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POPSNano-Solar Power -Will it Be the Next Revolutionary Technology? Not that the technology is perfect. The system can absorb energy very well, but that's no good to anyone until they work out a way to harvest it from the sheet - when you're dealing with a hyper-complex web of millions of units oscillating at trillions of cycles per second, you can't just solder copper wires to the ends and call them plus and minus. This isn't a mistake or a weakness in the concept though; it's an issue because no-one has ever done this before. You know, the kind of thing that happens with cutting edge invention.
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POPSThe Daily Show vs. Blovation Fest 2008! I've been watching the Daily Show since its first episode, and I started taking it serriously when Jon upped the IQ quotient by replacing Craig Killborne. Now the show pretty much only does indie film makers, political wonks, and third world presidents. How cool is that? The only people who do more serious interviews are Charlie Rose and Bill Moyers, and actually, Bill Moyers described Jon as "The Mark Twain of our time." But why did I clip? for the "Blovation Fest" Quote, which by the way, will be the festival of avant garde noise-punk music I attempt to put on this fall. ;)
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POPSAre Meerkats Naturally Altruistic?
For centuries, there's been a debate over whether true altruism exists among humans. Helping others at our detriment is risky behavior, evolutionarily speaking. Say you're overcome with an urge to give your last piece of bread to someone else. The other person eats, but you don't. Ultimately, after enough of these selfless acts, you'll starve and die, and your dangerous habit of helping others should die along with you. In the animal kingdom, altruism poses an equally prickly problem to explain. Why some animals exhibit generosity is a real mystery to biologists. It's not like they're thinking about the tax write-off they can get by donating money. Meerkats have one of the most cooperative societies in the animal kingdom. These African desert dwellers are perfect subjects for an investigation into altruism. For one, they live in a harsh habitat, quite a long way from easy street. Danger lurks around every corner because they sit at the bottom of the food chain.
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POPSWhy We Love Our Lawns Falk tested his theory by showing various groups worldwide photos of different landscapes, including their own. All groups said they'd prefer to live in savanna-like surroundings, even jungle-dwellers and city folk who'd never seen a savanna or a lawn.
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POPSStinging Tentacles Offer Hint of Oceans’ Decline The explosion of jellyfish populations, scientists say, reflects a combination of severe overfishing of natural predators, like tuna, sharks and swordfish; rising sea temperatures caused in part by global warming; and pollution that has depleted oxygen levels in coastal shallows. These problems are pronounced in the Mediterranean, a sea bounded by more than a dozen countries that rely on it for business and pleasure. Left unchecked in the Mediterranean and elsewhere, these problems could make the swarms of jellyfish menacing coastlines a grim vision of seas to come. “The problem on the beach is a social problem,” said Dr. Gili, who talks with admiration of the “beauty” of the globular jellyfish. “We need to take care of it for our tourism industry. But the big problem is not on the beach. It’s what’s happening in the seas.”
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POPSSnakes reveal deadly fang secrets Rather than develop independently, as some had argues, evidence suggests that the jaw and venom developed, and then fang position evolved as the fangs began to move around on the jaw, the different placements being a likely response to the types of prey or predators that shared the snakes' environments.
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POPS'Dinosaur eel' could inspire future armour i thought I'd include a picture of a euryptarid, also known as a sea scorpion, which was one of their predators, and one of the largest known arthropods that has existed at 6ft 7in. Makes you glad they're extinct...as far as we know.
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POPSCat parasite in humans makes them like cat urine
Parasite "Brainwashes" Rats Into Craving Cat Urine, Study FindsBen Harder for National Geographic News April 3, 2007 The parasite Toxoplasma gondii uses a remarkable trick to spread from rodents to cats: It alters the brains of infected rats and mice so that they become attracted to—rather than repelled by—the scent of their predators. A new study reveals that rodents infected with the parasitic protozoa are drawn to the smell of cat urine, apparently having lost their otherwise natural aversion to the scent. The parasite can only sexually reproduce in the feline gut, so it's advantageous for it to get from a rodent into a cat—if necessary, by helping the latter eat the former. In rodents, "brain circuits for many behaviors overlap with the brain circuits responsible for fear," said Ajai Vyas of Stanford University, who led the new study. "One would thus assume that if something messes up fear of cat pee, it will also mess up a variety of related behaviors." Bu
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POPSSea Slug Shown here is a species of Nudibranchs called Halgerda batangas. A hard body and thick skin help it armor against predators. Any that persist learn that the sponge-eater also exudes a toxin.
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POPSSpeed of the Fastest Bird "Peregines are large, grace birds that can reach speeds up to 250 km/hr, making them the fastest creatures on earth." Go 2 source 4 more info.
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