There are so many species being discovered each month that I wouldn't blame you if you thought that I was making them up. Todays new species is a snake from Borneo. It's venomous and changes colour just to make it more interesting. "A reptile expert says he put the one-and-a-half foot long reddish-brown snake into a dark bucket. When he went to get it a few minutes later, he says it was almost entirely white."
I probably should also mention that 160 new species were discovered in the Rubehos Mountains of Tanzania recently during a survey undertaken by the World Wildlife Federation. Among the newly catalogued species are the Mountain dwarf galago (a type of bush baby), the red duiker (an antelope), a new species of frog, two kinds of chameleon, the checkered elephant shrewand an assortment of birds.
6/30/2006
6/28/2006
This Weeks Species
I might as well just change this to the New Species Blog. Yesterday 10 new species of sea spider were discovered and the day before 3 new species of Lemur from Madagascar were established based on a few years of genetic analysis.
6/20/2006
6/18/2006
Magic Castle
This is a really interesting optical illusion using a javascript mouseover.>>
Following the instructions a black and white image of a castle appears in colour so long as you don't move your eyes. The second you move your eyes the colour vanishes form the image.
Following the instructions a black and white image of a castle appears in colour so long as you don't move your eyes. The second you move your eyes the colour vanishes form the image.
6/15/2006
I'd Vote if I Could
I don't know how I ended up on the Democratic Parties mailing list, but every now and then I get e-mails from Howard Dean and Tom Mahon. This is why I don't trust background checks to be accurate. In any case this one came today
I wonder who else has my name?
MEMORANDUM
TO: James MacDougall
FROM: Tom McMahon, Executive Director, DNC
RE: 50-State Strategy Results
Per Governor Dean's request, I have put together a few facts and figures for you on the successes of the 50-state strategy. I have made one last-minute addition to this memo -- at the end you will find excerpts from a USA Today profile of our 50-state strategy in action in my home state of Nebraska. It ran on Wednesday as we were preparing this message for you.
I wonder who else has my name?
6/14/2006
Krakatoa
This evening I saw an interesting program about the explosion of Krakatoa in 1883 of the coasts of Java and Sumatra. Here are some of the incredible facts associated with the event as related in the program Krakatoa: Volcano of Destruction
- the explosion produced a tsunami with waves up to 40 metres in height
-it was so loud that people 30km away were deafened temporarily
-it produced a sound so loud it was heard on the West coast of Africa and in the Australian outback.
- it affected the tides as far away as Europe
- it expelled so much ash into the atmosphere that it cooled the climate for years afterwards
- it exploded with a force equal 200 megatons of TNT
- the volcanic column spewed ash up to 35 miles in the sky
- sound waves travelled around the globe 7 times
- 12 square km of island disappeared in the explosion
- over 36,000 people died from its effects
The volcano exploded again in 1927 and is once again growing at a rate of about 15 feet per year.
- the explosion produced a tsunami with waves up to 40 metres in height
-it was so loud that people 30km away were deafened temporarily
-it produced a sound so loud it was heard on the West coast of Africa and in the Australian outback.
- it affected the tides as far away as Europe
- it expelled so much ash into the atmosphere that it cooled the climate for years afterwards
- it exploded with a force equal 200 megatons of TNT
- the volcanic column spewed ash up to 35 miles in the sky
- sound waves travelled around the globe 7 times
- 12 square km of island disappeared in the explosion
- over 36,000 people died from its effects
The volcano exploded again in 1927 and is once again growing at a rate of about 15 feet per year.
New Species Update
As if it weren't enough that we are discovering new species of animals with great frequency, a new species of butterfly has been bred in the lab. Normally cross species hybrids are not able to reproduce such as is the case when a mule is born from horse/donkey crossbredding. In the case of the butterflies Heliconius melpomene was crossbred with Heliconius cydno to produce Heliconius heurippa a distinct species from either of the other two butterfly species.
As the BBC article points out, this is significant for understanding evolution in that instead of one species branching into diverse species, in this process two distinct species diverge into a third.
Other recent finds include
8 new species discovered in a cave in Israel >>
Six new frog species discovered in Guyana>>
Four new fish species discovered off Australian coast >>
New species of sea slug discovered off of Florida >>
As the BBC article points out, this is significant for understanding evolution in that instead of one species branching into diverse species, in this process two distinct species diverge into a third.
Other recent finds include
8 new species discovered in a cave in Israel >>
Six new frog species discovered in Guyana>>
Four new fish species discovered off Australian coast >>
New species of sea slug discovered off of Florida >>
6/13/2006
Bad Thoughts
This year edge asks prominent thinkers in a variety of fields to respond to the question: WHAT IS YOUR DANGEROUS IDEA?
some of the ideas put forth:
- The purpose of life is to disperse energy
- More anonymity is good
- The human brain and its products are incapable of understanding the truths about the universe
- Brains cannot become minds without bodies
- Science Must Destroy Religion
- Science encourages religion
- Bacteria are us
The history of science is replete with discoveries that were considered socially, morally, or emotionally dangerous in their time; the Copernican and Darwinian revolutions are the most obvious. What is your dangerous idea? An idea you think about (not necessarily one you originated) that is dangerous not because it is assumed to be false, but because it might be true?You will find ideas here that are obviously controversial, at times absurd and often as intriguing as they are infuriating. Non of the participants here can said to be light weights in the thinking department.
some of the ideas put forth:
- The purpose of life is to disperse energy
- More anonymity is good
- The human brain and its products are incapable of understanding the truths about the universe
- Brains cannot become minds without bodies
- Science Must Destroy Religion
- Science encourages religion
- Bacteria are us
New Species of Hammerhead Shark Discovered
Maybe I just wasn't paying attention before but it seems like every other day a new animal species is identified. Today it's a new species of hammerhead shark off the coast of South Carolina. In my opinion the bounty of new species being identified is related to our ability to penetrate into new areas but also in the way we identify species now using DNA analysis as a determinant. At one time a species was primarily categorized by observable physical characteristics. Now that we are looking at the genetic level differences that were not apparent are being noticed. Such is the case with the identification of the new hammerhead species.
6/12/2006
New Species in Northern Scotland
The BBC reports that over 1,000 new species have been discovered in the Cairngorm Mountains of Scotland.These include fungi, insects and plants.The Scottish Natural Heritage who undertook the survey said that "the incredible diversity was partly a result of the ancient Caledonian forest, which provides a refuge for many species not found elsewhere."
6/11/2006
Net Neutrality Rejected
I don't know what the recent rejection of the principle internet neutrality at the Communications Opportunity, Promotion and Enhancement Act (Cope Act) discussions clause means for the future of the internet but reading this BBC article definitely puts some concerns on the table >>
The debate over net neutrality nows moves to the senate, so if this at al concerns you now would be a good time to speak up I suppose.
It's pretty funny how they manage to get a picture of Alyssa Milano to accompany the article.
The debate over net neutrality nows moves to the senate, so if this at al concerns you now would be a good time to speak up I suppose.
It's pretty funny how they manage to get a picture of Alyssa Milano to accompany the article.
6/07/2006
6/06/2006
Day of the Beast
To mark this very special day here is a compilation 666 related things:
www.666.com
The Beast: Aleister Crowley
Iron Maiden:The Number of the Beast
The Mark of the Beast Paranoid Conspiracy Mumbo Jumbo
666 superstitions
616
