Category: Nature

The frogs in our ponds have tuned up for their annual performance of the Frog Chorus, and are currently giving night and day renditions.

 

 

This is an extraordinary story about the genitalia of ducks.

 

Apparently, while male researchers have lovingly described the bizarre penises of the males of many species of ducks, none of them have ever thought to check out the corresponding receptacles of the females. They simply assumed that the oviducts were simple and straightforward tubes, and then theorised extravagantly over why the males of some duck species have unusual penises. It has taken a female researcher to discover the truth – the female oviduct ain’t simple either.

 

Let’s hear it for Dr. Patricia Brennan, a behavioural ecologist, who has gone where no male researcher has ever dared venture before. Carl Zimmer, over at The Loom, has the story.

Chris Clarke, over at Creek Running North, crystallises an astounding insight: Evolution is an epiphenomenon of sex.

 

Extraordinary. I think I would probably say that rapid evolution is an epiphenomenon of sex, but nonetheless, it’s a staggering concept to ruminate on.

Yes, both characters in Greek mythology, but also the names of two of Saturn’s many moons. There’s a stunning shot posted on the Cassini-Huygens web site showing the two moons and Saturn’s rings. You may need to view the high resolution image to see Daphnis clearly. Fabulous.

Fascinating reports of the discovery of a potential water-bearing planet orbiting a star just 20 light years away. But the fact that really stretches my synapses is that a year on this planet lasts just 13 days. Birthdays must be a bit of a bore there.

Last June, I blogged about a male chaffinch that was constantly attacking his own reflection in our windows. Well, he’s back. He clearly hasn’t learned. And the warm weather seems to have triggered the behaviour a couple of months earlier as well…

 

 

Another plum from TED: the wonderful Dr. Jane Goodall. Another insight into non-human cultures, and a heartfelt plea for homo sapiens to assume a role of stewardship.

This is an interesting article, originally from the New York Times, on chimpanzee culture. I particularly like the quote: "Socially transmitted adjustable behaviour is a hallmark of culture". It has the ring of truth for me.

 

But I’m less convinced by the statement made by a Dr. Matsuzawa: "Humans can’t do it,"  he said, referring to a memory task, "Chimpanzees are superior to humans in this task". I suspect that the difference between a trained chimpanzee and a trained human is less than he might like to imagine. 

There’s been another batch of video talks posted up on the (revamped) TED website. Some real plums in here. For example, here’s Dan Dennett giving an eloquent presentation on consciousness.

I thought that April was supposed to be the month of showers. We’ve had very little rain this month, and currently we are having temperatures of 22 – 24 degrees. The result is that everything in the garden is earlier than normal. For example, here’s two photos of the same tree in blossom. The first was taken last year, on May 4th. The second was taken today. So the blossom is almost three weeks earlier this year. We may be in for a long hot summer…

 

 

 

 

I’m very cautious about wild mushrooms, so I doubt that I would have picked these specimens, thinking that they were Chanterelles. But the clincher would have to be – they glow in the dark. What more do you need to know before you accept that they are not good for you? 

There’s a new version of the mammalian family tree that’s just been published, as a result of taking earlier studies and producing a "supertree" from them. Pharyngula has the details, and there’s a most interesting discussion developing in the comments section.

 

The image that is used on Pharyngula is beautiful, and worthy of something done by the great Edward Tufte, but if you want to see the tree in its full, stunning, glory, then get the version that the BBC has published here and zoom in. I’d love to be able to print this out as a huge wallchart.

I’m currently under the weather with ‘flu. So I’m not feeling particularly wonderful at the moment. A feeling that was not helped one jot or tittle by this pile of bollocks.

 

 

 

There’s more where that came from apparently, but I don’t feel strong enough to wade through it.

 

(hat tip to Richard Dawkins net for the link)

 

Oh, and while we are on the subject of how stupid people can be. This example of motherly love takes some beating for the sheer banality of evil.

…and I can’t help but think it’s about three weeks ahead of last year…

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s an interesting little collection of short videos featuring Daniel Dennett. Each video takes one point and Dennett answers succintly, sagely and suavely. I think my favourite is the first, where I think he puts his finger on why Darwin’s dangerous idea is so unsettling to many people.

Carl Zimmer has another terrific post up on The Loom. This time he considers the three million year-old history we and gorillas have shared with pubic lice. Nice!

As a result of listening to the interview with Patricia Churchland that I mentioned here, I discovered another podcast. This time it was the wonderful VS Ramachandran talking about transsexuals and the phantom penis. Absolutely fascinating stuff, and proof, if any was needed, that the wrinkles of consciousness, and the interplay with genes, are endlessly interesting. 

 

BTW, that link will get you to a download of the whole show. The rest of the show is also worthwhile. Listen to Steve Chu in particular on replacing oil.

There’s something about seeing mountains in mist and twilight that I like. Here’s two examples. The first I was fortunate enough to be able to photograph way back in 1969 on the Isle of Man.

 

 

 

The second is a stunning example of the genre from Miyukiutada, and it can be found here. 

By one of those cosmic coincidences, when we view a solar eclipse from the Earth, the moon’s disc appears to be the same size as the sun. But here’s a transit of the moon across the sun that has never been seen by human eyes before. It was captured by the STEREO-B satellite. Watch the animation of the images for the full, staggering, effect. Absolutely spectacular.

 

(hat tip to the Bad Astronomer for the link)

The March of the Librarians.