The Eco-LOL-ogist

£1billion telescope can see the beginning of time By Hayley...

Wed, 13 Mar 2013 15:49:52 +0000

£1billion telescope can see the beginning of time
By Hayley Dixon, telegraph.co.uk

A £1bn telescope that can see the beginning of time has been unveiled in Chile today.
Scientists hope the Atacama Large Millimeter Array, or ALMA, will allow astronomers to see back to the first moments after the universe was formed.
Bu…

So, you wanna know what galaxies looked like 12 billion years ago? Sure, why not…

Caffeinated Cravings: Putting The Buzz Back In Your...

Sat, 09 Mar 2013 11:05:00 +0000

Caffeinated Cravings: Putting The Buzz Back In Your Bumble…

It seems it’s not just us humans who seek out regular caffeine kicks - the bees are at it as well! New research has shown that honey bees are three times more likely to remember and seek out food associated with the smell of a coffee or citrus plant (both of which naturally contain caffeine) than food presented without these scents. Well, would you blame ‘em?!…

Christy Ullrich of NGS reports:

Bitter-tasting caffeine primarily arose in plants as a toxic defense against herbivores like garden slugs. At high doses, caffeine can be toxic and repellent to pollinators.

However, at low concentrations, caffeine appears to have a secondary advantage, attracting honeybees and enhancing their long-term memory, said lead author Geraldine Wright, a neuroscientist at Newcastle University in England, whose study was published online March 7 in the journal Science.

“We show that caffeine—a compound whose ecological role is mainly to deter and poison herbivores—actually acts like a drug in an ecologically relevant context,” Wright said. “The plant is secretly drugging the pollinator. It may help the bee, but the plant cares more about having a pollinator with high fidelity!”

Read the rest of the report via NGS here.

Uhhhhh, say what now?!!….

Thu, 21 Feb 2013 21:47:01 +0000

Uhhhhh, say what now?!!….

Blowing Smoke: Hydrothermal Howdy-Doo-Dees… Some UK...

Thu, 21 Feb 2013 21:36:37 +0000

Blowing Smoke: Hydrothermal Howdy-Doo-Dees…

Some UK scientisties have recently discovered yet another mind-blowing set of hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor in the Caribbean. This latest group have been found at deeper depths than any others (only about 5,000 metres!). They are also reportedly the hottest yet discovered (around 400C, compared to surrounding water temperatures of only around 4C!)

This is all very well and very good, you may very well declare, but what the very heck is a hydrothermal vent anyway?!? What indeed. So here you are - you’re very own basic introduction to hydrothermal vents, aka deep sea vents, courtesy of those clever whomevers over at Wikipedia (I’d write a bling-lingoed up EcoLOLogist-style version, but quite frankly, I’m too tired. Zzzzzz…….)

A hydrothermal vent is a fissure in a planet’s surface from which geothermally heated water issues. Hydrothermal vents are commonly found near volcanically active places, areas where tectonic plates are moving apart, ocean basins, and hotspots. Hydrothermal vents exist because the earth is both geologically active and has very large amounts of water on its surface and within its crust. Common land types include hot springs, fumaroles and geysers. Under the sea, hydrothermal vents may form features called black smokers. Relative to the majority of the deep sea, the areas around submarine hydrothermal vents are biologically more productive, often hosting complex communities fueled by the chemicals dissolved in the vent fluids. Chemosynthetic archaea form the base of the food chain, supporting diverse organisms, including giant tube worms, clams, limpets and shrimp. Active hydrothermal vents are believed to exist on Jupiter’s moon Europa, and ancient hydrothermal vents have been speculated to exist on Mars.

Some hydrothermal vents form roughly cylindrical chimney structures. These form from minerals that are dissolved in the vent fluid. When the superheated water contacts the near-freezing sea water, the minerals precipitate out to form particles which add to the height of the stacks. Some of these chimney structures can reach heights of 60 m. An example of such a towering vent was “Godzilla”, a structure in the Pacific Ocean near Oregon that rose to 40 m before it fell over.

A black smoker or sea vent is a type of hydrothermal vent found on the seabed, typically in the abyssal and hadal zones. They appear as black, chimney-like structures that emit a cloud of black material. The black smokers typically emit particles with high levels of sulfur-bearing minerals, or sulfides. Black smokers are formed in fields hundreds of meters wide when superheated water from below Earth’s crust comes through the ocean floor. This water is rich in dissolved minerals from the crust, most notably sulfides. When it comes in contact with cold ocean water, many minerals precipitate, forming a black, chimney-like structure around each vent. The deposited metal sulfides can become massive sulfide ore deposits in time.

Black smokers were first discovered in 1977 on the East Pacific Rise by scientists from Scripps Institution of Oceanography. They were observed using a deep submergence vehicle called ALVIN belonging to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Now, black smokers are known to exist in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, at an average depth of 2100 metres. The most northerly black smokers are a cluster of five named Loki’s Castle, discovered in 2008 by scientists from the University of Bergen at 73°N, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between Greenland and Norway. These black smokers are of interest as they are in a more stable area of the Earth’s crust, where tectonic forces are less and consequently fields of hydrothermal vents are less common. The world’s deepest black smokers are located in the Cayman Trough, 5,000 m (3.1 miles) below the ocean’s surface.

White smoker vents emit lighter-hued minerals, such as those containing barium, calcium, and silicon. These vents also tend to have lower temperature plumes. These alkaline hydrothermal vents also continuously generate acetyl thioesters, providing both the starting point for more complex organic molecules and the energy needed to produce them. Microscopic structures in such alkaline vents “show interconnected compartments that provide an ideal hatchery for the origin of life”.

Find out more about them and their super-heated awesomesauce here.

Murky Mentalness: Deep Ocean Vents Just Got Deeper, And...

Thu, 21 Feb 2013 17:38:07 +0000

Hot black water belches forth from the vents, some of which are up to ten metres in height. This newly discovered set of vents is the deepest and hottest on record.

Areas surrounding the life show a bewildering array of life forms, such as this fireworm.

Vent shrimp, like this one, have been found to harbour bacteria beneath their shells that feed on the hydrogen sulfide-rich minerals released by the vents. In turn, the bacteria likely provide the shr

A specialised "arm" of the ROV (remotely operated vehicle), named ISIS, collects temperature data from the ocean floor.

Murky Mentalness: Deep Ocean Vents Just Got Deeper, And Hotter…

Scientists working at the deep sea trench known as the Cayman Trough (near the Cayman islands in the Caribbean) have recently discovered a new group of vents which reading show are the deepest (at 4,968 metres - approximately 3 miles) and hottest (401 degrees celcius) to be found yet. The scientists are hoping the research they are conducting in this mysterious black-water-belching murkiness can help us better understand exactly how, and why life has come to exist in such extremely hostile environments. See some video footage and read more from BBC News’ David Shukman here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21520404

creepycrawlieslove: Periplaneta americana The American...

Thu, 21 Feb 2013 16:16:00 +0000

creepycrawlieslove:

Periplaneta americana

The American cockroach^ (native to Africa)

Yes, introduced from Africa to the United States as early as 1625, this neat little Neoptera is owed some thanks from us for helping to shape our early understanding of the neuro-endocrine system:

German-born American biologist Berta Scharrer (1906–1995) and her biologist husband Ernst Scharrer pioneered the field of neuroendocrinology, the study of the interaction between the nervous system and the endocrine glands and their secretions. Fighting against accepted scientific beliefs about cells—as well as against prejudice toward women in the sciences—Scharrer established the concept of neurosecretion, or the releasing of substances such as hormones by nerve cells.

Prior to the discoveries of Scharrer and her husband, scientists believed that neurons or nerve cells could not have a dual function. They either secreted hormones, in which case they were endocrine cells belonging to the endocrine system, or they conducted electrical impulses, making them nerve cells belonging to the nervous system.

In the 1930s, after having come to America, Scharrer and her husband set out to prove their theories with no real professional standing and therefore lacking a budget for lab animals. Scharrer reportedly collected cockroaches in the basement of the lab and used them for experiments. Soon she began experimenting on South American cockroaches she had discovered scurrying around in the bottom of a cage of lab monkeys that had arrived from South America. Scharrer found that they made better research subjects because they were slower than the American cockroach. From that point forward, she used the South American cockroaches, which traveled with her wherever she and her husband moved.

By 1950, Scharrer’s research and theories on neurosecretion had become accepted as fact by the scientific community. For her pioneering scientific work, Scharrer received many honors. Included among these was the naming of a cockroach species, scharrerae , in her honor.

Read more: http://www.faqs.org/health/Body-by-Design-V1/The-Endocrine-System-Workings-how-the-endocrine-system-functions.html#ixzz2LYBFBeRb

Strange Squeakcies: This Frog’s Call Ain’t No Croak… Recorded by...

Wed, 20 Feb 2013 21:51:19 +0000

Strange Squeakcies: This Frog’s Call Ain’t No Croak…

Recorded by wildlife enthusiast and photographer Dean Boshoff among the sand dunes of Port Nolloth in South Africa’s Northern Cope province, this first YouTube video of his went viral within a matter of days - and it’s easy to see why. Or, rather, hear why. You’d be forgiven for suspecting that this is nothing more than the result of some doggy-chew-toy-dub-over of a hoax. However this is the real deal folks. Yup, that sound is actually coming out of that animal!

This little sandy ball of hilarious squeaky cuteness is a desert rain frog* (Breviceps macrops). Although it has elsewhere been reported to be a mating call, the sound it’s so ardently emitting is actually a warning call, triggered by the presence of a threat such as a predator (or in this case, most likely the perceived threat of big bad Dean and his camera). Other species of frog are also known to make this type of warning call and a quick search of YouTube will bring up more examples of it, however I’ve yet been able to find one that’s quite as cute as this lil’ guy!

The desert rain frog is a fossorial species, spending most of its life buried under the sand hiding from predators (hence the state of our new celebrity) and only surfaces at night to feed. Its eggs are laid in underground chambers and are covered in a thick, viscous, jelly-like substance. Once the eggs hit tadpole stage, the jelly softens into a fluid in which they live until they fully metamorphose into frogs (absorbing nutrients from the egg yolk as they grow). This lack of dependence on water for the tadpole stage is what makes this dumpy dude particularly and uniquely suited to life in an arid environment.

So there you have it; the desert rain frog; sandy, silly, squeaky and all together supersauce, No go press play again. You know you want to, tee hee…

*NOT, in fact, a Namaqua rain frog (Breviceps namaquensis), as it has been identified as elsewhere and indeed by my good self in an earlier version of this post (Oops, my bad!). The confusion is understandable however, as both species are extremely similar in terms of how they look, how they live and indeed where they live. While the Namaqua rain frog is not endangered, it should be noted that the desert rain frog is listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN Red List due to habitat fragmentation caused by diamond mining. So don’t all go rushing out to try and buy one from the pet stores after seeing this video! Coz that’d be bad, m’kay…

rhamphotheca: A Foot-Long Seahorse Seahorses range in size—from...

Wed, 20 Feb 2013 01:51:44 +0000

rhamphotheca:

A Foot-Long Seahorse

Seahorses range in size—from as small as a pine nut to as large as a banana. The largest seahorse species is Hippocampus abdominalis, or the big-bellied seahorse, which can reach more than a foot long (35 cm) and lives in the waters off Southern Australia and New Zealand.

The smallest seahorse, Satomi’s pygmy seahorse (Hippocampus satomiae), which was only described in 2008, is only half an inch long (13 mm)! It lives in the waters of Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia.

(CREDIT: David Maynard / Guylian Seahorses of the World 2005, Courtesy of Project Seahorse)

(via: Smithsonian’s Ocean Portal)

rhamphotheca: How Many Seahorse Species? There are 47 different...

Wed, 20 Feb 2013 01:51:24 +0000

rhamphotheca:

How Many Seahorse Species?

There are 47 different species of seahorses and 14 of those were discovered in the last eight years, including Pontoh’s pygmy seahorse (Hippocampus pontohi), which was officially named in 2008. Seahorses’ ability to change their color and shape to blend in with their environment makes identification of individual species challenging.

Because of this, some researchers previously thought there were as many as 200 seahorse species in the world, while others thought there were as few as 20. However, advances in genetic research are helping to clarify some of the differences between closely related species.

(CREDIT: Patrick Decaluwe / Guylian Seahorses of the World 2010, Courtesy of Project Seahorse)

(via: Smithsonian’s Ocean Portal)

Rainbow-eyed Surprise: Refraction Of Light Captures Third Prize...

Wed, 20 Feb 2013 01:45:56 +0000

Trumpetfish at Bonaire Photo Credit: Jan Derk/Wikimedia Commons

Trumpetfish vertical Photo Credit: Jan Derk/Wikimedia Commons

Trumpetfish yellowhead variety Photo Credit: Nick Hobgood/Wikimedia Commons

Rainbow-eyed Surprise: Refraction Of Light Captures Third Prize Delight…

This spectral spectacular (top photo), captured by American photographer Randall Benton, was awarded third prize recently in the Nature (singles) category of the 2013 World Press Photo contest. Although it looks like some weird demon-possessed other-worldly creature of the night, this prize pic shows nothing more sinister than a very-much-of-our-worldly trumpetfish of the Caribbean. The rainbow-eyed effect is the result of light bending as it passes through the eye of the fish which causes it to split into different wavelengths (ie, colours) - a phenomenon known as dispersion.

Trumpetfish (Aulostomus maculatus) are long thin fish who derive their name from their snouts, which look a bit like - you guessed it - a trumpet. Masters of disguise, trumpetfish can often be found hanging out around pipe sponges, sea fans and sea whips in a vertical, head down position which helps them to blend in with their surroundings as they wait for unsuspecting prey to pass by or indeed, try to avoid becoming prey themselves. They are also known to swim alongside the vertical lines of other fish while hunting. The trumpetfish’s mouth is able to stretch to a size equal to the diameter of its body and creates a vacuum which sucks up its prey (this is known as “pipette feeding”). Typically a mottled reddish-brown in colour, these fish can also change their colour to suit their surroundings, much like squid and octopus do.

Changes in colouration are also observed during trumpetfish courtship rituals (known as “dances”. For a video complete with groovy guitar music, see here). As with their close relatives the seahorses, it is the male trumpetfish who carries most of the reproductive burden. Having received eggs from the female following a successful courtship (score!), he then fertilizes them and carries them in a special pouch until they are born. Haha, suckers…

For more cool info on trumpetfish, check out here and here.
For a picture of an actual demon-possessed creature, check here (but be warned, it will eat your soul!)

jtotheizzoe: Louisiana Senator Wants to Know if E. Coli Could...

Sun, 17 Feb 2013 21:52:09 +0000

jtotheizzoe:

Louisiana Senator Wants to Know if E. Coli Could Evolve Into a Human

A heroic teacher sat before Louisiana state senator Mike Walsworth and attempted to describe an amazing experiment that demonstrates the truth and beauty of the theory of natural selection. I call her a “hero” because she somehow didn’t flip the table over at 0:50.

She attempts to explain how Richard Lenski has been growing E. coli bacteria, diluting them every day into new liquid food, observing their constant change and adaptation along the way, allowing their fast reproduction to accelerate our observation of evolution. It is the single most elegant proof of evolution that I know of in biology.

Then, he asks her if they could evolve into a human.

We share a common ancestor, billions of years ago. That doesn’t mean they are our ancestors. Trees of life have branches. Two leaves on opposite sides of a tree do not grow from the same twig, but they originated from the same seed. This is an important thing to GET when it comes to evolution.

So no, E. coli could not evolve into a human. Nor could chimpanzees, or dinosaurs. That’s right. Shockingly, this guy would have more chance of becoming a chicken:

Keep up the good fight for science, folks. You’re the next generation of thinkers. Given a little time, you can help the world evolve into a more science literate place.

(via Gawker)

Haha, you’ve gotta love the reactions of the people sat behind the teacher in that video. It should be entitled “Three Facepalms and a Say Whaaaaaa?!!!….”

Mind Feed: The Origin Of Feces Is Sure To Be Da...

Sat, 16 Feb 2013 13:45:00 +0000

Mind Feed: The Origin Of Feces Is Sure To Be Da Sh*t…

“Reading about poo while having my morning brew and I’m liking it!” - this was the response that twittered out of me this morning when I happened upon an @NatGeo twink (that’s tweeted-link, dyoncha knows) to an interview with one Mr. David Waltner-Toews about his new book “On the Origin of Feces”. Now, asides from having the most awesomely cool and aptly named title you could think of, this piece of brain fodder also promises a remarkably refreshing (yes, even from poo) take on the subject of the dreaded doo-doo. While many other “crap” books lean more toward waste management and public health issues, David has chosen to dust some glitter over the crud and try to show us all (particularly us westerners) how fecaes can, and indeed, should be considered more of a friend than a foe.

Exploring how excrement has helped to shape the evolution and ecology of our planet and purveying plenty of great examples of how poop is already trickling it’s way into the streams of sustainability, this one promises to be one hot and steamy awesomesauce summer read.

So if you fancy swotting up on your sh*t, this is the book to doo-doo it with! It’s out in May 2013 and you can pre-order it here. POO POWER!!!

Read National Geographic News’ Christine Dell’Amore interview with David here.
Photo: Fungus grows on elephant dung in Malaysia. Photograph by Yusri Hashim, Your Shot

Show Offs: NASA Gives Mercury A Make-Over… Now what have those...

Sat, 16 Feb 2013 03:31:39 +0000

Show Offs: NASA Gives Mercury A Make-Over…

Now what have those clever folks at NASA done today? Shown off a brand spanking new colour image of Mercury, that’s what! And it’s oh so perrrrrdy! The image itself isn’t quite “true to life” as it were, as it was devised principally to highlight the variations in the planet’s rock composition. The thousands of pictures used to make the image were taken through special filters on the lense of NASA’s Messenger probe. In terms of what the colours represent, the orangy parts you see are the volcanic plains, the lighter blue streaks are the result of impact rocks being strewn across the surface, and some of the deepest blue areas are, well, they don’t really know yet other than it’s some form of mysterious opaque mineral (It’s magic! *GASP!*)

Anyway, read Jonathan Amos’s report from the BBC here: http://www.bbc.co.uk /news/science-environment-21468172

Awesome! Now how do I make the itchy feeling...

Sat, 16 Feb 2013 02:34:36 +0000

Awesome! Now how do I make the itchy feeling stop?!

mothernaturenetwork:

Infographic: Mother Nature’s Pop Science Guide to Ants
Ants outnumber, outweigh and outwork humans, yet we rarely give them a second glance — unless they’re raiding our pantries or ruining our picnics. In honor of this tireless, thankless dedication, MNN offers a graphical tribute to the awe-inspiring antics of ants

jtotheizzoe: staceythinx: This might look like lace, but its...

Fri, 15 Feb 2013 17:31:25 +0000

jtotheizzoe:

staceythinx:

This might look like lace, but its actually lichen. Photos by i n i m i n i .

I’m lichen these photos a lot.

Symbiosis say whaaaaa?!!…

Out Of Acid?: Try Northern Lights Time Lapse...

Fri, 15 Feb 2013 03:43:27 +0000

Out Of Acid?: Try Northern Lights Time Lapse Instead…

What’s kewler that the Northern Lights? Northern Lights on time lapse camera, that’s what. Trippy…

The footage is from Artography by Tracy who says of it:

I took this last night (Feb 13)…it is hours of still footage rolled into a movie. I had one with music but FB is funny about copyright infringement for some reason…lol!

The Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis, is a naturally occuring light display in the sky - particularly in the higher latitude regions - which is caused by the collision of energetic charged particles with atoms in the high altitude atmosphere.

Its southern counterpart, the Aurora Australis (a.k.a. the Southern Lights), displays almost identical features to the aurora borealis and changes simultaneously with changes in the northern auroral zone.

Read more about this awesome phenomenon here.

earthlynation: and in today’s news… by Mike Higgins This...

Fri, 15 Feb 2013 02:35:13 +0000

earthlynation:

and in today’s news… by Mike Higgins

This chipmunk dug the granola bar wrapper out of the soup can at my firepit. Looks like he’s at a bus stop:)

Great shot! If I ask nicely, y’think he’ll pass me the funnies section???…

Blue Whale Scale: Getting Into The Heart Of The Matter… If...

Fri, 15 Feb 2013 01:07:00 +0000

Model arrives Photo credit: LWL Museum of Natural History

Sorting the assembly Photo credit: LWL Museum of Natural History

Curators try it out Photo credit: LWL Museum of Natural History

Blue Whale Scale: Getting Into The Heart Of The Matter…

If you happened to catch the neat infographic on animal hearts posted by the National Wildlife Federation earlier, then you’ll now know that a Blue Whale heart is, incredibly, as big as a small car (If you didn’t see the infographic, then guess what?; a Blue Whale heart is as big as a small car). Amazeballs. And just as neat and amazebally is this model of said heart constructed by the New Zealand company Human Dynamo Workshop.Originally commissioned for The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, the model impressed curators at the LWL Museum of Natural History in Munster, Germany, so much that they ordered one for themselves.

The model was designed to be crawled through and contains an integrated sound system which enables arterial-explorers to hear and feel the whale’s heartbeat. Groovy! The model is currently on display at the “Whales - Giants of the Ocean” exhibition at the LWL Museum until the 11th of March, 2013. So what are you waiting for, get booking your flights to Deutschland pronto! Or, if you’re a tad bit totally-completely-and-utterly-wayyy-too-broke for that (like me!), you can just read more about the model here.

tothewildwood: Animals Really Do Have Heart Fun infographic...

Thu, 14 Feb 2013 21:55:00 +0000

tothewildwood:

Animals Really Do Have Heart

Fun infographic just in time for Valentine’s Day from the National Wildlife Federation.

[Source: 1]

Valentine’s Heart Chart. Groovy.

birdandmoon: Here are some valentines for the biology nerds....

Thu, 14 Feb 2013 20:44:25 +0000

birdandmoon:

Here are some valentines for the biology nerds. Love to y’all!

Rosemary Mosco does it again folks! An awesomesauce little collection for V-Day. Perfik!