Every branch of nature-watching has its own ridiculously tough IDs. Feel free to substitute your own!
Cute. So cute.
And for the really tough cases, I’ll get out the PCR kit and the molecular genetics software…get us some bootstrap values….
Posts tagged "evolution"
Darwin’s Pigeons, in All Their Genetic Variety
From the New York Times with photos by Richard Bailey
“They might be called the “rats of the sky,” but Charles Darwin certainly saw something in pigeons. It turns out the father of evolution saw in the bird an amazing variety of variation in color, shape and form. Richard Bailey, a photographer based in London, honored the 150th anniversary since the publication of “On the Origin of Species” and the 200th anniversary in 2009 of Charles Darwin’s birth by photographing some of the pigeon breeds that played such an important part in Darwin’s work.”
Aaaahhhhh so much variation from your lowly common pigeon. As much as people complain about them all the time, I will still love them regardless.
And I remember reading the article about the huge variation in them last week at work. I wish I remembered to save the link to that article, but the one they give you here the link is pretty good too. So enjoy folks.
So, there’s that.
(via)
The science is undeniable.
Except for, well, all of it.
Well Jasmin. Glad you are taking our inconsistencies seriously. Because someone has to fight for our superiority over ducks. Damn those fine feathered cretins wanting better than us humans. GOOD FOR YOU. You deserve a pat on the back.
Next thing you know, we’ll have the sea sponges walking all over us, and let’s not even talk about the legions upon legions of microorganisms around us. Ssssh they’ll hear us!
A Skeptic's Journal: Louisiana lunacy: tens of millions to be spent on faith-based education
SCHOOLS run along faith guidelines have hit the jackpot big time following Louisiana’s decision to siphon tens of millions of tax dollars out public schools and into religious institutions where only creationism will be taught.
In what is described here as “the nation’s boldest experiment in…
OH. Ohh…Does this mean the downward trend seen in the graph I reblogged earlier (http://mekonekou.tumblr.com/day/2012/06/03) will continue?
I weep for the lost tax dollars…But even more for the children who won’t know the joy that is evolution. I think this is worse than the accidental $2.1 million tax fraud that I read about yesterday (it was hilarious, I’ll post up the article when I find it).
You know what would be funny? Darwin ought to be a recluse professor in the Pokemon world that none of the other professors listen to, because he insists to the scientific community that they are using the term evolution wrong. And that “their” evolution should just be called PokeDevelopment or some shit like that. And he should live with a Piplup that he calls Pippy. Pippy likes to wear bowties and help with taxidermy.
Well I think it’d be funny.
Feel free to hang me now.
(via pleasantevilness)
Fighting Fire With Fire: 'Vampire' Bacteria Has Potential as Living Antibiotic
the only time when vampires are actually okay. this is actually really cool to know, and it’s good that we’re realizing the harmful consequences of overusing antibiotics!
Exciting. However, I think there is still a risk of bacteria developing resistance to these “vampire” bacteria. And I don’t see any reason for the prey not to rapidly evolve, especially with the short generation times for bacteria. True, the vampire bacteria may co-evolve, but that doesn’t change the fact that the prey becomes more adept at surviving such an environment. I suppose the key to wiping out the prey would be having enough numbers of predator to overwhelm and prevent rebound. Or at least that’s what comes off the top of my head.
Furthermore, there is the chance that the vampire bacteria may increase its range of prey, and it is seen in the full text article linked within the above news article, that it did happen and has even attacked E. coli (but in non-oxygen limiting situations…maybe. I can’t access the whole article). Therefore, it is possible it may affect the microbial fauna/flora in us, despite specificity. Overall, I think this is a really good start, but there are details I’m curious about, so I look forward to what researchers find. I also look forward to what you followers find. Perhaps I overlooked things. Let me know! o/
Your “Research Dollars At Work” Science Image of the Day!
Hairy Men Make Good Bedbug Catchers
” … researchers recruited 19 volunteers with various amounts of body hair and shaved one of each of their arms. They then asked the subjects to look away while they dropped bedbugs onto their arms.”
This is actually an important study when it comes to overcoming the bedbug infestation the U.S. is currently dealing with. This study also shows that how much hair you have on your body can determine how long you can “bear” a pest on your skin.
(via ScienceNOW)
Ha ha ha. Interesting. Perhaps every month should be no-shave November.
(via fuckyeahmedicalstuff)
Moth’s true colors shine after 47 million years
Pause for a moment. Go back to the title of the post. 47 million years ago. That blows my mind. It’s been 47 million years since this puny moth flew around the Earth, and today, scientists have figured out what it actually looked like. Unbelievable.
“Until now, we had no idea what colors ancient moths and butterflies had,” said Yale University paleogeologist Maria McNamara.
The fossils’ time-machined hues exist because moths and butterfly wings have what’s known as structural color. Rather than pigments, structural colors are created by light-warping nanoscale surface features; if fossilization occurs delicately enough, and the intervening eons are gentle, those structures can be reproduced and preserved indefinitely.
Structural colors are also what give butterfly wings, beetle shells, and peacock feathers that iridescent quality. Amazing how such structures can be create such a grand effect through physics on a such a tiny tiny tiny scale. Even more amazing is how things ranging within the nanoscale can be preserved.
Oh So Anthropological: Is Generosity An Evolutionary Trait?
Despite the assumptions of some economists and biologists, new experiments prove that natural selection favors treating others as if the relationship will continue—even when it’s rational to believe it will not.
According to evolutionary psychologists at the University of California at…
Yet more stuff to toss into my brain and have it tumble around before I can make any thought other than, “Hn. Interesting.”
I also wonder then, what generosity is then. If it is a trait that is built into us, then I think it would put generosity in a different light. It would no longer be something of a virtue, but merely something that can be inherited and passed down. For some, I suppose that would be demoralizing to human beings. Or it could be interpreted in a different way and support another’s idea that we are all innately “good”.
Either way, it’s interesting stuff to think about. It also makes me wonder if people are going to complain. Well if they do, then haters gon’ hate, and the Earth will keep turning no?
African crested rat uses plant poison to kill lions. That rat don’t give a fuck.
Much like the honey badger, the African crested rat is a creature that could be described as “not giving a fuck”. And much of its ability to not give a fuck comes directly from the fact that it’s evolved to learn how to lace its body with poison— enough to take down a full grown lion.
Ha ha. Sweet. A cute furry sponge of death.
o w o So adorable.
I'm nothing special. No really. I actually don't know why people listen to what I say. Though if you truly want to know more about me (Heaven forbid), you can ask me questions I suppose.
Also, if you can't tell, I happen to really like science, food, weird stuff, and learning. Have at it. And stay classy. p:
Also, if you can't tell, I happen to really like science, food, weird stuff, and learning. Have at it. And stay classy. p:
