Archive for May, 2010

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Bald Eagles Are Back In California! Yay! They’re Eating Poison Seals! Boo!

Monday, May 3rd, 2010

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After a careful reintroduction program, Bald Eagles are flourishing in the Channel Islands of California. The only problem is there are now so many of them that food resources have become an issue and researchers are worried they might start eating seals that are tainted with the same poison that wiped out the Eagle population in the 1960s.

To make ends meet, the predatory birds may be forced to scavenge on marine mammal carcasses, the blubber of which is still laced with DDT—the same pesticide that infamously led to the near extinction of bald eagles across the United States.

“Eagles are opportunistic, and as their population grows, they might switch their diets … to include carrion from local sea lion colonies, which is a very abundant food source, for sure,” said study co-author Seth Newsome, a biochemist at the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington D.C.

The more things change, the more Bald Eagles can’t stop finding new ways to gobble DDT.

[National Geographic]

Posted in Animals, Poison | Comments Off on Bald Eagles Are Back In California! Yay! They’re Eating Poison Seals! Boo!

Japanese Prepared To Launch Solar-Powered Space Sails With Jinxed Name

Monday, May 3rd, 2010

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The Japanese are going to launch a new solar-powered space ship which will harnass the power of the sun for its energy with huge sails that are thinner than human hair. They are dubbing the project Ikaros. I am assuming this means the engineers only read the first part of the Greek myth before putting it down and assuming everything went well.

Ikaros stands for “Interplanetary Kite-craft Accelerated by Radiation of the Sun.” The name is also a reference to the Greek myth of Icarus, a young man who, with his father Daedalus, attempted to escape exile in Crete by fashioning wings of feathers and wax. According to the myth, Icarus flew too close to the sun, and the heat melted the wax in his wings, causing him to plummet to his death.

Ikaros is scheduled to take to the skies May 18th.

[Mashable]

Posted in Space | 1 Comment »

Science Quantifies Why Flies Are So Annoying To Swat

Monday, May 3rd, 2010
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Autopilot!

As it turns out, flies aren’t just super apt daredevils buzzing around your mighty hand as try to crush the winged pest. Nope, they just have a built in sense of autopilot that adjusts to changing wind currents faster than it would take for them to make a conscious decision to act.

The researchers glued tiny steel pins to the backs of the flies, allowing them to gently nudge the insects off course with a magnetic pulse as they buzzed about. As can be seen in the video, which is slowed down to 1/300th of actual speed, the flies reorient themselves quickly in response to the magnetic pulse (about 7 seconds in)—too quickly, the researchers report, for them to have responded consciously to the change. And that may explain why they’re so hard to swat.

Shoo fly! Or just wait until the wind blows another direction and you move that way without thinking, moron.

[Science Mag]

Posted in Science | 1 Comment »

Heavy Metal Dinosaurs Are Finland’s Newest Children’s Music Sensation

Monday, May 3rd, 2010

Ladies and gentleman, meet your new favorite band, Hevisaurus:

The band was born when a flash of lightning and witches’ spells revealed, cracked and brought to life five metal dinosaur eggs buried deep in a mountain 65 million years ago — around the time most other dinosaurs became extinct.

Or so goes the “official” creation story of the long-haired reptiles in spiked bracelets and black leather billed as the world’s only Jurassic metal band.

In reality, the idea hatched in the mind of drummer Mirka Rantanen, 38, a veteran “headbanger” who has played with numerous bands including the Finnish power metal group Thunderstone.
“For years and years you seriously try, and then you toss up this one crazy idea, and everyone gets excited,” said a bemused Rantanen in an interview.

It all started a few years ago when Rantanen attended a children’s concert with his own kids, now five and 11.

“What if I started making music for kids?” he thought. “What if it was heavy metal, since that’s what I’ve been doing for 25 years?”

Did you watch that video? Jesus Christ, seriously. How epic is that power ballad?!?!?

Find their more rocking anthem AFTER THE JUMP…

[Yahoo] (more…)

Posted in Awesome, Dinosaurs | 1 Comment »

100 Year Old Woman Growing A Horn On Head

Monday, May 3rd, 2010
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Hundred-year-old woman grows horn in forehead . The horn began growing on the left side of the forehead of Zhang Ruifang last year. Now it measures 5-6 centimeters long but the elderly woman feels no pain in the horn.

Thanks to WT fan Brian for passing this along.

[Zuzutop]

Posted in Bizarre | 1 Comment »

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