Subject |
Comments |
Views |
Author |
Date Written |
Blue eggs
|
view preview
Scientists have identified the genetic mutation responsible for the first blue chicken eggs in South American Mapuche fowl and their European descendants, Araucana, 200 to 500 years ago. They used the unique genetic resources conserved by heritage or “fancy” poultry breeders to identify the exact location of the mutation in the genome in blue egg laying chickens and an additional genomic study to reveal the genetic cause of the blue colored eggshell is a harmless ancient retrovirus in the domestic chicken. ...
|
|
|
2 |
3425 |
savio |
10 years ago |
An animal we'll never see again
|
view preview
Australia's iconic Tasmanian Tiger was hunted to extinction in the 1930s - but it may have already been doomed by an extremely small gene pool, according to a new study that stresses the fragility of isolated species.
|
|
|
2 |
3802 |
savio |
10 years ago |
Here's what low levels of melanin leads to
|
view preview
This is a rare baby Golden Brushtail Possum that was born at Wild Life Sydney last year. Golden Brushtail Possums are one of Australia’s largest tree-dwelling marsupials but they're rarely seen in the wild, being found mostly in small pockets of Tasmania. Their unique appearance is the result of low levels of melanin in their skin.
|
|
|
0 |
3671 |
savio |
10 years ago |
Who needs supplements when you have kiwis?
|
view preview
Researchers from University of Otago have found that a natural fruit source of vitamin C – kiwifruit – is vastly superior to a purified supplement form. The researchers are studying kiwifruit as a source of dietary vitamin C and found that in mice eating kiwifruit, vitamin C uptake was five times as effective as taking a purified supplement form. The study was recently published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, the highest ranking journal for human nutrition research. ...
|
|
|
0 |
4070 |
savio |
10 years ago |
Do babies learn while they are still in the womb?
|
view preview
The researchers gave pregnant women a recording of several spoken variations of the made-up word "tatata" to play daily during their last trimester. When tested using EEG sensors after birth, their infants' brains recognised the words and its variations, while the control group did not.
|
|
|
0 |
3517 |
savio |
10 years ago |
This is not an optical illusion
|
view preview
See anything peculiar? If you look closely, you'll see an Eastern screech owl hiding in plain sight. These owls are nocturnal and their amazing camouflage allows them to go largely unnoticed in the daytime. These owls only grow to about 22 cm (8.5 in) tall and weigh about 244 grams (8.6 oz), but they have been observed hunting squirrels and rats who rival them in length and weight. Eastern screech owls are found in North America from Canada all the way down to Mexico. ...
|
|
|
0 |
3172 |
savio |
10 years ago |
Pellagra
|
view preview
In the early 1900s, the disease pellagra was widespread in the United States, especially in southern states. Individuals with pellagra were weak, and they developed diarrhea, a skin rash, and mental confusion. Each year, thousands of Americans died from this dreaded illness. In 1914 the U.S. surgeon general assigned Joseph Goldberger, a physician who worked in a federal government laboratory, to study pellagra. Most medical experts thought pellagra was an infectious disease because it often occurred where people lived in close quarters, such as prisons, orphanages, and mental health institutions. Goldberger knew from his previous research that infectious diseases usually spread through a population by close physical contact. While investiga ...
|
|
|
0 |
2806 |
savio |
10 years ago |
An unrecognized hero
|
view preview
"I believe that at the end of the century the use of words and general educated opinion will have altered so much that one will be able to speak of machines thinking without expecting to be contradicted."Alan Turing (left) was a hero to the British people and the free world whose work cracking the codes of Axis powers saved lives and helped the war effort. He was highly influential in the development of computer science, giving a formalisation of the concepts of "algorithm" and "computation" with the Turing machine, which can be considered a model of a general purpose computer ...
|
|
|
0 |
3559 |
savio |
10 years ago |
|
1 |
6001 |
savio |
10 years ago |
Baby blue eyes
|
view preview
Waardenburg Syndrome is a rare autosomal genetic disorder that has possible bright blue eyes as one of its qualifying criteria, along with possible deafness (common). Actually, the cause of the blue eyes is a form of albinism that may include patches of non-pigmented skin or forehead hair, regardless of ethnicity. There are four types of Waardenburg Syndrome, with a mix of possible characteristics as the determinant. Medical challenges increase with type. The boy in the picture is displaying two major symptoms of type 1; bright blue eyes and dystopia canthorum, a condition where the inner corners of the eyes are set more widely apart, but with normally distanced eyes. ...
|
|
|
3 |
3943 |
savio |
10 years ago |
How to train a tree
|
view preview
A bonsai tree is “trained” to grow as a dwarf by pruning and shaping the branches. But seeds from the tree would produce trees that grow to normal size. This shows the there is no inheritance of the characteristics acquired by pruning.
|
|
|
0 |
5562 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
Ring trick
|
view preview
Belugas apparently fashion their own entertainment by creating bubble rings and then catching them. A beluga at Sea World Kamogawa, near Tokyo, was snapped in the act, and another at the Shimane Aquarium has been seen performing the trick.
|
|
|
2 |
6467 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
A parrot with a wicked hairstyle
|
view preview
This is a Palm Cockatoo, also know as the Goliath Cockatoo. Palms are distinguished by their size, huge beak (second only to the Hyacinth Macaw among psittacines and largest proportionate to size), solid black feather coloration, large open crest, bare red cheeks, and red and black tongue. You have to see their tongues to believe the coloration. It's amazing. Palm Cockatoos are severely threatened. They are CITES Appendix I birds and are protected in Australia. As a testament to their rarity, typical prices in the U.S. for Aterrimus Palms are around $8000 and Goliaths around $14,000. Perhaps contributing to their rarity is the fact that, according to both Low and Forshaw, they lay only one egg per clutch. ...
|
|
|
1 |
5911 |
savio |
10 years ago |
A computer that can spell out what you're thinking
|
view preview
The program builds on previous research and uses a mathematical model to determine which letter the test subject was thinking about at the time of the scan. Researchers hope to refine this technology in the future in order to reconstruct memories or dreams.
|
|
|
1 |
7932 |
savio |
10 years ago |
Largest animal that has ever lived
|
view preview
Blue whales are not only the largest animal alive right now, but they are believed to be the largest animal that has ever lived. They are listed as endangered by the IUCN, but a group of researchers hopes to designate 10% of the ocean as protected by 2020. Despite their slow reproduction times, researchers believe this will be enough to help rebound their number
|
|
|
0 |
7027 |
savio |
10 years ago |
A monster bug
|
view preview
This is the Tacua speciosa, one of the world's largest and most beautiful species of cicada. It is found in Borneo, Sumatra, Java and parts of the Malay Peninsula and its wingspan can stretch up to an impressive 18 cm.
|
|
|
1 |
6651 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
|
0 |
4814 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
A peculiar lobster has been discovered
|
view preview
1 out of every 50-100 million lobsters has split coloring. One side is typically a dark brown, while the other side is blue, orange, or red. These individuals usually exhibit traits of both males and females.
|
|
|
0 |
4863 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
Even chimps suffer from hair loss
|
view preview
This 20-year-old male chimp suffering with alopecia, is a star attraction at an Indian zoo, as he sort of resembles a human. Perhaps being locked up in a zoo makes life a deeply distressing experience
|
|
|
1 |
5162 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
New species discovered in the Western Hemisphere
|
view preview
Meet olinguito, or Bassaricyon neblina, the first species of carnivore discovered in the Western Hemisphere in 35 years. This cute teddy bear-like nocturnal mammal is native to Central and South America, and spends most of its time in the treetops, coming down to the forest floor occasionally to eat fruits such as guava.
|
|
|
0 |
3935 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
|
0 |
3164 |
savio |
10 years ago |
One step closer to teleportation
|
view preview
The hyperloop would be solar powered and connect cities up to 900 miles away from each other. The passenger pods would be enclosed, which diminishes concerns about weather and interacting with wildlife. The designer of the hyperloop is Elon Musk, the founder of SpaceX and Tesla Motors. There are still issues to work out before the plan would be practical, but it is an exciting look forward to alternative modes of transportation.
|
|
|
1 |
3428 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
Bunnies that glow in the dark
|
view preview
Glow-in-the-dark rabbits were born a few days ago at the University of Istanbul, Turkey. To produce the ‘mutant’ bunnies, researchers took two embryos from a pregnant female rabbit, injected them with a fluorescent jellyfish protein, and reinserted them into the female rabbit. The scientists believe this experiment could help in the development of better, more efficient ways to produce medicines.
|
|
|
0 |
3287 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
How do fish see in the dark?
|
view preview
The angry-looking deep sea angler fish has a right to be cranky. It is quite possibly the ugliest animal on the planet, and it lives in what is easily Earth's most inhospitable habitat: the lonely, lightless bottom of the sea. There are more than 200 species of anglerfish, most of which live in the murky depths of the Atlantic and Antarctic oceans, up to a mile below the surface, although some live in shallow, tropical environments. Generally dark gray to dark brown in color, they have huge heads and enormous crescent-shaped mouths filled with sharp, translucent teeth. Some angler fish can be quite large, reaching 3.3 feet (1 meter) in length. Most however are significantly smaller, often less than a foot. Their mouths are so big and their bo ...
|
|
|
1 |
4468 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
|
5 |
4957 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
The Wobbegong shark
|
view preview
Not all sharks are built for speed. This bottom-dwelling wobbegong shark stays near the ocean floor. Its camouflage allows it to go largely unnoticed, until its prey wanders too close or thinks the tassels are something to eat. Then, the wobbegong leaps into action, devouring the unlucky fish, squid, or crustacean. They’ve even been seen swallowing other sharks whole!
|
|
|
2 |
3095 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
|
1 |
3106 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
World's largest fish species
|
view preview
This photo shows a diver almost being eaten by a whale shark, the world's largest fish species. Marine photographer Mauricio Handler captured the intense moment during a dive in Isla Mujeres, Mexico, when more than 600 of the 12-metre-long animals gathered to feed on tuna spawn.
|
|
|
0 |
3092 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
Quench your thirst with tears
|
view preview
This pretty little moth from Madagascar, Hemiceratoides hieroglyphica, frequents birds at night and drinks their tears using a specialised harpoon-like proboscis. In the image, H. hieroglyphica prepares to drink tears from a sleeping common Newtonia ( Newtonia brunneicauda).
|
|
|
2 |
3496 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
Personal drones – another step to absolute laziness
|
view preview
Engineers are building special drones that will deliver food to your table – or home. Besides the iTray, which brings customers sushi at a Japanese restaurant in London (above), researchers have developed a 'tacocopter' and 'pizzacopter' that can traverse six kilometers in ten minutes. But don’t get your hopes up yet, there are plenty of technological barriers to overcome before drones deliver pizzas to our homes.
|
|
|
0 |
3562 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
Global warming, a cause for hunger
|
view preview
A lack of sea ice caused by global warming meant this polar bear was unable to hunt seals and died of starvation. The carcass was found in northern Svalbard, Norway, far from its normal range, where he probably was looking for food.
|
|
|
5 |
3159 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
Surviving nuclear war
|
view preview
This Bonsai tree was planted in 1626, and survived the atomic bomb at Hiroshima on August 6th, 1945, 68 years ago today. It was given to the people of the United States as a Bicentennial Gift in 1976.
|
|
|
0 |
3114 |
savio |
10 years ago |
Unusual defence mechanism
|
view preview
While the video may look like a trick an owner could teach their animal to do, some birds actually do play dead to avoid predation. If they feel in danger, they will essentially 'play dead' since predators are more interested in live, healthy prey than dead prey.
|
|
|
3 |
3409 |
savio |
10 years ago |
|
1 |
3214 |
savio |
10 years ago |
Fish with human-like teeth
|
view preview
Say hello to the sheepshead fish; those aren't artifical dentures if you're wondering - they are its actual teeth.
|
|
|
1 |
3826 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
If Squidward were real
|
view preview
The Banded Piglet squid is proof that not all deep sea creatures are nightmare-inducing. They swim "upside down" compared to other squid, leaving him resembling a Muppet with his tentacles as the hair, the syphon as the nose, and his patterning appearing to be a smile. These guys live at least 100 m below the surface. Because of those incredible depths, it has to create its own light from the photophores underneath its eyes. Unfortunately, because it lives so far down, not much is known about its life cycle or eating habits. ...
|
|
|
0 |
3234 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
Fashion matters
|
view preview
Although I'm a guy, I enjoyed watching this video. I also appreciate a modestly-dressed woman
|
|
|
1 |
3855 |
savio |
10 years ago |
Nature's kiss
|
view preview
Check out this beautiful flower. At first glance, it looks like a set of lips, but in actually, these are the flowers that are produced by Psychotria elata, a plant that grows in Central and South American tropical forests.
|
|
|
1 |
4061 |
savio |
10 years ago |
Abortion is a tough lemon to swallow
|
view preview
Take a good look at this premature child. It's hard to deny that it isn't a fully formed human being, though in some parts of the world, abortions at the second and third trimester are perfectly legal Thoughts are welcome.
|
|
|
3 |
6046 |
bio_man |
10 years ago |
Colorful trees
|
view preview
These are rainbow eucalyptus trees ( Eucalyptus deglupta) and they hail from the Philippine Islands. The trees get their name from the striking colours observed on their trunks and limbs. Although it may look like someone took a paintbrush to them, these colours are entirely natural. Unlike most trees, the rainbow eucalyptus does not have a thick, cork-like layer of bark on its trunk. The bark is smooth and as it grows it 'exfoliates' layers of spent tissue. This exfoliation technique occurs at different stages and in different zones of the tree. Once a layer is shed, a new fresh green bark is exposed. As this new bark ages, we can see the tissue change colour to dark green followed by a bluish colour, then to purple and pink-orange and then f ...
|
|
|
0 |
4066 |
savio |
10 years ago |
This fish looks like it can perform hypnosis
|
view preview
Stargazer fish have their eyes situated on the tops of their heads and can bury themselves in the sediment with only their faces sticking out. Some species lure prey with a worm-shaped projection that comes out of their mouths. They are toxic and some can deliver a 50 volt shock!
|
|
|
0 |
3908 |
savio |
10 years ago |
The Bushveld rain frog
|
view preview
The Bushveld rain frog is found in Southern Africa. When threatened, it puffs itself up to ward off potential attackers. The frogs are sexually dimorphic, and the male is too small to mount the female properly to reproduce. The white secretion you see on the back of the frog is actually an adhesive that holds the male in place during copulation.
|
|
|
1 |
3555 |
savio |
10 years ago |