Athlete on Crutches Wins Hearts at Costa Rica’s Sol y Arena Race

At the Sol y Arena race, an athlete on crutches, Iván Rodríguez, from Curridabat, won the hearts of the fans. The athlete lost his left leg in malpractice. He practices athletics because it got him out of depression a year and a half ago.

The strenuous activity is 9.8km. He finished in 1 hour and 30 minutes. Rodríguez was surprised to hear the applause of the public at all times. They cheered him on as he fought the loose sand and rising waves hitting his crutches.

“El Nica,” Freddy Medina, was by his side hydrating, motivating and advising him. Rodriguez proved that his determination is stronger than his disability as he crossed the finish line and took his medal.

He now dreams of doing a half marathon in the United States. He has been a guest at races in Panama and Nicaragua. He shares how he wasn’t social before but now he enjoys meeting people and seeing new places.

Colleges in Costa Rica Dropping Careers with No Job Opportunities

Conape is to stop financing the university careers that will put graduates at high risk for unemployment. There are 36 overpopulated careers that will no longer be funded, including Medicine, Nursing, Journalism, History, and Psychology.

Some of the most affected areas are social sciences and health sciences, with ten and eight careers affected, respectively. Conape will now prioritize funding for careers with better employment rates.

The decision was made based on a report that studied the working conditions of graduated individuals from 2011-2013 that was published by the Labor Occupational Observatory.

Between public and private universities in Costa Rica, between 700 and 800 people per year graduate as general practitioners of medicine. At this rate, in just 10 years, half of the graduates will be unemployed.

In addition to funding more promising careers, Conape will prioritize loans to those from poor families, who make between ¢190,377 and ¢1,306,892. Loan applications will be received beginning April 4.

Costa Rica’s ‘Scuba-Diving’ Lizard

A Costa-Rican lizard species may have evolved scuba-diving qualities allowing it to stay underwater for 16 minutes, according to faculty at Binghamton University, State University of New York.

Like humans, it has grasped the knack of scuba-diving, but it has no need for regulators or air tanks. All it requires is a little bubble of air attached to its snout.

Reporting her findings in the Natural History Notes of Herpetological Review, Lindsey Swierk of Binghamton University stumbled upon the scuba-ready reptiles by chance. While walking along mountain streams in Costa Rica, she noticed that certain lizards, known as water anoles (Anolis aquaticus), were spending impressively long periods of time submerged underwater.

“Finding evidence suggesting that water anoles ‘breathe’ underwater was serendipitous, and not part of my original research plan,” Swierk said in a statement. “I was impressed and pretty confused about the length of the dive, which gave me an itch to take a closer look with an underwater camera in the next couple of years.”

Humans can only manage about three minutes, although very accomplished free-divers can hold their breath for about 20.

So how do the lizards do it?

The water anole is able to breathe underwater for long periods of time to escape from predators. It appears that the species may have formed an underwater respiration system consisting of a recycled air bubble that clings to the anole’s head.

“Diving underwater and remaining there for a long time is an anti-predator strategy for water anoles,” said Swierk. “These lizards aren’t particularly speedy, and taking to the water is a very effective option. (Take it from a biologist who sometimes struggles to capture her study organism because they’re so good at diving.) It’s easy to ‘disappear’ to a predator’s eye once you hide under water for a few minutes. I think that any underwater breathing adaptations in water anoles would have arisen to extend the amount of time they can stay in their underwater refuge.”

The unique behavior was documented for the first time by Swierk in a video that shows the anole breathing out and re-inhaling an air pocket under water. Swierk first noticed this species when she was walking along the mountain streams in Costa Rica and observed the lizards dive underwater and stay submerged for a long period of time. Further analysis of the lizards’ stomachs uncovered that they eat some insects that are mainly found under water, hinting that the species may dive under water for reasons other than just avoiding predators.

“Finding evidence suggesting that water anoles ‘breathe’ underwater was serendipitous, and not part of my original research plan,” said Swierk. “I was impressed and pretty confused about the length of the dive, which gave me an itch to take a closer look with an underwater camera in the next couple of years. That’s when I saw that the anoles appeared to be rebreathing a bubble of air that covered their heads.”

Swierk said she believes the lizard might be extracting oxygen from these bubbles.

“I think it’s possible that some additional air pockets are being trapped around the anole’s head and throat, and that the inhalation and exhalation of the air bubble allow for some trading of fresh air among these air pockets, allowing the anole to swap air in its current air bubble with ‘new’ air,” said Swierk. “It’s additionally possible that the air bubble plays a role in allowing an anole to get rid of carbon dioxide. I suspect that there might be morphological adaptations, namely the shape of the top of the anole’s head, which allows a large bubble of air to cling to it easily.”

Swierk’s lab plans to conduct several types of follow-up research on the “bubble-breathing” observation, hoping to tackle questions related to the antipredator function of the air bubble breathing in the field, how anole head shape influences bubble formation and the physiology underlying this potential adaptation.

“If future investigation reveals that this rebreathing behavior is adaptive, then I would imagine that it is a trait that evolved over time to allow water anoles, and perhaps similar anole species, to thrive in their aquatic habitats,” said Swierk.

Source: IFLScience.com

Black Shimmering

Rightful Authority Is Never Authoritarian

Fines for Hitting Trains in Costa Rica

Boom barriers were installed in 74 of the 91 railroad crossings from Heredia to Cartago. These are meant to block vehicles and pedestrians from crossing the train tracks as a train approaches. In less than three months since going into operation, drivers and vandals have damaged 56 of the 74 devices.

Deputies have approved in the first debate reform to the Traffic Law several fines. Drivers who disrespect the stop sign at the train line or injure the barriers would be fined up to ¢215,000. They will also have up to six points added to their licenses.

There are sanctions for anyone who ignores the stop signs, crashes, obstructs the right of way or damages the warning and prevention systems. The initiative seeks to both ease transportation and create a culture of coexistence with the train as we prepare for electric trains.

The Shrink that Helped Costa Rica Teachers Vacation During the Strike

The Ministry of Public Education has denounced a psychiatrist before the Medical Association for justifying trips teachers took during the strike. The doctor wrote recommendations for four educators to leave the country.

The notes were all written after the teachers returned to the country. Some even stated recommended dates to travel. The doctor wrote that he recommended leisure activities such as travel “due to stress or due to a family situation that the teacher is living.”

Three of the teachers were dismissed immediately because they were interim. The other has a permanent position but the process of dismissal has been started. 556 teachers took advantage of the strike to go on vacation to another country. 26 have been dismissed and there is a recommendation for dismissal for 12 others.

The dismissed teachers justify their trips saying that they had permission in advance, thought they could vacation during the strike, or had to get medical treatment outside the country.