No, I’m not trying to suggest that spaceship designers/engineers have to be male. That would be a) stereotypical & b) incorrect as well, given that women also produce a certain amount of this hormone. But I wanted to catch your attention & direct it to a post by Ed Yong on Not exactly rocket science, where […]
Continue readingYear: 2009
of ant hotels and homicidal figs
One of several highlights of our holiday was a guided tour of part of the Daintree National Park. There was so much to see! But we’d probably have walked straight past some wonderful plants & animals if it wasn’t for our guide, Ross. For example, the first time we encountered a Boyd’s forest dragon, all […]
Continue readingdid ancient jellyfish sting?
One of the nice things about going on holiday for a reasonable period of time, without computer, e-mail, cellphone etc, is that you can settle down for a bit of serious reading. In a fairly full 7 days I still managed to complete 2 books & start another. One was detective fiction (PD James rocks!). […]
Continue readingan update on xenotransplantation
This one’s really for those teachers who might be thinking of getting their year 13 students to look into xenotransplantation. I’ve written a bit about this previously, but you might also be interested in the following, from the Science Media Centre: Animal-human transplants OKedAuckland-based Pig cell therapy pioneer Living Cell Technologies looks set to expand […]
Continue readingholiday photos
Well, we’re back in the country but I’m still slightly in holiday mode. So I thought I’d share some of the photos we took while visiting various places near Port Douglas (in northern Queensland) – I’ll write some ‘serious’ stuff about things we saw over the next few days.
Continue readingdo flies do housework?
Some more entertaining & educational reading for you while I’m away 🙂 This time it’s from the Bug Girl’s Blog, where the eponymous Bug Girl describes as ‘egregious’ the headline Fruit Fly Sperm Makes Females Do Housework After Sex. Visit the Bug Girl’s place to find out not only what egregious means, but also why she’s so annoyed about the headline. […]
Continue readingre-post: a worm, but not as we know it
This is a re-post of an item I wrote a couple of years ago, when I was just getting into blogging. (Hopefuly it will encourage some of you to peruse my back catalogue!) Anyway, I think it’s a nice little story about a rather neat piece of taxonomic detective work, so I thought I’d share […]
Continue readingsome interesting links to follow
Casting around for something to read, I’ve come across several interesting posts on various blogs. So I thought I’d share them with you 🙂 For those interested in competition & its effects on plant growth forms & also plant diversity, check out Taking below-ground processes seriously: plant coexistence and soil depth at The EEB & flow. We […]
Continue readingplease do not adjust your set
Today the husband & I are winging our way to warmer climes 🙂 The dog’s in the kennels, the grown-up kids are minding the house, & all’s right with the world. In fact, by the time you read this, we may actually be lounging by a pool, book in one hand (in my case, at […]
Continue readinggannet monogamy model moot
When you studied animal behaviour in year 13 you probably learned about the different mating systems: polygamy (polygyny & polyandry), promiscuity – & monogamy: a bond between a single male & a single female. You may also have heard that in some species, such as swans, that bond is life-long. It turns out things are more complex than […]
Continue reading