I didn’t feel like writing today so I decided to do a podcast instead. This is all about weather signs … I talked about a few of my favs … what are yours?
Intro music is from Derek K. Miller
Weather Signs 6 meg mp3
Tags: weather signs, podcast
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My first anthro class was History of Human Origins, essentially physical anthropology. That’s where I caught the anthro bug. In 1974 a small, incomplete skeleton was discovered in Olduvai Gorge in Ethiopia. The skeleton was of an early hominid, one that walked upright, but had many "ape-like" characteristics. We know this skeleton better as Lucy. Lucy was a huge breakthrough. It represented a look into human evolution that had never been seen before. Since then, there have been many more finds, but Lucy still holds mythic status. I even have the book Lucy on my shelf. I found today that …read more
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Anousheh Ansari is the world’s first space tourist. Regardless of whether or not you agree with people paying to get into space, I know that if I had the chance to blast off I would. Come on, what a rush! Anousheh has a blog that is chronicling her travels. Hope they post some pictures soon!
Tags: Anousheh Ansari, Space tourists
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I might be a little late to the party on the news that packaged spinach grown in the States is contaminated with e. coli. Yes, I know not all spinach, and I know that the problematic spinach has been tracked to a few farms and the problem is being contained. I haven’t been following the story too closely, but I have to wonder how we might have made our own problem with the factory farms that feed us.
Tags: spinach
A little piece here from the Cheerful Oncologist that vitamin D reduces the risk of cancer. I think the bigger question isn’t why is this so, but why do we need to? I remember reading somewhere that today’s fruits and vegetables are not as full of vitamins and minerals as they used to be. The soil that they are grown in is so very from a natural state, growth boosted by artificial fertilizers, that plants just aren’t as nutritious as they used to be. I think it’s pretty sad that most North American adults should take a multivitamin just because …read more
While the tragedy of 9/11 is on our minds, there has, perhaps, been some good come from the experience. We all know that the world is poised for another flu pandemic. We also know from the SARS experience that rapid jet travel figures prominently into the spread of disease. Via Quirks and Quarks comes word of a study looking at the onset of flu season right after 9/11:
After the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, air travel in North America was restricted and many people chose not to fly. This reduction in flying pushed the start of the …read more
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Okay, you know one of my favourite topics is global warming. And you know that I am also pretty well versed in the feedback loops that work like accelerating spirals.
New data I read about on the Quirks and Quarks blog just makes chills run down my spine. The thing about feedback loops is that once you hit the tipping point, they become self-sustaining and, shall we say, out of control. Meaning, once they get going the resulting changes come very rapidly. Is there disagreement among scientists about this? Sure. But the disagreement often isn’t the if or why or what, …read more
This doesn’t happen as often as you might think. A new bird species has been identified in India! While finding new insects or bacteria isn’t uncommon, finding new larger animals is very rare. Why? Lots of reasons. First is that humans have been almost everywhere. Next is that, well, animals are running out of places to be. New species that are found now tend to be pretty rare. Rare species are easy to miss and easy to wipe out before even being found. If this isn’t a good reason for conservation, I don’t know what is.
Hat tip to Science Blogs
Tags: …read more
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One of the really cool things I love about wasps is the way some species of wasps care for their young. Sure, there is the standard hive/nest model (yawn … okay cool from an architecture standpoint), but parasitic wasps are a whole different ball game. Parasitic wasps sting creatures like caterpillars, large spiders, and other animals. The sting paralyzes the animal and then the wasp lays her eggs on the critter. The eggs hatch and the larvae burrow into the host and eat it from the inside out while it’s still alive!
Icky, but cool in terms of making sure your …read more
Ah Fall. Harvest time. Apples. Cool days. Drunk wasps. Huh? Yeah drunk wasps. You see that now is the time that wasps are getting ready to hibernate for winter (at least here in BC). Of course hibernation means storing energy and that means eating. What do wasps eat? Just about anything, but especially fruit, rotting fruit, rotting fruit that has started to ferment. And fermentation means … alcohol!
So as you’re wandering the orchards picking your favourite apples, watch out for the wasps, they’re drunk and cranky.
Tags: fall, wasps, drunk wasps
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