FINE Things No 36

FINE Things No. 35

Rosemary suggested: A video about Ants! (link)

Linda suggests: 9 Rules for the Woke Birdwatcher, by J. Drew Lanham. (link)

The adaptations that enable Owls to rule the night. (link)

Petunia's Waxy Cuticle Regulates the Plant's Sweet Smell. The thicker the flower petals' cuticle, the more fragrance compounds the plant releases, according to a recent study. (link)

Invertebrate Density Influences Plant Flowering Times, Abundance
An experimental study explores how plant communities may be affected by future declines in invertebrate populations. (link)

The Birds and the Bees and the Bearded Dragons-Evolution of a Sex-Determination System (link)

When fungi infect wood they often produce colorful substances. The result is called "spalting" and spalted wood is very attractive; it is used by many fine woodworkers to produce strikingly beautiful furniture and turned wood bowls. The Mushroom Club of Georgia recently recorded a Zoom lecture by an expert on spalting wood fungi. (link)

Research catches up with the world's fastest growing plant. (link)

Watching genes turn on. (link)

 

Where do genes come from? (link)

The world's most dangerous fart. (link)

Why do we pass gas? (link)

 

FINE Things No. 34

1) Quote of the week:
"Honey bees are livestock like chickens and goats, and just as you wouldn't keep chickens to protect songbirds, keeping honey bees does nothing to protect our wild pollinators." (Source)

2) A buyer's guide to suet and bird puddings. (link)

Last Camp at Woodland Caribou

by Tim Homan

        Woodland Caribou Provincial Park, Ontario.  Mid-August, 2018, last two nights of our canoe trip along the Bloodvein River, which for most of its mileage through the park is totally unrecognizable as a stream with a flowing current.  Here the Bloodvein is largely a chain of lakes with numerous islands and long improbably shaped peninsulas dividing the lakes up into arms and bays and coves that stretch out in all directions.

FINE Things No. 33

From Rosemary Woodel:To study a rare butterfly, this scientist had to get vertical. (link)

Need some magic in your life? Here's the answer: Eric Chien, based in Beijing and raised in the US, has won an International Federation of Magic Societies' world championship title. (link)

Back by poopular demand: How do wombats poop cubes? Scientists get to the bottom of the mystery (link)

Breathing Life Into the Corpse Flower. In botanic gardens, the lineage of a famously smelly plant is threatened. Can a new collaborative program save it? (link)
 

You should be excited that scientists are releasing 750 million genetically modified mosquitoes this year. Texas and the Florida Keys will see the release of GM insects in a plan to reduce disease transmission, (link)

Emily & Linda recommend Drew Lanham in "On Being": "I worship every bird that I see." (link)

Most of you have heard of Potassium, but what is it? And where does it come from? What is it used for? Derek Miller, of Veritasium, has the answers and more. (link)

From Rosemary Woodel: I made this movie about a wildflower walk in Inisheer, one of the Aran Islands.  I had given my i.d. book of Irish wildflowers to Linda so I did the naming using two websites.  Might be wrong on some of them. It's 11 min long.   I posted it for Karen Hunter's birthday. (link)