Not Exactly Pocket Science

The trapjaw ant: its jaws can open at 180 degrees, and snap shut...

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 14:55:31 +0000

The trapjaw ant: its jaws can open at 180 degrees, and snap shut at between 78 and 140 miles per hour. That’s the world’s fastest bite.

Source: Alex Wild

Another exceedingly good explanation of nuclear power plants and what's going on in Japan.

Sun, 13 Mar 2011 17:36:43 +0000

Another exceedingly good explanation of nuclear power plants and what's going on in Japan. :

Thorough, authoritative, clear. You’ll want to read this.

Nuclear energy 101: Inside the "black box" of power plants - Boing Boing

Sun, 13 Mar 2011 03:29:42 +0000

Nuclear energy 101: Inside the "black box" of power plants - Boing Boing:

The best explanation that you’ll read about what actually happens in a nuclear power plant. Involves Jenga.

Maggie Koerth-Baker outdoing herself.

"It was scrubbed, ground down into grains, …and so on, leaving the scientists with a concentrated..."

Sun, 13 Mar 2011 00:30:49 +0000

“It was scrubbed, ground down into grains, …and so on, leaving the scientists with a concentrated dino-poo residue that could be readily viewed under the microscope.”

- Tapeworms, Trematodes and Other Dinosaur Pests (via outofcontextscience)
Great stuff by Brian Switek

photojojo: Cameras cleverly disguised as lumps of snow were...

Sat, 12 Mar 2011 18:12:11 +0000

photojojo:

Cameras cleverly disguised as lumps of snow were able to catch some rare and amazing photos and vid of these endangered polar bears.

They almost went by unnoticed ‘til one Polar Bear destroyed $200,000 worth of camera equipment (the whole thing was caught on photo and video).

Polar Bear: Spy on the Ice

I will never look at rotifers in the same way again. I’d...

Sat, 12 Mar 2011 17:08:29 +0000

I will never look at rotifers in the same way again. I’d always known them for their fascinatingly asexual branch - the bdelloids. Now I will know them for their whirling jaws of death.

HT Jennifer Frazer

"At the end of a long day in Japan, there is a striking disconnect between the official statements..."

Sat, 12 Mar 2011 16:21:00 +0000

“

At the end of a long day in Japan, there is a striking disconnect between the official statements (at least in the English media) concerning the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant and the actions being taken by authorities and the plant’s owners

- Geoff Brumfiel, Nature

”

- http://blogs.nature.com/news/thegreatbeyond/2011/03/a_disconnect_between_statement.html

Giant Ant Hill Excavated “The structure covers 50 square...

Sat, 12 Mar 2011 01:14:45 +0000

Giant Ant Hill Excavated

“The structure covers 50 square metres and goes 8 metres into the Earth.”

She wouldn’t talk to the criticisms levied in the press. I...

Sat, 12 Mar 2011 00:28:01 +0000

She wouldn’t talk to the criticisms levied in the press. I assume that after this talk, she just walked away without taking questions, to write a letter to Science or something equally honourable…

carlzimmer:

“Biochemist Felisa Wolfe-Simon, whose recent discovery of arsenic-utilizing bacteria that thrive in otherwise poisonous environments rewrote science textbooks in a profound way, reminded us of the importance of questioning our most fundamental understanding of life.”

Just checked my textbook. Seems unchanged.

TED 2011 The Rediscovery of Wonder, Day Two | Brain Pickings

Like this, but with more sitting upright and pointing finger to...

Fri, 11 Mar 2011 22:55:07 +0000

Like this, but with more sitting upright and pointing finger to the sky.

From Last Word on Nothing

Global waving. revkin: Stunning NOAA visualization of the...

Fri, 11 Mar 2011 22:40:07 +0000

Global waving.

revkin:

Stunning NOAA visualization of the planet-spanning waves generated by the shove to the oceans from the 8.9-magnitude great earthquake beneath the seabed off Japan: www.nnvl.noaa.gov