Cranberries. An interesting account about Cranberries and other Vaccinium species. (I know - I should have included this before the holidays.) Lots of interesting information about the fruit, its history, uses and related species. (link)
The Curious Strength of a Sea Sponge's Glass Skeleton.
The Curious Strength of a Sea Sponge's Glass Skeleton.
A glass sponge found deep in the Pacific shows a remarkable ability to withstand compression and bending, on top of the sponge's other unusual properties. (link)
How Two Became One: Origins of a Mysterious Symbiosis Found in Carpenter ants. These ants need endosymbiotic bacteria to guide the early development of their embryos. New work has reconstructed how this deep partnership evolved. (link)
Skin Sheltered from Sunlight Still Gathers UV-Linked Mutations. (link)
Guam's invasive tree snakes loop themselves into lassos to reach their feathered prey. (link)
Shocking discovery: Electric eels hunt in packs in Amazon rivers. (link)
A review of A Perfect Planet, David Attenborough's new series. It is available for streaming on Discovery+, if you have a subscription. You can also get it on Amazon Prime for $2 per episode. (link)
Can a magician fool a dog? Are dogs susceptible to the same optical illusions as people? Here is an attempt to answer these questions. (link)
The Southern Appalachian Spruce-Fir forest is in danger. (link)
Food for thought? French bean plants show signs of intent, say scientists. Many botanists dispute idea of plant sentience, but study of climbing beans sows seed of doubt. (link)
The next four links concern the recently reported declines in insect abundance and their consequences.
To understand the plight of insects, entomologists look to the past.This is an accessible account of the evidence for insect declines. (link)
How Two Became One: Origins of a Mysterious Symbiosis Found in Carpenter ants. These ants need endosymbiotic bacteria to guide the early development of their embryos. New work has reconstructed how this deep partnership evolved. (link)
Skin Sheltered from Sunlight Still Gathers UV-Linked Mutations. (link)
Guam's invasive tree snakes loop themselves into lassos to reach their feathered prey. (link)
Shocking discovery: Electric eels hunt in packs in Amazon rivers. (link)
A review of A Perfect Planet, David Attenborough's new series. It is available for streaming on Discovery+, if you have a subscription. You can also get it on Amazon Prime for $2 per episode. (link)
Can a magician fool a dog? Are dogs susceptible to the same optical illusions as people? Here is an attempt to answer these questions. (link)
The Southern Appalachian Spruce-Fir forest is in danger. (link)
Food for thought? French bean plants show signs of intent, say scientists. Many botanists dispute idea of plant sentience, but study of climbing beans sows seed of doubt. (link)
The next four links concern the recently reported declines in insect abundance and their consequences.
Summary of a group of papers that appeared in the U. S. A. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science this week. (link)
Insect decline in the Anthropocene: Death by a thousand cuts. (link)
Insect decline in the Anthropocene: Death by a thousand cuts. (link)
To understand the plight of insects, entomologists look to the past.This is an accessible account of the evidence for insect declines. (link)
No net insect abundance and diversity declines across US Long Term Ecological Research sites. UGA entomologist Michael Crossley is the lead author of this paper. Unfortunately, it is behind a paywall. The non-subscribing public can only access the abstract, but that is enough to see their conclusion. The abstract is only a single paragraph. (link)
Jackie Elsner recommends that you take a look at the Environmental Voter Project. (link)
The Georgia Native Plant Society sent links to these upcoming events:
February 2, 7 pm: Atlanta History Center presents Author Talks featuring Doug Tallamy. This is a free event; register for it on their website.
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February 2, 7 pm: Elachee Nature Science Center presents Botanist Tom Govus for a virtual discussion on "Trilliums of Georgia." Register for this free event here. (link)
February 3, 7 pm: The Friends of the State Botanical Garden presents the Johnstone Lecture featuring Doug Tallamy. Their website has registration and details for this free event: (link)
February 10, 9 am: State Botanical Garden Native Plant Symposium. The cost is $35 and registration details can be found on their website. (link)
Dire wolves are an extinct species of wolf that inspired the wolves in Game of Thrones. They were the last of an ancient New World canid lineage. This is a link to the abstract of the paper. It will tell you the conclusions of the research, which are interesting. (link)
