhances the experience?

        If so, then have I got a deal for those folks! My patented Animal Magnetism Focus Bracelet™ can bring all that energy right into your inner Qi. And it can be yours for the unbelievable price of just three easy payments of USD$33.33. But wait! There's more, if you act RIGHT NOW we'll include our exclusive Natural Energy Finder And Extractor™ absolutely free!*

        Don't wait, act now!

        *Just pay extra shipping, handling, fondling, and super-duper moron fees

        --
        No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
        • (Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Monday June 24 2019, @06:02PM (5 children)

          by tangomargarine (667) on Monday June 24 2019, @06:02PM (#859433)

          Just read the goat yoga link [npr.org]. It explains what's going on.

          --
          "Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
          • (Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Monday June 24 2019, @06:10PM (4 children)

            Thanks for the suggestion, but I already know more about this than I ever wanted to know.

            --
            No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
            • (Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Monday June 24 2019, @06:21PM (3 children)

              by tangomargarine (667) on Monday June 24 2019, @06:21PM (#859441)

              If you had read the article, it would've explained it has nothing to do with magical magnetism. Presumably it's more of a mental thing like hospital patients being cheered up by pets.

              The kids were ... adorable! As yoga instructor Janice Ingson deftly led us through various poses, the goats nuzzled us and nibbled on our clothes and belongings. One goat tried to eat a woman's ponytail, which was quickly discouraged because the goat could have given her a haircut.

              Ingson freely admits that the whole thing is a bit "preposterous." But she had a big grin even as she told her students, "There's a lot going on here. Can you bring your awareness back to your body?"

              Sorry, that's hard to do when you're surrounded by cute little kids.

              The article also points out that people who hang out with animals often say it makes them feel better. And how can you argue with that?

              But you "already knew all this" so don't let me get in the way of your making stuff up.

              --
              "Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
              • (Score: 1, Offtopic) by NotSanguine on Monday June 24 2019, @06:56PM (2 children)

                But you "already knew all this" so don't let me get in the way of your making stuff up.

                Making stuff up? I absolutely made an attempt at humor, at the expense of the idiots who think they get something extra out of having animals around while they do yoga.

                Do you lack a sense of humor, have Poe's Law issues, or are you one of those idiots?

                Inquiring minds don't really care.

                --
                No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
                • (Score: 2) by edIII on Monday June 24 2019, @09:45PM (1 child)

                  by edIII (791) on Monday June 24 2019, @09:45PM (#859510)

                  You should be fair here, and while I also laugh at the ridiculous pretentiousness of reindeer yoga being cooler, I also know there are clinically substantiated medical benefits to animals being a part of medicine.

                  Years ago when I was hospitalized for a heart "event" there were specialized animals brought in specifically to spend time with patients. I was offered time with a golden lab that was pretty sweet. There really is loads of scientific data that show decreased blood pressure and heart rate, among other benefits, in response to petting animals.

                  All of this being said, actually paying for yoga around animals for its coolness factor is still funny. Especially when they're apparently in "arms race" to do yoga with rare and/or deadly animals. I'll be impressed when the first class of aquatic yoga students survive a session in the river next to Hippos.

                  --
                  Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
                  • (Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Monday June 24 2019, @10:05PM

                    You should be fair here, and while I also laugh at the ridiculous pretentiousness of reindeer yoga being cooler, I also know there are clinically substantiated medical benefits to animals being a part of medicine.

                    Fair enough. And if that sort of thing can help folks, that's great.

                    What's more, I never said that animals weren't useful in many ways.

                    But what about the folks in hospital who are counting on me to provide them with humorous stuff to give *them* some medical benefits?

                    Should I deprive them of the opportunity to use laughter as a path toward healing because some other folks have no sense of humor? You might as well be putting a gun to their heads and pulling the trigger.

                    --
                    No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
      • (Score: 2) by Sourcery42 on Monday June 24 2019, @04:54PM

        by Sourcery42 (6400) on Monday June 24 2019, @04:54PM (#859403)

        I've seen plenty of examples of what white tailed deer and moose leave behind. I imagine reindeer is somewhere in-between. Sharing an enclosure with large herbivores just strikes me as a less than ideal location for stretching exercises, but to each his own.

    • (Score: 2) by takyon on Monday June 24 2019, @03:44PM (1 child)

      by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Monday June 24 2019, @03:44PM (#859377) Journal

      Folks just want to pet a reindeer, but need an excuse.

      --
      [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 24 2019, @05:23PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 24 2019, @05:23PM (#859415)

    you know you were thinking it

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