Recent Posts
GumbyTheCat
Return To Blog Listing
A blog for the purpose of communicating my views on the intersection of science, religion and society. Written by a layman, for other laypeople with an interest in science. Recurring themes include the evolution vs. creation debate, and astronomy. I
Recent Posts Tagged With 'biology'
My So-Called Life
It's alive... IT'S ALIIIIIVE!!! Abiogenesis, or the scientific study of the origin of life, is a field in its infancy. Much research has been conducted, but many of the results are inconclusive and at best hypothetical. That is understan...
Unnatural Selection
Everyone knows that over-hunting can decimate animal populations. One of the best-known examples is that of the passenger pigeon. This bird was once the most common bird in North America. It was not unheard of to see flocks containing an estimated b...
The Root Of The Matter
With the world's population increasing by about 200,000 people every single day, efficient food production is becoming more and more critical. Therefore, being able to increase crop yields by enabling plants to take up nutrients and water more...
Sugar: The Other Addictive White Powder
The insidious gateway drug sugar. We all know someone who claims to be "addicted" to candy and other sweet foods. Usually, they'll tell you that while guiltily smiling, which would suggest that they know sugar isn't addictive, they just like to eat i...
Images From Science: Pyralidae
Just a quickie post today. This is an electron micrograph of the head of a moth in the pyralidae family, courtesy of the Boston Globe's Big Picture series. Below is a more familiar image of a moth in the same family. ...
Attack Of The Protists
Gromia sphaerica takes a stroll on the ocean floor. When we think of single-celled organisms, we invariably think of tiny little beasties that can only be seen under a microscope. However, there are single celled organisms that are visible to the nak...
Hair Club For Lizards
So THAT'S why they call "hair bands" fossil rock... When we think of hair, we don't normally think of dinosaur claws. However, a new study has discovered genes associated with hair production in living green anole lizards and chickens. Their claws ...
Images From Science: Mighty Mite
An antarctic mite, as seen by a scanning electron microscope. All I can say is I'm glad it's not six feet tall....
Refried Brains
I don't know about you, but I have never thought to ask the question "Why did humans start cooking their food?" I guess it just seems like such a natural thing to do we don't give it a second thought. However, for almost the entire history of life o...
Tardigrades From Outer Space
The tardigrade, which sort of looks like the result of an adulterous encounter between the Michelin Man and a potato bug in a sleazy motel room. According to the late Douglas Adams of Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy fame, he joked that...
Shrew Likes The Brew
This little guy can drink you under the table. A Malaysian critter called the pen-tailed tree shrew may hold the secret for curing the hangover. Scientists from Bayreuth University in Germany found that this small mammal survives solely on a d...
When You've Got It, You've Got It
Coming soon to a motivational poster near you... Henry the he-man tuatara.A 111-year-old tuatara named Henry is a father-to be. Octogenarian and model-canoodler Bob Barker is said to be insane with jealousy, and pharmaceutical giant Pfizer is rumored...
Humans Now Illegal
No wonder no doughnut is safe from this man.In an interesting study funded by the Hungarian and German governments, it has been discovered that human skin, like the brain, produces its own version of pot. These chemicals, called endocannabinoids, hel...
