Archive for the ‘science’ category

Bird Strike Downs Jet!

January 16, 2009

birds–Early reports sugest that a bird strike caused a jet plane to crash in the Hudson River near Manhattan on January 15th.  Such incidents occur when birds, usually gulls, raptors, and geese, are sucked into a jet engine and strike an engine fan blade.   The impact displaces the blade so that it strikes another blade and a cascade effect occurs, causing engine failure.  It isn’t good for the birds, either.

A twelve pound Canadian goose striking an aircraft going 150 mph at lift-off generates the force of a 1,000 pound weight dropped from a height of ten feet.  Flocks of birds are even more dangerous as they can result in multiple strikes.

Now large aircraft are certified to be able to keep flying after impacting with a four pound bird, but 36 species of birds in North America weigh more than this.  Birds are especially dangerous to aircraft in the first several thousand feet after take-off, where birds are likely to be flying.

More than 200 people have been killed worldwide as a result of wildlife strikes with aircraft since 1988.  A Canadian military jet was taken out by a bird strike in 2004.   In the case of the Hudson River crash, the birds apparently took out both engines…

…maybe Alfred Hitchcock in The Birds was right!–Caw, caw!

Schwarzenegger Mice!

December 28, 2008

mighty-mouse–Mice have been genetically engineered that can run twice as far and about an hour longer than their unaltered brethren.  The mice also stay in peak condition, even without exercise or a good diet!

Delta class proteins from the peroxisome proliferator activated receptors (PPARs) are felt to be responsible, doing so by increasing the amount of slow-twitch muscle, which burns fat, resists fatigue, and provides energy for sustained, high-endurance activities like running…

…so thanks to the humble mouse, lazy humans may someday be buff jocks without even trying!

The Christmas Tree Cluster and Fox Fur Nebula

December 23, 2008

fox-fur-nebula–The Christmas Tree Cluster (NGC 2264) is a well-studied region in the Monoceras (the Unicorn) constellation.   The Christmas Tree Cluster, the blue reflection nebula surrounding bright stars,  was so named because it looks like a tree in visible light…alright, use your imagination!

The Fox Fur Nebula (imagination required, puh-leeze!) is a strange shape originating from fine interstellar dust reacting in complex ways with the energetic light and hot gas being expelled by the young stars.–And it’s all only about 2,500 light years away…

…field trip, anyone?–Merry Xmas and Joyous Festivus from Foxsylvania!

Spider Mating Dances

November 24, 2008

spider-mating-dance–I was thinking the other day how glad I am that I’m not of a species that has to do a mating dance. For example, in the Sonoran desert of the American southwest, the Agelenopsis Aperta male spider courts the female with a mating dance that can last up to an hour.  The dance involves an abdomen waggle and a series of push-ups.  Furthermore, it may be that females chose males partly on the basis of how fast they waggle their abdomen!

Let’s think of that, guys, the next time we think of demanding dates…

Chimpanzee Raising White Tiger Cubs

November 14, 2008

chimp-and-tiger-cubs–A two-year-old chimpanzee named Anjana is caring for two rare white tiger cubs that were born in South Carolina during Hurricane Hannah.

Anjana assists with the feeding of the cubs and lies with them when they rest.

White tigers are severely endangered, and there are only about 200 of these animals left in the world.

Transformation…

November 6, 2008

animal-transformations–Transformation or “TF” for short, is something near and dear to many of us furries, something devoutly to be wished. It’s often a synonym for metamorphosis and shapeshifting, and can be physical, mental, or some kind of weird “other” state. Physical transformation is the act of modifying one’s body to resemble one’s fursona. Very simple forms of physical transformation are currently available through plastic surgery, such as giving someone a forked tongue, horns or muzzles grown with coral implants, the ears stretched out, or even the throat modified to produce purring sounds.  These changes are expensive, artificial, and sometimes require anti-rejection drugs.

Most furs who desire physical transformation see current technological methods as insufficient, and look to future technologies involving genetic engineering, stem cell organ growth, and chimerazation.  Through genetic engineering, a combination of the individual’s DNA and that of the desired animal traits could be generated in the lab.  Core organs such as brain, heart, kidneys, etc. would never have to change, while external organs such as claws, skin, tails, etc. could be grown, with the new amalgamated DNA introduced to the subject as a new native DNA sequence.

Don’t plan on getting your new tail any time soon, though.  Even were the technology developed and approved for use on humans, the estimated cost of a transformation per individual could run as high as twenty million dollars…damn!

Holy Jurassic Park!

November 6, 2008

mammoth–Japanese scientists have successfully cloned a mouse from a frozen cell taken from a specimen dead for 16 years.  Their next goal?–A mammoth! A rather well-preserved baby mammoth was discovered in Russia slightly over a year ago.

What’s next?–Elvis?–Let’s remember that restoring that frozen shape-shifting alien in John Carpenter’s The Thing didn’t work out too well…

(–Two paws up for President-Elect Barack Obama!)

Body Parts Update…

October 26, 2008

–In October over a year ago in a post that has remained strangely popular, I wrote about a New York man who headed up a scheme to plunder cadavers at Philadelphia funeral homes and sell the stolen body parts.  This scheme involved carving up bodies without permission of the families of the deceased and without medical tests.  Authorities say the sometimes diseased parts were then sold for implants and other procedures…truly ghoulish and despicable crimes.

Well, the 45-year-old man involved has been sentenced to 25 to 58 years in prison, with this sentence to run concurrently with an 18-to 54-year prison sentence he received in New York.

“The weed of crime bears bitter fruit.  Crime does not pay…the Shadow knows!  –Ahahahahaha!”

Really Big Spiders…

October 24, 2008

Camel Spiders are nasty little buggers…and they’re not true spiders, but are of a different order of arachnids called Solifugae (“those that flee from the sun”), which includes scorpions and harvestmen.  Unlike true spiders, they lack book lungs. Their common names include not only camel spiders, but also sun spider, sun scorpion, and wind scorpion.

Camel spiders are nocturnal, and seek shade during the day.  They became notorious during the Iraq invasion when coalition soldiers thought the spiders were attacking them when in reality they were seeking out the shade which the presence of the soldiers newly provided. They do not attack prey larger than themselves unless threatened. This does not, of course, mean that one would want to snuggle up to such a spider; they produce no venom, but leave a disproportionately large, ragged bite wound that is prone to infection.  Leg span is up to five inches, and the suckers can run at speeds up to 10 mph.

Many wild and fanciful stories exist about these spiders, including that they leap into the air, disembowel camels, scream, and run alongside moving humvees.  These tales are dubious at best, but those who don’t fancy big spiders are unlikely to test them…

Mountain Lion Attack Hoax?

October 23, 2008

–An Amish man in Pennsylvania reported that he shot a mountain lion, and was injured by a second mountain lion while tracking it.

The Pennsylvania Game Commission, however, says that there’s no evidence to support the Lancaster County man’s claim.   Crime lab tests showed that a supposed blood trail wasn’t even blood…and a knife that the man contends that he used to fight with the mountain lion has deer hair on it.   A search of the area showed no evidence of mountain lion hair, feces, or tracks.

There hasn’t been a confirmed sighting of a wild mountain lion in Pennsylvania for more than a century…