neofeliis reblogged
SCIENTISTS JUST CONFIRMED THAT WE FOUND GRAVITATIONAL WAVES!
Welcome to a new age in physics…
neofeliis reblogged
The ocean is fucking awesome.
neofeliis reblogged
How Burning Plants Signal Future Generations to Grow
Previous studies have reported that chemicals known as karrikins are created as trees and shrubs burn during a forest fire and remain in the soil after the fire, ensuring the forest will regenerate. In the April 23 early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), scientists at the Salk Institute and the University of California, San Diego, sought to uncover exactly how karrikins stimulate new plant growth.
The researchers found that a plant protein know as KAI2 binds to karrikin in dormant seeds, changing its shape. This karrikin-induced shape change may send a new signal to other proteins in the seeds causing seed germination when the time is right, after a forest fire.
neofeliis reblogged
rhamphotheca
Some Scorpions Turn the Light Out
by Joseph Bennington-Castro
As if their venom-injecting tails and crushing pincers weren’t frightening enough, scorpions have long been known to glow blue-green under ultraviolet (UV) light. But just as the arachnids’ claw size and venom potency vary from species to species, so does their ability to fluoresce, with some species lacking the ability altogether, new research shows.
Arachnologist Wilson Lourenço of the National Museum of Natural History in Paris initially sought to test the fluorescing capabilities of four recently discovered, cave-dwelling scorpion species (one of which is shown above, left). To his surprise, his test subjects didn’t prove to be noteworthy, but the species he compared them with—the soil-loving Chaerilus telnovi—apparently doesn’t glow under UV light (seen above, right).
Further tests showed that other species from the Chaerilidae family also don’t fluoresce, no matter their habitat, suggesting their inability to glow isn’t an ecological adaptation, Lourenço reports in the current issue of the journal Comptes Rendus Biologies . Nobody knows for sure why scorpions glow; the new discovery may help scientists finally illuminate this eerie phenomenon.
(via: Science NOW)
(images: Wilson R. Lourenço/Comptes Rendus Biologies/Elsevier Inc.)
Biology vs. Chemistry
Science is a pretty broad term. It encompasses innumerable facets, interests, and categories. All of which are incredibly different from each other, not only in their focus but in the types of people they attract. I have always been biology oriented, even after I switched out of the major towards environmental it just meant that I backed out of the microscopic, the physiological, and embraced bigger pictures, i.e. Ecology, animal behavior, etc. But besides the point, still biology oriented.
My boyfriend is a chemist. He lives and breathes chemistry and it is a massive part of his identity. It shapes how he sees things, interprets things.
The other day, we went to this gorgeous state park. It was one of a few that we’ve been to together, and each time we’ve gone to them there’s been a distinct difference in how we behave there and experience it. In our most recent trip, we actually addressed it, and though it’s something I knew hearing out loud was amusing to me.
I like to touch things. I see something interesting, and I want to pick it up, feel it, get a closer look at it. We as biologists are incredibly hands on. We want to explore as close up as possible, see how things work. Field biologists, ecologists, naturalists; they get into the thick of it. My Ecology professor leapt out of a canoe on a field trip to catch a snake he saw in the mangroves. The man leading that field trip for us(he worked at the park) told us how black mangroves expel salt through their leaves. So naturally we plucked leaves and tasted them.
My boyfriend works with dangerous compounds and chemicals. Things you don’t want so much as to touch your skin. There is a barrier between them and their science, be it glass or through hoods, goggles, gloves, coats; as there well should be. It in no way is a diminishing factor, it’s just the way it has to be done if, you know, you value your life. Or intact skin.
It was just interesting to me that he brought to my attention how much I like to just touch things(moss, lichens, new grass) and how he always keeps a safe distance from such things. I never really understood his determination in doing so until he made his own comment on how, as chemists, they’re not really one to touch things. It’s not a habit instilled into their operation as a person of their science.
And I’m speaking in the context of the biology I’m interested in, detailed above. There are of course microbiologists, pathologists, etc that work with their own level of nasty stuff you don’t want contact with, but that’s outside the realm of what I’m trying to say here.
It was just something I found quite interesting.
neofeliis reblogged
“In 1995 a group of NASA scientists experimented with drugs, literally. They studied the effects that various legal and illegal drugs have on house spiders, and specifically on the way they weave their webs. The results are both surprising and… not.
The NASA scientists suggested the possibility of analyzing the periodic structure of the spiderwebs (or lack thereof) as a means of determining the relative toxicity levels of drugs. They do not seem to have continued down that road, however; one obstacle may have been the difficulty of extrapolating a given drug’s toxicity to humans from its toxicity to spiders. Though similarities between effects on the two species do seem to exist, I’m not sure caffeine makes me feel quite like THAT. In fact, if I wove spiderwebs, that one would probably be pre-morning-cup-of-coffee.
Such questions as what the research had to do with space shuttles or Mars rovers, where the scientists got the drugs, and what happened to the spiders later unfortunately cannot be answered here. The relevant NASA briefs are cited by other academic papers and New Scientist Magazine, but aren’t themselves published on the web. The world wide one, that is.”
Read more here and here, and see what happens to their mental state here.
Source: factodiem.com
neofeliis reblogged
Arctiid Moth (Areas galactina, Arctiinae, Erebidae)
Pu’er, Yunnan, China
See more Chinese moths on my Flickr site HERE…..
Source: Flickr / itchydogimages
neofeliis reblogged
Cephalopods - Chameleons of the Sea
Cuttlefish, Octopus and Squid all have pigment cells - called chromatophores - consisting of yellow, red and brown pigments which allow them to change their appearance. There are up to 200 of these cells per square millimeter and each of them are controlled through muscle contractions - instead of hormones like other marine organisms - allowing them to consciously control them.
When signaling to change colors, the chromatophores can be rapidly expanded and then relaxed to hide the pigments and can even stay camouflaged while asleep. Chromatophores, however, only one type of cells. Other cells are layered below, made of white and iridescent pigments to reflect other wavelengths of light like blue and green.
Using all of these pigments, the cephalopods typically use 3 major pattern types; Uniform, Mottle (small light/dark splotches) and Disruptive. One of the coolest patterns is the Passing Cloud pattern which is used to hypnotize their prey. Among all of these amazing attributes, they can also change their skin texture voluntarily to match the object they are trying to hide next to and they do this through visual perception rather than touch.
Videos: Insane in the Chromatophores - playing the chromatophores to a beat Octopus Camouflage Passing Cloud Pattern Info: Chromatophore Signaling Cuttlefish - DiscoveryNetworks
neofeliis reblogged
rhamphotheca
Broadcast From on High - Red Sprites
by Sid Perkins
Red sprites, the enigmatic electrical discharges that sometimes occur high over thunderstorms in the wake of strong lightning strikes in the lower atmosphere, can emit low-frequency radio waves, a new analysis suggests.
Most work on sprites—fan-shaped, firework-like flashes that last no more than a few millisecond—hasn’t noted such emissions, possibly because researchers weren’t looking for them. In the few studies that have detected them, the research hasn’t definitively identified the short-lived sprites (denoted by an arrow in this image taken from the International Space Station over southeastern Asia) as the source.
Now, analyses of how highly charged molecules generated by sprites would behave suggest that individual, kilometers-long streamers within sprites—somewhat analogous to single bolts of lightning—could indeed act as antennas, generating radio waves at many different frequencies…
(read more: Science NOW) (image: NASA/Astronaut photo)
Your tongue is germ free only if it’s pink. If it’s white, there’s a thin film of bacteria on it
tinyfactss
Please follow my new blog for awesome facts! Once I’ve reached a particular number of followers, I will be giving away something AWESOME!
Actually no. You always have 'germs' or bacteria present in your mouth. It's part of your natural flora. When your tongue turns white, that could be a number of abnormal things (dryness, infection, leukoplakia, etc). Biofilms are typically a big problem and if you got a significant one of those going on in your mouth you'll wanna fix that quick because it can lead to tooth decay, bad breath, or even actual dangerous health problems.
Source: tinyfacts.net
neofeliis reblogged
Extreme close-ups of human eyes by Suren Manvelyan
neofeliis reblogged
Hubble has spotted an ancient galaxy that shouldn’t exist
This galaxy is so large, so fully-formed, astronomers say it shouldn’t exist at all. It’s called a “grand-design” spiral galaxy, and unlike most galaxies of its kind, this one is old. Like, really, really old. According to a new study conducted by researchers using NASA’s Hubble Telescope, it dates back roughly 10.7-billion years — and that makes it the most ancient spiral galaxy we’ve ever discovered.
“The vast majority of old galaxies look like train wrecks,” said UCLA astrophysicist Alice Shapley in a press release. “Our first thought was, why is this one so different, and so beautiful?”
Read more: here
Source: io9.com
neofeliis reblogged
neofeliis reblogged
To add to your photo bucket list: the Verazsca Riverbed in Switzerland.
The water is so clear, you can see straight through 50 feet of water! Claudio Gazzaroli shot this photo from the bottom of the river.
neofeliis reblogged
crookedindifference-deactivated
Astrophysicist Dr. Neil DeGrasse Tyson was asked by a reader of TIME magazine, “What is the most astounding fact you can share with us about the Universe?” This is his answer.
jtotheizzoe
When you take something great, like the musings of the mind of Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson, and combine it with something else great, like stunning images of life and wonder on and off of Earth … you get this.
It’s the sort of video that makes you prop your chin up in your hand, with your head tilted just so (yeah, like that), as you stare at your computer screen mumbling things like “Ahhh“ and “Wooahh” and other unintelligible noises that mean “I approve of this, and it makes me feel good.”
Watch it once, then twice, then with a friend.
Source: youtube.com