The smallest orchid in the world (above) - only 2 mm across! (Thanks for the heads-up, Laura!)
Cassette-tape skeletons at Designboom.
Via Wired Science: Mini microbe portraits from the Micropolitan Museum
Dude - there are spiny, venomous catfish? Who knew?
Finally, an interview I did recently with Ava at Paw-Talk.
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In case you're interested, Paw-talk, a website aimed at humans with pets, invited me over to chat about philosophy, ethics, science, and the use of animals in research. You can find that interview here.
It's also worth noting that the site features a number of interviews with science bloggers you…
tags: new species, biology, botany, orchid, tiniest orchid, Orchidaceae, Platystele, Lou Jost
A close-up of the world's smallest orchid, at just over 2mm from petal tip to petal tip.
Image: Lou Jost.
The world's smallest orchid was discovered recently in a mountainous nature reserve in Ecuador…
"Why isn't there a birth control pill for men?" is the latest "Ask A ScienceBlogger" question. I am sure my SciBlings will rise to the occasion and explain both the biological and social barriers to the development, production and marketing of such a pill. I will be more light hearted, with a…
Norwich State Hospital, Piano
"New England Ruins"
Rob Dobi, 2005
Three quietly stunning collections of photos mix the ache of loss with the unintentional but undeniable beauty of decay. First, Rob Dobi's "New England Ruins" documents abandoned buildings in various states of abandonment. His…
That's fucking tiny!
About the catfish venom, thing; I used to work for a seafood company and one of the things done by the fisherman when they were injured by a yellow catfish dorsal spine (just the dorsal spines, not the pectoral ones) (Pylodictis olivaris) was to scrape some of the mucus from the belly and rub it on the wound. I don't know why, but they said it made it burn less.
Granted, it's anecdotal, but it would be interesting to look into any neutralizing components present in the other secretions.
Interesting anecdote. Venomous animals always co-evolve various mechanisms of resistance to the toxins in their own venoms. For example, the voltage-gated sodium channels of pufferfish have evolved amino acid mutations that render them resistant to blockade by tetrodotoxin (the lethal toxin in pufferfish venom).