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Science Etcetera Saturnday, 20080419

April 19th, 2008
  • Today kicks off the Year of Evolution in honor of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin. It will run until May 2009.

    • Year of Evolution
  • When an glacier lake suddenly emptied in July 2006, it had three times the volume of Niagara.
  • One of the reasons rice prices have doubled in the last three months is the collapse of Australia’s rice production from drought.
  • The Borneo pygmy elephant is not actually from Borneo, but is actually the previously thought extinct Javan elephant, preserved by the Sultan of Sulu centuries ago.

    • Pygmy elephant with radio collar

    Pygmy elephant with radio collar
    Photo by Cede Prudente
  • Republicans think it was unfair that Google used its monetary influence to trigger open-access rules at the recent spectrum auction.
  • Single-celled phytoplankton, Emiliania huxleyi, thrives in elevated CO2 levels.
  • Recent observations by scientists are leading them to conclude that road kill may be a leading factor in species population declines.
  • A high school team has won Shell’s Eco-Marathon with a car that gets 2,843 MPG.
  • A three-hour project costing $18.39 in parts and sounds pretty sweet, build your own pocket theremin.
  • It’s not a fish or reptile, what is this mysterious skeleton found by Russian soldiers?

    • Unidentified Monster Skeleton

    Unidentified Monster Skeleton
  • An amusing critical analysis of the bad science behind the recent claim that vitamins will kill you.
  • A 9,550 year old spruce is the oldest living tree on the planet.
  • Plants thriving on a diet of moon rocks brings us closer to setting up gardens for our Moon Base.
  • It sounds suspiciously like spam-blogging to me, but there are now automated “living” websites that evolve and adapt to user preferences.
  • Two girl scouts are refusing to sell cookies, because the palm oil used to make them is driving orangutans into extinction.
  • Something to think about next time you eat at McDonald’s, their french fries don’t biodegrade:



    • 4 comments to “Science Etcetera Saturnday, 20080419”

    1. That’s one of the DVD Extras to Super Size Me, I think.

           by ClintJCL April 19th, 2008 at 1:59 pm

    2. I’ve seen that McDonald’s experiment before. I watched it again but I don’t know why. :) Anyway, Shannon had a good point. Ever cleaned out your car and found that rogue french fry under the seat, and it’s just like “How long has *that* been there?” It’s so true!

           by Carolyn April 19th, 2008 at 7:39 pm

    3. [...] a new trunk as the other died, this spruce tree in Sweden has kept itself going for 9550 years! (HT Ideonexus) (tags: [...]

           by links for 2008-04-21 « TGAW April 21st, 2008 at 3:40 pm

    4. ))

           by ClintJCL April 21st, 2008 at 11:31 pm

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