Oops!

Aug. 4th, 2015 09:46 pm
kayshapero: (CalicoCat)
An article in The Scientist, dated Aug 3 refers to a twitter thread (hashtag #fieldworkfail) discussing various little oopsies that happened in scientific fieldwork.  My favorite is

AgataStaniewicz: “Accidentally glued myself to a crocodile while attaching a radio transmitter.”

It being hard to top that, I include the link and you can go look at the article yourselves...

Field Bloopers
kayshapero: Cheshire cat vanishes, ending with the grin (Cheshire)
This ought to make a good advertisement for Go Pro - the camera was running the whole time....

The embed isn't working, but you can find the video of the fox eating the camera here on Facebook.
kayshapero: (glass squid fascinating)
From the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America


Moth tails divert bat attack: Evolution of acoustic deflection

Significance

Bats and moths have been engaged in acoustic warfare for more than 60 million y. Yet almost half of moth species lack bat-detecting ears and still face intense bat predation. We hypothesized that the long tails of one group of seemingly defenseless moths, saturniids, are an anti-bat strategy designed to divert bat attacks. Using high-speed infrared videography, we show that the spinning hindwing tails of luna moths lure echolocating bat attacks to these nonessential appendages in over half of bat–moth interactions. Further we show that long hindwing tails have independently evolved multiple times in saturniid moths. This finding expands our knowledge of antipredator deflection strategies, the limitations of bat sonar, and the extent of a long-standing evolutionary arms race.
(more)

kayshapero: (CalicoCat)
Three young red pandas enjoying their first winter.  Merry Happy, all!

Looks like the embed doesn't - and it's probably more fun to be able to see the whole page anyway.  So go here.
kayshapero: (CalicoCat)
Depending on who I hear the tale from, this is a young raven or crow - the person who took the video says raven, which is fine with me.  In any case, it perched on their fence for about an hour squawking, until someone came out to investigate, to find that the poor thing had had a run-in with a porcupine and needed some help.  The rest you can see in the video.  Smart critters, corbies.

kayshapero: (glass squid fascinating)
Not only does it look weird, it sees weirdly too. :)

Study finds mantis shrimp process vision differently than other organisms (w/ video)
Jan 24, 2014 by Bob Yirka



(Phys.org) —Researchers with the University of Queensland, Brisbane along with an associate from National Cheng Kung University, in China have found what they believe to be a reasonable explanation for mantis shrimp having 12 photoreceptors in their eyes. In their paper published in the journal Science, the team describes a study they conducted where shrimp were trained to respond to different colors, which led to the discovery that despite more receptors than most other organisms, they are less able to discriminate between different colors—a finding that indicates they process colors in a different way. Michael Land and Daniel Osorio offer a Perspective piece on the researchers efforts in the same journal issue.
(more)
kayshapero: (Default)
THIS is cool. Behold a one hour lecture (with questions and answers) about The Life and Times of Tyrannosaurus rex, by one Dr. Thomas Holtz, as posted to YouTube last March.

Geckos!!

Jul. 23rd, 2013 05:35 pm
kayshapero: (CalicoCat)
Geckos! Lots and lots of photos of geckos, including several varieties of really gorgeous ornate day geckos etc. The facts are interesting too. Anyway, got this link from Kuriositas.

The Ark In Space


Tuesday, 23 July 2013


The Amazing Gecko: 20 Interesting Facts about the World’s Most Species-Rich Lizard




The gecko is an extraordinary lizard, a triumph of both adaptation and diversity.  Out of the 5,600 species of lizard on the planet, over 1,500 belong to the gecko infraorder called Gekkota.  So, what is so interesting about a line of lizards which is, apparently, so ubiquitous?  Here are 20 interesting facts about the gecko, as well as some amazing pictures of species that you may not have come across before.

(more)

kayshapero: (glass squid fascinating)
Well, unless you go around with a really good microscope checking out damp moss.  Here, from You Tube, is a tardigrade walking across the field of view.  For more on these critters, see The Water Bears (whence I got the video link) and the Tardigrada Newsletter.

kayshapero: (CalicoCat)
Whilst googling around for info for a list of problems SoCal doesn't have, came across this problem which I sincerely hope we don't get.  Poor Florida!

Florida fights stucco-eating African snails

Entomologist Trevor Smith talks about Florida's battle with an invader that has an appetite for plants – and stucco.





An epic battle is raging in South Florida: man against snail.

The state is struggling to contain an invasion of the giant African land snail, a species that thrives in hot and wet tropical climates. These gooey and destructive mollusks grow up to 8.5 inches long, feast on 500 different types of plants and nibble on calcium-rich stucco, which they use to construct their cone-shaped shells.

The snails are originally from East Africa but can now be found throughout the world. Aside from destroying plants and buildings, they can also be carriers of a type of meningitis.

Trevor Smith, an entomologist, is leading the eradication effort for Florida's Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. He spoke with The Times about the slimy invaders.

(more)
kayshapero: (Default)
Carnivorous Plant Feasts on Bat Dung
by Elsa Youngsteadt on 25 January 2011, 7:02 PM

A predator that can't hunt won't last very long. So when biologists found a carnivorous plant in Borneo that was bad at catching insects, they were puzzled. Just what does it eat to stay alive? The answer, a new study reveals, appears to be bat guano. The enigmatic plant makes a snug roost for tiny bats, which drop nutritious excrement into their host's digestive fluid.
more
kayshapero: (glass squid fascinating)
My thanks to [livejournal.com profile] james_nicoll for the link (in this blog entry).

Once again, evidence that cephalopods are just plain inherently cool.

"Bizarre" Octopuses Carry Coconuts as Instant Shelters
Matt Kaplan
for National Geographic News
December 14, 2009

Octopuses have been discovered tip-toeing with coconut-shell halves suctioned to their undersides, then reassembling the halves and disappearing inside for protection or deception, a new study says.

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