Learn Something New Everyday - Elephant Gestation!

Popcorn Popping

Beautiful Images: Stingrays!

There have been some interesting posts about stingrays lately. Above is an X-Ray image of Heliotrygon gomesi, one of two new species of freshwater “pancake” stingrays discovered in the Amazon rain forest. You can see more information and pictures at Our Amazing Planet.

This photograph by Sandra Critelli is of Golden Rays taken off the Mexican Coast. Golden Rays grow up to seven feet across and migrate within the Caribbean. The spectacular scene was captured as the magnificent creatures made one of their biannual mass migrations to more agreeable waters. Despite having poisonous stingers they are known to be shy and non-threatening when in large schools. These schools can be as large as 10,000 stingrays. You can read more here and see more pictures here.

Atomic Humour!

Thanks to one of my students for sending this to me!

Deadliest Science: Biology, Chem, or Physics?

Comic from: dD in an eggroll


Blogger Alex "Sandy" Antunes wrote an article on Science 2.0 that explores which science causes the most deaths.

According to movies, physics would be the clear winner: car crashes, gunshot wounds, bicycle accidents, falling down, people hitting each other, and war are all physics-driven deaths.

Chemistry related deaths would be toxins, poisons, drugs, alcohol, or drowning.

But... biology is the deadliest. Since heart disease, cancer, and stroke kill the most people in North America, as well as disease and infection throughout the world's population.

You can read the full article here: http://www.science20.com/daytime_astronomer/which_science_kills_more_people-77520

Glacier Caves

"Working with an expedition cruise company that sails to the world's most remote places like Alaska and the Arctic, Eric Guth is constantly surrounded by large bodies of ice.

Six years ago, he spotted a small opening on the edge of Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau, Alaska. He hiked to it with the intent of walking around as he'd seen others do before. But something compelled him to look inside."

Now he has spent the last six years searching for glaciers, exploring them, and photographing the formations.

You can read more about Eric Guth and see more of his photographs at http://www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/inside-glacier-caves-17-photos

Spiderweb Trees

"Here’s a delightful morning snack: When Pakistan experienced severe flooding last year, it had the unexpected and rather creepy-crawly side effect of driving millions upon millions of spiders to the trees, where they could escape the floodwater. Since the flooding lasted for such a long time, many trees became blanketed in thick layers of web.

But according to the UK government, which assisted in the flood release effort this may have actually had a positive health effect: On-the-ground reports suggest that there are fewer mosquitos than would have been expected after the influx of so much stagnant water. This, in turn, may have reduced the very real risk of malaria to local populations afflicted with flooding. The web-coated trees, however, remain scary-looking."

This information and the pictures were taken from http://www.geekosystem.com/spiderweb-trees-pakistan/

A Bright Idea!

"Maria and Igor Solovyov (Solovyov Design) are industrial designers based in Minsk, Belarus. One of their recent projects is “Insight”, the ingenious concept for an energy efficient lamp shaped like the human brain."

You can see more pictures at http://viacomit.net/2011/04/04/insight-by-solovyov-design/