Sunday Science Poem: Big Dumb Objects, Arthur C. Clake, John Keats, and the Sublime

RamaThe purpose of the Big Dumb Object in science fiction is to cure us of our familiarity with the universe. We tend to forget that the universe is complex, vast, exotic, eerie, and downright mystifying. Our daily experiences with its odd phenomena constitute what is normal, and normal is, of course, that which we’re inclined to take for granted. Among the bizarre things we accept as normal are the spontaneous development of a child into an adult, our ability to perceive coherent images and sounds that reach us through a tangled mess of reflecting waves, that there “are mountains in Chile, and not a hill in La Plata,” and the fortunate fact that Jupiter hasn’t yet sent the Earth spinning out of the Solar System.

Big Dumb Objects are metaphors that regenerate the strangeness of the universe in order remind us that a strange universe is a necessary condition for the sublime experience of scientific discovery. Two writers who knew this well were Arthur C. Clarke and John Keats. Continue reading “Sunday Science Poem: Big Dumb Objects, Arthur C. Clake, John Keats, and the Sublime”

So I take it you aren’t happy with ENCODE…

Mike is very busy being an awesome scientist. So, I have the duty of reacting to the latest “ENCODE takedown” published by Graur et al in Genome Biology and Evolution: “On the immortality of television sets: ‘function’ in the human genome according to the evolution-free gospel of ENCODE”. The title kind of tells you that the ENCODE consortium has a snowball’s chance in Hell of coming out of this one looking good – not that the paper was written by unbiased critics. Continue reading “So I take it you aren’t happy with ENCODE…”

Science Caturday: New Treatments for Old Kitties

Funny Pictures of Cats and Kittens

Note: We usually feature lolcats here on Science Caturday, because we love both cats and science (and we like to LOL). But today we haz a more serious kitty science post.

Most cats love to be stroked, but many older cats suffer from osteoarthritis, a condition that owners may not notice and can make even petting painful.  Scientists at the University of Montreal recently published a study in the journal Research in Veterinary Science on how to recognize and treat osteoarthritis in cats. “Osteoarthritis frequently affects cats’ elbows, backs and hips and joints in the hind limbs, and its prevalence increases dramatically with age. More than 80 % of cats older than 11 years old have it,” explained lead author Eric Troncy of the university’s Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. Continue reading “Science Caturday: New Treatments for Old Kitties”

Meet the Margay

Photo credit: http://www.felineconservation.org Please check out the link to donate
Photo credit: http://www.felineconservation.org Please check out the link to donate

Shut the front door.

Seriously this cat is incredible and adorable. The margay (Leopardus wiedii) is a bit like a mini ocelot. They are native to the Americas and there is even a record of one found in Texas over 100 years ago!

These cats are nocturnal and live primary in the rainforests from Argentina all the way to Mexico. They are absolutely striking and unfortunately this has made the margay a target for fur poachers resulting in their IUCN status as near threatened.

Most amazingly, the margay can rotate its ankle 180 degrees to climb trees upside down. margayThe picture to the right cannot do the ankle rotation move justice (watch the video 1:23!). They can climb down trees head first and may even nap upside down. Margays can hang from a branch upside down by a single paw. The video below is absolutely gorgeous and worth the time to watch (full screen).

A Margay and Her Kittens from Phil Slosberg on Vimeo.

Video Credit: Phil Slosberg, a talented wildlife photographer in Costa Rica

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

 

Meet the sexually empowered female Texas Blind Salamander

Courtship and sperm transfer in pygmy salamanders Desmognathus wrighti. From biocyclopedia.com
Courtship and sperm transfer in pygmy salamanders, Desmognathus wrighti. From biocyclopedia.com

The Texas Blind Salamander (Eurycea rathbuni) is in the Plethodontidae family, also known as lungless salamanders. There are over 400 species of plethodontids making them the most speciose family of salamanders. These salamanders have elaborate and stereotyped courtship rituals. Research has suggested that in general, the male initiates the mating ritual in salamanders. While research and data are sparse for Texas Blind Salamander, it has been reported in captivity that the female actually initiates the courtship behavior.

The female has been reported to rub her nose on the dorsum and side of the male near the cloacal region. Next, the female was observed to rub her cloacal region against the rocks on the bottom of the tank nearby the male. The nearby male began to show interest at this point and courtship ensued. The courtship sequence proceeded with the male depositing a spermatophore, leading the female, and finally the female’s cloaca aligned over the spermatophore to pick it up.

This courtship behavior account comes from a lovely paper in 1988 by Bechler in The Southwestern Naturalist.

Learn more about Plethodontidae here on the Amphibiaweb page.

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