Sound of the Week The handsome devils pictured are the taxidermied carcasses of the famous Lions of Tsavo. These boys (yes, they’re both boys, male lions in hot, dry environments do not have manes as lions in colder, wetter environments do) attacked railroad crews in 1898 as they attempted to building a railroad line over the Tsavo […]
I’ll be on some panels at the upcoming Awesome Con in Washington, D.C., March 30- April 1. On March 31, I’ll be moderating a panel on women in STEM (1pm in room 209) and later that evening, I’ll be discussing the awesome science behind real monsters (and why we can’t have nice things like head transplants, 8pm room 209). […]
Science Fact Some pitcher plants eat bugs to get the nitrogen and phosphorus they need to make it. But one special one HOSTS bugs. It gives a baby gnat a place to hang, and that gnat then builds a web on the plant, catches bugs, eats them, and then poos right into the pitcher plant, while […]
Science Fact Pluto’s got a washboard stomach. No really! “Washboard” and “fluted” areas of terrain are parallel ridges across the landscape. In this case, scientists think they were caused by glaciers that expanded and then retreated over the years. But don’t choose Pluto for your next ski destination. The “glaciers” in this case weren’t made of water […]
Science Fact Scientists have found a penguin supercolony! And boy is it super. It’s more than 1.5 MILLION Adelie penguins. That’s like the entire city of Philadelphia. But with penguins. In the very remote area of the Danger Islands, where humans had never looked closely before. What alerted them? The penguin POO. There was so […]