grrlscientist | April 7, 2007
Warmer conditions towards the end of the year allow the Fly Agaric to fruit as late as December.
Image source: BBC News.
A unique research project has revealed that rising temperatures are affecting fungi in southern England by allowing mushrooms to grow during the winter when they never did before, and to fruit earlier and later in the season, as well as more often.
This research, published in the top-tier journal, Science, is one of the first studies to show a biological impact of global warming in autumn as well as in spring.
Fungus enthusiast Edward Gange collected 52,000 sightings of…
grrlscientist | April 6, 2007Vice President Dick Cheney repeated his assertion today that al-Qaeda had links to Iraq despite the fact that the US Defense Department recently released a report citing more evidence that the Iraq's prewar government did not cooperate with the terrorist group. Cheney stated that al-Qaeda was operating in Iraq before the US invasion of Iraq and that terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was leading the Iraqi branch of al-Qaeda.
"He took up residence there before we ever launched into Iraq, organized the al-Qaeda operations inside Iraq before we even arrived on the scene and then, of course, led…
grrlscientist | April 6, 2007
A new decree from the Indonesian Ministry of Forestry permits the management of forests to obtain benefits labelled "ecosystem services". These can include carbon storage and protection for wildlife - such as the rufous-collared kingfisher, Actenoides hombroni.
Source: BBCNews
As long as you send images to me (and I hope it will be for forever), I shall continue to share them with my readership. My purpose for posting these images is to remind all of us of the grandeur of the natural world and that there is a world out there that is populated by millions of unique species. We are a part of…
grrlscientist | April 6, 2007
Rock Dove, Columba livia.
Image source.
Anyone who knows anything about birds will tell you that St. Paul is hatching a stupid idea for dealing with its pigeon overpopulation problem. According to the Associated Press, the "smelly mess is gaining urgency" -- so much so that the city is planning to steal pigeon eggs to avoid an ugly display at the Republican National Convention next year.
"Sticky foam, hawk balloons and nets haven't gotten rid of the birds," wrote AP, "so officials have a new plan: stealing pigeon eggs."
What's wrong with this picture? If the city officials are serious…
grrlscientist | April 6, 2007Some of the world's greatest natural treasures are threatened with extinction due to global warming, said an international environmental group, the World Wide Fund for Nature. According the WWFN, These natural treasures include such wonders as the Great Barrier Reef, the Amazon rain forests and the unique ecosystem of the Mexican desert. The environmental group, which is observing the climate change conference in Brussels, issued a list of 10 regions suffering serious damage from global warming, and where it has projects to limit further damage or to help people adapt to new conditions.
"What…
grrlscientist | April 6, 2007The 237th edition of the Carnival of the Vanities has been published. This blog carnival focuses on the best blog writing for the past week for any topic, so you should find plenty high-quality writing there for your enjoyment.
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tags: blog carnival, carnival of the vanities, writing
grrlscientist | April 5, 2007
The ШивелÑÑ (Shiveluch) Volcano on Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula erupts on 29 March, 2007. The ash cloud rose roughly 9,750m (32,000ft), based on visual estimates. Shiveluch is one of the peninsula's most active volcanoes, with an estimated 60 significant eruptions in the past 10,000 years.
BBCNews [Bigger]
As long as you send images to me (and I hope it will be for forever), I shall continue to share them with my readership. My purpose for posting these images is to remind all of us of the grandeur of the natural world and that there is a world out there that is populated by millions…
grrlscientist | April 4, 2007A new blog carnival, the 46th edition of I and the Bird, is now available for your reading pleasure. This is a big one, packed with lots of birdie goodness.
grrlscientist | April 4, 2007This is a very cute video that shows evolution .. I was a little surprised to see that Homer evolved into a human.
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tags: streaming video, Simpsons, evolution
grrlscientist | April 4, 2007
Orthodera ministralis; Australian Green Mantis (Mantidae). Melbourne, Australia
A young mantis cleans pollen grains from her foreleg by running the leg through her mouthparts.
Photographer: Alexander Wild.
As long as you send images to me (and I hope it will be for forever), I shall continue to share them with my readership. My purpose for posting these images is to remind all of us of the grandeur of the natural world and that there is a world out there that is populated by millions of unique species. We are a part of this world whether we like it or not: we have a choice to either…
grrlscientist | April 4, 2007Scientists at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) have identified genes that might increase a person's ability to quit smoking. This research was conducted by George Uhl at NIDA's Intramural Research Program and a team led by Jed Rose at the Center for Nicotine and Smoking Cessation Research at Duke University Medical Center.
"This research marks the first time we've been able to identify genes involved in the ability to quit smoking," says NIDA Director Nora Volkow. "It marks a movement from identifying the genetics of addiction vulnerability to identifying the genetic basis of…
grrlscientist | April 4, 2007Relying on bacterial enzymes, scientists have developed a way of converting blood from groups A, B and AB into group O, which can be safely transfused into any patient. The blood cells from groups A and B have one of two different sugar molecules -- known as antigens -- on their surface, which can trigger a powerful, and potentially deadly, immune response. AB blood has both types of antigens, while group O blood has neither.
Groups A, B and AB can only be transfused into patients with compatible blood types, while type O, rhesus negative, can be given to anyone.
After a search of 2,500…
grrlscientist | April 3, 2007Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) joined forces with fellow GOP hypocrite, Trent Lott, who has condemned the Clinton White House for invoking a right to executive privilege. However, both Hatch and Lott have defended W's need for executive privilege in the course of investigations on the firings of US Attorneys. So they need to make a choice: they are either saying that Clinton was bad to use it so Bush is also bad to use it or it is alright for Bush to use it, so it was also alright for Clinton use it -- which is it?
Yesterday, yet another Republican Senator engaged in hypocritical partisan…
grrlscientist | April 3, 2007Customs authorities in Belgrade, Serbia intercepted a package containing 98 rare butterflies that originated in the Solomon Islands. The endangered butterflies are estimated to be worth more than $13,000 on the black market, and are protected under an international convention on endangered species and require special licences for import and export.
Serbia's environmental protection agency said the butterflies were being imported with forged documents.
It is believed they were destined for illegal sale in Serbia and could have fetched as much as $13,000.
They had originated from the Solomon…
grrlscientist | April 3, 2007Okay, as I read this story, I was laughing so hard that all my parrots stopped what they were doing and stared at me. This story proves once again that truth is stranger than fiction. Keith Richards, guitarist for the Rolling Stones, took some of his father's ashes, mixed them with cocaine and snorted them.
Keith Richards has acknowledged consuming a raft of illegal substances in his time, but this may top them all.
In comments published Tuesday, the 63-year-old Rolling Stones guitarist said he had snorted his father's ashes mixed with cocaine.
"The strangest thing I've tried to snort? My…
grrlscientist | April 3, 2007Nancy Pelosi arrived in Syria today. So far, she has visited a centuries-old market district and the Omayyad mosque in Old Damascus, which is considered one of the most sacred sites in the capital. She will meet with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad on Wednesday, which makes her the highest-ranking American politician to meet with a Syrian leader in more than 12 years. The last time an American leader met a Syrian leader was in 1994, when President Clinton met Al-Assad's father, the late Syrian President Hafez Al-Assad.
The Syrian media are hailing her visit as a potential breakthrough in…
grrlscientist | April 3, 2007
This image taken by Mike Wallace and released by the Zoological Society of San Diego, shows a California condor egg produced by 7-year-old female No. 217 and 6-year-old male No. 261, in their cliff side nest inside the Sierra San Pedro de Martir National Park in Baja California, Mexico, in March 2007. This condor egg in Mexico is the first time since at least the 1930s a California condor has produced offspring, biologists at the Zoological Society of San Diego announced Monday April 2, 2007. This is the first egg laid in Baja California since the California Condor Recovery Program…
grrlscientist | April 3, 2007
Saturniid Moth, Sagehen Creek, California, USA.
Photographer: Alexander Wild.
As long as you send images to me (and I hope it will be for forever), I shall continue to share them with my readership. My purpose for posting these images is to remind all of us of the grandeur of the natural world and that there is a world out there that is populated by millions of unique species. We are a part of this world whether we like it or not: we have a choice to either preserve these species or to destroy them in search of short-term monetary gains. But if we decide to destroy these other life forms,…
grrlscientist | April 2, 2007
Strategus Rhinoceros Beetle. Tucson, Arizona, USA.
Photographer: Alexander Wild.
As long as you send images to me (and I hope it will be for forever), I shall continue to share them with my readership. My purpose for posting these images is to remind all of us of the grandeur of the natural world and that there is a world out there that is populated by millions of unique species. We are a part of this world whether we like it or not: we have a choice to either preserve these species or to destroy them in search of short-term monetary gains. But if we decide to destroy these other life…