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From Mastiff to Miniature Poodle, Dogs Know Each Other by Sight
Anyone who's walked a dog and seen it spring to attention when another dogs rounds a corner—even though that animal is still a full block away—may have wondered how exactly dogs recognize each other....
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In lab today - clubmosses
Clubmosses are a favorite group of plants, the oldest lineage of living vascular plants, relicts of the Devonian and Carboniferous, a glimpse into the primeval world. What a great group of organisms....
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A pretty picture of the Solar System
[Benjamin W. Betts] has made some studies of the Solar System, and endeavoured to find the law by which the intervals between the planets are regulated. He considers that the planets mark points of...
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Sequoia National Park Field Guide
These are the final two videos in the series Looking Down by Lena Coleman, a graduate student at California State University Northridge.These two are photographic field guides that teach you to...
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Uncle Syd's idea for funding new assistant professors
I was leafing (virtually of course) through old issues of "Current Biology" when I came across a thought-provoking, slightly tongue-in-cheek essay by Sydney Brenner in an issue from 1994. Brenner used...
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GPS for bicycles
A very nifty GPS device for use on bicycles is on the market. Wow! You'll know exactly where you are on the surface of the Earth while on your bicycle. How often has TPP wondered what state he was...
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Sneaky Kids Teach Parents to be Environmentally Responsible
Don't trust your kids. Like a miniature, juice-fueled army with subliminal messaging tactics, they can get inside your mind and make you do things. You won't realize what's happening until you step...
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About to have some winter
So far the winter of 2012-2013 has been pretty much a no show except for some cold temps, but nothing terribly cold. it has been quite windy, so it's seemed colder. Basically it's been a brown winter...
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Tapas for dinner
A tapas dinner party is planned for a week from now. Tapas are small plate dishes in the Spanish tradition. The trick is to have a array of dishes with some diversity, some hot, some cold, some with...
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Swamp gas? UFOs?
Readers ask the strangest questions. Here's the question from MarkO: Thanks for taking up the challenge, TPP! It's a complicated story, but I'll try to be succinct. It involves a famous wave of UFO...
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Pitcher Plant Predator Micro Terrarium
Who wouldn't want one of these? Hey, kids let's grow a pitcher plant predator! TPP discovered an entire display of "micro -terraria", basically a plastic egg with a jiffy 5 (? smaller than a jiffy 7)...
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Professorship in France
On EvolDir there is this job-posting: *The lab of "Biometry and Evolutionary Biology" UMR CNRS 5558, (***University of ******Lyon**, France)* offers a permanent position for 2013 :Assistant professor...
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Fabulous Flower - winter edition
It's been a tough go for Friday Fabulous Flowers, sort of a seasonal drought of flowering, and with limited diversity to begin with, you've seen most of them. TPP does have a few bonsai trees of the...
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Kibble and bits
The Phactors like to cook, especially when we can't garden, for our general amusement and to get food you just can't buy out on the town. Like all foodies, recipes accumulate, and sometimes sit around...
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TLDR: Submerged continent found in the Indian ocean
The island M stands for Mauritius Scientists have discovered a submerged continent in the Indian ocean, between Madagascar and India. According to sediments found on the coast of Mauritius, at some...
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Why do the religious have a problem with outsiders
There's plenty of evidence that, at least in the Christian west, religious people are more likely than average to be hostile towards others who they perceive as being outside their group. Strangely,...
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The Paradox of Cryptic Species
A cryptic species is quite the paradox. If it is cryptic, how do you identify it as a species?Well with cryptic species there is usually a hint. A tickle at the back of your brain. Maybe it is a...
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TLDR: Why is it that our brains are all wrinkly?
Some mammals have smooth brains (rat), while others have a lot of folds (dolphins). Higher folds lead to greater surface area and denser connections between neurons, which in turn help increase the...
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Reevaluation of the Enigmatic Archosaur Dyoplax arenaceus from the Upper...
Maisch, M. W., Matzke, A. T., and T. Rathgeber. 2013. Re-evaluation of the enigmatic archosaur Dyoplax arenaceus O. Fraas, 1867 from the Schilfsandstein (Stuttgart Formation, lower Carnian, Upper...
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Chitonous Confusion
Lepidochitona cinerea, photographed by Rokus Groeneveld. Chitons have been featured at this site once before, in a brief post on the family Ischnochitonidae. Today's post is focused on another chiton...
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