Rydw i wedi bod ychydig yn esgeulus wrth bostio heriau rheolaidd, felly byddaf yn ceisio i godi'r cyflymder. Pwy all ddweud unrhyw beth am ieir bach yr haf hwn i mi? Y mwyaf rydych yn ei gael yw ei bod yn o hanner gorllewinol yr Unol Daleithiau. Credyd ar gyfer y teulu, genws neu rywogaethau a chwerthinllyd credyd ar gyfer isrywogaeth a lle mae'n o.
Euphydryas anicia cloudcrofti
Ted llwyddo i eithaf cyflym ID LEP hwn gyda chywirdeb trawiadol ar gyfer chwilen-guy. Rydych LEP-wyr darllen y dylai hyn hongian eich pen mewn cywilydd am beidio neidio arno yn gyflymach.
Fel y soniwyd yn y sylwadau, glöyn byw hwn yn unig yn hedfan o gwmpas y dref wyliau o CLOUDCROFT, New Mexico yn y Mynyddoedd Sacramento. Ar gyfer blynyddoedd y maent wedi bod yn ymladd i gael hyn eu rhestru fel rhywogaethau mewn perygl, ond wedi methu ar bob ymgais (gwrthod diweddaraf oedd Awst 2009). Mae'r dref yn dibynnu bron yn gyfan gwbl ar gyrchfannau sgïo gaeaf a datblygwyr wedi rhoi i fyny yn ymladd llwyddiannus yn erbyn amddiffyn. Mae'r ardal gyfan o fewn y Goedwig Genedlaethol Lincoln, ond dim ond wedi cau'r ardal i ieir bach yr haf gasglu, Nid yw datblygiad. Wrth ofyn y gwasanaeth goedwig am y glöyn byw hwn maent yn ddigamsyniol yn datgan bod y checkerspot yn mewn perygl (er nad yw'n). Wrth gwrs nid ydynt am i chi ei gasglu – ond os ydych yn cynnig ychydig o miliwn i ddatblygu ei gynefin, mae hynny'n stori wahanol.
I sat rapt in front of my TV on Sunday watching the latest installment of the BBC/Discovery series “Life”. The first thing that comes to my mind… “WHY was Oprah chosen to narrate!?” Yn naturiol, I waited for the insects special to air before I blogged about this, but having to listen to Oprah for the last few weeks has been scratching at the back of my eyes. I guess I could have gone out and purchased the BBC version with the iconic voice of Sir David Attenborough instead…
To get a better grip of just how obnoxious Oprah is, you can watch thesame clip on Discovery. I have never considered Oprah to be anything close to scientifically minded – and her lavishsupport of Jenny McCarthyproves the point. For those who are not up to date – McCarthy is the leading proponent of the anti-vaccination movement. You can even go as far as attributing her PR campaign topreventable deaths.I’ll have to return to this subject another time.
Back to the topic at hand. There was some incredibly stunning insect footage, and a few vignettes about insect life I might not have otherwise ever seen. It seems like the US version of Life has been slightly re-written with zero factual contribution. Basic lines are changed from “she was not in the mood” i “uh-oh, looks like a headache”. Seems like a step down to me, albeit a tiny one. I was also a little annoyed with the continual focus on vertebrates – birds that eat flies, bears that eat honey, lizards that mimic Carabids – and anthropomorphizing intention, e.g.. the ants “crowning achievement of large complex communities… the closest thing in nature to human cities”. While it may be true that giant ant colonies superficially resemble human cities, I wouldn’t call them the “crowning achievement of insects”. Mind boggling in complexity, ie – but overshadowing other non-social adaptations? This all boils down to a false premise that evolution is striving for human-like qualities and is directional.
But nothing to be overly critical about. Given the diversity and complexity of the insect world, I wouldn’t have even been happy with two weeks of solid footage. I would love to see what was left on the cutting room floor!
Roedd hi'n ddiwrnod hyfryd heddiw yn ardal y bae, felly es i fyny i Napa a Dyffryn y Pab. Roeddwn yn sgowtio rhyw diriogaeth newydd ar gyfer gwyfyn blodau bach, Heliolonche celeris, mae'n debyg ei fod yn aros am fwy o dywydd braf cyfagos i ddod i'r amlwg. Mae'r tymor hwn wedi bod braidd yn hwyr oherwydd yr oerfel a'r glaw i gyd, ond yr wyf yn dal gobeithion am ymweliad dychwelyd llwyddiannus ymhen ychydig wythnosau. Fodd bynnag, Deuthum ar draws llond llaw o ficroleps hardd. Mae'r gwyfynod hyn i gyd yn y genws ADELE a theulu Adelidae (neu byddai rhai yn dweud incurvariidae). Fe'u gelwir yn gyffredin fel “gwyfynod tylwyth teg” oherwydd ymddengys eu bod yn dawnsio dros ddarnau o flodau – y mae'n debyg bod tylwyth teg wrth eu bodd yn ei wneud. Roedd yn edrych fel bod gwrywod yn amddiffyn ardal fach, gyda dau i dri ar y tro, troelli o gwmpas ei gilydd ychydig fodfeddi uwchben y blodau. Rwy'n cymryd bod y dawnsiau hyn yn diriogaethol oherwydd ni welwyd unrhyw baru. Tra bod gan fenywod antena hir, y gwrywod yn ei gymryd i ormodedd. Nes i gasglu cyfres neis ond nes i heb hoelio'r rhywogaeth eto – faint ydych chi'n ei weld? Diolch byth, pob un o'r Adelidae eu gorchuddio yn a 1969 papur gan Jerry Powell, sydd hefyd yn digwydd byw i lawr y stryd oddi wrthyf.
Ar ôl edrych trwy'r casgliadau yma yn y CAS, a darllen y monograff, mae'n edrych fel bod y rhan fwyaf o'r rhain Adela trigrapha. Mae'n Adelid cyffredin o ardal Bae San Francisco a'r rhan fwyaf o'r ystodau arfordirol o CA. Nodir bod yr amrywiad yn sylweddol, gyda bandiau wedi torri a di-dor yn ogystal ag amrywiad o'r coch ar y goron. Mae'n hawdd adnabod yr Adelid arall Mae Adela yn fy fflamio.
Rhandaliad arall o Athrylith y Wasg, ac efallai dipyn o bêl feddal. (Yikes mae'r rhain yn hawdd i'w canfod) Pwy all ddweud wrthyf beth sydd o'i le yr erthygl hon?
The clouds broke this afternoon in San Francisco and the sun began to shine. The upcoming warm weather induced an all too familiar feeling, one that I should be out collecting insects and not sitting indoors! While I have already been to a handful of places this spring, I have a long season of collecting ahead. Looking forward I couldn’t help but to reflect on the past two spectacular years the west has given me. To illustrate my addiction, here is a caption of my Google Earth GPS points.
Each flag represents a separate collecting event (disregard the yellow pins), between fall 2007 and winter 2009. I have not kept track of the miles for dedicated collecting trips (perhaps to avoid shock), but it must be approaching 30,000. My Honda Accord may not be a typical field vehicle, but it makes the distance substantially more affordable. Of course the two flat tires and cracked windshield don’t help. You can easily tell that I lived in southern California with that giant blob of flags. Most of those are focused in Santa Barbara county, which yielded two new species and dozens of county records. Arizona comes second with two 10 day trips with each night in a different location. I then broke free of the southwest last summer and drove a long loop through the midwest over the course of two and a half weeks. I pulled in around 4,000 lepidoptera and have just started putting the finishing touches on the last of the specimens. Hyd yn hyn, only one new species – a sole specimen of a small Acrolophidae from western Texas (determined by Peter Jump who is writing the MONA fascicle on the group). Plenty left to still ID.
On the board for this year: A trip to Leavenworth, Washington for the 2010 Lepidopterists’ Cyfarfod Cymdeithas. The two week collecting trip will shoot north to Washington then loop east through Idaho, Utah and Nevada on the way home. But as always, Arizona and Mexico are beaconing. And now that I live in Berkeley I will have to get into the Sierra a few more times this year!
I am really at a loss for understanding yet anotherpositive acupuncture studythat was as well designed as my 8th grade science fair project. Roddwyd, Roeddwn i'n blentyn gwyddoniaeth nerdy, ond gallwn i wneud job well yn feddw. I think I should conduct a followup study in which I test the efficacy of porcupines tossed at your back. It would certainly be more amusing; and full of just about as much scientific value. Heb sôn am, porcupines are kinda cute.
The real problems with the study:
Unblinded
n=15. Their x² tests may have resulted in a significant response, but in no imagination of any universe does 15 equal a statistically significant sampling of any population, anywhere.
No negative control. They treated all of their patients with acupuncture or vitamins. Vitamin B complex is a treatment (still a very poorly supported one), and only a positive control. Whose to say smell didn’t naturally improve over the course of the study? The authors can not.
So my question is, what can possibly be the motivation for this study? I can imagine how this was dreamt up, around the coloring books one day “Hey Doc Julia, acupuncture sure works huh?” “Why yes it does fellow idiot, let’s create a really crappy study to show just that!”. Take a look atmy older acupuncture postfor more links and a bit more discussion on why ancient chinese medicine is a waste of money. Of course if you test 15 people you can scrape together a positive result for just about anything. But as you start to introduce larger and more tightly controlled studies the positive effects start to shrink.
Ridiculous. And now that I look at it, my 8th grade science fair project was conducted with two sets of controls, blinded, and had a sample size of 18 (antibacterial effectiveness of kitchen cleaners). Diolch yn fawr, I’ll kindly take my position at the University of Cologne Medical Center now.
A continuation of the aquamoth series, this time withvideo from Science Friday! Oes, I have to link it because wordpress won’t embed… Diolch Ted, figured it out!
Ychydig o ddelweddau o fy nhaith gwyfyn penwythnos i lawr i Shell Creek, Sir San Luis Obispo. Mae'r gwanwyn cynnar ar hyd yr arfordir canolog yn syfrdanol, ac yr oedd y ffyrdd cefn yn orlawn o wylwyr blodau. Roedd yna ddwsinau o geir yn cael eu meddiannu gan deuluoedd allan ar benwythnos mewn car, roedd llawer wedi pecyn bwyd ac eistedd i wylio'r blodau'n tyfu. Er fy mod yn hapus i weld pobl yn mwynhau'r harddwch naturiol, mae'n anodd gweld y difrod y gall eu sathru ei achosi. Fodd bynnag, pe gallai mwy o bobl fynd allan i werthfawrogi byd natur, efallai y byddai'n haws ei amddiffyn. Roedd y blodau mor llachar a thrwchus roedd yn anodd canolbwyntio ar wyfynod, ac ar ôl ychydig oriau dechreuais fynd ychydig yn eira-ddall (neu fel yr adnabyddir yn awr yn dragywydd, blodyn-ddall). Dyma ychydig o ymdrechion gwan i ddal y harddwch.
These pieces of art are the creation ofRobert J. Lang. Chances are if you’ve seen some insane origami than they were his creation. Oes, those are actually made from one single piece of uncut paper. He provides the crease pattern for most of his designs, but actually folding something from that pattern has to be nearly impossible without knowing the sequence. It’s very impressive, but if you’re a bit lazier, you can cut and fold out your own simple insectsyn lle.
For those who saw the FOX interview with MSU entomologist Dr. Cognato (iawn, for those who didn’t, here it is), you will be interested to hear his side of the story.
Take the time to register (sorry, it’s annoying but I couldn’t find it anywhere else) and read a response to the interview by Dr. Cognato, yma. In summary, he basically confirmed what was suspected, that they weren’t 100% straightforward with him in the first place and only gave him about six hours to prep. It is nice to hear that Tucker Carlson was actually interested in the entomolgy collection (although, perceived interest is a key tactic in the reporters tool-belt to disarm his interviewee…). Serch hynny, Cognato did a good job battling off the mindless, anti-science, right wing, propaganda machine. It is clear that he was put in a difficult situation, FOX came to him and wanted to discuss the collection. He knew he wasn’t going to be the best prepared for the interview (I know I sure wouldn’t be either!), but had to stand up for the collection in fear that they might have trampled on it without any fair rebuttal. It is sad we have almost no source of unbiased news nowadays. If you followed this story you should take the time to read about how it really happened.
