A thread for scientific nerdiness

[littleoc]

Budgies are Awesome: Glowi...

I think they can see UV as well! Birds see more colors than mammals do, that's for sure!

So cool though

 

[Angrboda]

Bees can also see into the UV portion of the spectrum. A lot of flowers have nectar guides that reflect ultraviolet light to help attract bees. It's visible to them, but not to us. We can see further into the red portion of the spectrum than they can though. Red flowers are usually more effective at attracting butterflies and hummingbirds as pollinators.

Ants can't see as far into the red as we can either. When I've collected dealate ant queens and put them in tubes to start colonies they have to be kept completely in the dark. So I seal the tube up in a larger container with a camera and a light source with a 680 nm near infrared filter on it. I can see the light, and so can the camera, but the ants can't. That let's me watch everything that's happening without changing their behavior or stressing them out.

And yes, I know I'm obsessed with insects.

 

[littleoc]

And yes, I know I'm obsessed with insects.

You're not alone! Keep those facts coming! :D

Here's an interesting one: mitochondrial disorders!

I think this video would be more fun than me talking about it lol

Solving the Mystery of Darwin’s Lifelong Illness

 

[Angrboda]

I've got something else:

I have to correct people about this all the time, and it happened again last night. Whenever someone introduces me to somebody and tells them that I'm an entomologist, they always follow that up by saying, "She studies bugs." I am an entomologist. I do not study bugs. The word bug is actually a scientific term which specifically refers to members of the suborder Heteroptera. It does not refer to any and all creepy crawly critters. An insect is not a true bug unless it has piercing sucking mouthparts and hemelytrous wings, which means that the wings are partially membranous, like a dragonfly's wings, and partially sclerotized or hardened, like the forewings of a beetle. For example, a box elder bug really is a bug, but a lady bug on the other hand is not. Lady bugs are coccinellid beetles. I study hymenopterans, which are also NOT bugs.

I don't know why, but that just drives me nuts.

 

[Changing4Best]

Interesting facts about guinea pigs

I have a guinea pig, so I thought some of you might not know all this, since even I did not know every bot of it.

 

[Angrboda]

Oh my gosh, has anyone ever watched Ze Frank's series of nature videos? I can't post a link, but if you go to Youtube and type 'True facts about the octopus' into the search bar it should pull up that one and a lot of the others. They're hilarious, and the information in them is mostly good, except for the one about hedgehogs. That one is a load of horsesh*t. It's still my favorite, just because he flat out states that porcupines are not real. They are imaginary. I guess this is only really funny if you have a running joke going with someone which involves you refusing to acknowledge the existence of porcupines despite all evidence to the contrary. But if you do have that joke you will fall over laughing.

One day when I have a room full of students I am sooooo going to make them watch these. They're almost as good as that video from the sixties or seventies that my Bio1 professor made us watch with dozens of hippies dancing out a representation of DNA transcription while someone recited a bastardized version of the Jabberwock.

Scientists are really weird. Someone should study us.

 

[Friday]

Oh my gosh, has anyone ever watched Ze Frank's series of nature videos?

:inlove: WUV.

It was the Sad Dog Diaries / Sad Cat Diaries / Dear Kitten ...that ooooooh he has more? Bwaaaahahaha! These are hilarious! Also mostly true. Containing Truthiness. ;)

 

[Friday]

It's still my favorite, just because he flat out states that porcupines are not real. They are imaginary. I guess this is only really funny if you have a running joke going with someone which involves you refusing to acknowledge the existence of porcupines despite all evidence to the contrar

:roflmao: I actually HAVE a running joke with someone about something being not real/imaginary ...but i’ve forgotten what it is :bag:

:woot: Maybe it’s ceased to exist???

That or I just haven’t seen them for a long time. :whistling:

...I also have a running joke about bacon being Unicorn Meat. Except it’s not a joke. It’s true. Which is why vegetarians, Jews, & Muslims can cheerfully eat bacon. Also, sometimes, ribs. Especially with beer. And dim sum. Because unicorn meat is not real meat. It’s from a mythical creature. :smug:

 

[gealach]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5oq4ErAmW0

if you've ever wanted to know how to interpret an ECG, or wondered what the heck is happening with the heart when you look at the squiggly lines in Lead II.....

The Cardiac Dysrhythmia Heartbeat Dance

pee first, just sayin'.

My personal favs are the PVC kick (insert ninja kicking sound if you want, I do) and the atrial flutter.

Not included in this video... the unofficial F.U.R interpretation, aka f*cked Up Rhythm, for when you look at those squiggly lines and they don't match anything you've ever seen in a textbook at any time. EVER.

 

[bellbird]

dozens of hippies dancing out a representation of DNA transcription

I suddenly feel my genetics degree is sufficiently lacking having not seen this.

 

[littleoc]

I suddenly feel my genetics degree is sufficiently lacking having not seen this.

My professor in 2016 showed me that video! Said she was shown it in the 70s. It's beautiful.

@Angrboda Students LOVE stuff like that lol

 

[Angrboda]

Sad Dog Diaries / Sad Cat Diaries / Dear Kitten

I can't believe I hadn't seen these before. I think I must build an altar and start worshipping Ze Frank. Also, I was informed yesterday evening that Spam is also made of unicorn meat. I've tasted it, and I think I believe it.

@bellbird You did really miss out. I'm trying to remember, but I think I may have found that video on Youtube a few years back. I'll dig around in the morning and see if I can turn it up.