Week-End Wrap Up...

Well, it's not the weekend yet, but close enough. I figured I would do my super soon to be famous science news snippets today. This time, with a theme. One that is near and dear to me... doggies!

• In South Korea, scientists have claimed to clone some puppies using stem cells. The stem cells came from the fat tissue of a female beagle. While they have cloned about 35 dogs and 5 wolves, this is the first time the close were created from stem cells. You can find the source article here.
  

• In a study done recently, many people who are affectionate with their pets also share a lot of really bad germs, like E. coli. While more than half of pet owners are very affectionate with their animals, most of the reason they share so many harmful germs is something very simple... lack of hand washing. While dogs and humans both carry E. Coli regularly, the humans and pets studied had the same genetic strain of the germ meaning that both pets and owners could both build resistance to antibiotics at the same time. Wash you hands, please! Source.

• Do you know how a dog walks? A study founds that most taxidermists, anatomists and toy designers get it wrong. In fact, it is a lot more complicated than most think. The worst is a study done 120 years ago is correct, but people forgot these findings. So how does a dog walk? Hey! This is a snippet! Go read the article here.
  

Okay... so now you have some weekend reading. I hope everyone has a good Friday night! And just for good measure, another bad cell phone picture of my Floyd on the beach yesterday.

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Snake Charmer

See the girl to the right of the guy with the green holding the head of a gigantic snake? That's me.

I'm sure you all have figured that out, but I was like a kid in a candy store. The girl next to me hated snakes. I was not even listening to the guy and was sad I had to give it up at the end... even though it weighed a LOT and wouldn't keep still.

Why the little details about my trip to the Miami Metro Zoo? Well, it made me realize that I still really want to have my dream job or something close to it. I want to make wildlife films. I want to teach people about animals. I want to run around in the jungle/dessert/mountains/etc. chasing animals down. If nothing else, I would be happy with the guy in the green's job. Will this happen anytime soon? Probably not. I am not yet a biologist.

You need that fancy piece of paper. Sure I am really good at the science jabber, I have forgotten more about science than most people know, and I have this really bizarre ability to write a kick butt scientific paper, but that does not make me a scientist yet.

I suppose this goes back to my Debate! about standardized education. Maybe it goes deeper to the fact that I am completely unfocused at times. All I know is, this is me. Should be me. Will be me. Maybe I sound arrogant, but the truth of it is I am not. I always doubt myself. I know I get this stuff, so why can't I just finish? Is it important that I do?

I still get to teach people about animals and do educational tours, so why the need to do it at someplace bigger? I love my job. It may not be the grand scale that I hoped for as a little girl, but my dream still came true. Now I just have to finish school. Who knows? Maybe I have a special calling as a snake charmer! Honestly though, it just takes me writing it out like this to put it into perspective.

I may not be working at the American Museum of Natural History, but I still do have my dream job! I get to teach and play with animals. What more could I ask for?

Well, I guess I could finish Western Adventure part 3... or my butterfly video... but in the end, this isn't bad at all. I bet that guy would be happier with my job! Who wouldn't want to play in a big beautiful tropical garden filled with butterflies and get to live in paradise at the same time?

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Problems Viewing My Site

It has come to my attention (thanks Mom!) that my site does not load properly in Internet Explorer. I am not really sure how to fix this, but it does load in Firefox just fine. You can download it here. However, don't forget to read my official post for today.

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Happy Gorilla News

In case you forgot, 2009 is the Year of the Gorilla. I figured I would attempt to do one post a month on these amazing creatures and today was the day for January. Luckily, I have some really happy news this time. Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo just completed a survey stating that despite the conflicts, habitat loss, and poachers, gorilla numbers are up 12.5%. The press release is here and everyone is excited. There are even stories on the yog2009 site, BBC, and National Geographic.

Why all the publicity for these guys? Well, it is officially Year of the Gorilla and there is a serious war going on in the Congo. The most amazing part of all this? The apes went without protection for about 15 months during the conflict. The national park has a 680 person strong ranger force to protect the now estimated at 211 gorillas. Ten babies were born during the 15 month the rangers could not be there.

They still, however, need our help. There are lots of things you can do to ensure these majestic animals will be around a bit longer. To find out more, you can go to yog2009 (Year of the Gorilla official website) or GRASP (run by United Nations).


Photo is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 to bertieboy70 on flickr. You can find the original here.

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A Slight Altercation

Work was a bit interesting yesterday. I work someplace people from all walks of life visit. If you don't remember, I work at a butterfly enclosure. It is no surprise that I have people call me a liar, a genius, a Satanist, an entertainer, and more. Why all the weird and differing responses? Well, some people do not like what I have to say. My tours tend to be a bit more sciencey than most of the other tours. I don't mean to do this, it is just a part of who I am. Most of the people I tour (a solid 98% I'm sure) applaud, tell me I did great, or tip. The other 2%?

Well, they like to argue. Interrupt. Ask religious questions. Try to stump me. These are people who think science is the downfall of civilization and really only came in to see some butterflies. Most butterfly enclosures have a few signs up, but not guided tours explaining the life cycle and other science things. You can tell the type from a mile away. They pretend they don't want to do your tour, then saunter in when explaining the ooze at the bottom of the chrysalis and start to rail you.

Yesterday, it happened to one of my co-workers instead. This co-worker is not usually one to give too much science info. Well, a certain tourist really laid into him. Proceeded to ask us (me and manager lady) questions in the gift shop after the tour to see if co-worker guy and our stories matched up. I had to try to explain the common ancestor theory used in cladistics and the like to this guy. He kept saying things like, "well, it still just a theory." Of course, I cannot keep my mouth shut and had to explain to him that everything we do in science is just a theory because the basis of the scientific method is to falsify ourselves.

We are constantly trying to prove ourselves wrong! Glad I got that off my chest...

Ok. My heart was pounding and I could feel the anxiety kicking in, big time. This is usually when things get really heated, after all. Not the first time I had to explain to someone that science is not evil. Not the first time I pointed out that science gave you polyester blend so you can keep buying cheap clothes at Conglomo-Mart. Or that science is what gives you the ability to watch TV, take a cruise, use a cell phone, walk comfortably in sneakers, sleep on a great mattress and more. I kept smiling. I regurgitated tons of info from evolutionary biology and genetics in a way everyone could understand... and he said "ok!"

I almost fainted.

This never happens. My arguments are getting stronger. He actually said I made sense. I really almost fainted. My manager was so happy she had a pseudo-biologist on board yesterday because she was ready to just write it off as another "that's just your opinion, sir" moment. She said I handled it well. I don't usually get told I "handle things well." Quite the opposite, in fact. She actually was glad I was there because she learned things!

I am pleased.

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Monday Blues #2

As I sit here delaying the inevitable (work) I decided to do my post early. While I love my job, I do get the blues as well. Especially this week as this was supposed to be me and the hubs day off together. I'm covering for someone. I normally would not mind extra hours at all, but *le sigh* I really wanted to hang out with my sweetie pie today.

It got me thinking though, I have a really great job and it is better than working in a ridiculously large city. Then I found my pictures of Manhattan that I took when I was visiting with my mother and sibling about 5 years ago.
This picture was my attempt at finding some sort of nature in the Big Apple. The sky was so blue that day, but as I looked around, I realized that no one really noticed. I prefer work here... everyone appreciates that we get to work in paradise. Paradise is everywhere, you just have to find it. I think this picture sums it up nicely! Now it's your turn! Show me a picture that sums up Monday Blues for you! Leave a link, or the picture itself in my comments. You can participate every week with SeaLaura and Potspoon!

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Mini Paintings

I realized that my posts have been really formal recently and haven't let all my friends out in the blogosphere in on what has been going on down here. It turns out St. Thomas is NOT recession proof. While the number of people visiting has stayed about the same, sales all over are down and that means fewer (somehow) hours for Mimi. This is really bad because a certain male figure in the house has a commission based sales job. Mimi to the rescue, I hope! I have mentioned in passing that I do paint silliness every now and again. Surprisingly, in the middle of this economic disaster, the one thing people really want to buy is something locally made. My little side hobby of painting bags and mini canvases has had quite the surge in the past few weeks, so just to make myself feel better about the sorry state of affairs we are in now, I am going to show you some pictures of a few of the things I have done so far.


The picture quality is not that great, but they are from my cellular phone. They are little 2" x 4" canvases. No pictures of bags, sorry.

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New Deep Sea Species

In National Geographic, there was an article showing three new deep sea species that they have found. This one is my favorite.

It looks like some strange breathing apparatus or something. Apparently it is a sea squirt living 4006 meters underwater. It was about 20 inches long and was found to be carnivorous. The funnel is used to trap small fish and other things. This is strange because other ascidians (sea squirts) we are familiar with simply siphon plankton from the water as filter feeders.

This strange creature, and more, were found off the coast of Tasmania in the Tasmania Fracture Zone. You can read the rest of the article and see the original picture here.

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Drumroll!

Phew... after a lot of tinkering, she is finished. I hope you all like the new layout! :D

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Science for the Kiddies

While carousing on a site where I have gotten some great science news in the past, I actually clicked the link on the right for Science News for Kids, and I must say, I WAS BLOWN AWAY! The site is run by Eureka Alert. Needless to say, the writing style is easy to understand, makes references to kids pop culture so that they can relate, and is really just great. Go see for yourself!

Some examples of recently published articles are:

• An article about invisibility cloaks in real life making reference to Harry Potter
• Stories about other kids crusading to help the honey bees
• A list of the top science books for kids and teens

and so much more!

If you have a little budding scientist, this site is for them. There are even fun links like birds and their songs and other sciencey websites to visit. Ok, I am off for more browsing!

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Happy Inauguration Day

Whether or not you voted for Mr. Obama, inaugurations are always exciting and we do have a new Commander-In-Chief. Congratulations President Obama!

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Monday Blues....

SeaLaura and I have decided to start a little something based off a post I did last week. All you have to do is go to her site this week (we are thinking of alternating) and leave a link to a picture on your blog that takes away your Monday Blues. So post some pictures and leave a link in her comments. This will be my picture this week:


It is a cute bird house in Eastern Colorado we came accross with a beautiful BLUE sky. You can find the Monday Blues #1 here. I hope you all participate!

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So So Bored

I am quite tired of my layout... I think I would like to do something different, but not really sure what. I have tried to come up with a new header but am having serious cerebral flatulence. I'm bored with my colors. I would really like suggestions of what you think I could do make the blog easier on the eyes. Should I add a column to organize better? Should I go with a more Caribbean theme to go with the name? Should I go with a more sciencey feel to go with the content? This might scare people... I just don't know. Perhaps I am just having a blah day. I think I just want to get out of the house. I'm having a bit of a mood swing I suppose. But really, what would you all like to see on Potspoon! to make you enjoy your visits? More videos? More pictures? Better colors? ANY suggestions welcome!

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Mars Alive

This is going to be a short post, but something interesting. Today's post is brought to you by the planet Mars. This lonely forth planet is our red rocked neighbor and is named after a certain warmongering god. The dream of "martians" hasn't come true. No little green men live on the planet as everyone once hoped. Instead, we found traces of water, a face, some volcanoes, and really amazing features.

Everyone knows that Mars is a "dead planet." We have looked to Mars for traces of insight into our planet's origins. Well recently, a team of scientists at NASA discovered methane in the atmosphere which only has two explanations: biological activity or geological activity. Either one of these reasons would prove that Mars is not as dead as we thought.

Well, I hope you guys all have a safe Friday! Sorry this one is a short one!

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Red to "Dye" For

Since I seem to be a bit into invertebrates, especially those of the insect variety, I decided to help out a fellow blogger with her quest for dispelling misinformation. Bug Girl is an entomologist so she definitely knows her bugs. Recently, bugs have been in the news a lot. This has been by way of Cochineal. These little scaly bugs are a source for a very vibrant natural dye in the shade of carmine. People seem to be freaked out that there are "bug" derived dyes in many of their foods. Honestly... this is way better than tar derived color. I don't mind bug color.

Like Bug Girl, however, I do mind misinformation. Articles in the New York Times, Scientific American (shame) and others all have done articles about this bug. Many of them refer to it as a beetle... not even close. NYT and SciAm finally removed the pictures that were not the same creature. After a few of us (yes, me too) left some comments about SciAm's need for a fact checker, the picture was removed and this was placed at the end of the article:

Editor's Note (posted 1/11/09): In response to some concerns about the entomological accuracy of this post and photo, we have taken down the image that was originally posted, because it appears not to be a cochineal insect. We are checking with the source of that photo to confirm its identity. The term "beetle" is often used to describe this insect, but we have changed the wording in the post to "cochineal insect" for strict accuracy. This post is based on the FDA's announced rule change, which was published on January 5 and which we link to in the blog (and again here) for interested readers eager to know more about how the agency reached its conclusions.

What does this have to do with Bug Girl's quest? Simple. She wants everyone who cares about this important little industry (yes, bug dye is an industry) and the facts about the cochineal by reading her great post. I know, I know... now I'm sending you somewhere else to read science stuff! What happened to your science phobia? Hopefully I'm wearing you down! Happy Thursday!

Photo is from 7-how-7's photostream on Flickr and is licensed under Creative Commons.

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First Post... WOOT!

SOOOO... my first post is up at 5 Minutes for Going Green. You may remember the picture used from an earlier post here. The post I did is about coconut fibers vs. polyester. Sound like a weird comparison? You can find out more at my post here. Go leave comments and such! Happy Wednesday!

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For the Love of Tequila

Blue Agave & Barbed Wire
Originally uploaded by nathangibbs

As many of you may or may not know... tequila comes from a very specific region in Mexico and is made from blue agave (see photo). If it is not made in Jalisco, it is not tequila. This is similar to Champagne being a region in France and everyone else really makes sparkling wine. This is known as a geographical indication in wines and spirits. While this would make it seem like Jalisco must be loaded now, what with tequila's surge in popularity and everything, the exact opposite is happening.

NC State did some recent research pertaining to this devilish liquor. Tequila's geographical indication is a bit unfortunate because it is not sustainable ecologically or socially. The demand for tequila is much higher than it was 15 years ago and has doubled production in less than 10 years. Part of the reason they cannot keep up with the demand is that it takes 6 years for blue agave to reach a harvestable size, but recent pests and diseases are making the numbers of agave dwindle. This has lead some larger companies to plant their own agave, thus taking money out of the local economy and small agave farmers' pockets. This is the social.

It gets better (worse?). These same big companies don't hire workers to hand prune the plants for pests. They are using some serious pesticides not commonly used in this area. That is the ecological damage.

Tequila originated over 400 years ago and has been a legacy to the people in this region since then. Big business is not only destroying the land the people have cultivated the agave on for centuries, but taking their jobs as well.

You can find the source article here.

Photo is protected under Creative Commons.
Blue Agave & Barbed Wire
Originally uploaded by nathangibbs

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Blue Monday

I feel like today needs to be another picture day... My mind is racy and I need to focus on simple, so here goes... pictures with blue.

This turtle lives under the deep blue sea...

I look smashing in my blue clothes in the swamp...

This fir tree is icy blue...

The iron deposits in the soil in southern Utah give the earth a nice orange color which contrasts well with the blue sky...

blue goggles are cool...

I'm hiding in blue and trying not to feel so blue.

Wow... certain words look funny when you type them too much.

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Blogosphere News

I'm am very excited because yours truly (that's me) has made it on the wonderful team of 5 Minutes for Going Green as a monthly blogger. It is an environmental blog and I will be doing monthly installments on "green" science and things of the like. I am very excited because while there have been many posts in the past about science and the environment, it hasn't been very often... and I love the opportunity to teach, as you all know by now. I will try to get posts up by the 14th of every month and really hope some of you will visit me there as well. You can see my already posted profile here.

In other news... I actually cross-post everything on this website to cariblogger.com which is a WP site for bloggers in the Caribbean. I did this to reach bloggers locally and boy did I find a great one. Jules Gibson is a photographer in Guyana and his photo blog is astounding. I highly recommend you check it out. His photos really capture Caribbean life and all of its "roogoodoo."If you really want a taste of life in the Caribbean, his pictures are priceless. Be warned... this is not just beaches and palm trees here. This is life for those of us NOT on vacation.

and now... a random picture for those of you freezing to remind you that I too lived where it was cold. This is me in front of lake ice breaking up. Not flattering, but you get the point. This was in my shorter hair days and Nick caught me off guard. Ah well.

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More Olives, Please!

In a continuation, it appears, of a post I did a while ago about why olive oil is good for your health, here is why olives are as well. The University of Granada and the University of Barcelona have teamed up to discover that a certain compound in olive skins, maslinic acid, actually significantly contributed to death of cells and inhibition of new cell growth in colon cancer. This acid, while found in many other medicinal plants, is in concentrations of up to 80% in olives.

According to another study, olives are also being considered in HIV treatments. The maslinic acid is also good, it appears, at inhibiting receptors in the virus that allow it to spread throughout the body. This study was also done by the University of Granada.

You can find the source articles here and here.

Olives are quite the wonder-fruit. This is quite exciting for those of you, like myself, who absolutely love olives of all types. Nothing like a good kalamata to go with your hummus!

Looking for more ways to use olives? A very easy way I like is simple, too. Make tapenade!

Easy Tapenade Recipe:

all kinds of pitted olives (about 8 ounces)
olive oil (eyeball it, I guess about 1-2 tbsp)
anchiovies or anchiovy paste (I use about a teaspoon of paste)
garlic (however much you like)
handfull of capers
juice of one lemon
some basil

Now you blend it all. Easy and so yum! What a great way to get your olive intake and this post was about science and food!

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A Quick Post

I know I know I said I was tired, but I almost forgot to tell you! Thanks to Christie at The OLS Buzz for reminding me. Voting for the New 7 Wonders of Nature has started! OMG! So many amazing sites to choose from. I did have to vote for the Cliffs of Insanity...er... Moher. Whatever. Princess Bride and all that business. While you are at the site, check out the winners and nominees for the 7 Wonders of the World. These things are definitely added to my list of must sees.

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Sunny Caribbean

I have been trying to come up with anything intelligent to talk about here, but I seem to have a serious case of cerebral flatulence (brain fart) today. Instead, I will post pictures of the beach. Sure to make SeaLaura happy.



The first fuzzy blue picture is a sea turtle. I know I could have taken the blue out but I am feeling particularly lazy today. Sorry.



The next picture is a view of Oppenheimer Bay from the water. These were the days when I hadn't lost a very nice digital camera and underwater housing to Davey Jones' Locker. Ah well. Such is life.

The last picture is the down island view from the Annaburg Sugar Plantation Ruins in the National Park. Quite a lovely little place. This is all I have the energy for today. Thanks for stopping by!










VI by M. Moya is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

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Gift of Plenty: Aquaculture News

We all know the world's oceans are of great importance, but there were two articles that caught my attention today while carousing the web.

One article from Science Daily was about how marine algae can be used as a new source of biofuel. Since oil seems to be on everyone's minds these days, it is no wonder scientists are looking elsewhere for our fuel needs. The research I am speaking of was conducted at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego. This is an enormous undertaking and as was written in Science Daily:

The prospect of squeezing billions of gallons of biofuel oil from marine algae is enticing, but to transform tiny lime-green-colored plant-like organisms into a viable and realistic fuel option, they must be tested and grown on a massive scale. Intermediate-sized, and eventually immense, algae production sites will be required to produce an economically relevant quantity of algae-based oil for biodiesel fuel in cars, trucks, and airplanes.

However, this is still a step in the right direction.

Another article about our worlds oceans was actually about the future of aquaculture and is from Biology News. In it, scientists and experts speculate that aquaculture will be the fastest growing food production system. Experts state that even though there are some potentially harmful effects of aquaculture, when implemented properly, fish farms can greatly lower the impact on over exploited wild caught. One tidbit that I found fascinating:

Finfish, mollusks, and crustaceans dominate aquaculture production; seafood exports generate more money for developing countries than meat, coffee, tea, bananas, and rice combined.

We really should take care of our "breadbaskets." Sure there is the aesthetic quality, but there is so much more at stake than that.

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