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POPSDinosaur evolutionary tree unveiled It remained at that low level throughout the following Cretaceous period, a time of plenty in Earth's terrestrial history in which flowering plants, lizards, snakes, birds and mammals all became much more numerous. Dinosaurs apparently did not take advantage of the abundant food supply that emerged during the Cretaceous Terrestrial Revolution. "Our supertree allows us to look for unusual patterns across the whole of dinosaurs for the first time," says Lloyd. "It is the most comprehensive picture ever produced of how dinosaurs evolved."
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POPSBisexual Species Summary: homosexuality is a natural behavior in the animal kingdom and also occurs in captive situations, suggesting bisexuality is natural for birds, mammals, and other animals...and for humans as well
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POPSEncoded fear An interesting research, pointing to a non physical trait that is kept through centuries. i wonder where does it lie, is it in the genes? neuronal structure, or a memetic inheritance?
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POPSAnimal Communication Dr. Marler has contributed a wealth of information about animal communication, cognition and social biology. He has lead a very interesting life.
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POPSThe Snake's Tail VERY interesting, yet easily readable research abstract that explains the research behind determining what causes the development of various vetebrae across species
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POPS10 Ways We Get the Odds Wrong And the two last ones: IX. We Love Sunlight But Fear Nuclear Power Why "natural" risks are easier to accept. X. We Should Fear Fear Itself Why worrying about risk is itself risky. Though the odds of dying in a terror attack like 9/11 or contracting Ebola are infinitesimal, the effects of chronic stress caused by constant fear are significant. Studies have found that the more people were exposed to media portrayals of the 2001 attacks, the more anxious and depressed they were. Chronically elevated stress harms our physiology, says Ropeik. "It interferes with the formation of bone, lowers immune response, increases the likelihood of clinical depression and diabetes, impairs our memory and our fertility, and contributes to long-term cardiovascular damage and high blood pressure."
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POPSDeadly Snake Bites Man's Penis My god what a horrible thing to happen. I have had this exact thought run through my mind while I have used natures facilities. Arrest me for indecent exposure but please god don't let a snake bite me there!
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POPSThe boy and the python Sounds right out of Rudyard Kipling, doesn't it?! I just thought it was bizarre, but having said that , I must attribute it to fellow clippers who had shared it earlier, cpltaiji & merrie: cpltaiji http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?in_article_id=77135&in_page_id=2 merrie http://www.shortnews.com/start.cfm?id=66835
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POPSThe Bigot in your Brain Why might black faces, in particular, provoke vigilance? Northwestern University psychologist Jennifer A. Richeson speculates that American cultural stereotypes linking young black men with crime, violence and danger are so robust that our brains may automatically give preferential attention to blacks as a category, just as they do for threatening animals such as snakes. In a recent unpublished study Richeson and her colleagues found that white college students’ visual attention was drawn more quickly to photographs of black versus white men, even though the images were flashed so quickly that participants did not consciously notice them. This heightened vigilance did not appear, however, when the men in the pictures were looking away from the camera. (Averted eye gaze, a signal of submission in humans and other animals, extinguishes explicit perceptions of threat.)
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POPSCity Slickers Turn Tropical Entrepreneurs: An Eco-Adventure
Imagine going after your dream business…on a tropical island. What does it really take to build an island resort? In 2002, four city slickers set out to build their dream business in the Panamanian rainforest: called Tranquilo Bay. All of the buildings at Tranquilo Bay—are constructed from steel, virtually unheard of in that corner of Panama: but they wanted to protect against termites, sea air, and earthquake damage. Jim Kimball and Jay Viola knew nothing about construction before beginning work on the buildings. They learned everything they needed from the Internet during Sunday visits to the mainland. “We built Tranquilo Bay inside the rainforest overlooking the Caribbean Sea and the beautiful Panamanian Jungle. Our central location within the archipelago of Bocas del Toro permits us to explore some of the most biologically diverse areas of Panama and Central America: an archipelago of some 68 tropical islands” http://www.tranquilobay.com/home.htm