By now, my readers, you have probably cottoned on to the fact that I enjoy lolcats 🙂 But it’s OK – because they’re scientific! (For some reason the cats appear to be more into physics than biology…) I actually quite like using images like this occasionally in my lectures, to liven things up or make […]
Continue readingYear: 2010
saying a lot about little – another example of how not to use statistics
Ben Goldacre has written an interesting post on a ‘news’ item comparing pay scales for UK workers in the public & private sectors. The original story drew a number of comparisons between the two, several of which turn out, on closer examination, to be spurious. For example, the item comments that public servants work fewer […]
Continue readingcauliflory (but not with cheese)
Plants have a fascinating array of adaptations that function to maximise the odds of successful reproduction. Flamboyantly shaped & coloured flowers spring to mind, not to mention nectar rewards & attractive scents (which are not necessarily pleasant to the human nose, but then, Rafflesia isn’t out to attract us!). One of the more unusual adaptations is […]
Continue readinga wide froggy mouth – but not on a frog
When I was an undergraduate a joke about wide-mouthed frogs went the rounds… Frog mouths are quite interesting, actually. Look into that gape & you’ll see a tongue (which is rooted at the front of the mouth, allowing it a greater forward reach). Back of the tongue is the glottis, opening into the trachea, & […]
Continue readingtrees on stilts
And no, I’m not talking about triffids here. More a part of the continuing series on plant root adaptations. I’ve mentioned mangroves in passing before (to do with their pneumatophores), but the thing that stood out for me about the mangroves we saw in Queensland was the fact that they looked like they were on […]
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