Writer, audiophile, biologist-in-training.
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“This photo comes from Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. It show a school (?) of nautiluses devouring some chicken. Allen owns a large yacht called the Octopus, which has a couple of ROVs on board. This photo was taken by one of the ROVs at a depth of 876 feet, near the Pacific island of Palau.”
Cool shot of very focused Nautiluses munching on chicken seen from Octopus ROV at a depth of 876 feet off Palau. http://pic.twitter.com/8l33KOxY
Via BoingBoing
Ah the elusive deep sea chicken…. a natural prey of the Nautilus. Lucky it wasn’t a piece of chemical ridden terrestrial chicken brought to depth by the ROV for our viewing pleasure right?
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Entire Mammal Genus on Brink of Extinction
From National Geographic daily news:
Critically endangered African antelope is last species of its kind.
Photo credit: John Warburton-Lee, Alamy
For the first time in 75 years, an entire genus of mammal may go the way of the dodo—unless a new conservation effort shepherded by Somalian herders succeeds.
The hirola, a large African antelope known for its striking, goggle-like eye markings, is the only remaining species in the genus Beatragus—and its numbers are dwindling fast, conservationists say. [full story]
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Astronomers Discover Complex Organic Matter Exists Throughout the Universe
A spectrum from the Infrared Space Observatory superimposed on an image of the Orion Nebula where these complex organics are found. (Credit: Image courtesy of The University of Hong Kong / Background: Hubble image courtesy of NASA, C.R. O’Dell and S.K. Wong (Rice University))
ScienceDaily, Oct. 26 2011 -
Astronomers report in the journal Nature that organic compounds of unexpected complexity exist throughout the Universe. The results suggest that complex organic compounds are not the sole domain of life but can be made naturally by stars. [full story]
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When science and art meet, awesome things are bound to happen. Such is the case with Luke Jerram’s incredible sculpture made by taking a 9 minute excerpt from the seismogram of the 2011 Tōhoku Japanese earthquake and tsunami and transforming it into a three-dimensional work of art.
“By using computer technology, Jerram rotated the seismogram to find a successful 3-D image. He then created the image with the use of a rapid prototyping machine. The piece is a little under 1 ft. x 8 in. and will be on exhibit in the Jerwood space in London, as part of the Terra exhibit which focuses on how data is read and represented.”
[via My Modern Metropolis]
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Lungfish Provides Insight to Life On Land: 'Humans Are Just Modified Fish'
ScienceDaily (Oct. 4, 2011) — A study into the muscle development of several different fish has given insights into the genetic leap that set the scene for the evolution of hind legs in terrestrial animals. This innovation gave rise to the tetrapods — four-legged creatures, and our distant ancestors — that made the first small steps on land some 400 million years ago. [full story]
(Credit: Cole et al., PLoS Biology, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1001168)
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From @algore: the impact of climate change on animals
“A Brown University study examines whether animals will be able to adapt and migrate as the climate warms.” [more]
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