Fear Of #Pesticides May Be Harming Us

Bruce Ames of the Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute in California has put forward the contoversial theory that people's fear of supposed harmful chemicals lingering on produce could be causing some to avoid fruit and vegetables, especially those on low incomes who feel they can't afford to buy organic alternatives. Though there is a lack of information about the effects of certain chemicals so no one knows for sure exactly how pesticides affect human health at various levels.  However any health risk posed by pesticides on produce...

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Virus Gets Gypsy #Moth High

The caterpillar of the European gypsy moth climbs trees by night to feed on leaves but descends to the in relative safety of the ground during the day and to moult. However when infected by a baculovirus the caterpillar changes this behaviour, no longer returning to the ground but  remaining high in the tree where the virus releases enzymes that liquifies the caterpillar from the inside out and the infected liquid rains down to be widely distributed from the tree's canopy. Scientists at Pennsylvania State University believe that a  gene...

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London Gets An F For Air Pollution

The City of London now ranks among the unhealthiest European cities for air pollution. 17 cities were judged on the action they had taken to reduce deadly particles from diesel vehicles.   Only Düsseldorf, Milan and Rome  were judged to be worse than London in a recent air quality study. London was deemed to have taken backward steps by halving the congestion charge zone, cut back on plans for new hybrid buses and increasing public transport fares. Bad air quality in Europe causes nearly 500,000 premature deaths a year, and costs up...

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Assassin Bug Uses Ninja Skills To Sneaks Up On #Spiders

How assassin bugs hunt spiders in their webs  without alerting the spider to their presence has long been a mystery, but researches have now found the bugs use noise to sneak up on their prey by  waiting for the wind to rustle the web. Most web building spiders have poor eyesight & rely on interpreting vibrations on their web. Using a fan in the lab,  researchers at Macquarie University in Sydney discovered that when the fan was switched on to simulate a breeze the assassin bugs “stepped more often and walked in a more continuous...

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#Hummingbirds: A Sing In The Tail

During courtship display a male hummingbird can climb up to 40 metres before dive bombing passed the female at maximum possibel speeds. At the lowest point of the dive he rapidly spreads and then closes his tail feathers. The spread makes the tail feathers flutter and produce a distinctive sound that is specific to each species. The size, shape, mass and rigidity of the hummingbird's feathers, determine the tone of each species' particular sound. Read More & Watch Video at Physorg.com&nb...

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Simply fascinating #nature...

6 Things Animals Do Just Like Us.Dolphins, crows, primates and parrots name their babies as they have been observed using unique calls to get the attention of specific members in the group. Whales sing pop songs. Humpback males sing a hit song that can spread half way round the globe until an innovator in the population starts to sing a new song which catches on and becomes the new hit.  Female chimps play with dolls. They take sticks, logs or vines and cradle and cuddle them like babies, even putting them to bed. Bengal finches are sticklers...

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Wakehurst Place Launches Native #Plant Project.

Kew Garden's Millennium Seed Bank has launched a project to create seed stocks to help restore native plants to the UK. Initially the project will concentrate on plants from lowland meadows and semi-natural grassland as 98% of such habitats have vanished in England and Wales since the 1930s.  Seeds from plants like devil's bit scabious, cuckoo flower, green field-speedwell and harebell, can then be harvested and grown on by seed companies for conservation groups and landowners.  Read More at The Guardian See Picture Gallery at The G...

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Watch #Beetles Devour A #Dead #Rat

I hope you aren't eating your tea. This time lapse video shows sexton beetles over a 24 hour period as they completely bury a dead rat and then remove all its fur. It takes the beetles 12 hours to bury the rat. The video is part of After Life: the science of decay,  a full-length programme airing on BBC Four later this year.  Watch Video at New Scient...

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Woodland #Birds Join Extinction Danger List

Though widespread 40 years ago, both willow tit and lesser spotted woodpecker populations have dropped by 91% and 76% respectively since the 1970s. What is not clear are the reasons for the decline and the birds are to be monitored to to try to discover  why they are struggling. The long-eared owl, short-eared owl and Arctic skua have also been added to the list of 'at risk' species by The Rare Breeding Birds Panel and experts are now tracking 103 species of rare birds. They are asking bird watchers to submit records if they see any of the...

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The #Mole With Twelve Fingers

Polydactyly refers to extra digits. It is a relatively common congenital anomaly in both humans, dogs and cats. Most animals with paws have ten digits. In moles however having an extra thumb is the norm. A bone stretching from the wrist, along the real thumb gives a bigger surface area for digging. The extra thumb is not jointed, comprising a single sickle shaped bone that develops later than the real digits. It is thought the development is linked, as it is in humans with high levels of maternal testosterone. Read More at Science Daily For mole...

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Photos: #Babies On The Brink

Some very cute pictures of baby elephants, pied tamarins, Tasmanian devils, aye ayes,  lion cubs, pandas and more. This lovely slide show also illustrates some of the breeding programs and efforts to safeguard some of the world's most endangered species. View Slide Show at BBC Nat...

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Are We Getting #Dirtier?

After decades of being sold on an antibacterial, over sterilized environment, now sales of cleaning products are down and we seem to be accepting that a little bit of dirt wont harm us and may even help guard against allergies or asthma. In a recent survey though 80% valued a clean home, almost half admitted to cleaning not being high on their list of priorities.  Read More at The Independ...

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#Bird's Missing Finger Mystery Solved

Most vertebrates have five digits on each of their limbs but birds have only three. Scientists have long puzzled over which digits the birds have retained. Are they thumb, index and middle finger or index, middle and ring fingers? Now scientists at Yale have done genomic analysis that reveals that the innermost digit is genetically a thumb but in the position of the index finger. Read More at Science Dai...

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Stem Cells Could #Save #Endangered #Species

Scientists at San Diego Zoo's Institute for Conservation Research have managed to convert specialised skin cells into unspecialised stem cells. The next stage is to convert the stem cells into viable sperm and eggs which could then be used to boost genetic diversity in wild populations. The first two species targeted have been the northern white rhinoceros and a primate called a drill, but skin cells and tissue samples have been collected from more than 800 species, now stored in a 'Frozen Zoo' Read More at The Independe...

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Encyclopedia Of #Life Reaches A Milestone

The Encyclopedia of Life , a free online resource that set out in 2007 to bring together images, videos and scientific information on every species on the planet. Four years later it has now reached 750,000 entries, more than one third of the 1.9 million species on Earth.  However, since a recent estimate has put the total a lot higher at 8.7 million species (not including bacteria and viruses) the site still has a long way to go. Read More at The Guardian &nbs...

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#Wasps and an extreme case of #anaphylactic shock. #Pest #control professionals in #London

Destroyed by a waspSting leaves dad paralysedDavid Batten ... brain damaged following wasp stingWoman, 75, dies of wasp stingsPENSIONER stung to death by a swarm of angry wasps after nest disturbed by gardenerCop gets stung by information theft   Terrified puppy dies in bees hell   Wasp with giant jaws discovered a href="http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3958721/Destroyed-by-a-wasp.html#top-stories-href-1"...

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