voltagegate | January 15, 2008It always comes back around... The 13th edition of Oekologie is available today at The Infinite Sphere. Beautiful work as always Jen.
I'd like to thank all the hosts, participants and other bloggers who have helped us get this far. Let's see another year of great ecology posts.
We need hosts for the rest of the year. Email me if you're interested: thevoltagegate [at] gmail.com.
voltagegate | January 14, 2008This week we have our first avian reference, a strange genus of heron.
In WoW, Nyctanessa is a level 44 demonology lock from the guild "42". There is only one other toon with the name, a 38 undead lock with the traditional spelling, but three others with the alternative genus name of Nyticorax (see below).
I'm assuming the GM is a Douglas Adams fan:
"Forty two?!" yelled Loonquawl. "Is that all you've got to show for seven and a half million years' work?"
"I checked it very thoroughly," said the computer, "and that quite definitely is the answer. I think the problem, to be quite honest with…
voltagegate | January 14, 2008There's still time to get your submissions in for tomorrow's Oekologie. Help us celebrate one full year!
We're looking for hosts as well. Shoot me an e-mail if you're interested.
voltagegate | January 9, 2008Help us celebrate, if you would. Oekologie started one year ago on January 15 at The Infinite Sphere, and Jen will be hosting again this January 15 for the anniversary edition. Send us your latest and greatest posts about ecology and let's get another year under our belts.
If you're interested in hosting Oekologie, please send me an email. We need some hosts for later this year.
voltagegate | January 9, 2008Man that's an ugly title.
Not much time to post today (until later perhaps) but I did come across an interesting study that improves on geographically-driven predictions of adaptations to climate change. I blogged about a paper on British butterflies earlier this year that studied how much each species depended on the particular climate, and whether or not they would be susceptible to a climate shift based on their environmental preference.
This new study is trying to make migratory predictions based on the organism's physiology, rather than the changing climate of a particular habitat:
Most…
voltagegate | January 7, 2008
I had the chance to cover some winter activities for PA state parks last week, which meant I had the fortune of a couple of visits for photos and interviews. As I browsed around online and in the park offices and exhibits for info, I couldn't escape references to either the Civilian Conservation Corps or the Work Progress Administration, which I've read about before, but never realized just how much work they did in the Appalachian region. The history of these organizations opens a whole box of interesting questions for the future, believe it or not, as this was a pivotal moment in…
voltagegate | January 4, 2008I wrote this on nearly the same day last year, and since I've been reading some Asimov lately, thought I would repost. The dates have been changed for relevance.
On January 2, 2008, Isaac Asimov would have been 88 years old. Simultaneously, on the second, I turned 29 (edited).
Asimov died of AIDS from a tainted blood transfusion in 1983, a little known fact, even among his fans. It wasn't publicized until his wife, Dr. Janet Jeppson wrote a bit about it in the epilogue of Asimov's memoir It's Been a Good Life, published in 2002. Why wasn't it addressed until then? The following letter…
voltagegate | December 31, 2007Here's an interesting story from Northern Arizona U. A researcher named Brian McRae, a recent forestry graduate who used to be an electrical engineer, used his knowledge of circuit theory to craft a new model for gene flow through landscape corridors:
McRae had been struggling with how to predict genetic effects of landscape pattern while working with Beier on a study of cougars in the southwest United States. "We had maps of cougar habitat and genetic samples spread across four states," he said, "but no way to predict how habitat pattern was driving gene flow across the region."
Using…
voltagegate | December 31, 2007It's quite simple really. Just leave out the details:
The near extinction of the western barred bandicoot has led to the identification of a novel virus exhibiting characteristics of two ancient virus families.
The western barred bandicoot (WWB), an Australian marsupial once commonly found across western and southern Australia, is now endangered throughout parts of the country and already extinct on the mainland. While promoting conservation efforts, researchers discovered a debilitating disease affecting the species causing full body lesions.
Papillomaviruses (PVs) and polyomaviruses (PyVs)…
voltagegate | December 31, 2007Just got the e-mail. The carnival of environmental education has a new website and a new email address and they're looking for posts. Shoot em one at thelimb [at] mac.com or by using this form.
voltagegate | December 24, 2007To put it mildly, the cards are stacked against the blue crab population in the Chesapeake Bay area. In the past 60 years, the human population of the area has jumped from 3.7 million to almost 18 million and, subsequently, farming and industry has exploded (it is often joked that everyone on the eastern shore of Maryland is a chicken farmer), leading to waterways filled with ferrous compounds, nitrates and phosphates.
Essentially, the Chesapeake has become a sink for these pollutants running through 141 streams and five rivers from six states--New York, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland,…
voltagegate | December 21, 2007
I had to visit an elementary school for a story the other day and had to wait a bit for my interview, so I started walking around the halls, looking at what the kids had been up to in class.
There were the requisite scaled models of Native American abodes, teepees and wigwams, complete with little plastic figures and livestock. Behind that, hanging on a giant corkboard, were self portraits of the children, all smiles and scribbly shirts.
In a smaller corner of the corkboard there was a cluster of little watercolor paintings surrounding a hand written construction paper sign that read "Mrs.…
voltagegate | December 20, 2007Damn snow is good for something I guess.
With Oscar around I wonder if my frozen friend will have any arms when I get home.
voltagegate | December 19, 2007The University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science recently published an article discussing some progress in blue crab research and conservation, and mentioned a related report:
The Chesapeake Bay blue crab population has stabilized, but at historically low levels according to a recent report by the Chesapeake Bay Commission's Bi-State Blue Crab Technical Advisory Committee.
Though the news isn't quite heartening, it's better than nothing.
Blue crab populations have been declining tremendously over the past few decades, not only threatening a population of the animals, but also…
voltagegate | December 17, 2007
There's been a big windfarm project in the works for Shaffer Mountain in PA, which has met with some of the strongest resistance in the area, including an entire resistance organized by a gentleman named Jack Buchan, a resident of the area. From what I've seen, Buchan and other members of Sensible Wind Solutions, a local group, has been a constant thorn in Gamesa's side, publishing giant full page ads opposing the project in local newspapers (more or less like this).
The latest transgression is a supposed suppression of data obtained by Gamesa on the land designated for development. Two…
voltagegate | December 17, 2007Matt's had it up since Thursday and I've been away... Anyway, enjoy another great edition.
voltagegate | December 14, 2007Get your submissions in now for Oekologie #12, to be hosted at Behavioral Ecology Blog tomorrow!
voltagegate | December 12, 2007This week I did a little search for Lycaon, one of the many suggestions given to me in the comments of the introductory post. This one came from Brian from Laelaps, who had a brief affair with World of Warcraft that his computer did not particularly like.
Lycaon is a popular name. There are 77 toons named Lycaon on the North American servers, and another 51 in Europe. From the European server Doomhammer, we have a troll hunter named Lycaon who seems to have recently hit level 70 (grats!).
IRL, Lycaon is the genus name of Lycaon pictus, the African wild dog, the beautifully mottled pack…
voltagegate | December 10, 2007
If you travel I-68 and any of the joining roads in the near future, you will almost certainly see creeping flat beds hauling gargantuan turbines, blades and other pieces of future wind towersup the mountain to join those already adorning the Western MD/PA ridgelines.
One or two car escorts follow close behind in the far right lanes. Some of the pieces are so large that you have to pull halfway in to the adjacent lane to avoid them. Despite your feelings about wind towers, you just can't avoid feeling awe at their sheer size.
I've watched wind towers sprout up rapidly in this area over the…
voltagegate | December 5, 2007
My fiance's art show was a huge hit. Her and the other artists had a great turnout despite the chilly Friday night, well over 100 visitors. I basically didn't see her for the two weeks prior as she prepared for the show, painting, scraping and filling walls in the gallery, building a base for and finishing construction of her installation piece, and figuring out placement. She was literally still painting - on walls and on canvas - the day of the show.
(Before I show any pics, I want to make sure that everyone knows that my camera sucks, and the blurriness is my fault, not hers. I wish they…