Updates from the ground in Nepal following a 7.3-magnitude aftershock, traditional stores are getting an edge over the Internet thanks to virtual reality.
As quakes hit Nepal, scientists look deep underground for answers
Another massive earthquake has struck Nepal, the largest since the 7.8 magnitude temblor hit the country more than two weeks ago.
The latest 7.3 tremor hit near Mount Everest in a more rural region close to the border with China.
Aunohita Mojumdar, editor of Himal Magazine, lives in Kathmandu and felt the aftershock.
"I was in my office, which is on the fourth floor of the building. The building was really moving from left to right," said Mojumdar. "The intensity was much less than the big earthquake, but I think the fact that the aftershocks haven't stopped is driving people out."
Scientists are still busy figuring out what's happening to cause the powerful quakes in Nepal, a country of massive mountain ranges and shifting continental plates.
"It's the slow, steady crushing together of the India and Asia continental plates, so it's continent on continent collision," said Ken Hudnut, geophysicist at the US Geological Survey. "In the Himalaya, the reason the mountains are so huge is that the two continental plates are coming together and where they're doing that, it's pushing up the material in between in the collision zone."
Bloomberg reporter discusses Verizon’s deal to acquire AOL
News today that the country's largest cell phone operator, Verizon, is buying AOL for $4.4 billion. The deal gives the Verizon, also an Internet and TV provider, an entry into online and mobile video market.
Bloomberg reporter Scott Moritz joined Take Two for more on the purchase.
The new retail experience: Virtual reality
Imagine you're peering over the edge of a cliff in breathtaking Yosemite. You've got a parachute strapped to your back, as you step off and plummet, you scream out loud, except you're actually in an outdoor clothing store, wearing virtual reality goggles.
It's the future of retail, says Washington Post reporter Sarah Halzack. She joined the show to explain more.
New music from Snoop Dogg, The Holydrug couple and Django Django
It's time for Tuesday Reviewsday, our weekly new music segment. This week
, News Director at Billboard Magazine, joins A Martinez to talk about her top picks. Below is the list of songs and albums that she brought in for us.
Artist: Snoop Dogg
Album: "Bush"
Songs: "Peaches N Cream," "So Many Pros"
Artist: Django Django
Album: "Born Under Saturn"
Songs: "Giant," "Shake and Tremble"
Artist: The Holydrug Couple
Album: "Moonlust"
Songs: "Dreamy," "French Movie Theme"
In addition to new music, Shirley also spoke with A about the end of American Idol. It was announced on Monday, May 11 that the next season would be the show's last. Shirley wrote a book about the show and she has a lot to say about the impact that it had on the entertainment world and the careers that it made.
To hear both segments, listen through to the audio embedded at the top of the post.
California's drought and wildfires: How Cal Fire is preparing
Summertime sunshine will soon be upon drought-stricken California. Cal Fire's Lynne Tolmachoff gives a look at the fire season ahead.
Drought kills off 12 million trees across California's forests
California's drought is having wide-reaching impacts, including on the state's forests. According to the U.S. Forest Service, 12 million trees have died in the last year.
Sheri Smith, regional entomologist with the U.S. Forest Service, explains the impact.
SoCal cities racing to regulate Airbnb as its popularity climbs
Sites like Airbnb and VRBO have quickly rose in popularity in just a few years, but that's causing a headache for cities throughout Southern California trying to regulate them.
Known for short-term rentals, these sites allow homeowners and tenants to rent out their homes to visitors and tourists.
Many communities, however, never anticipated this kind of business to explode and are unsure of their legality: is it legal to operate your home like a hotel? Should a hotel tax be collected?
Santa Monica may vote through tough restrictions on Tuesday requiring that hosts stay in the unit for the guest's whole stay and collect a 14 percent hotel tax.
Los Angeles released its own report to investigate these rentals' impact on the local economy and housing market, but councilman Mike Bonin told KPCC any regulations the city may pass could take months.
Paavo Monkkonen, professor of urban planning at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, has studied the effect of Airbnb on neighborhoods and explains the rush by many communities to get new ordinances in place.
Who's responsible for a begbug infestation?
Beg bugs are becoming a serious problem in LA. Just last year the city ranked fourth nationwide in bedbug infestations. You're probably thinking, "Isn't that a New York problem?"
Not anymore. It's a problem many cities face and it's a problem state Assemblymember Adrin Nazarian is taking on. Assemblymember Nazarian joined us to chat about his recently introduced bill that would clarify the responsibilities of tenants and landlords in the case of bedbugs.
Francisco Covarrubias also joined the show to explain what you can do, should you find yourself fighting the pesky bloodsuckers. He's the Director of tenant organizing at Inner City Law Center.
If you suspect a bedbugs in your unit, the LA County Department of Public Health recommends:
- Alert building management immediately
- Laundry linens in hot water and dry them on the highest setting
- Clean rooms and closets
- Place encasements on mattresses and box springs
Medical marijuana for pets? A vet weighs in
Animal lovers out there may be familiar with this unfortunate scenario: your dog or cat is getting older, they're in some pain, and nearing the end. Now some pet owners may be turning to medical marijuana as an unorthodox remedy for their ill and aging animals.
Nevada lawmakers recently introduced a bill that would allow pet owners to give their animals marijuana with a veterinarian's approval. And there are already some medical cannabis products made in California and Washington that are being marketed for pets.
But are they effective? And safe?
Dr. Karl Jandrey, Associate Professor of Clinical Surgical & Radiological Sciences the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, joined Take Two to answer some of our questions.
The FDA has issued warnings to some companies for claims they've made about their cannabis products for pets. Has the FDA tested any of these products?
I don't believe they have. That's probably why they have the warning. The FDA is sort of looking for efficacy studies to meet the claims, as opposed to safety studies that just say it's not going to be dangerous. So I think it's the efficacy thing that they're warning that they may be overstepping their boundaries just a little bit by making those claims.
The claims are that these products help pets with cancer, arthritis, and asthma. Has there been any research on medical marijuana for pets?
There's really not much in the literature at all for animals in the public. You know, there might be... pre-clinical studies in rats, rabbits, mice to sort of prove principle but to my knowledge there's nothing actually published for our companion animals.
Have you ever had to deal with this in your practice as a veterinarian?
We deal with chronic pain all the time, so yes. And we have had clients who have brought up the conversation. We're not afraid to talk about it. We do know that there are cannabinoids that are marketed for humans that have been used anecdotally in pets. And many of my colleagues at times have chosen to use those, especially for some of those chronic patients, but those are of unknown efficacy. It's something to try, but we certainly as veterinarians have a huge pharmacy of drugs and therapies that could be used to try to alleviate this pain and chronic suffering in these patients.
If a dog accidentally ingests marijuana, what's the effect?
What we see in dogs usually when they become intoxicated, which happens quite a lot in the emergency room where I work... They have very dilated pupils, they stumble around as if they're drunk, they dribble urine very very commonly, and their heart rates drop very very low. Those are the classic signs we see in the emergency room.
What would be your advice if someone came to you and said 'My dog is in pain, he's having seizures'... Would medical marijuana help? Would you offer that as a possibility?
I personally wouldn't offer it as a first-line therapy due to the efficacy studies. We do have a large amount of pharmacy products, narcotics, narcotic-like drugs, and some integrative therapies like acupuncture that might actually help to relieve some of the suffering. So I would start with my traditional approach, mainly because there is a lack of studies to prove that this is a better option.
How about the cannabis and hemp products that the FDA has said don't have proven benefits for animals and maybe sometimes don't contain much cannabis at all. If they're just herbal supplements, could they be safe to try?
Well like most herbal supplements, the dosage of the chemical is probably unknown to low. And most of them have background levels that probably would not achieve the desired result of pain relief or relief of suffering. So they may be helpful, but to the extent that we're putting all our hope in them, I think that that is a bit short sighted.
With this increased level of interest in medical marijuana for pets, do you think there will be more studies in the future to figure out if it works?
I certainly hope there's a lot of studies that will come out of this and I hope there's a lot of support from the public to help fund those studies. It would be great to do, and I think there's a lot of value to pursue, for sure.
A networking group for women looking to break into the marijuana industry
As the notion of legalizing recreational marijuana continues to gather steam in California, ambitious entrepreneurs are looking for ways to cash in on the prospect.
Among them, a group of women in San Francisco known as "Synchronicity Sisters."
One of the group's organizers,
, joined Take Two to explain why women need their own marijuana industry networking groups to break the "green ceiling."
To listen to the full interview, click the link above.