I'm busy.

Loom

A moth is caught in a spider's web. After facing the predator and being digested it becomes an integral part of its own trap.

LOOM (2010) 05:20 | Animation - Thriller
Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg - www.filmakademie.de

Science Friday with Randall!

There is no other animal in the kingdom of all animals, as fearless as the crazyass Honey Badger. Nasty as hell, it eats practically whatever it wants. Randall is disgusted.

Birds on the Wires from Jarbas Agnelli on Vimeo.

I got to boogie on the disco 'round, oh yea.

It is no secret that Halloween is the favorite holiday with us artsy-fartsy types. Well, I know the legend of carrying a lighted pumpkin, and know about the whole cat-thing, but bats? That was one I could never figure out. Until now.

"Biologists at the University of Leeds are studying how females pick mates from among masses of males during what was described as "bat discos".
Dunblane-based Ms Youngman said: "Autumn swarms see bats home in on a cave or a tunnel.
"They fly miles and miles to the same sites year after year."
In Scotland, Daubenton's and to a lesser extent Natter's bats are found swarming between September and October."
""Essentially swarming is a bat disco."
Full article is here.

I love bats, always have. They clean the skies of bugs then get the hell out of the way. They cut down the need for insecticides. I see them every so often where I am, it's as rare as seeing a fox. Unfortunately, with more wind farms, we're going to see loads of bats die. NeoHippies, I blame YOU.

The PC Police let me off with a warning.

I'm luckier than most folks, by day I have a job in an office with wickedly smart people. Every now and then an unexpected treat of a new bit of knowledge will appear like a glimmering jewel. Last week's treat was this:


"1.6 million Buprestidae shells were glued to the ceiling of the Royal Palace in Brussels. The project is by artist Jan Fabre and his team of 30 beetle-gluers."
(You will note that the photo is not level. I had nothing to do with that.)

Isn't that wild? I call Manuel over.

Manuel is a handsome, gay, Latino scientist in his thirties. He has a slight accent from growing up in various South American countries, he is kind and pleasant to all, and if you show Manuel ANY living thing, either fauna or flora, he'll rattle off the Latin name for it AND tell you what genus and species it is classified under, and what the locals call it, in English and in Spanish. The guy is smart.

"Manuel, Manuel, come look at this!"
"Ooh, what is it?" he coos back at me, coming over to look at my screen.

"Look! Look at this photo!"

"Ooooo, that is wonderful!" Manuel leans in to look.

I exclaim, "Yeah, this artist had his team glue beetles to the ceiling! All of that green, we're looking at millions of beetle shells."

Manuel frowns. "Aw," he pouts, "that seems so cruel!" He means it, too.

"Well, hang on, let's see how he did it" He and I speed-skim the artist's summary-"See Manuel? It says that these beetles are a food product in South Asian countries, that these shells are a by-product of food manufacturing. He probably made some village of bug-eaters very well-off."

"What? Bug eaters!?" His eyes flash to a glare.

"Manuel, it's not a slur to say that if the people are actually eating bugs..."

*shrug* "Okay, true..."