February
9
2009
February
9
2009
From the Globe & Mail
THE QUESTION: “Why don’t ants drown in the passageways of their anthills during a heavy rainstorm or melting snow?” asked Bill Cunningham of Sackville, N.B.
THE ANSWER: “Two strategies allow ants to deal with potentially catastrophic water from rain or melting snow — surviving the water or avoiding the water,” writes Alex Smith, an assistant professor of molecular ecology at the Biodiversity Institute of Ontario at the University of Guelph.
Surviving the water: Individual ants can survive complete submersion for hours, he says. And some species that live in areas that are commonly flooded can survive underwater for days.
“They accomplish this by closing their spiracles (the openings in their body wall that lead to their respiratory surfaces or ‘lungs’) and reducing their oxygen consumption to as little as 5 to 20 per cent of their normal rate.” He says other species, including the invasive fire ant, form rafts out of their bodies that allow the queen and brood to survive the flooding and re-establish the colony following the retreat of flood waters.
Avoiding the water: “Many anthills have design features that reduce the soil moisture content within the mound compared with levels in the adjacent soil,” he writes.
“One advantage in an anthill is that the height of a mound allows the colony to move up to avoid rising flood waters, and some of these mounds can be over a metre tall.” Underground cavities can also be sealed off from the water, he says. “Some tropical ants in mangrove swamps … literally use their heads to block the tunnel opening during periods of flood.”
February
8
2009
February
8
2009
February
8
2009
February
8
2009
And For You Dancers Out There… Pottymouth Obama Beat!
February
7
2009
Around $30 per bottle… Decent stuff. The 3 A.M. has got a bit too much kick for me though.
Learn More HERE
February
7
2009
February
6
2009
From NatureNews
Researchers have found fossils of the biggest known snake in the world, a discovery that could shed light on the climate of the tropics in the past.
The scientists estimate the snake lived 58 to 60 million years ago and was around 13 metres long. The giant, found in northeastern Colombia, dwarfs modern pythons and anacondas which usually don’t exceed 6-6.5 metres and are thought to be the largest living snakes.
Read More HERE
February
4
2009
Radix lecti – Couch potato
Quo signo nata es? – What’s your sign?
Magister Mundi sum! – I am the Master of the Universe
Cogito, ergo sum. – I think, therefore I am.
Cogito, ergo doleo. – I think, therefore I am depressed.
Raptus regaliter. – Royally screwed.
Noli me vocate, ego te vocabo. – Don’t call me, I’ll call you.
Canis meus id comedit. – My dog ate it.
Quantum materiae materietur marmota monax si marmota monax materiam possit materiari? -
How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
Vescere bracis meis. – Eat my shorts.
Fac ut vivas. – Get a life.
Stecorem pro cerebro habes – You have s**t for brains
Non illigitamus carborundum. – Don’t let the B******s grind you down
February
4
2009
