Showing posts with label nature blogs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nature blogs. Show all posts
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Sunday, February 15, 2009
NATURE BLOGS ROUND UP
Team in Germany maps Neanderthal genome
Researchers in Germany have completed the first draft of the Neanderthal genome, 3 billion genetic building blocks that will shed new light on the ancient hominid as well as the origins of its closest relation — humans. The team teased enough DNA out of three 38,000-year-old bone fragments to isolate some 3 billion DNA base pairs. The Neanderthal genome contains roughly 3.2 billion pairs, but many of lead scientist Svante Paabo are repeats, meaning his draft is about 63 percent complete.
Read on…
New Alaskan Ichthyosaur Unveiled
The University of Alaska Museum of the North has unveiled what officials call one of the largest, oldest and northernmost marine reptile fossils ever found.
Officials say the fossil sat in the Brooks Range for almost 210 million years before it was discovered in 1950, eventually arriving in Fairbanks.
Read on…
Humans got crabs from gorillas!
Just as humans and gorillas share a common evolutionary ancestry, the pubic lice that infuriate some members of the two species are also related. Pubic lice–known to scientists as Pthirus pubis and to most other people as “crabs”–are thought to have evolved from Pthirus gorillae, the structurally similar species that infests gorillas. Genetic analysis by David Reed at the University of Florida indicates that the lice lineages split about 3.3 million years ago, whereas it is believed that humans diverged from gorillas at least 7 million years ago. This suggests that “early humans somehow caught pubic lice from their gorilla cousins.”
Read on…
Researchers in Germany have completed the first draft of the Neanderthal genome, 3 billion genetic building blocks that will shed new light on the ancient hominid as well as the origins of its closest relation — humans. The team teased enough DNA out of three 38,000-year-old bone fragments to isolate some 3 billion DNA base pairs. The Neanderthal genome contains roughly 3.2 billion pairs, but many of lead scientist Svante Paabo are repeats, meaning his draft is about 63 percent complete.
Read on…
New Alaskan Ichthyosaur Unveiled
The University of Alaska Museum of the North has unveiled what officials call one of the largest, oldest and northernmost marine reptile fossils ever found.
Officials say the fossil sat in the Brooks Range for almost 210 million years before it was discovered in 1950, eventually arriving in Fairbanks.
Read on…
Humans got crabs from gorillas!
Just as humans and gorillas share a common evolutionary ancestry, the pubic lice that infuriate some members of the two species are also related. Pubic lice–known to scientists as Pthirus pubis and to most other people as “crabs”–are thought to have evolved from Pthirus gorillae, the structurally similar species that infests gorillas. Genetic analysis by David Reed at the University of Florida indicates that the lice lineages split about 3.3 million years ago, whereas it is believed that humans diverged from gorillas at least 7 million years ago. This suggests that “early humans somehow caught pubic lice from their gorilla cousins.”
Read on…
Friday, February 06, 2009
WANDERING ABOUT ON THE NATURE BLOG NETWORK
Last night I was quite unwell, and so I lay in bed, drinking brandy and coke, cuddling Spider the cat, and pootling about aimlessly on the internet. As regular readers will know we joined the Nature Blogs Network a few days ago, and I soent a happy couple of hours browsing some of our fellow blogs.
I found several of cryptozoological interest, so, just as a taster, here are just a couple of crypto-related bloggybits I found..
Ivory-bills Live!
By April 30 of this year it will be 4 years since Cornell made their incredible announcement beginning this long, bumpy, winding journey. Essentially, there are about 4 months left to move the Ivory-bill agenda forward. If nothing is found in these 4 months more substantial than what is already on record in support of Ivory-bill persistence, then official searching, funding, and most interest will die a solemn death (independent searchers will carry on their efforts as money and time allows). More individual sightings, blurry video, and auditory recordings won't do (so proclaimeth from on-high the skeptically-inclined). An indisputable photo or carcass are needed .....
Lord Geekington on architeuthis
I was under the impression that just about every (non-Nautilus) cephalopod has a life history which involves growing at a blazing speed, reproducing, and then dying in about a year or two. The implications of such an ephemeral lifestyle on the growth of giant cephalopods is staggering, although it is possible that giants have a considerably longer lifespan than the norm.
I found several of cryptozoological interest, so, just as a taster, here are just a couple of crypto-related bloggybits I found..
Ivory-bills Live!
By April 30 of this year it will be 4 years since Cornell made their incredible announcement beginning this long, bumpy, winding journey. Essentially, there are about 4 months left to move the Ivory-bill agenda forward. If nothing is found in these 4 months more substantial than what is already on record in support of Ivory-bill persistence, then official searching, funding, and most interest will die a solemn death (independent searchers will carry on their efforts as money and time allows). More individual sightings, blurry video, and auditory recordings won't do (so proclaimeth from on-high the skeptically-inclined). An indisputable photo or carcass are needed .....
Lord Geekington on architeuthis
I was under the impression that just about every (non-Nautilus) cephalopod has a life history which involves growing at a blazing speed, reproducing, and then dying in about a year or two. The implications of such an ephemeral lifestyle on the growth of giant cephalopods is staggering, although it is possible that giants have a considerably longer lifespan than the norm.
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