A Few Good Taters



lookslikescience: Matt Downen. Recent graduate in geology, and will be going to graduate school for paleontology. The photo is from a field course on Bahamian geology.

lookslikescience:

Matt Downen. Recent graduate in geology, and will be going to graduate school for paleontology. The photo is from a field course on Bahamian geology.






fairy-wren: european kestrel (photo by beachwalker2008)

fairy-wren:

european kestrel

(photo by beachwalker2008)






dailyreenactor: Taylor and her hat! on Flickr.

dailyreenactor:

Taylor and her hat! on Flickr.






(Source: jjabramsed, via iheartjurassicpark)






tastefullyoffensive: [via]

tastefullyoffensive:

[via]






mothernaturenetwork: Every avid hiker has a list of favorite trails. Most people who walk in natural areas regularly have a personal connection with the paths they choose to tread regularly. This makes it difficult to create any sort of universal “top 10” or “best of” list of hiking destinations. That said, certain trails in the U.S. enjoy a high profile because of their overall length, remoteness, amazing scenery or historical significance.Classic American hiking trails

mothernaturenetwork:

Every avid hiker has a list of favorite trails. Most people who walk in natural areas regularly have a personal connection with the paths they choose to tread regularly. This makes it difficult to create any sort of universal “top 10” or “best of” list of hiking destinations. That said, certain trails in the U.S. enjoy a high profile because of their overall length, remoteness, amazing scenery or historical significance.
Classic American hiking trails






discoverynews: Paralyzed Rats Regain Mobility in Lab After severe spinal cord damage, paralyzed rats are able to walk again with the help of a robot to hold them up and stimulate their nerves, a new study shows. After the rats are trained on the machine for about two months, they gained the ability to control their hind legs — which had previously been cut off from communicating with the brain — with enough dexterity to climb stairs and navigate around objects. This control means that the brain has forged new connections to get around the spinal cord injury. keep reading

discoverynews:

Paralyzed Rats Regain Mobility in Lab

After severe spinal cord damage, paralyzed rats are able to walk again with the help of a robot to hold them up and stimulate their nerves, a new study shows.

After the rats are trained on the machine for about two months, they gained the ability to control their hind legs — which had previously been cut off from communicating with the brain — with enough dexterity to climb stairs and navigate around objects. This control means that the brain has forged new connections to get around the spinal cord injury.

keep reading






abluegirl:

Eroded Landscape and the carved from rock Selime Monastery, Turkey (by Roger Wong)

(via crownedrose)






thedailywhat:

Game of Thrones Parody of the Day: Presenting the trailer for “an epic new series about the only land stranger than Game of Thrones: America.”

[collegehumor]






genannetics: Tomato Genome Reveals How it was Able to Beat the Dinosaurs The news everyone has been anticipating…that’s right, the tomato genome has been sequenced!  Plant geneticists from 14 countries spent the last 9 years working on the tomatoes’ behemoth genome, which contains over 31,000 genes…that’s more than us humans.  Wait…how can Heinz 1706 (that’s the variety of tomato they sequenced, yes, the one used for ketchup) have more genes than us, and still be, well, tomatoes?   Tomatoes (of course) are not more complex than humans, they merely use a different strategy for managing their genetics.  Whereas humans use alternative splicing (gene segments rearranged in different ways to make new products), tomatoes ended up simply tripling their genome, keeping one copy for day to day affairs, and using the other two to mutate and rearrange and delete, allowing for fast adaptation to harsh environments.  A good strategy when one is trying to survive an extinction…     Usually the triplication of a genome would be a considerable handicap, saddling a plant with three times as much DNA as it needs. But this event occurred around the time of the catastrophe in which the dinosaurs perished, and the extra genetic versatility may have been a lifesaver. “It’s easy to think that in that period, with a lot of volcanic activity and little sunlight, the reservoir of a lot of additional genes would be useful to a plant,” said Jim Giovannoni, a plant geneticist at the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research in Ithaca, N.Y., who led the American contribution to the tomato genome report. So what else have we learned from the tomato genome?  Turns out the potato is one of it’s closest living relatives, showing 92% genetic similarity. Scientist’s hope to use the tomatoes genetic code to help cultivate longer lasting, redder, juicier, better tasting tomatoes.

genannetics:

Tomato Genome Reveals How it was Able to Beat the Dinosaurs

The news everyone has been anticipating…that’s right, the tomato genome has been sequenced!  Plant geneticists from 14 countries spent the last 9 years working on the tomatoes’ behemoth genome, which contains over 31,000 genes…that’s more than us humans. 

Wait…how can Heinz 1706 (that’s the variety of tomato they sequenced, yes, the one used for ketchup) have more genes than us, and still be, well, tomatoes?  

Tomatoes (of course) are not more complex than humans, they merely use a different strategy for managing their genetics.  Whereas humans use alternative splicing (gene segments rearranged in different ways to make new products), tomatoes ended up simply tripling their genome, keeping one copy for day to day affairs, and using the other two to mutate and rearrange and delete, allowing for fast adaptation to harsh environments.  A good strategy when one is trying to survive an extinction…    

Usually the triplication of a genome would be a considerable handicap, saddling a plant with three times as much DNA as it needs. But this event occurred around the time of the catastrophe in which the dinosaurs perished, and the extra genetic versatility may have been a lifesaver. “It’s easy to think that in that period, with a lot of volcanic activity and little sunlight, the reservoir of a lot of additional genes would be useful to a plant,” said Jim Giovannoni, a plant geneticist at the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research in Ithaca, N.Y., who led the American contribution to the tomato genome report.

So what else have we learned from the tomato genome?  Turns out the potato is one of it’s closest living relatives, showing 92% genetic similarity. Scientist’s hope to use the tomatoes genetic code to help cultivate longer lasting, redder, juicier, better tasting tomatoes.






staceythinx:

Chihuly Garden and Glass is an exhibition that opened at the Seattle Center on May 21st that provides a look at the inspiration and influences that inform the career of glass artist Dale Chihuly.






(Source: daily-owls)






[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]

musicofghibli:

I Will Never Forget You - The Secret World of Arrietty






"Part of the secret of success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside." 

Mark Twain (via theonewithallthefood)

(Source: thinkexist.com, via theonewithallthefood)






thedailywhat: Marriage Proposal of the Day: Shelby Fetsch thought her boyfriend, Spc. William Johanson-Kubin, was still stationed in Afghanistan. So when she threw out the first pitch before the St. Louis Cardinals’ game against the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday night, the last thing she expected was for the catcher to propose… Don’t miss the video. [cosbysweaters]

thedailywhat:

Marriage Proposal of the Day: Shelby Fetsch thought her boyfriend, Spc. William Johanson-Kubin, was still stationed in Afghanistan. So when she threw out the first pitch before the St. Louis Cardinals’ game against the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday night, the last thing she expected was for the catcher to propose…

Don’t miss the video.

[cosbysweaters]