Crows were back in the news again last week. A fascinating study was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggesting that New Caledonian Crows are able to reason about hidden causal agents—connecting events to a hidden perpetrator. But before we go any further, if you aren’t already in love with genus Corvus, please [...]
Maiden’s Hair aka Chlorodesmis fastigiata is a marine algae and plankton species. It’s also commonly known as turtle weed, though Maiden’s hair is clearly superior in eliciting interest. It definitely beats what I would have named it, patchy-water-grass, but while illustrating this one I also thought it could be kicked up a notch to Mermaid’s [...]
Last Thursday was the 2012 Ig Nobel prizes, a yearly prize ceremony wherein quirky or downright odd scientific endeavors are given the appreciation they deserve. The Ig Nobel awards, put on by the Annals of Improbable Research, are near and dear to my heart as we share a creedo: Make them laugh, then make them [...]
While researching Monday’s space spice comic, the nasal decongestant properties of horseradish/wasabi/mustard were oft touted, and it didn’t sit right with me. Sure enough, while I was only able to find one study, it did not bode well for the sinus clearing condiments. Before, I had figured that, at best, the reaction to wasabi merely [...]
25% of all marine species live in less than 0.1% of the ocean, the coral reefs! Today’s inhabitant and Phylo card set illustration is the Redfish, Sebastes spp. They are a relatively abundant, slow growing long-lived shoaling* fish. I originally had his mouth open wide for increased action shot appeal, and really liked it. Until, [...]
That last panel is truefacts, folks. I took some artistic license, but otherwise it’s 100% true. As if astronauts on the ISS didn’t have enough problems with microgravity induced maladies such as headaches, bone density loss, muscle atrophy, and even blindness, they can’t even enjoy food thanks to stuffy heads. Their solution? A tactic near and [...]
Not breaking news by any means, but fascinating nonetheless. A while back I told you about some of the interesting properties of moon dust, one of which was the peculiar smell of it. Every now and then an article about outer space itself having a smell will appear, and in every one it has been [...]
Coral Reefs are as delicate as they are beautiful, and as a way to reverse some of the damage done to them by natural and unnatural factors (such as bottom trawling–the equivalent of punching and kicking everything on the ocean floor) a team of scientists is suggesting that a swarm of ‘coralbots’ could help with [...]
As a roommate, I am the tiger in this comic. I tend to keep to myself, as I enjoy my privacy, but it gets out of hand at times and borders on anti-social behavior (or so my guilt tells me). But I am working on it. Last week I happened to catch this piece over [...]
In college, Nadir and I were avid cosplayers, though I don’t know if that word existed back then or if it even applied to what we did. It was normal Halloween stuff: Luchodores, fairy tale duos*, religious figures, and probably the best Jay and Silent Bob around. I didn’t dress up as anything when I [...]