Notes for today

• Turkeys were domesticated twice! All kinds of interesting information in that article. Turkeys are the only New World domesticated animal that has been spread globally (quick: Name all the New World animals that were domesticated and then spread elsewhere). Apparently the turkey was domesticated twice: Once in Mesoamerica (think Mayans) and once in the SW US (think Athabaskan...I think). Apparently the SW US domestication was done not for meat, but for feathers.
• I've said it before and I'll say it again, nothing is more amazing to me than the reality that we can get a good idea of what animals looked like that lived over 65 million years ago. They can now get a pretty good idea of what dinosaur feather patterns looked like. The photo accompanying that article is amazing.
• And on the flip side: How weird is it that we can build something like a windmill and then not understand why it isn't working?
• I believe many people wish they could see dinosaurs or mammoths or other extinct creatures (I, for one, would love to see a stand of mature American Chestnut trees). However, I'm fairly certain that if humans and dinosaurs had co-existed, we would have killed them and eaten them hundreds of years ago. Just look at what we're continuing to do to the whales. And it turns out there may have been far more of them than we previously thought.

Notes For today

• The conservation value of airports. The reality is that the airport in the study is a 'high conservation area' just because the surrounding areas (New York) are so awful for everything that nothing survives. Even in the managed open areas surrounding the airport, the big benefactor of the 'conservation' area are insects. A group that is pretty adaptable and usually unwelcome.
• So they've built a better tomato. Kinda. The overwhelming frustration I have with genetically engineered food is not that it is GM. Rather, it is that it isn't being engineered for taste. I mean, look at the evidence they provide that the food is better: Pictures. Pictures don't taste good. I'm not sure how we can improve the taste, but it sure doesn't seem like anyone is even trying.
• Another reason to avoid shellfish: Apparently they cause amnesia.
• An interesting list of emerging conservation issues.
• Even among otherwise intelligent people, there seems to be core resistance to the idea that humans are actually causing climate change. People like to bring up all kinds of things (water vapor, the fact that CO2 is at very low abundance in the atmosphere, the temperature adjustments made to account for urbanization). I think this is happening because people don't want to believe that humans are messing everything up. Every piece of evidence demonstrating climate change is occurring ends up being undermined or ignored. Now that the evidence is becoming overwhelming, the response has been that this climate change is driven by 'natural' processes. Of course, there are still those who just want to believe the whole thing is a liberal conspiracy to mess with their sex lives.

Photos from NASA

If you're like me, when you think of amazing NASA images, you typically think of stuff like this:

But in reality, I think there's a lot more like this:

What is that? Well, according to NASA those are different faces of Pluto (note: not a planet) as seen through the Hubble telescope. I'm not saying they are lying or anything, but...wow. I can't tell what the heck I'm even looking at. Astronomy is kind of like using a spectrometer, and I'm honestly amazed we're able to understand anything as well as we do.

Notes and a photo

• The good news is that a line of communication may have been opened between those who are superficially in a vegetative state. The bad news is: Holy cow, we don't necessarily know who is really in a vegetative state. The brief brief summary. 4 people (out of 23 tested) who were believed to be in a vegetative state were able to respond to questions by altering their brain wave patterns. Does this mean those people are conscious? I think it does...but I'm not certain. I can't help but notice that the ages of those who seemed most responsive were all under 28 (22, 22, 23, 27). I also can't help but remember the dead salmon that cause an MRI response. Still the odds are ridiculously against this happening by chance.
• Toads are, by their very nature, awesome. Just like every other amphibian. However, I apparently don't know as much as I need to about them. Apparently they evolved in S. America? I didn't know that. Anyway, this paper looks great (someone please send it to me!). More on toad invasions here.
• The more about crayfish I read, the more I like them. Turns out they can probably sense electrical fields as well. Uh...duh? I mean, I understand, but why wouldn't they be able to?
• I love stuff like this. How did the animals in New Zealand get there? Remnants of Gondwana? Or much more recent immigrants? I'm always excited that we can actually figure out things that happened millions of years ago.

Notes for sick day:

• Hydrogen is an odorless colorless gas which, given enough time, turns into people. A great quote that makes a so-so poster.
• This might be the most interesting photograph of an interstellar object I've ever seen. There were links yesterday about this being a 'spaceship-shaped' object, and I think there was a joke there. I don't get it, and I don't see it. However, it does look cool. People who presumably know are thinking it is the remnants of a recent collision.
• Dr. Andrew Wakefield is a bastard who is (and I am not even remotely kidding about this) killing kids. But at least his 'big paper' is now retracted. And BA summarizes reasons why he sucks nicely.
• A really big snake? Long dead? Ok...sounds good. But the picture alone here is worth a link.
• I don't care what anyone else says. It is really hard to find a way to justify the construction of dams environmentally. Here's another example. What the heck are we supposed to do with these frogs now?
• Wolverines may be one of the first big "climate change" casualties that gets any attention. After all, it's a large-bodied mammal. What it lacks in cuddleness, it makes up for with an awesome name.

Notes for Today

• Whenever someone says "is harmless to the environment" the first thing you need to think is "doesn't hurt the environment in any of the ways we currently hurt the environment." Or, even more likely "doesn't hurt the environment as much as our competitor." In the case of liquid glass...color me skeptical when the two articles I can find on the topic are basically just a re-hashing of the company's press release.
• I'm admittedly not sure about the source of this information, but based on its content, I'm completely confident in the result. Apparently drinking alcohol does not lead to weight gain. Again, I'm skeptical, but this might be one I dig into a little bit more in the future.
• Isn't there a part of everyone who is still fascinated by dinosaurs? Considering the mounting evidence that birds are the modern descendants of dinos, I wonder why birds evoke absolutely none of the same fascination for me. Regardless, here's an article discussing the earliest yet known bird-like dino. Obviously, this isn't yet a bird, because I was able to read the article without getting bored.
• Iron-plating armor on snails. Holy cow...how did I miss that?
• Something a lot of people have been concerned about in conservation circles is the decision a couple of years ago to delist the Gray Wolf in the lower 48 (except Wyoming apparently), and the subsequent decision by Idaho and other states to open a hunting season on the wolves. If nothing else, the decision to delist occurred because the people who are opposed to listing the wolf got a lot better at speaking the scientific lingo. Right now the evidence seems to be showing that the wolf numbers are stable (they had been increasing for years).

Notes for Today

• I'm not sure this has anything to do with science, but...there needs to be a place for weird pictures on this blog. This is it.
• Here's an interesting article from Seed discussing why as peer-reviewed science is becoming more and more open access, while popular newspapers are moving more and more towards a pay-only access model.
• I'm not a huge fan of economics, but I do think of it as ecology with dollars instead of genes, if that makes sense. I'm not sure what that has to do with anything, but this article is interesting. So Naples, FL was designated the most overvalued housing market in 2006, prompting one anonymous commenter to state: "I firmly believe the market will continue to appreciate at rates unmatched throughout the country. The fact of the matter is that the southwest Florida is what some call a "sheltered" market. Being one of the most desirable areas to live in the United States, there will always be a strong and true demand for the area." Or how about Aubrey Ferrao: "We are bullish in Collier County," he said. "I see nothing in the market to scare me." From the same article: "Michele Harrison, president of the Collier Building Industry Association, said the worst has passed, as other local, state and national headlines have acknowledged the market has started to turn. "If I were in the market to purchase this is the time I would be looking," she said. "Right now." The Wall Street Journal also featured Naples during this period...to which a commentator in Naples replied: "WSJ, why don't you do an in-depth, responsible, RESEARCHED article on how the average, educated, local investor has fared." Riiiiight. Cue the article, also written in 2006, regarding workers fleeing Naples like rats from a sinking ship. And today? "Today, Naples real estate sells at a 29% discount and the median home price is just $165,500, down from more than $390,000". I know we've seen these articles a lot, but I still don't understand how so many people could be so delusional.
• Pandas are pretty interesting. Now we know even more about them.
• An interesting conversation (if a bit long) on the Endangered Species Act (close to my heart). I'm going to have to think about this before I know what to take away from it.
• I love stylized phylogenetic trees. Here's someone who built one using (of all things) powerpoint. Was that really the easier format?