On the art of being interesting
RSSjtotheizzoe: disorderedbits: Monsters of Grok
I was just about to write up this post and now I don’t have to!
You can buy these … all of them!
And then send them to ME!
Introducing: the new Scientific American blog network! | The Network Central, Scientific American Blog Network
For those of you interested in reading more blogs and such, the Scientific American has just launched it’s new Blog Network! Click the above link to find a list of summary of what they’re all about. I’ve been a long term reader of some of these blogs and am sure they will continue to feature on this feed-blog.
Nature has invented nuts and screws long before us, for example here in the leg of a weevil.
(read more at Zooming in on Beetles’ Knees, Biologists Find Tiny Screws and Nuts | 80beats | Discover Magazine)
Prepare yourself for the cutest thing you’ll see today: 16 unlikely (and adorable) animal friendships
Warning: These photos and stories might elicit some lengthy ‘awwwws.’
The Kingdom which is seldom visited known as Karakorum, Pakistan.
The Karakoram and the Himalaya are important to Earth scientists for several reasons. They are one of the world’s most geologically active areas, at the boundary between two colliding continents. Therefore, they are important in the study of plate tectonics.
A significant part, 28-50% of the Karakoram Range is glaciated, compared to the Himalaya (8-12%) and European Alps (2.2%). Mountain glaciers may serve as an indicator of climate change, advancing and receding with long-term changes in temperature and precipitation.
Picture Credit: Unknown.
In humans, we associate getting older with cobwebs of the mind; in spiders, it’s the cobwebs themselves that suffer.
(read more at ScienceShot: Old Spiders Weave Messy Webs - ScienceNOW)
Humans and animals both enjoy getting stoned
Animals in the wild will also voluntarily and repeatedly consume psychoactive plants and fungi. Birds, elephants, and monkeys have all been reported to enthusiastically seek out fruits and berries that have fallen to the ground and undergone natural fermentation to produce alcohol. In Gabon, which lies in the western equatorial region of Africa, boars, elephants, porcupines, and gorillas have all been reported to consume the intoxicating, hallucinogenic iboga plant (Tabernanthe iboga). There is even some evidence that young elephants learn to eat iboga from observing the actions of their elders in the social group. In the highlands of Ethiopia, goats cut the middleman out of the Starbucks business model by munching wild coffee berries and catching a caffeine buzz.
(via The Compass Of Pleasure )
Suit Seeks Redress for a Start-Up Package Gone Sour
A female researcher is suing her university for failing to provide the promised start up package. She demands an apology while the university insists they’ve done nothing wrong.
(main article behind paywall)
Major new clues to the appearance of fossilised birds have emerged from X-ray scans, which reveal which parts of their plumage contained the black pigment eumelanin. The same technique could theoretically be applied to fossils of any animal, providing new insights into their appearance.
The scans show that the earliest-known beaked bird – the roughly 120-million-year-old Confuciusornis sanctus – had extremely dark plumage on the neck, breast and body.
(Read more: Pigment scans reveal fossil birds’ dark sides - life - 30 June 2011 - New Scientist)
About On the art of being interesting
