voltagegate | 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
voltagegate | 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
voltagegate | April 2, 2007Tomorrow'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 English to biology.
I never found out what the video was, though I would love a copy. Anyone have any ideas?
voltagegate | March 30, 2007Another 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 two locations would be within visual distance of the Visitor Center of Chaco Canyon NHP and could significantly impact archeological-astronomical features at Chaco Canyon, that are a primary reason for Chaco Canyon's designation as a World Heritage Site.
Afarensis has the full details of what you can…
voltagegate | 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 biology student, and know little of the financial aspects of labs, but I do consider myself an expert on having labs; I've had to take little else in the past few years.
My argument is almost identical to the others regarding the necessity and integrity of labs, but I will point out one thing: Gimbel…
voltagegate | March 30, 2007Mike over at the Questionable Authority has an excellent review of the Nature mammal evolution article I discussed so briefly yesterday.
voltagegate | March 29, 2007Incubus 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?)
voltagegate | March 29, 2007The 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 the major diversification of today's mammals long after a die-off of the dinosaurs some 65 million years ago.
"We have found that when you fuse all of the molecular trees with the fossil evidence, the timing does not work," University of Georgia Institute of Ecology Director John Gittleman said in a…
voltagegate | March 27, 2007Since 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).
All correspondence for the event happens through the official Google Group, and everyone is invited to join the group and watch the evolution of the Bioblitz over the course of the next several weeks even if you're not interested (or don't have time) to participate. Jenn will be posting several…
voltagegate | March 27, 2007From 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, it reduces the number of niches, allowing a few species to dominate.
[...] "In essence, the data in the article strongly supports a new explanation for why the world contains so many species," said Tilman. "It shows that plant diversity is directly related to the number of limiting factors (such as…
voltagegate | March 26, 2007UPDATES: 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, animal, fungi and anything in between - live in a certain area within a certain time.
Pick a neat little area that you are relatively familiar with and is small enough that you or the group can handle - a small thicket, a pond, a section of stream, or even your backyard - and bring along some taxonomic…
voltagegate | 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.