This is something originally written for the Talking Teaching blog, following a discussion (on FB – where else?) about social media & student learning. Some of my readers here and on Sciblogs will probably have realised that I quite like Facebook – not least because it's a good source of gorgeous images and quirky facts […]
Continue readingYear: 2014
something reassuringly disgusting…
This post's title comes from Something Fishy where, talking about sea cucumbers, Illya wrote "But there's something else they can do. Something reassuringly disgusting. Something totally Sea Cucumber." I was mildly let down to find he was talking about bioluminescence, & not self-evisceration. Yes, that's right. When threatened (or repeatedly prodded by some uncouth human […]
Continue readinganother see-through animal (& a rather lovely image)
I saw this little critter a while back, over on Pharyngula, & put it on the list of Things To Blog About. Somehow, it took me a while to actually get onto it, but we've got there in the end 🙂 Image credit: Laurence Madin, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution/CMarZ, Census of Marine Life I was […]
Continue readinga strange but beautiful bird
In terms of plumage and behaviour, some of the birds of paradise have to be strong contenders in any 'most unusual' list. I mean, take a look at this: (Image source: Wikpedia (Creative Commons)) This is a male Wilson's Bird of Paradise (Cicinnurus respublica), a species that's found only on a couple of small islands […]
Continue readingignorance wins over science? let’s try that another way
On Thursday last week, Hamilton’s city councillors voted 9-1 to return fluoride to the city’s water supply. There was a fair bit of misrepresentation going on ahead of the decision – including the claims that it would cost at least $100,000 and this was unbudgeted (both untrue). And there was the predictable outrage after the […]
Continue reading‘slow life’ – corals and anemones strut their stuff
When I was a kid we used to go to the beaches of the Mahia peninsula most weekends. (Well, memory says 'most weekends' – it might not have been that often!). Sometimes we'd stop at the sweeping sandy shores of Blue Bay, but on other days we'd go round to the exposed rocky coast & […]
Continue readingmost excellent epiphytes
A couple of years ago I spent a lovely afternoon in the huge domed glasshouses of Singapore's "Gardens on the Bay". The 'cloud forest' was my favourite – both for the concept & for the wonderful range of epiphytes on show there. So you'll understand that I enjoyed reading about it again on this blog, […]
Continue readingteaching plant life cycles – trying a different approach
For whatever reason, I find that many students seem to struggle when it comes to learning about plant life cycles. The whole sporophyte/gametophyte, meiosis/mitosis thing really gets them – & that’s even before we start looking at how the life cycle is modified in different groups of plants. Yes, the textbook has lots of diagrams […]
Continue readingit’s not all fun & games being a crocodile, you know
Crocodiles (& their relatives, alligators) are generally viewed as top predators. They're 'ambush' hunters1, lunging up out of the water to snatch at their prey at the last moment. But sometimes, they come off second-best. Check out this video on the National Geographic site, of a jaguar stalking, catching, & killing a caiman. And how […]
Continue readingfluoridation – if you fail in the courts, try fear (& more misinformation)
Since the High Court judgement came out there's been a lot of news coverage on this issue – and an awful lot of misinformation & just plain fear tactics (particularly in social media) from those opposed to community water fluoridation (CWF). Last night's news coverage had this from TV One News (skip to 5:43) and […]
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