Biology Fact of the Day

[The Magic Pudding]

Did anyone see the David Attenborough program where some pelicans visit a bird rookery?
They somehow fit some very large plump chicks into their bills, I wouldn't have thought it possible.

Pelicans here have trouble with fishing line and hooks.

[notself]

The fishing line is bad enough and it is very bad.  The hooks are even worse because they are barbed and as the pelican tries to get the hook out she tangles herself tighter and tighter in the line.  The line cuts through the pelicans skin and infection sets in.  Some "fishermen" pull the pelican in when she is hooked and wrap the line around her, then throw her back.  Quite horrible.

If some kind person can reach the pelican within a day  or two and takes her to a wildlife center, there is a very good chance that the pelican will heal and be released in a couple of weeks.  Our wildlife center had salt water pools for the larger sea birds.  I slipped and fell in one and I swear the pelicans were laughing.

[NothingSacred]

I learned today that that little pink fleshy bit in the corner of the eye is possibly an eyelid similar to that of a crock ... ya know the clear one they use to see underwater.... how neat would that be to have?!?!

[The Magic Pudding]

Some locals at the boat ramp.

[Thumpalumpacus]

Interesting. Incidentally, it isn't remotely clear that mitochondrial Eve was actually an example of Homo sapiens. This has to be stated, of course, with due reference to the 'discontinuity of mind' inherent in any discussion of species. In reality, organismal history doesn't fit into neat little boxes. Speaking of which, it's always amusing that cretinists talk about the gaps in the fossil record. If the fossil record were actually complete, the concept of species would be absolutely meaningless and without merit, because we simply wouldn't be able to draw lines between one species and another, or at least, not within a particular lineage.

Yes.  The joy of discovering a new species is dampened by the fact that we've created two gaps where previously there was only one.

The bastages.

[Sophus]

url=http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=what-causes-hiccups]Scientific American[/url]"]omewhere in the brain we have a "central pattern generator," or CPG, for hiccups. In other words, there is a neuronal circuit designed for generating hiccups similar to the ones we have for actions such as breathing, coughing and walking. And like most of those CPGs, it is an oscillator: it sends out a recurring, periodic signal to set off a hiccup. We don't have hiccups all the time, however, so the oscillator must be a "conditional oscillator" that fires only under certain conditions.

By the way, sex can cure the hiccups.

[Tank]

url=http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=what-causes-hiccups]Scientific American[/url]"]omewhere in the brain we have a "central pattern generator," or CPG, for hiccups. In other words, there is a neuronal circuit designed for generating hiccups similar to the ones we have for actions such as breathing, coughing and walking. And like most of those CPGs, it is an oscillator: it sends out a recurring, periodic signal to set off a hiccup. We don't have hiccups all the time, however, so the oscillator must be a "conditional oscillator" that fires only under certain conditions.

By the way, sex can cure the hiccups.

Citation please!

Try and get away with that in public.
You: "Yes officer I was trying to cure her hiccups!"
Officer:"But she hasn't got hiccups!"
You: "See, it works!"

This does beg the question what sort of sex  

[The Magic Pudding]

url=http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=what-causes-hiccups]Scientific American[/url]"]omewhere in the brain we have a "central pattern generator," or CPG, for hiccups. In other words, there is a neuronal circuit designed for generating hiccups similar to the ones we have for actions such as breathing, coughing and walking. And like most of those CPGs, it is an oscillator: it sends out a recurring, periodic signal to set off a hiccup. We don't have hiccups all the time, however, so the oscillator must be a "conditional oscillator" that fires only under certain conditions.

By the way, sex can cure the hiccups.

Citation please!

Try and get away with that in public.
You: "Yes officer I was trying to cure her hiccups!"
Officer:"But she hasn't got hiccups!"
You: "See, it works!"

This does beg the question what sort of sex  

Yes I think that post was lacking in rigour, not even a you tube link.

[Sophus]

It's a fun fact I remembered from this old TED talk: http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/549 Ta da!

[joeactor]

Are you... BioCurious?

Interesting site:
http://www.biocurious.org

Not sure I fully understand what they're trying to achieve (or how potentially dangerous it might be).
Take a look - I'd love to hear some of your thoughts on it.

You can also contribute to their KickStarter project if you're so inclined.

Hmmm...
JoeActor

[Tom62]

"A centuries-old religious ceremony of an indigenous people in southern Mexico has led to evolutionary changes in a local species of fish, say researchers at Texas A&M University. Apparently since before Columbus arrived, the Zoque people would venture each spring into the sulfuric cave Cueva del Azufre to beg the gods for bountiful rain. As part of the ritual, they released into the cave's waters a leaf-bound paste made of lime and the ground-up root of the barbasco plant, a natural fish toxin. The rest is worth reading, but the upshot is that the fish living in the cave waters eventually got wise, genetically speaking."

http://scienceblog.com/39940/moved-by-r ... -to-toxin/

[joeactor]

... and now for something that is on topic:

The tobacco mosaic virus is a destructive beast infecting over a hundred different species of plants, including tomatoes. But it may have a weird eco benefit: Incorporated into lithium batteries, it can increase storage capacity ten times.

from:
http://gizmodo.com/5711175/this-plant-v ... 10x-longer

[Sophus]

... and now for something that is on topic:

The tobacco mosaic virus is a destructive beast infecting over a hundred different species of plants, including tomatoes. But it may have a weird eco benefit: Incorporated into lithium batteries, it can increase storage capacity ten times.

from:
http://gizmodo.com/5711175/this-plant-v ... 10x-longer

That is weird/cool. Thanks Joe!

[Inevitable Droid]

from:
http://gizmodo.com/5711175/this-plant-v ... 10x-longer

Wow!  Just the fact that a virus can bind to metal is surprising enough, for yours truly.

This was interesting:

then tobacco growers around the world may find themselves contributing something more positive to society

I guess the question they'd be asking themselves is, who will pay me more, the cigarette maker or the batter maker?  Unless perhaps the virus can be harvested without destroying the tobacco for cigarette purposes?

[joeactor]

Agreed Sophus and Droid.

I'm a fan of the bio/tech cross-over stories.
Guess the cyborg craze of 2055 is right up my alley!