voltagegate
Posts by this author
April 3, 2007
"No species but man, so far as is known, unaided by circumstance or climate change, has ever extinguished another, and certainly no species has ever devoured itself, an accomplishment of which man appears quite capable."
-Peter Matthiessen
April 2, 2007
"I want to make it clear, if there is ever a conflict (between environmental quality and economic growth), I will go for beauty, clean air, water, and landscape."
-Jimmy Carter, 1976
April 2, 2007
Tomorrow's NOVA is all about cuttlefish!
Kings of Camouflage, eh? It brings me back to freshmen zoology. My prof showed this incredible video of how cuttlefish communicate, both through color changes and signaling. That video was largely responsible for my decision to change my major: from…
April 2, 2007
Or does he? The new Carnival of the Godless is up...
March 30, 2007
Another gem of North American history is being threatened by drilling (the links are inserted):
Cimarex Energy Company, a natural gas company out of Denver, Colorado, has proposed two natural gas pads with 4 wells on the southern boundary of Chaco Canyon NHP on state of New Mexico Trust land. The…
March 30, 2007
...and made me a better person. Well, sort of.
I started writing this after learning that several of my SciBlings (Janet, Chad, RPM, Razib, Mike) were countering Steve G's argument that science labs, as an addition to "theory" or "lecture" courses are more or less a waste of time and money. I'm a…
March 30, 2007
Mike over at the Questionable Authority has an excellent review of the Nature mammal evolution article I discussed so briefly yesterday.
March 29, 2007
Incubus actually held a video contest a few months ago for "Dig". Here are two of the best:
Band/Fan Pick (reminds me "Paranoid Android"; uniquely animated)
Grand Prize (MTV friendly?)
March 29, 2007
The tale of our furry ancestors will have to be retold:
U.S. and European researchers are challenging the idea that the mass extinction of dinosaurs played a major role in the evolution of mammals.
The report, published in the journal Nature, contains a new evolutionary tree for mammals that puts…
March 27, 2007
Since the announcement of the First Annual Blogger Bioblitz yesterday morning at 8 a.m., we have gone from about six bloggers to 23, thanks to some major linkage from friends and participants (Bora, Bev, Bill, Brian, Dan, river2sea72, Judith, Greg, Madhu, Karmen - let me know if I missed anyone).…
March 27, 2007
From the University of Minnesota:
The reduction in species diversity occurs because increasing the amounts of limiting resources, such as nitrogen and water, makes an ecosystem more homogeneous and consequently reduces the number of opportunities for competing species to coexist. Put another way,…
March 26, 2007
UPDATES: Part I, Part II
In honor of National Wildlife Week, April 21 - 29, I am inviting bloggers from all walks to participate in the First Annual Blogger Bioblitz, where bloggers from across the world will choose a wild or not-so-wild area and find how many of each different species - plant,…
March 26, 2007
A little deep sea thermal vent ecology for a chilly Monday morning:
March 25, 2007
...but don't called me a spider-head. My Maryland Blogger Ally Kevin Dayhoff has unearthed [constructed] a very... comprimising photo of yours truly.
So, in honor of Mr. Dayhoff's tribute, all subsequent spider posts at TVG are hereby dedicated to him.
Thanks Kevin.
March 25, 2007
The folks at Blog Carnival have chosen Oekologie to be their featured carnival today! It will also be added to the list of 40 or so staff favorites out of over 1,300 on the site.
I'm honored by their choice and I'm sure Jen is as well.
Have you sent in your submission yet for next month's edition,…
March 24, 2007
From a human perspective, deserts, like tundras, seem barren and desolate, inhabited by organismal oddities, pressed into their respective niches by patch of bad luck, or a salt flat, as it were. But thinking beyond our prejudice, seeing through the eyes of a camel or transpiring through the…
March 24, 2007
"I do not yet want to form a hypothesis to test, because as soon as you make a hypothesis, you become prejudiced. Your mind slides into a groove, and once it is in that groove, has difficulty noticing anything outside of it. During this time, my sense must be sharp; that is the main thing... to be…
March 23, 2007
A little arboreal humor to start the weekend, via Invasive Species Weblog.
March 23, 2007
The National Wildlife Federation is starting to sound like my mother. "Stop staring at that screen and go get some fresh air. And when are you going to clean up your apartment?"
They want everyone outside during the week of April 21, challenging participants to a neighborhood bioblitz-off during…
March 23, 2007
In Kaziranga National Park in India, four endangered one-horned rhinos (Rhinceros unicornis) have been found dead in the past few weeks, while our own legislators battle over measures to curb the spread of brucellosis from bison to cattle.
In Indian myth, the one- horned rhino is a divine beast,…
March 23, 2007
European researchers at several institutions have found evidence that supports another one of Darwin's speculations: A male roe deer's antlers are representative of the individual's attributes, and thus play a central role in sexual selection.
Jean-Michel Gaillard comments, "Our results provide…
March 22, 2007
According to a recent international assessment, overfishing has brought 20 of the world's 162 species of grouper - a culinary delight around the world - to close to extinction for comfort:
Eight species previously were listed by the World Conservation Union (IUCN) as under extinction threat, and…
March 22, 2007
"Modern Society will find no solution to the ecological problem unless it takes a serious look at its lifestyles."
-Pope John Paul II
March 22, 2007
The other day I made a passing comment about the issue of using celebrity as a face for conservation:
I have a few tough questions for the organizers of the event, mostly about the questionable choice of using celebrity to promote and give a face to conservation. It has worked for promoting purely…