Meet the Lord Howe Island Stick Insect

Photo credit: Rod Morris http://www.rodmorris.co.nz

Dryoceocelus australis lives solely on an island group in Australia. They were thought to be extinct after 1930 until two dozen were spotted again in 2001. The IUCN lists them as critically endangered currently.

Read more here about the conservation efforts by zoos in Australia to ensure the species survival.

Pair bonding between the male and females has been reported, but is not definitive. Anecdotal evidence suggests the Lord Howe stick insects are gregarious and thus finding a male and female together may just be the expression of this trait. Research from Patrick Honan in 2008, examined 9 pairs from the Melbourne Zoo found that the behavior was consistent for each pair daily, but varied depending on the pair. Some pairs were always found together, but in some cases the female would be found in the nesting box and the male outside the nesting box.

Finally, here is an amazing video of hatching Lord Howe island stick insects from Zoos Victoria if you haven’t seen it already.

Lord Howe Island Stick Insect hatching from Zoos Victoria on Vimeo.

“Meet the…” is a collaboration between The Finch & Pea and Nature Afield to bring Nature’s amazing creatures into your home.

 

The Art of Science: Andrew Kudless’ Intelligent Design

Chrysalis III, 2012
Chrysalis III, 2012

Chrysalis III, a sculpture by Andrew Kudless and MATSYS Design, is a piece with elements to appeal equally to the naturalist, the computer geek and the art snob. The work is based on nature, specifically the self-organization of barnacle-like cells. He explains, “The cells shift and slide across the surface as they attempt to find a more balanced packed state through the use of a relaxed spring network constrained to the surface.” Continue reading “The Art of Science: Andrew Kudless’ Intelligent Design”

Wellcome Collection

C0017129 Medicine Man Exhibition displaysThe Wellcome Collection bills itself as a “destination for the incurably curious”, and indeed, the last time I was there I spent a good few minutes opening the drawers of a large cabinet, one by one, to reveal strange old medical prints inside.

Henry Wellcome founded Burroughs Wellcome & Company in the late 19th century. The company later merged into what is now Glaxo Smith-Kline. When he died, he left his share of the company to trustees, to spend on health projects. The Wellcome Trust is currently one of the main funders of biomedical research in the UK.

The Wellcome Collection, however, is the result of Wellcome’s hobby, not of his work. Henry Wellcome collected medical artefacts from all over the world. Continue reading “Wellcome Collection”

Donate to CosmoQuest

The lovely and talented folks at CosmoQuest are raising funds to keep their programs and staff going. Those programs include a variety of outreach and citizen science projects. Changes due to sequestration and the way that science education is being funded by the US government has left valuable programs like CosmoQuest with uncertain futures.

On March 22, 2013 we found out that many NASA EPO programs will be suspended as a direct result of US budgetary sequestration. The full ramifications are still being learned, but we are proactively working to raise money to make sure that CosmoQuest can continue to support its staff and its programs. As we are able, we will also use any monies we raise to contract amazing people whose jobs are negatively impacted by budgetary cuts.

Donate now to help keep CosmoQuest going, any amount helps.

Science Caturday: Not Just Ceiling Cat Watching You

The biggest story this week was the revelation that the US National Security Agency (NSA) has a program called PRISM that allows it access to the private communications of users of some very popular internet services, including Facebook and Google.

nsacat

Reactions ranged from denial

lalala

To shock and dismay

lolcat-omg-i-knew-it

to outright paranoia.

conspir

all lolcats via cheezburger.com