Monday, 9 January 2012
Thursday, 5 January 2012
Science Updates- Bear pictures, Skin cancer treatment cream & mental deterioration in mid-life
Welcome (back) to Weirdbeautiful.
Two of the top science stories this week are the use of a new radioactive cream used to treat skin cancer non-invasively-->
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2082826/Radioactive-paint-cream-clear-skin-cancer-surgery.html
and reports of a study indicating that mental decline in aging people is a longer, slower and earlier-onset process than once thought (with cognitive decline already detectable by middle age (45-49 years))-->
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/mental-decline-seen-middle-age-233534243.html
Meanwhile, the science section of the IHT website has the cyber-equivalent of a photo-essay on Borneo's famous Orang Utans here-->
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2012/01/04/science/Borneo.html
The essay and pictures were taken in Borneo's Tanjung Puting Nature Park: a place also known for its Sun-Bears, Ursus malayanus. Although Sun-Bears are the smallest of the 8 extant Bear species*, they have a reputation for ferocity. You can find more details about the Sun Bear on the BBC's website [here].
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
(* the other 7 species are the Giant Panda, The Spectacled Bear, The Sloth Bear, The Asian Black Bear, The American Black Bear, The Brown Bear and the Polar Bear. Various hybrid bears and subspecies exist.).
There is a link to pictures of two adorable polar-bear cubs in the blog post immediately before/below this one.
Two of the top science stories this week are the use of a new radioactive cream used to treat skin cancer non-invasively-->
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2082826/Radioactive-paint-cream-clear-skin-cancer-surgery.html
and reports of a study indicating that mental decline in aging people is a longer, slower and earlier-onset process than once thought (with cognitive decline already detectable by middle age (45-49 years))-->
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/mental-decline-seen-middle-age-233534243.html
Meanwhile, the science section of the IHT website has the cyber-equivalent of a photo-essay on Borneo's famous Orang Utans here-->
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2012/01/04/science/Borneo.html
The essay and pictures were taken in Borneo's Tanjung Puting Nature Park: a place also known for its Sun-Bears, Ursus malayanus. Although Sun-Bears are the smallest of the 8 extant Bear species*, they have a reputation for ferocity. You can find more details about the Sun Bear on the BBC's website [here].
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
(* the other 7 species are the Giant Panda, The Spectacled Bear, The Sloth Bear, The Asian Black Bear, The American Black Bear, The Brown Bear and the Polar Bear. Various hybrid bears and subspecies exist.).
There is a link to pictures of two adorable polar-bear cubs in the blog post immediately before/below this one.
Wednesday, 4 January 2012
Cherring up birds- blackbirds and apples
Welcome (back) to Weirdbeautiful.
Today's cheering up bird is a common (Eurasian) blackbird a creature with the unfortunate biological name Turdus merula. (Turdus relates to a genus of "thrush"es).
Every winter, I visit Northallerton station at least once and every year I see the same apple tree still covered in the summer's apples (and often coated in snow as well), it always seems to be a fairly unusual scene- cultivated apple trees usually have their appples picked and untended ones tend to have either very small apples or to have them blown away by the wind- or both. In any case, this year I got a picture of it-this was just one of a whole group of blackbirds (not quite a flock, but several) feeding on it.It is not as flamboyant as the usual "cheering up birds", but it's nice to see wildlife in unpromising places.
Link of the day today is to this article (complete with pictures and video about twin polar bears bred in LHT Polar Aquarium in China-->
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2082143/Twice-cute-Newly-born-polar-bears-snuggle-paw-paw.html
Today's cheering up bird is a common (Eurasian) blackbird a creature with the unfortunate biological name Turdus merula. (Turdus relates to a genus of "thrush"es).
Every winter, I visit Northallerton station at least once and every year I see the same apple tree still covered in the summer's apples (and often coated in snow as well), it always seems to be a fairly unusual scene- cultivated apple trees usually have their appples picked and untended ones tend to have either very small apples or to have them blown away by the wind- or both. In any case, this year I got a picture of it-this was just one of a whole group of blackbirds (not quite a flock, but several) feeding on it.It is not as flamboyant as the usual "cheering up birds", but it's nice to see wildlife in unpromising places.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2082143/Twice-cute-Newly-born-polar-bears-snuggle-paw-paw.html
Sunday, 1 January 2012
Thursday, 22 December 2011
Science News update- New Method of Sterlizing Hospital Wards & Virulent Bird Flu
Welcome (back) to Weirdbeautiful!
There are two major science stories online this week . The first, is a proposal to sterlize hospital rooms and even matresses with a mixture of Ozone and Hydrogen peroxide- chemicals the body itself uses to destroy (lyse) harmful organisms. You can read the full story here-->
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/sterilising-gas-could-clean-wards-050014785.html;_ylt=AimCR.Z2w5Y0eQC4eoRQO_LbfMl_;_ylu=X3oDMTFxa3RwMG0xBG1pdANJbmZpbml0ZSBCcm93c2UgVGV4dARwb3MDNgRzZWMDTWVkaWFJbmZpbml0ZUJyb3dzZUxpc3Q-;_ylg=X3oDMTJyaHA0M2JjBGludGwDZ2IEbGFuZwNlbi1nYgRwc3RhaWQDZDg5ZTMzNDctMDY3OC0zNzc2LTkwYjUtY2RiYWEwYWEzNWRiBHBzdGNhdAN1awRwdANzdG9yeXBhZ2UEdGVzdAM-;_ylv=3
The second major story is news that the American government has pressured leading scientists not to publish full details of recent research on bird flu. The research, which was commissioned by the American government itself, investigated how (natural or -even- artificial) changes in the flu virus genome could lead to the evolution of a more infectious or virulent strain of bird flu. This knowledge could clearly be abused, so some of the more detailed information has been surpressed. The full story is on line here-->
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/details-lab-made-bird-flu-132155927.html
It surprises me a little that this story has made the headlines, because I would expect ( and, in some cases, hope) that the results of quite a few studies are not made fully public. Not that scientists have any kind of moral superiority over the rest of mankind in this matter (Fritz Haber's work on chemical weapons springs to mind), but in some cases, the intellectual problem of scientific censorship is clearly preferrable to the real problem of manmade highly virulent "superbugs".
There are two major science stories online this week . The first, is a proposal to sterlize hospital rooms and even matresses with a mixture of Ozone and Hydrogen peroxide- chemicals the body itself uses to destroy (lyse) harmful organisms. You can read the full story here-->
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/sterilising-gas-could-clean-wards-050014785.html;_ylt=AimCR.Z2w5Y0eQC4eoRQO_LbfMl_;_ylu=X3oDMTFxa3RwMG0xBG1pdANJbmZpbml0ZSBCcm93c2UgVGV4dARwb3MDNgRzZWMDTWVkaWFJbmZpbml0ZUJyb3dzZUxpc3Q-;_ylg=X3oDMTJyaHA0M2JjBGludGwDZ2IEbGFuZwNlbi1nYgRwc3RhaWQDZDg5ZTMzNDctMDY3OC0zNzc2LTkwYjUtY2RiYWEwYWEzNWRiBHBzdGNhdAN1awRwdANzdG9yeXBhZ2UEdGVzdAM-;_ylv=3
The second major story is news that the American government has pressured leading scientists not to publish full details of recent research on bird flu. The research, which was commissioned by the American government itself, investigated how (natural or -even- artificial) changes in the flu virus genome could lead to the evolution of a more infectious or virulent strain of bird flu. This knowledge could clearly be abused, so some of the more detailed information has been surpressed. The full story is on line here-->
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/details-lab-made-bird-flu-132155927.html
It surprises me a little that this story has made the headlines, because I would expect ( and, in some cases, hope) that the results of quite a few studies are not made fully public. Not that scientists have any kind of moral superiority over the rest of mankind in this matter (Fritz Haber's work on chemical weapons springs to mind), but in some cases, the intellectual problem of scientific censorship is clearly preferrable to the real problem of manmade highly virulent "superbugs".
Tuesday, 20 December 2011
December in the Mediterranean
I have been a fan of the Jerusalem Botanic Gardens for several years, now, but not visited in the Winter, before. Today I did just that- here are some of the highlights from the Mediterranean and Atlas Mountains sections of the gardens:-
You are free to reproduce these pictures for non-commercial purposes, including school or college work, as long as you retain the Victoria Neblik logo in the reproduced version and acknowledge me-Victoria Neblik- as the photographer. For commercial use, please contact me through the victorianeblik.com site. Thank you.
The website of Jerusalem Botanic Gardens (Givat Ram campus) can be found [HERE] (in Hebrew); more details can be found in English on wikipedia [HERE]
Lupinus pilosus- an annual Mediterranean species
Conifers
Juniper (Juniperus oxycedrus)
Juniperus oxycedrus detail.
Iris unguicularis
Sheltered bench and vista of conifers
Dry stream-bed with female carob tree (Ceratonia siliqua).
You are free to reproduce these pictures for non-commercial purposes, including school or college work, as long as you retain the Victoria Neblik logo in the reproduced version and acknowledge me-Victoria Neblik- as the photographer. For commercial use, please contact me through the victorianeblik.com site. Thank you.
The website of Jerusalem Botanic Gardens (Givat Ram campus) can be found [HERE] (in Hebrew); more details can be found in English on wikipedia [HERE]
Tuesday, 6 December 2011
Links of the day- Giraffe rescued from swimming pool and an albino lobster called "santa claws" ...
Welcome back to Weirdbeautiful.
The tabloids have recently gone soft over a pair of Giant Pandas imported from China to Edinburgh Zoo, of which more later.
Today I have 4 links for you- 2 about animals one about the latest update on the search for the Higgs particle at CERN and one on tonight's meteor shower
Link one is about a giraffe being rescued from a swimming pool-
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/tv/3982094/Three-hour-rescue-mission-for-giraffe-on-the-set-of-Wild-At-Heart.html
Link 2 is about an albino lobster caught off the British coast-
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3993328/Albino-lobsters-a-white-rare-find.html
Link 3 is about the Higgs boson search-->
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-16158374
Finally, tonight and tomorrow night are expected to mark the peak of the annual Geminids meteor shower. There are some tips on the best places to watch from the UK online here-
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/best-places-to-watch-the-geminids-meteor-shower.html
You can find out more about the (slow moving) Geminid meteor shower on wikipedia here--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geminids and about the Higgs boson here--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Higgs_particle
The tabloids have recently gone soft over a pair of Giant Pandas imported from China to Edinburgh Zoo, of which more later.
Today I have 4 links for you- 2 about animals one about the latest update on the search for the Higgs particle at CERN and one on tonight's meteor shower
Link one is about a giraffe being rescued from a swimming pool-
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/tv/3982094/Three-hour-rescue-mission-for-giraffe-on-the-set-of-Wild-At-Heart.html
Link 2 is about an albino lobster caught off the British coast-
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3993328/Albino-lobsters-a-white-rare-find.html
Link 3 is about the Higgs boson search-->
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-16158374
Finally, tonight and tomorrow night are expected to mark the peak of the annual Geminids meteor shower. There are some tips on the best places to watch from the UK online here-
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/best-places-to-watch-the-geminids-meteor-shower.html
You can find out more about the (slow moving) Geminid meteor shower on wikipedia here--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geminids and about the Higgs boson here--> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Higgs_particle
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