Research Lab Designed to Roll Across the Arctic Tundra
Here is an interesting idea for an arctic research lab. The Arctic Drifter, designed by Studio Les Betes, was designed to roll across the terrain as it is blown by Arctic winds, collecting data as it goes. The rolling lab can traverse ice, water and small crevasses. The Drifter deploys air bags to stop. The lab inside uses a roll-cage to remain upright.
The tripod fish is an amazing fish. Enormously elongated pectoral fins
allow the tripod fish to stand on the sea floor. The tripod fish stand on the bottom of the ocean and face into the current and wait for passing prey. The tripod fish is also a hermaphrodite. Take a look:
A rare fire whirl, also known as a fire tornado, briefly made an appearance near Sao Paolo, Brazil. The swirling fire tornado was reportedly several meters high and brought traffic to a standstill. The Christian Science Monitorexplains how the fire whirl formed.
When there is a warm updraft of air and convergence of fire, say from a wildfire, a vortex of flame can occur. As the heated air from the fire rises, strong air currents cause flame to spin, shaping it into a tornado.
Severe drought and strong winds in Sao Paolo have created conditions which makes fire whirls possible. It has not rained for three months in Sao Paolo. Take a look:
Pea-Sized Frog Discovered on Pitcher Plants in Borneo
The smallest frog in the Old World (Asia, Africa and Europe) and one of the tiniest frogs in the world was discovered living inside and around pitcher plants in the heath forests of Borneo. The pea-sized amphibian is a species of microhylid. The species includes miniature frogs under 15 millimeters.
The mini frogs (Microhyla nepenthicola) were found on the edge of a road leading to the summit of the Gunung Serapi mountain, which lies within Kubah National Park. The new species was named after the plant on which it depends to live, the Nepenthes ampullaria, one of many species of pitcher plants in Borneo. The frogs deposit their eggs on the sides of the pitcher, and tadpoles grow in the liquid inside the plant.
Adult males of the new species range between 10.6 and 12.8 mm – about the size of a pea. The tiny frogs were found by tracking their call. Once found they were then made to jump onto a piece of white cloth to be examined closer. The singing starts at dusk, with males gathering within and around the pitcher plants. This "amphibian symphony" goes on from sundown until peaking in the early hours of the evening.
Pulverized Planet Dust Discovered Around Double Star Systems
A new study, using data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, suggests that tight double-star systems might not be the best places for life to spring up. The infrared observatory spotted a surprisingly large amount of dust around three mature, close-orbiting star pairs. Astronomers suspect this dust might be the aftermath of tremendous planetary collisions.
"This is real-life science fiction," said Jeremy Drake of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, Mass. "Our data tell us that planets in these systems might not be so lucky -- collisions could be common. It's theoretically possible that habitable planets could exist around these types of stars, so if there happened to be any life there, it could be doomed."
Stars gravitational influences change when they get closer to each other. This could cause disturbances to planetary bodies orbiting around both stars. Comets and any planets that might exist in the systems could jostle about and bang into each other, sometimes in powerful collisions.
"These kinds of systems paint a picture of the late stages in the lives of planetary systems," said Marc Kuchner, a co-author from NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "And it's a future that's messy and violent."
Wall Street Journal: Scientists Say Microbes Consumed Gulf Oil
Last week there was a report that a subsurface hydrocarbon survey using an autonomous underwater vehicle and a ship-cabled sampler found a massive 22 mile long continuous plume of oil in the Gulf of Mexico at 1100 meters depth. The report said this oil plume had persisted for months without substantial biodegradation.
Now a Wall Street Journalstory says several types of oil eating microbes at the bottom of the ocean are gobbling up most or all of the oil. This would be wonderful if it were true, but it contradicts last week's report.
They found that several species of oil-eating bacteria were thriving in the cold waters of the submerged plume, degrading the oil "faster than expected." And the evidence so far shows that oxygen consumption levels are low, with no sign of developing dead zones.
The WSJ article says Dr. Hazen and other microbiologists think the microbes ate the plume. The article says Dr. Hazen and the other microbiologists are "convinced that bacteria have already eliminated the hazard posed by the plume."
Dr. Hazen told the WSJ, "We no longer see any deep plumes that can be attributed to the leak."
There is either great confusion among scientists or the oil-eating microbes story is part of some clever disinformation campaign. There are also arguments that dispersants used by BP removed some of the oil, yet left a potentially toxic chemical in the water. Take a look:
The cave bear (Ursus spelaeus) started to become extinct in Europe about 24,000 years ago. The large cave dwelling bears weighed (PDF file) about 400 to 500 kilograms. An international team of scientists have analysed mitochondrial DNA sequences from 17 cave bear fossil samples, and compared these with the modern brown bear. The scientists say the results show that the decline of the cave bear started 50,000 years ago, and was caused more by human expansion than by climate change. Humans and cave bears both used caves as habitats and it is highly unlikely they could have lived together peacefully.
Aurora Grandal-D'Anglade, co-author of the study and a researcher at the University Institute of Geology of the University of Coruna, says, "The decline in the genetic diversity of the cave bear (Ursus spelaeus) began around 50,000 years ago, much earlier than previously suggested, at a time when no major climate change was taking place, but which does coincide with the start of human expansion."
According to the research study, published in the journal Molecular Biology and Evolution, radiocarbon dating of the fossil remains shows that the cave bear ceased to be abundant in Central Europe around 35,000 years ago. The scientists attribute this decline to "increasing human expansion and the resulting competition between humans and bears for land and shelter."
The scientists think the present day brown bear did not suffer the same fate and has survived until today because they did not depend as heavily on caves for habitat. The researchers think this is why brown bears did not follow the same extinction pattern as the cave bears.
"Brown bears rely on less specific shelters for hibernation. In fact, their fossil remains are not very numerous in cave deposits", the Galician researcher says.
Images: RockCreek(top)/Grandal-D'Anglade et al. (bottom)
The Spontaneous City in the Tree of Heaven is a sculptural installation in London Fieldworks. London Fieldworks have developed a sculptural habitat that will contribute to the lifecycle of birds, providing spaces for shelter, nesting or feeding. The sculptures were designed reflect the forms of the surrounding architecture. The structure contains over 250 homes of different shapes and sizes for birds to choose from.
National Geographic says the star-nosed mole (Condylura cristata) could be the world's weirdest creature. The nearly blind animal has no problem finding earth worms to eat thanks to its weird nose. The mole's star-nose is an ultra-sensitive detection device. The mole's nose contains nasal tentacles, which contain touch receptors called Eimer's organs. The star-nosed mole reportedly takes only about 25 milliseconds to decide whether an object is edible. Take a look:
Engineers at NASA created this video that shows its All-Terrain, Hex-Limbed, Extra-Terrestrial Explorer (ATHLETE) dancing. ATHLETE is a working prototype of a robot that could one day help unload bulky cargo from stationary landers and transport it long distances over terrain on the moon. You can read more about ATHLETE here. The video of the six-legged robot was taken near the the grounds of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. It was sped up to make it look like the robot is dancing to the beat of the music. Take a look:
Two liger cubs were born at a private zoo in Taiwan Monday. The cubs were triplets, but one of the cubs did not survive. The Christian Science Monitorreports that the zoo keeper could be fined around $1,500 for the illegal crossbreeding of two species of protected animals - an African lion and a Bengal tigress. Take a look:
Scientists to Use Unmanned Drones for Hurricane Research
Scientists are going to use unmanned drones - previously used in war zones - for hurricane research. A drone equipped with weather sensors will monitor potential hurricane activity in the Atlantic Ocean as we head into the peak part of the season. Hurricane researchers hope the data gleamed from the drones could help hurricane intensity forecasts improve. Take a look:
The Boston Heraldreports that a pea was discovered sprouting in the windpipe of Ron Sveden, a 75-year-old man from Massachusetts. Physicians first thought Sveden was suffering from a cancerous tumor. Tested samples from a biopsy indicated that the spot seen on an X-ray was a plant and not a tumor. The pea plant was removed with surgery by doctors at Cape Cod Hospital. Take a look:
Vast Flotilla of Jellyfish Attack Beachgoers in Spain
The Guardianreports that jellyfish have attacked hundreds of beachgoers in Spain. The jellyfish are being described as a "vast flotilla of small, virtually undetectable jellyfish." Over 700 people have been stung by the jellyfish on Spain's beaches since Sundy. Some scientists are warning mass jellyfish attacks could become increasingly common because of climate change and overfishing. Overfishing reduces the number of tuna and swordfish, which are natural predators of jellyfish. Take a look:
Study: Orangutans Couch Potatoes of the Animal Kingdom
A study by Herman Pontzer, Ph.D., assistant professor of anthropology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, has found that orangutans are the couch potatoes of the animal kingdom. Pontzer's research suggests that orangutans use less energy than even sedentary humans.
Pontzer and his team spent two weeks studying daily energy expenditure of orangutans in the Great Ape Trust, a 230-acre campus in Des Moines, Iowa. The study revealed an extremely low rate of energy use not previously observed in primates, but consistent with slow growth and low rate of reproduction in orangutans. Louis and his team have determined that orangutans living in a large indoor/outdoor habitat used less energy, relative to body mass, than nearly any eutherian mammal ever measured, including sedentary humans. All this despite activity levels similar to orangutans in the wild.
"It's like finding a sloth in your family tree," says Pontzer, "It's remarkably low energy use."
Pontzer suggests the orangutans low rate of energy use may be an evolutionary response to severe food shortages in the orangutan's native Southeast Asian rainforests. Orangutans like to eat fruit, which is sometimes scarce in the Borneo and Sumatra rainforests. The study suggests that orangutans have adapted over time by becoming consummate low-energy specialists, decreasing their daily energy needs to avoid starvation in times when food is scarce.
