As part of an art experiment that was set to blur the line between species a woman named Marion Laval-Jeantet decided to inject herself with horse plasma.  She is half of the French art duo called “Art Oriente ojet” (who you can check out here).  She could not inject the plasma initially but had to build up a tolerance by injecting horse immunoglobulins and glycoproteins over several months.  In February of this year, she was ready for plasma that contained the entire range of foreign immunoglobulins.  What happened was interesting in that her body did not reject them, but entered her blood stream and bonded with her own proteins.  The results are stunning.

“the artist, during and in the weeks after the performance, experienced not only alterations in her physiological rhythm but also of her consciousness. “I had the feeling of being extra-human,” explained the artist. “I was not in my usual body. I was hyper-powerful, hyper-sensitive, hyper-nervous and very diffident. The emotionalism of an herbivore. I could not sleep. I probably felt a bit like a horse.’”

[we make money not art]

“The most important thing this discovery tells us is that there are quite likely to be other large fishes in the Amazon yet to be discovered and described.”

[NewScientist]

A new all-female species of lizard (Leiolepis ngovantrii) that reproduces itself by cloning was discovered being served up in Vietnamese restaurants in the Mekong River delta. The first batch that was being saved for the scientists to review went missing when “Unfortunately, the owner wound up getting drunk, and grilled them all up for his patrons…” However, they checked other nearby restaurants and were able to gather about sixty specimens.

How awesome tasting are these lizard treats you ask?

“You take a bite out of it and it feels like something very old and dead in your mouth”

THAT awesome.

[CNN]

A team of scientists visited a lush wilderness once dubbed “The Lost World” and guess what they found? No, not a disappointing sequel starring Vince Vaughn for no reason… three species that might be totally new to science!

The array of new species, which include several new mammals, a reptile, an amphibian, no fewer than twelve insects, and the remarkable discovery of a new bird, was found by a collaborative team of international and Indonesian scientists participating in Conservation International’s Rapid Assessment Program (RAP), which explored Indonesia’s remote Foja Mountains on the island of New Guinea in late 2008.

RAP surveys, which typically last three to four weeks, bring together teams of field biologists to conduct rapid, first-cut assessments of the biological value of selected areas. The biologists on this expedition endured torrential rain storms and life-threatening flash floods as they tracked species from the low foothills at Kwerba village to the top of the range at 2,200 meters (7,200 feet), reporting notable discoveries that included a bizarre spike-nosed tree frog; an oversized, but notably tame, woolly rat; a gargoyle-like, bent-toed gecko with yellow eyes; an imperial pigeon; and a tiny forest wallaby, the smallest member of the kangaroo family documented in the world.

Above is a picture of the Smallest Wallaby, which sounds like a children’s book. What’s the over/under on when it’s spotted peaking out of Miley Cyrus’ purse on a red carpet?

[Science Daily]