Gone for Passover!

Mar25

Hi, my little geeks and nerdlings…

Passover begins tonight (Monday March 25, 2013) at sunset.

I will be in Toronto for a little over a week.

Have a happy, kosher and joyful Passover.

I’ll should be back Wednesday April 3.

See you then!

Plants Use Caffeine to Lure Bees!

Mar25

Our pals over at the Science Section of the New York Times report ‘Plants Use Caffeine to Lure Bees, Scientists Find.’

Yes, boys and girls…

Nectar That Gives Bees a Buzz Lures Them Back for More

New research has found that caffeine-laced nectar enhances the learning process for bees, so that they are more likely to return to those flowers.

How about that?

Nothing kicks the brain into gear like a jolt of caffeine. And that goes double for honey bees.

bee-coffee-flower (A honeybee visiting a coffee flower – Image: Geraldine Wright)

And they don’t need to stand in line for a triple soy latte. A new study shows that the naturally caffeine-laced nectar of some plants enhances the learning process for bees, so that they are more likely to return to those flowers.

“The plant is using this as a drug to change a pollinator’s behavior for its own benefit,” said Geraldine Wright, a honeybee brain specialist at Newcastle University in England, who, with her colleagues, reported those findings in Science on Thursday.

The research, other scientists said, not only casts a new light on the ancient evolutionary interaction between plants and pollinators, but is an intriguing confirmation of deep similarities in brain chemistry across the animal kingdom.

The effect of caffeine was not obvious at first, but as Dr. Wright refined her experiments, it became more clear that the chemical had a profound effect on memory. “If you put a low dose of caffeine in the reward when you teach them this task, and the amount is similar to what we drink when we have weak coffee, they just don’t forget that the odor is associated with the reward,” she said.

Insect and human brains are vastly different, and although caffeine has many effects in people, like increasing alertness, whether it improves memory is unclear.

Cool Science Update: March 2013 (2)

Mar22

Just when you thought March, 2013, had given us so many new science break-throughs…

we give you…

growing new teeth complete with roots using cells from adult gum tissue;
discovery of a Higgs Boson particle;
people ‘functionally cured’ of HIV;

proof Mars once had a wet and hospitable environment;
clone of an extinct species of frog and allowed it to develop into an embyo;
new device keeps a liver healthy for up to 24 hours after removal from body.

And these are just the discoveries during the week March 10th to the 17th!

Are we living in great times, or what?

Bat-Eating Spiders on the Prowl

Mar20

Great article by The Bug Enthusiast on two of my most favouritest critters… spiders and bats.

But… why can’t they all just get along? 😦

The Bug Enthusiast

As if spiders weren’t terrifying enough, they’re now widely eating bats. Like, all over the place.

Previously thought to happen very rarely, researchers have recently recorded over 52 cases of bats (albeit small ones) being eaten whole by massive, massive spiders. The species of bats and spiders involved vary from case to case but it does seem to happen more in tropical climates.

In most cases it seems the spiders don’t intend to catch the bats, they simply build their super-sticky webs next to bat-infested buildings. Still, little consolation if you’re the bat.

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No, No, No!

Mar18

Ever have one of those days when you’re all ready to have some fun…

… and life just seems to get in your way?

I hate days like that!

Cool Science Update: March 2013

Mar15

While the rest of us were napping or doing whatever we do, the little geeks and nerdlings out in Scienceland have been hard at work.

Here are some cool science achievements so far this month!

Nanoparticles infused with toxic bee venom were found to kill HIV.
New evidence suggests the thick ice on Europa has leaks, and that the liquid water is salty.
A breath test for stomach cancer was announced.

A man had 75% of his skill replaced with a 3D printed plastic prosthetic (I SO want a 3D printer!).
The first documented case of a child being cured of HIV was announced.
The Hubble Telescope spotted a Space Invader shaped galaxy.

Cool or what??

Keep on keeping on, science guys! You make our world a better place.

Are We There Yet?

Mar13

This photo gave me my morning smile on Tuesday.

(Are we there yet?)

I had to share it.

Sakurajima Volcano with Lightning

Mar11

Why does a volcanic eruption sometimes create lightning?

Pictured above, the Sakurajima volcano in southern Japan was caught erupting in early January. Magma bubbles so hot they glow shoot away as liquid rock bursts through the Earth’s surface from below. The above image is particularly notable, however, for the lightning bolts caught near the volcano’s summit. Why lightning occurs even in common thunderstorms remains a topic of research, and the cause of volcanic lightning is even less clear. Surely, lightning bolts help quench areas of opposite but separated electric charges. One hypothesis holds that catapulting magma bubbles or volcanic ash are themselves electrically charged, and by their motion create these separated areas. Other volcanic lightning episodes may be facilitated by charge-inducing collisions in volcanic dust. Lightning is usually occurring somewhere on Earth, typically over 40 times each second.

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Image Credit & Copyright: Martin Rietze (Alien Landscapes on Planet Earth)

Special thanks to NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day for the photo and text. (Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.)

“So funny, I could DIE!!!”

Mar8

“So funny, I could DIE!!!”

{ “Syracuse University , 1949″ – photograph by Lisa Larsen}

From the wonderful site, The Eye of Faith.

I love this photo. The girl here is clearly splitting a gut. I find it uplifting. I can’t help but smile every time I look at it! 🙂

The Eye of Faith Vintage