MetaFilter posts tagged with research and nature

Little Armored One

iamkimiam — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 22:56:06 -0800

What can jump 4 feet straight up, births identical quadruplet pups nearly every time, can curl itself into an armor-plated ball, walk underwater for up to six minutes and can swallow air until it bloats to double its size to float? Dasypus novemcinctus, of course! A place for all things armadillo: DilloScape Armadillos and humans are the only mammals susceptible to leprosy: Armadillos and their role in the study of Hansen's Disease From Mayan Legend, to Texas, and beyond: The Biogeography of the Nine-Banded Armadillo One armadillo's sad story: Otis is Resurrected! Also, Armadillo games, Flickr pool.

NOAA or Noah?

kliuless — Wed, 03 May 2006 19:03:48 -0800

A NOAA report says Earth's surface and atmosphere are both warming, and that earlier work that found otherwise contains flaws. In other news, global warming has started to weaken an important wind circulation pattern over the Pacific Ocean, a study suggests. The change could alter climate and the marine food chain in that area; polar bears and walrus pups sad.

Bird brains?

Pink Fuzzy Bunny — Thu, 13 Apr 2006 16:49:09 -0800

Searchable Ornithological Research Archive a site containing back issues of avian journals dating back to 1884. Some highlights: The landing forces of domestic pigeons, [pdf] an 1889 comparison of bird brains [pdf]

Ah, science.

joe_murphy — Thu, 20 Jan 2005 07:46:33 -0800

New research takes steps towards finding the "gay genes." A study conducted on gay brothers in more than 100 families found several genetic regions of similarity with linkage to sexual orientation. This is kind of dense (scroll to the bottom of the page for the FAQ), but that's because it hasn't been written up in the press so there are only journal doc's and scientific summaries available.
This is the press release, which is clearer (Microsoft Word).
This is the article on the study, as published in the journal Human Genetics (PDF).

the language boom

the fire you left me — Sun, 07 Dec 2003 06:48:54 -0800

Language tree rooted in Turkey.

And you thought GRIZZLIES were violent...

JollyWanker — Wed, 27 Aug 2003 19:00:18 -0800

Charlie Russell and Maureen Enns - authors of a popular book and the subject of a fascinating and well-recieved documentary - have been living for months at a time with bears in Kamchatka, demonstrating that man and grizzly can, in fact, inhabit the same landscape without violence - at least, no violence on the part of the bears... Their work has been brought to a tragic and all too human end... (Via Rafe Colburn, who notes, appropriately, "People suck.")