June 2009

When I read stories like this one, two thoughts cross my mind. The first is, “Awesome! This is exactly what we need.” The second? “It’s about bloody time. Why haven’t we done this already?” Though sea turtle protection is long overdue—especially considering that all species of sea turtles are endangered—we can definitely welcome any protection now with open arms. Better late than never, right?

Since many sea turtles meet their untimely deaths in fisherman’s nets, a new device is being developed to target these nets in order to protect turtles. Fishery managers are using a Cape Cod company to develop a device that will allow them to continue using fishing nets while still protecting sea turtles.

Hopefully it’s not too good to be true.

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Most teenagers have something they don’t want their parents to find hidden away in their rooms—porn, birth control receipts, pot, porn, weapons, brochures for Mime College, porn. But I think it’s a safe guess that when you’re snooping around through your kid’s diary or secret under-the-floor-planks-stash, you really don’t expect to find a helpless, shivering baby bird.

Let alone 53 of them.

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ChimpanzeeChimpanzees are smarter than we are. At least they are smarter than the average American college student at memorizing lists of numbers from 1-9. (I don't know if that is a rather sad commentary on our educational system or a big thumbs up for the Chimpanzees.) They are also our closest-living ancestors, and have amazing family bonds. You might even say that they have better family values than we do, but that is another argument for another post. These are but a few reasons that the loss of 90% of the Chimapanzee Population in the last 20 years on the Ivory Coast's  is a travesty.


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I just knew there was some kind of catch. A man just couldn’t be that wicked cool, smart, tech-savvy and generally all-around groovy with two cute kiddies and an awesome, intelligent wife. Something had to give.

Behold, Obama the Fly Killer!

A fly on the wall has no business during a White House interview, says President Obama. While CNBC’s John Harwood attempted to get an interview in the East Room, the fly simply wouldn’t stop interrupting, buzzing his own intelligible questions into the president’s ear—and our Commander in Chief had had enough.

Swatting the offending creature once it landed on his hand, he put a quick end to the multi-eyed invader.

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Recently the Journal of Mammalogy featured a new study on a rather unusual little mammal called the long-beaked echidna. This study, which was primarily the work of Muse Opiang who was a research intern at the Wildlife Conservation Society during the study, provided much needed information about this rare little animal and the current status of the long-beaked echidna's populations.

The long beaked echidna, also known by its common name the spiny anteater, has a spiked like armored shell and long snout. But it is not just the appearance that makes this animal so unusual. The long-beaked echidna is a mammal; however, instead of having offspring by live birth as most known mammals do, the long-beaked echidna actually lays eggs the way we often see various types of reptiles doing.

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While it’s doubtful that the Weather Girls would advise you to leave your umbrellas at home if it were indeed amphibians falling from the sky rather than men, the fact still remains that tadpoles are apparently falling from the skies of Japan.

And I say “skies” because the phenomenon seems to be taking place in multiple cities. On June 4 in one city, Nanao, over 100 dead tadpoles were covering car windshields for 30 meters in a civic center parking lot. Others were found in nearby yards.

Only two days later in another city, Hakusan, more tadpole downpours were reported.

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Nuclear Bees

Mr. Burns: I suggest to you leave immediately.

Homer Simspson: Or what? You’ll release the dogs, or the bees, or the dogs with bees in their mouths and when they bark they shoot bees at you? Well, go ahead—do your worst!

Well Homer, another infamous nuclear power plant owner (the federal government)  recently one-upped mean old Mr. Burns. How about dogs that shoot radioactive wasps when they bark? Today it was revealed that several radioactive wasp nests have been discovered at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington State.

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