Not Your Usual Computer Bug

Last winter our house was infested with ants. More specifically, by "sweet-eating ants", little red buggers that love nothing more than to get into any remnant of sweet foods left in your kitchen, like un-rinsed pop cans, sugar bowls, glasses that had held juice, and sugary cereal boxes. Trust me, when you have two small children with two working parents and precious little time to clean anything thoroughly, there is PLENTY for these f*ckin' ants to eat, anywhere in the house. Trust me, we fought them long and hard.

And then one evening my lovely wife told me she had found a "highway" of ants traveling down our bedroom wall and into a pile of clean laundry I had not put away for, oh, two weeks or so (did I mention that we have precious little time to clean anything thoroughly?) on the night stand next to my side of the bed. Shaking my head and wondering why, in the name of E.O. Wilson, these little insects could possibly be attracted to my horribly unfashionable garments, I marched into our bedroom, found the line of ants, and proceeded to dig through the pile of clothes looking for some half-eaten Pot-Tart my kids may have sequestered there. In my rummaging, I accidentally knocked my digital alarm clock off the night stand.

When the clock hit the floor, it positively exploded with ants.

Aghast, I grabbed the clock and, ignoring the army of ants running up my arms, put the clock outside so the little monsters would freeze in the winter air. After shaking them off of my body, I went back to the bedroom and proceeded to slap and stomp to death about a zillion of them next to my bed (I'm exaggerating. It was only half a zillion).

Then I took a big Ziplock, placed the alarm clock in it, and put the sealed alarm clock into my freezer overnight. By the next morning, this little nest of ants was dead. I shook out the dead ants as best as I could, then tentatively plugged the clock back in, half expecting a fiery short circuit, but the clock has worked fine ever since. No doubt there a hordes of dead ants still inside. I can still see one inside the faceplate. Eventually we got an exterminator to control the infestation.

HERE is a rather entertaining video where some ants made a nest in some poor sucker's computer mouse!

This is nothing new. Having once been an entomologist, I've noted news stories off and on over the years of ants forming nests in breaker boxes and various appliances, even computers. No one is sure why ants can be attracted to electricity.

Lately a news story has been going around about an invasion of "Crazy Ants" in the Houston area:

http://www.physorg.com/news130001024.html

News videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyLfSemVM3Y

These species of ant (scientifically named Paratrenicha species near pubens) are only about the size of a flea and race around in a seemingly random manner, thus the name, and are native to the Caribbean and the southeast of the U.S. This invading population, however, seems more rampant than the others, having apparently arrived in Texas by way of a cargo ship. A fellow by the name of Tom Rasberry, an exterminator, has been leading the charge in popularizing this invasion (and, apparently, generating much more business for himself. He was recently hired by NASA to guard the Johnson Space Center against the ants) and has even gotten his name attached to them, as many media outlets are reporting the species common name as "Crazy Rasberry Ants". Not only are the ant colonies spreading, but they have been shorting out electrical devices in the area, including fuse boxes and computers (see picture).

They are resistant to ant sprays, have multiple queens per nest, and spread quickly.

The good news is that they eat fire ants. If you've ever been stung by fire ants, as I have, you'll be happy to hear this. Texas is overrun with fire ants (another introduced ant species that shorts out electrical boxes, I might add).

So the next time you have an ant infestation in your home, and you can't find the nest, check your electrical box, appliances, laptop, and your frickin' alarm clock, especially if you're in the Houston area. There may be a different sort of computer bug living in there!


Image taken from HERE.

Happy Earth Day! (Unless You're A Polar Bear)

I’d hate to be a polar bear these days.

My family recently went to the nearest zoo, where my young kids had a great time watching the very large polar bears frolicking in their pool, chewing on things like giant soccer balls, children’s play structures, and even a mannequin (!). The highlight for the kids, though, was watching the bears back up to the pool like a delivery truck and deposit there hot steaming piles of poop or streams of bright yellow pee. Eww! Great fun.

On this glorious Earth Day, where we concern ourselves with the well-being of our environment and animals, and the wild relatives of those two less-than-sanitary zoo animals, let us pause a moment to consider the plight of the polar bear.

In short, they are dying because the arctic ice is receding due to global warming (at a rate that surpasses even the most extreme models that scientists had predicted less than a decade ago). Polar bears require sea ice to hunt for seals, where the bears hang out at seal breathing holes and then ambush the blubbery animals. Yum! Without the sea ice, the bears starve. For the first time in centuries, as you may have heard, polar bears are being found dead due to starvation, and there are even reports of cannibalism.

Since this was discovered, a few years ago, environmental groups have been pressuring the Bush administration to take action to protect the polar bear and to reduce global warming through legislation. Not surprisingly, the President is less than interested, stalling protective status for the bears, moving forward with increasing off-shore drilling rights in polar bear habitat, and doing the usual oil-industry friendly activities that belch forth lots of carbon emissions. This despite his supposed change of stance toward Global warming.

Now those environmental groups have taken their appeals to the federal court system:

http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/031108EA.shtml

These groups are now suing the Bush administration to force them to protect polar bears under the Endangered Species Protection Act. From the article:

“The Endangered Species Act listing process for the polar bear due to global warming was initiated with a scientific petition from the Center for Biological Diversity, NRDC, and Greenpeace. In December, 2005, these groups sued the Bush administration for failing to respond to the petition. As a result of that first lawsuit, in February 2006, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service found that protection of polar bears "may be warranted," and commenced a full status review of the species. A settlement agreement in that case committed the Service to make the second of three required findings in the listing process by December 27, 2007, at which time the Service announced the proposal to list the species as "threatened." By law, the Service was required to make a final listing decision within one year of the proposal. The decision is now more than 2 months overdue.”

“To date, the government has received approximately 670,000 comments in support of protecting the polar bear under the Endangered Species Act, including letters from eminent polar bear experts, climate scientists, and more than 60 members of Congress.”

Gee, what’s a polar bear to do? They can’t all live and poop in cushy zoo pools, can they?

Happy Earth Day. Now take a hike, and if you get cold, just think how much polar bears would like it to stay that way.


Image taken from HERE.

When Life Needs Porpoise

My in-laws are coming to visit. Well, by "coming to visit", I mean that my wife and I and the kids will be joining them at an ocean-front condo here in the same state for several days, then we'll all come back to stay at our place before going yet somewhere else for a few days at yet another condo. Lots of traveling in a week's time.

But it's cool. I mean, even though I live just an hour or so from the ocean, I haven't actually gone to visit the ocean for nearly two years (yeah, believe it!) due to work and kids and stuff. And I get along great with my wife's family. I can't wait.

The really cool thing is that we've seen whales along the coast. We've missed the peak migration time this year, but you never know, maybe there'll be a few lame stragglers wondering why their pals have gone off and left them. Yeah, I relate to the geeks of any species.

I can hear it now. Some poor whale out there, swimming along the coast, saying in its sing-song echoing voice:

"Hey, guys, where'd you go? There's some really cool Euphausia pacifica swimming around near the surface. Guys? You wanna go back to my place and play some D&D?"

Of course, it'd be just my luck if the whales get beached by Navy sonar tests or something while I'm there. "Look, son, a majestic behemoth of the ocean! Let's marvel in its beauty and the sadness of its predicament. Now be a good boy and get the dynamite."

Even if a whale does get beached, though, it may do to have some dolphins around.

Dolphins have been known to help humans in trouble, but now a recent report suggests that one dolphin led a whale and its calf to safety after they had repeatedly beached themselves:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/03/12/nz.whales.ap/index.html

Moko, a bottlenose dolphin known for befriending humans in New Zealand (see picture), came to the assistance of a pygmy sperm whale and its calf. Human rescuers had tried to save the pair only to watch in despair as the whales were beached again and again on a sandbar. They were contemplating euthanasia for the whales, when the dolphin came in and showed the whales how to escape the sandbar back out to the open ocean, leading the way.

After the heroic dolphin led the pair to safety, Moko returned to the humans at the beach and played with them.

Now that's interspecies cooperation!

Makes ya feel like leaping and chattering, don't it? Throw that porpoise some anchovies, for cryin' out loud!

So I'll keep my eyes open for any whales and dolphins on our little vacation. In the meantime, buy some dolphin-safe tuna and think of the whales you may have saved.

And if you do see any beached whales and there aren't any dolphins around, just promise me you won't be like THIS JERK.


Addendum (3/24/08): It turns out the gray whale migration is in full swing, still. The cows and calves are currently moving up the Oregon coast. The vacation has gone well, but now my in-laws have come down with colds. Ugg.

Image taken from HERE.

Ice Worms

Yesterday my little 2 ½ year-old darling girl was watching a cartoon series called Caillou. Suddenly she started trembling, watching the TV with wide, fearful eyes. I looked up, wondering what bloodshed my child was watching, only to see – a cartoon worm.

Yes, my little girl is "all girl". She loves anything pink, dresses, hair styles, and playing tea party. Sigh. This is the daughter of two biologists!

So, given her fear of worms, I will have to avoid places where worms tend to be found – compost bins, forest floors, rainy lawns, glaciers.

Yes, glaciers!

Believe it or not, there is a species of worm that lives exclusively in the ice of high mountain glaciers. Mesenchytraeus solifugus, better known as "ice worms", are found only in glaciers of the American Northwest. They have been found on at least 20 glaciers, between Alaska and Oregon. They will only venture a few meters into the snow around a glacier, and never beyond. How they were distributed between distant glaciers is a mystery.

Science website: http://www.nichols.edu/departments/glacier/iceworm.htm.

A great video from Oregon Public Broadcasting's "Oregon Field Guide" episode on Ice worms:
http://www.opb.org/programs/ofg/videos/view/51-Ice-Worms

Scholarly Paper: HERE

Sounds like something out of science fiction to me. These little buggers bore through the ice by excreting some sort of gunk from their head, rising to the surface at dusk and through the night, then descending downward in the daytime. They don't freeze solid despite living in ice. Instead they "boost their energy output" to stay warm. Above 40 degrees F they die. Below 22 degrees they freeze. They eat mainly algae, but also bacteria, fungi, or just about anything that will fit through their tiny, tiny mouths. In some areas, at dusk, they are so numerous that you can't help but step on them. Their life cycle is still a mystery.

Eesh. Don't go making any snow cones up there!

So the next time you make it up to the mountaintop glaciers of the Great Northwest, keep an eye out for dark squiggly critters in the snow and ice. I know my daughter will!

I'll leave you with "The Ice Worm Song", a song played during the Northern Manitoba Trappers Festival in The Pas, MB Canada: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJhwDW8wQ9M.

Remote-Control Insects

Oh my god. Be afraid and awestruck of your government.

In a move that makes the science fiction fan in my giddy with delight, I read today about how scientists in Arizona have successfully created live, remote-control insects:

http://technovelgy.com/ct/Science-Fiction-News.asp?NewsNum=1421#cyborg

They inserted electronic circuit probes into early stage pupae of the tobacco hornworm (Manduca sexta), and by the time the moth emerges as an adult, the flight muscles have grown around the probes. The researchers are then able to stimulate the muscles to make the moth fly and to control which way the moth goes!

They may even have tried controlling beetles (HERE).

The research was showcased at MEMS 2008, an international academic conference on Micro-Electrico-Mechanical Systems that took place from January 13-17 in Tucson, AZ.

Wow. The idea was inspired by the science fiction novel, Sparrowhawk, by Thomas Easton, wherein giant insects are outfitted with electronic control systems for a variety of purposes, including transportation of humans.

The scary part is that the research was funded by DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. That's right, the folks who bring us all those wonderful James Bond-esque devices that spy on terrorists and ordinary civilians alike or outfit the most advanced military commandos, used by our friends at Homeland Security, the CIA, Navy Seals, and snarling vice presidents.

The head of the research project, Dr. Amit Lal, suggests that the remote-controlled moths are for sniffing out bank robbers or detecting chemical traces of drugs or explosives. But given that this is DARPA, I'm thinking of darker uses. Like little mobile spy platforms, outfitted with listening or imaging "backpacks." Big Brother's watching! Or how about making them into tiny, one-man assassins by strapping little bombs on them, or poison needles. Just activate their wings, point them in the right direction, crash-land onto your hapless victim, and BOOM!

Someone call the Orkin man!

So the next time you see a big insect fluttering around your room, take a second look. If you see a little backpack on it, tell our pals in the government "Hello" and give them a good look at the bottom of your shoe.

Helping The Environment -- With Dynamite!

Ah, the Great Outdoors! The rich smells of vegetation, fresh air, conifers, flowers, and – cordite. Yes, with the miracle of modern explosives, we can blast our way to a better tomorrow.

Case in point: Last Fall the Nature Conservancy restored wetlands in the Klamath Basin of Oregon by blowing up two miles of levees:

Video and article: http://www.nature.org/wherewework/northamerica/states/oregon/about/art22854.html

In a move that would make the inventor of dynamite proud (Alfred Nobel – yes, for whom the Nobel Prize is named), the Nature Conservancy restored wetlands along the Williamson River. Blowing a river levee sky-high allowed the Williamson River to dump into the Williamson River Delta wetlands, which had been bypassed for agricultural reasons in the 1950s.

Oh, but no one thought about the lowly Lost River sucker fish, whose newborn fish fry required the delta to grow in. Without the delta, these tender, baby fish were dumped directly into Upper Klamath Lake, which could be as much as three degrees colder ("It’s like bringing a fish home from the pet store and dumping it into a cold tank without letting it get acclimated,” says Matt Barry, director of the Williamson River Delta Preserve), and with little cover to hide from predators. Now these fish are endangered. And, by hurting the wetlands, bird species like cranes and terns weren't able to get the habitat they needed. Also, the lake's water quality dropped, in part because wetlands weren't there to absorb pollutants.

Now these little fishies will have a nice, warm, decaying marsh to live and grow in, and their bird friends will have food (the fish!) and homes of their own. Home sweet wetlands.

So let's give an explosive "Hurray" to these naturalists and things that go Boom! It's not everyday you get to blow things up in the name of helping nature.

Don't Eat That Berry!

I've always been a fan of exotic parasites (as you may have told from previous posts), including in non-human systems. There are lots of yummy stories out there, of worms and such that invade various systems in the body. But the most fascinating to me are those where the infecting organism actually changes the behavior of its host to help it transmit to the next phase of its life cycle.

Consider the lowly pill bug (= roly-poly or doodlebug). There is a little worm, or nematode (or roundworm), which depends upon the pill bug and the European starling for its life cycle. After growing in the starling as an adult (and not harming the bird), it lays eggs in the gut. The droppings containing eggs are eaten by pill bugs. The larvae hatch inside the pill bug and grow inside. Once the pill bug gets large enough, the nematode affects the pill bug's behavior causing it to leave its warm, dark, humid nests and go wandering about in full sunlight and over all sorts of revealing terrain. In response, birds like the starling are more likely to eat the little bugger, thus insuring that the larvae is passed on to the starling to grow to adulthood and continue this fascinating little arrangement. Go HERE for more details.

Another example of a parasite changing the host's behavior involves a parasitic fluke and the little killifish. The fluke grows in horned snails. When mature, it swims out into its marsh and latches onto a killifish's gills, then enters the poor fish and goes to the fish's brain. Yow. Not surprisingly, the fish starts darting around, jerking, and flashing (wouldn't you??) and is four times more likely to be eaten by a shore bird. Once eaten, the fluke enters the system of the bird, lays its eggs, and the droppings are eaten by more horned snails, where they hatch and grow. Go HERE for more details.

So examples of parasites changing the behavior of their hosts to get eaten is not so uncommon. But now some researchers have stumbled upon an altogether different mechanism. A parasite of an ant species makes the ant look like berries, which are yummy to birds:

http://www.physorg.com/news119712765.html

Some Panamanian birds, innocently pecking away at nice, juicy berries, are inadvertently murdering helpless little ants now, and getting themselves infected with parasites. Not because they like ants, but because the ants are eating a particular species of nematode that, upon laying its eggs in the abdomen of the ants, cause the ant abdomens to swell up and turn bright red like local berries, thus fooling the birds. Nifty. (Another really cool bit of this story is that these ants also have the ability to glide, changing course mid-flight if they fall off of tree limbs!).

So if you happen to be going to Panama's Barro Colorado Island, be careful which berries you eat!

Once Bitten, Twice Extinct

Many years ago, when I was thinner, younger, and as wise as your average 20-year-old, I did some ecological research in the wilderness areas of Idaho, backpacking through the Rockies. On one particularly hellish hitch into the woods (during which I suffered acute mountain sickness, was abandoned by my crew leader, and was briefly lost in the wilderness – see previous blog post), my crew and I collected data from a high mountain lake. We arrived at the pristine, picturesque little lake just after dusk and pitched our tent right next to the shoreline, bedding down for the night. The next morning, we realized our dire mistake. Upon unzipping our tent to go take a whiz, we were immediately assaulted by a horde of mosquitoes.

Now, I've been victimized by mosquitoes many times, but this was nothing like I'd ever experienced before. In seconds, all exposed skin was completely covered by these little, black and gray devils. Off! spray had no effect. The only thing we could do was cover ourselves as much as possible with clothing and rain suits and soldier through it.

And then I had to take a dump in the woods. Oh, man! I've never been so creeped out in my life. That was the fastest sh*t I think I've ever taken. My ass was one giant itching sore after that. As I rushed through the process, I couldn't help but wonder how many mosquito-borne diseases I was contracting through my butt. Even if the odds were one in a million, I'm sure I was bitten more than that. It really made me feel sorry for people who live in tropical or swampy regions where mosquito infestations like that were the norm. No wonder diseases like malaria and dengue fever wipe out huge number of people in the tropics each year. It's a wonder humanity doesn't go extinct in those regions (or take a dump outdoors!).

So it should come as no surprise that even the dinosaurs were not immune to the horrors of the not-so-humble mosquito. In fact, two leading entomologists are suggesting that insect-borne diseases may have contributed to the demise of dinosaurs:

http://www.physorg.com/news118591469.html

George and Roberta Poinar, husband-and-wife entomologists at Oregon State University, have made this argument in their book, What Bugged the Dinosaurs? Insects, Disease and Death in the Cretaceous, which has just been published. These authors are more famous for their work studying ancient insects preserved in amber, and are very well-regarded in their field. I had the honor of working in the same department as Dr. Poinar, for a year and a half, back when I was an entomologist.

Now, likely you're all familiar with the idea of a gigantic meteor hitting in what is now the Yucatan area, causing a catastrophic climate change which likely was the leading factor in the dinosaur die-off known as the "K-T Boundary" at the end of the Cretaceous Period, but one perplexing thing about that has been that the die-off wasn't immediate. It still took thousands of years for most of those dinos to go extinct, and many took much, much longer. Though the meteor theory would be a good kick-off to weaken species, something like disease states would be good candidates for finishing the job. And there is evidence in fossilized dino crap of infections by nematodes, trematodes, and protozoans that could have brought disease conditions and viruses to these reptiles. These sorts of diseases were likely just emerging, so the vertebrates would have had little resistance.

So, basically, the Poinars are suggesting these lumbering beasts were the victims of getting bitten in the ass by bastardly, disease-ridden little mosquitoes and other biting insects and killed because of it.

I can sympathize. My ass still itches just thinking about it!


Images adapted from HERE and HERE.

Name That Critter

When intrepid scientists discover a new species, how the heck do they name it? Everything's gotta have a name. After all, science can't describe a species and the implications of its existence by always referring to it as "that onion fly that Dr. Pocketprotector found in Walla Walla" or "that little brown bug".

Most species you'll hear about have a common name (such as the Great White Shark), but because common names differ by region or language, or multiple critters can be called by the same name, all known and identified species have a scientific name which belongs to no other species (such as Carcharodon carcharias). As with nearly everything in science, scientific names have a particular structure to them. Using what is called binomial nomenclature and latinized spelling and (usually) Greek origin, the name has two parts: the first is called the "genus" (which is capitalized), and the second is called the "specific name" or "specific epithet", and is uncapitalized. Both are italicized. The science of identifying and naming life is called Taxonomy.

The genus is usually reserved for known groupings of creatures, but sometimes something is found that is novel enough for a new genus, too. With the specific name, though, anything goes. Scientists usually name the little bugger after some descriptor. For the Great White Shark, the scientific name is derived from the Greek words for "sharp (or jagged) tooth", but names have been made based on words from local languages, people names, or even puns.

For instance, there are at least three species named after Gary Larson, cartoonist for the Far Side, including a beetle, a butterfly, and (my favorite) an owl louse (Strigiphilus garylarsoni). Another is named after an alcohol (the blue agave plant, named Agave tequilana, is what tequila is made from). The chigger, Trombicula fujigmo, is named after the WWII slang for "fuck you, Jack, I got my orders". If you've ever been "bugged" by this irritating pest, you'll know the name fits. HERE is a neat page of other funny or original scientific names. The taxonomist who makes the discovery of the species gets the right to choose the name, but in modern times does not name it after himself. It is accepted practice to name them after someone else. I have personally known taxonomists who named new species of diatoms after each other, for instance. "Hey, Roger, if you name Species X after me, I'll name Species Y after you."

A new trend, though, is auctioning off the right to name a new species. In this day of ever-reduced funding for academics, universities are getting creative for fundraising. Just the other day, a new species of butterfly was named for the winning bid of $40,000:

http://www6.comcast.net/news/articles/odd/2007/11/23/ODD.Butterfly.Naming.Rights/

HERE and HERE are the announcements from when the contest started.

The Florida Museum of History discovered a rather large and ornate butterfly (see picture) mislabeled in a collection of other Mexican butterflies. After determining that it was previously unidentified, they announced the contest. On November 22, the winner was announced. The winner, from which the butterfly was named, was the late Margery Minerva Blythe Kitzmiller of Malvern, Ohio, on behalf of her grandchildren. The common name will be the Minerva owl butterfly. The scientific name will be Opsiphanes blythekitzmillerae. Doesn't exactly roll of the tongue, in my opinion, but naming a butterfly after her is a fitting tribute to someone who "wrote poetry, played piano, and sang." Since most butterflies of this size and appearance have likely already been named, and this is the first new species in this particular butterfly family to be named in a century, this is an honor not likely to be repeated anytime soon. Proceeds from the auction will go to research on Mexican butterflies.

But this isn't the first time a little beasty's official name has gone on the auction block. A Bolivian monkey was named for $650,000 in 2005 (by the World Conservation Society), after The Golden Palace.com, an online casino company that won the rights. HERE is a link to the Golden Palace monkey's homepage. I urge you to visit. It's a real "hoot"! And 10 previously unknown fish were named for a total of $2 million just this September, including a shark for $500,000 (article HERE).

What is science coming to? The stuck-up, overeducated scientist in me is appalled, but the snarky lab rat in me is smirking. Before long, academic institutions all over the nation may be opening up Departments of Taxonomy as more of a source of income than for the sake of scientific curiosity.

I wonder if there are any unknown rodents out there that are yet to be identified. Do you think they would name one after me? The common name could be, of course, the Angry Lab Rat, and the scientific name could be Rattus iratuslabus. Kinda rolls off the tongue, if I may say so.


Image taken from HERE.

Turkey Day Drowsiness, But Don't Blame The Gobbler

Oh, yes! Pass me a wing and pile on the taters, baby! It's Turkey Day!

I have a soft spot for Thanksgiving. After all, believe it or not, I had relatives on the Mayflower, on my paternal grandmother's side of the family. Yes, those fairly clueless Plymouth pilgrims who were my family managed to make it in the new world thanks to Native American friends like Squanto and the Wampanoag Tribe, and were so thankful after their first harvest in 1621 that they fed and entertained the natives for three days, after which the Wampanoags went hunting and returned with 5 deer as a return gift (STORY). I doubt the native peoples would have been so giving had they realized the cultural devastation that would eventually be wrought upon them. I wonder what the Wampanoag word for "sucker" was?

But, hey, who am I kidding? I mainly enjoy having time off (I get today and Friday off, plus the weekend, plus a vacation day on Monday – 5 days!). Time to eat heavy, kick up my feet in front of the tube, let the children run free and crazy, and maybe find time in the ensuing days to do some projects around the house and yard. And you'd better believe there will be naps in there somewhere.

You've probably heard the reason why you're so sleepy after eating all that turkey, right? The story goes that turkey meat contains an abnormally large amount of the amino acid tryptophan, which induces sleepiness by producing the "sleepy" brain chemical serotonin. So, if you eat lots of turkey, you'll be drowsy. For some reason this myth comes out only around Thanksgiving time.

Although it's true that our little gobbling friends do possess a lot of tryptophan, the tryptophan is not easily transported from your bulging, overfed gut to your brain, and even if it makes it to your noggin, you would need to "ingest quite a number of turkeys" to get enough tryptophan to cause drowsiness, according to Dr. Carol Ash of Somerset Medical Center's Sleep for Life Center in Hillsborough, N.J.:

http://www.physorg.com/news114876658.html

More likely, the article says, your post-gluttony sleepiness is the result of overeating, alcohol consumption, and not getting enough sleep in the days before, not to mention sitting on your ass watching people called Jets and Cowboys running up and down a field with an oblong leather ball.

My lovely wife, though, suggested an additional cause for Thanksgiving sleepiness. "Don't forget the poor women who do the cooking have to get up before dawn to start the turkey, prepare all that other food, and finish cleaning the house for all those guests."

But if you still wish to believe those hapless birds are the cause of your snoozing, be my guest. Call it the dinosaurs' revenge (after all, modern birds like the turkey are direct descendants of two-legged dinos like T. rex and velociraptors, as evidenced by the shared "wishbone", or furcula -- STORY).

I'll take a dino wing, please, with my 2000- to 3000-calorie meal. And you'd better warm up the pie. I want it to melt the whipped cream when I eat it.

And if anyone asks, I'm still blaming the gobbler for the naps.


Image taken from HERE.

Ever Get That Lost Feeling?

You know that feeling you get when you know you're lost? I'm not talking about the I-wonder-if-that-was-the-turn sort of lost. I'm talking about the sort of lost where you intended to visit a friend in the suburbs but instead find yourself in the bad part of downtown, and the locals are following you. The sort of lost where fear starts creeping in and you wonder if you'll make it out alive.

I had that happen once. I was backpacking in the Rockies of Idaho, doing work for the Forest Service in a wilderness area there, and found myself suffering Acute Mountain Sickness, though we didn't know what it was at the time. Apparently I'm especially sensitive, as the altitude was only about 8000 feet or so. It started with a buildup of fluid in my lungs, then headache, then fatigue, after having been at that altitude for a day or so, and (luckily) we were headed back down the mountains. My crew and I were on a rather long and hurried hike out of the forest to meet a deadline, so most of them had gone on ahead, leaving my miserably stressed and uncompromising crew leader with me, pushing me to go faster. But my condition deteriorated. I was becoming dizzy and disoriented, and hiking very slowly, sometimes needing help. Frustrated by my slowness, and despite the fact that we had seen black bear cubs disturbingly close to our position (and their mom was surely around), she decided to leave me behind to hike at my own speed. Bothered by her, I decided I'd rather agree than continue dealing with her. Big mistake.

Soon I found that I had left the trail, and backtracking, could not find it again. I had shortness of breath, a feeling of lethargy, and difficulty keeping my footing on loose rock with about 50 pounds of gear on my back. Evening was coming, and all around me were big, snow-covered mountains and valleys of thick forest. At one point I threw myself against a boulder and wondered through blurring eyes whether I'd be able to go on. I did, of course, and eventually found the trail again. Alarmed by my absence, one of my crew members came back to look for me and helped me the last several miles. Once we were at a lower altitude, my symptoms quickly dissipated.

Yesterday it was reported that an 18-foot, 12-ton Minke whale had been found beached 1000 miles up the Amazon River in Brazil:

http://www6.comcast.net/news/articles/science/2007/11/16/Brazil.River.Whale/?cvqh=itn_lostwhale

As I write this, intrepid volunteers are trying to keep the whale alive and moist by tossing water on its back and trying to roll it back into the water.

Minke whales live in the ocean, of course, so what the hell is it doing way up in the middle of a jungle? Talk about lost! I wonder what was going through its mind as it swam upstream, its fellow whales long since left behind. Did the fresh water go to its head, the way altitude did to me? Did it beach itself in despair, analogous to how I had thrown myself against that boulder? Or was it just clueless, thinking something like, "Hmm. Did Bob tell me to turn right or left at the coral outcropping? Funny, I don't remember him mentioning anything about piranha. And I'm starving. Bob had better have some krill left for me."

Who knows? But if the big baleen sea mammal makes it back to the ocean alive, won't he feel stupid! I can only imagine the exchange between him and his whale pals:

Bob: "Hey, Minke, where the hell were you? You were supposed to bring the plankton!"

Minke: "Oh, you know, I was passing by Rio de Janiero and decided to stop in and take a closer look at all those thong-wearing human women."

Bob (leaning his blowhole closer for a sniff): "Is that river water I smell on you?"

Update (11/20/07): I'm happy to report our lost little whale in the Amazon is alive and doing well, thanks to the hard work of volunteers (updated news article HERE). Folks have pulled him off the shore and into a penned area in the shallows. Soon, Mr. Minke won't even have to swim back to the ocean – he'll have a ride on a boat, because there are "too many tributaries that could confuse him." Lucky for Mr. Minke, the world's largest river has people with the largest heart, or at least they've got a love for large-ish sea mammals. It's okay, Mr. Minke. Don't blubber. We know you appreciate them….

First image taken from HERE.

Second image taken from HERE and courtesy of AP.

Goodbye To A Language Pioneer

I love it when the natural world thumbs its nose at Mankind's egotism. Consider, for instance, the belief that out of all the animal kingdom only humans are advanced enough to communicate beyond random grunts, territorial chirping, and mating calls. The more science studies animal communication, the more we realize how very complex their languages are. Dolphins and whales are a common example. But even there we like to believe that their language is restricted only to communicating that they're hungry, or horny, or found a good patch of krill. How could we possibly know they aren't waxing poetic about the place of dolphin-kind in the universe? Are we prepared to believe they may have complex thought? Could they even be more advanced than we are in some manner? Sacrilege!

In fact, I'm willing to believe that some animals consider us as being below them. If you don’t agree, ask any cat owner.

A week ago, the world lost the first non-human animal to prove us wrong.

Story: http://www.blogger.com/www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/science/10/31/signing.chimp.dies.ap/index.html

Washoe was a chimpanzee who, in 1966, became the first primate to be taught American Sign Language. Previous attempts to teach chimps how to verbally communicate all ended in failure. But chimps communicate with gestures in the wild. Why not train them as if they were a deaf human baby? What would be the result? The little chimpanzee immediately began picking up our language, signing the word "toothbrush" when she saw the implement in a bathroom, for instance.

By the time she died on October 30 after a short illness, at the long-lived age of 42, Washoe had a vocabulary of 250 words and had taught sign language to each of her four children (who are 29 to 31 years of age now). She has been housed at the University of Washington's Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute, where a memorial service will be held on November 12.

Here is a website for the organization that oversaw Washoe and continues to study and take care of her offspring, "Friends of Washoe": http://www.friendsofwashoe.org/.

Washoe was only the first. Likely you have heard of Koko, the signing gorilla (HERE), who, like Washoe, regularly communicates complex thoughts and emotions and has been the continuing source of fascinating studies, documentaries, and articles.

But, hey, Mankind is still God's chosen children. Right? Right??

Sometimes I wonder if the world might be better run by chimps. Sure, they fight each other now and then, but when I read the headlines on any given day I really wonder which is the higher primate. Besides, chimps have sex just to say "hi". That can't be a bad sign.

So what is Washoe's legacy? Simply put, she put us in our place. For the first time one species learned to communicate with another species using their own language. That's monumental! After a year of French in high school and another year of German in college, I still couldn't hold a conversation in either language, and that was with members of my own species.

And what were Washoe's last words? I'd love to find out, but I'm willing to guess it was something to the effect of, "Humans so dumb. Can't learn single word in Chimpanzee!"

Be Stung By Jellyfish -- For Fun!

Have you ever had a desire to help science – as a human guinea pig? No? Oh, come on, you know there's an inkling in there that you'd like to subject yourself to some sort of diabolical testing for the betterment of mankind. Heck, you don't have to be a starving college student to enjoy the subtle pleasures of being exposed to strange pills, electroshock experimentation, dietary disruptions, or psychological manipulations for laughable compensations.

Consider, if you will, a recent call for volunteers to be stung by jellyfish:

http://cosmeticsdesign-europe.com/news-by-product/news.asp?id=78577&idCat=0&k=AC-suncare-Nidaria-Technology-sunscreen-jellyfish

Another source of the story: HERE

Norwegian researchers at the University of Oslo are looking for volunteers to help them test a sunscreen that can also repel jellyfish stings.

From the article: "The study, sponsored by AC Suncare, a Norwegian sun care company and manufacturer of the product, will test the efficacy of an anti-jellyfish sting sunscreen developed by Nidaria, an Israeli technology company." The protectant is mucus-like in consistency and is supposed to mimic the protective coating on clownfish, which live in the tentacles of stinging anemones without being harmed.

As long as you are over 18, not pregnant, asthmatic, or have skin allergies or diseases, you can sign up. Oh, and you have to be hairless on your inner arms. Seeing as how I'm as hairy as a frickin' caveman, I guess that leaves me out. Shucks. But maybe YOU could still sign up, eh?

Should you join their research, one of your arms will be coated in regular sunscreen and the other will be coated with sunscreen plus jellyfish protectant. Then – oh lucky you – both arms will be subjected to stinging jellyfish tentacles. That's 2000 stinging jellyfish needles for every square millimeter of your supple flesh that comes in contact with a tentacle. I can just see you willingly lowering your arms into a giant tank packed with pulsating jellyfish.

When I was about 13 years old, my family and I traveled to Panama Beach, Florida, on vacation. On my first dip into the ocean, I waded off the bone-white beach into the surf. Literally the second wave to hit me, some sort of jellyfish wrapped around me and then washed away. Instantly I was hit by blinding pain. Looking down at my torso, I saw red whelps developing, front and back. It was as if someone was shoving about a thousand red-hot ice picks into my quivering teenage skin. I shouted to my mother and managed to make it back to the beach. Knowing the secret of how to treat such stings, my stepfather ran to a nearby store and bought a container of meat tenderizer, then ran back. Mixing the meat tenderizer powder with water into a paste and applying it to the whelps, the pain quickly dissipated. A decade later, I learned why. The enzymes in the meat tenderizer, which are used to break down the protein matrix of meat to make it tender, also broke down the proteins that caused the stinging sensation. Now, having experienced jellyfish stings, I can say I would rather not re-experience the sensation – over and over again – even in the name of science.

And what, per se, do the intrepid volunteers of this study get in compensation for their sufferings? Good pay? A glamorous all-expenses paid trip to Oslo? A night with beautiful Norwegian women?

Not even close: Three bottles of anti-jellyfish sunscreen.

Wow! Let's not get too extravagant! Hell, it would be less embarrassing to claim you're just doing it for fun than to boast about being compensated with three lousy bottles of anti-jellyfish sunscreen which has yet to be shown to work.

And let's hope they have plenty of meat tenderizer around the lab.


Image taken from HERE.

Eaten Alive By Maggots

Here’s an eerie story for you. A guy named Aaron Dallas recently had five fly larvae removed from his head:

Video news segment: HERE

Article: HERE

Yes, Dallas went to Casa Beya, Belize, to assist with a mountain bike race. When he returned to the U.S. he noticed that he had some bleeding bumps on the back of his head. The bumps grew. Then they started moving! The pain was unbearable, and he could hear them in his head, emitting popping and chewing sounds. Initially the doctors thought it was shingles. Finally, the doctor removed five live botfly larvae, each about as big as your thumbnail.

Ick. Yes, maggots were growing in his head and eating him alive. Doctors thought they were placed there though a mosquito bite. Dallas’ wife (ironically named Midge), took it all with a bit of humor.

(From the article): "I told him, 'I will love you through your maggots,' she teased. She's even made a three-minute short film titled, ‘Aaron's visitors from Belize.’"

Where’s a can of Off! when you need it?

Fish Missiles

Watch out, anglers! If you’re fishing in northern Florida, the fish may get their revenge. The endangered armor plated sturgeons there have been jumping out of the water at boats, wounding and nearly killing a number of boaters:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/06/17/wfish117.xml

These sturgeon fish can get as large as 8 feet long and 200 pounds in weight, and have hardly changed in 225 million years. They are covered in thick, armor-like scales. People on the waterways there have been innocently boating along, thinking pleasant thoughts of murdering hapless little fishies baited with steely hooks cunningly hidden by worms or lures, when suddenly – BOOM! – a gigantic, prehistoric fish leaps out of the water and slams into them, enacting karmic revenge for the slaughter and degutting of its fellow Pisces. According to the article, victims of these fish missiles have suffered a fractured spine, a collapsed lung, ruptured spleen, slit throat, broken ribs, broken jaw, wounds that have required plastic surgery, knocked unconscious, and/or put into a coma!

Geez. Fish & Wildlife doesn’t know why they jump like this, but it is mainly from June to August (“leaping season”). Perhaps, they say, it is simply a way of avoiding the boat, or a form of fish-to-fish communication, or “flushing the gills.” It’s not exactly a typical fish thing. I mean, you never hear anyone say, “What out for that flying trout!” and fishing nets are usually meant to be used in the water.

Personally, I’d like to give the fish some credit for its viciousness. To that end, I’ve concocted a top-ten list for the motivations of these flying sturgeons:

WHAT JUMPING STURGEON ARE THINKING AS THEY PEG BOATERS IN THE HEAD

10. Kill the humans!

9. Gymnastics, fish-style.

8. A sudden craving for man-flesh.

7. I always wanted a boat ride.

6. Cannonball!

5. Who needs wings? Weeeeee!

4. Just trying to get a look around.

3. So you like to eat fish, eh? How’s this for sushi!

2. One small jump for sturgeon, one giant leap for fish-kind.

1. Your worms or your life!


Well, if I ever find myself boating in northern Florida in the summertime, I’ll be sure to wear my chainmail vest and riot helmet, just in case.


My thanks to Scott Adams’ blog entry for a heads-up on this story.

Fish That Will Eat You Alive And Make You Healthier At The Same Time

When I was a boy, my family and I would sometimes spend hot summer days at a local lake. One spot in particular, called “Spillway” because of the spillway dam nearby, had an artificial sandy beach where I enjoyed swimming and splashing around. My favorite thing to do there was to find a relatively quiet and shallow area in the water and sit very still. Why? Because little fish, small perch and sunfish mainly, would be curious and would gather around me. After a little while, they would grow bold enough to come up and nibble at my toes and any exposed moles or birthmarks. Very cool. Last summer I and my family went back there for a visit. I was happy to introduce my fish-loving wife and toddler son to them.

But an odd thing would occur to me as they nibbled at me. Though I found the sensation funny, I couldn’t help but think that the fish’s main motivation was not to be friendly, but to “taste” me and see if I was edible.

A couple days ago my lovely wife was reading our June 2007 copy of Scientific American and came across an intriguing article on page 31, entitled “Fish That Go Skin-Deep.” It reported about a little resort in the hills of central Turkey, in a town called Kangal, where people would pay to dip their diseased limbs and bodies into hot springs – to be eaten alive by wild fish!

Back in 1917, a shepherd dipped his wounded leg into the hot water. These little fish, which are a little under 4 inches, or 9.7 cm, long, nibbled off the dead flesh from the wound. “Miraculously” his wound healed nicely. The fish are of the species Garra rufa, and became known as “doctor fish.” By the 1950s, a local family enclosed the hot pool and a population of the fish in it, then started charging people for the right to let the fish eat their wounds. Normally the fish would move back and forth between the hot water (34 degrees C, or 93 degrees F) and an adjoining cool stream, eating algae and insects. But almost nothing grows in the hot spring, so the fish are very eager to eat human flesh as a food source. They only pick off the dead skin, though, and it isn’t painful:

http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/pfk/pages/item.php?news=759

These “doctor fish” nibble off the dead skin while exuding an enzyme called dithranol (anthralin) which prevents fast developments of cells from the skin, therefore preventing psoriasis (source). Besides psoriasis, the fish have been helpful in treating neurodermititis and eczema. Some 3000 people a year visit the resort, and the fish have been collected and transferred to other spas in China, Japan, and elsewhere to be used for the same purpose. HERE is a link to one in Denmark.

Of course, being eaten alive for the sake of one’s health isn’t a terribly new thing. Consider medical leeches, for instance, which were used for all sorts of purposes in the Middle Ages of Europe, removing “bad humours,” but are used in modern times for relieving pooled blood, numbing pain, reducing swelling, and keeping blood flowing to surface areas though anti-clotting enzyme secretion. Increasingly, medical institutions are using medical maggots, too, (yes, maggots!) which are grown in sterile conditions then allowed to squirm around, painlessly, on open wounds (such as burns) digesting away and eating the diseased skin while leaving healthy tissue untouched. The wound heals significantly quicker. HERE is an interesting article about the modern use of both medical leeches and medical maggots. Both critters have been approved by the FDA for this use.

So the next time you get dry, flaky skin and decide to rub lotion on it or scrub it off, you should feel a touch of guilt. There are some hungry fish in Turkey who would love to eat you alive.

Oh, and by the way, fellas, if you should ever visit the Spillway beach, I wouldn’t recommend swimming in the nude. Certain dangly parts look too much like worms to curious little fishies.


Addenda:
HERE and HERE are YouTube videos of the Kangal resort, with folks being eaten alive by the little fishies.

HERE is another YouTube video of the Doctor Fish in action, at a Croatian clinic made for the "fish treatment." Just don your Speedo and lower yourself into a tub/aquarium!

Picture taken from HERE.

Ancient Romans Had Crabs, But They Never Knew It

In 1997, a couple of zoologists were visiting the remains of Trajan's Forum in middle of Rome. They turned over a rock, and there, looking up at them, was an unassuming freshwater crab. They soon realized they had discovered a new species, Potamon fluviatile, the only freshwater crab species known to inhabit a large city:

http://www.physorg.com/news100094217.html

"So what?" you ask. Stupid crabs. All googly-eyed and leg-y. They'll pinch ya. Throw that puppy in a pot, boil it alive, and serve it up with some melted butter!

But the researchers didn't eat the crabs. They studied them, genetically. What they discovered is not just that Rome had crabs, but that those crabs had been there a very, very long time. So long, in fact, they pre-dated the forum, which was built in 112 AD, and even predated Rome itself (founded in 753 BC), all the way back about 3,000 years ago, to the time of the ancient Etruscans. The little buggers had been living in ancient Etruscan canals that ran under the forum and joined up with the ancient Roman sewage system.

What's more, the crabs are genetically unrelated to other Italian crabs. In fact, they are most closely related to Greek freshwater crabs, probably introduced all those millennia ago by Greek traders or colonists (BEFORE the time of Alexander the Great, Aristotle, Plato, or Socrates). Except that, without natural predators, the Roman crabs (which are about 12 cm, or 4.8 inches, wide) had evolved to be over twice the size of their Greek counterparts (which were only 5 cm, or about 2 inches, wide). There are now an estimated 1000 crabs down there.

So as the Etruscan culture fell and was replaced by the land of Romulus and Remus (no, I'm not talking about Star Trek Romulons, you geek!), through the rise of the Roman Republic, the rule of the Roman Empire, the fall of Rome to Germanic Barbarians, the rule of the Byzantines, the rise and fall of the Papal States, the Kingdom of Italy, through Italian Fascism and Mussolini, World War II, and the post-war reconstruction, no one knew that the crabs were down there, clicking away in the dark, feeding on algae and snails, as well as scraps of food and detritus that washed down from the city above. Yum!

I imagine that, occasionally, one of the little hard-shelled critters skittered up to the surface to take a look around and see what century it was, then retreated back down to crab paradise to report on the latest stupid human tricks:

Crab #1: "Hey, you wouldn't believe what those humans are up to these days. Some dude named Julius just got stabbed to death by a mob of his own homies."

Crab #2: "Cool. Did you bring back any scraps? I'm hungry."

Maybe, over those thousands of years, some Roman once in a while turned over a rock and found one of these little crustaceans staring up at them. The Roman probably thought, "Hey, free crab! Hail Caesar!" and boiled it alive for dinner. Mmmmm, with melted butter.....

Attack Of The Squirrels!

Squirrels. Those cute little furry rodents, scampering around our lawns and running up our trees. Ain't they precious? Why, they couldn't hurt anything larger than an acorn. Sitting up there in the oak tree, chattering down at me, saying in their little squirrely language, "Hey you, hand over the pecans!" Who couldn’t love these adorable little beasties.

But then it happened. On a sunny morning in early May in San Jose, a first-grade classroom full of eager young children was preparing for a field trip. Their door was open to the spring breeze.

And in walked The Squirrel. We’ll call him Mr. Fluffy.

Mr. Fluffy wasn’t your average, happy-go-lucky acorn-chaser begging for your popcorn. Oh, no. This little fellow was out for revenge! The squirrel leapt upon two adult chaperones, turning the classroom into a whirling chaos of scratching, biting, and screaming before Mr. Fluffy ran out again.

But he didn’t stop there. He wheeled and attacked an innocent 11-year-old girl, biting her twice on the arm and drawing blood. Then, like a guerilla soldier, scampered across the lawn and disappeared into the bushes, mission accomplished.

Article, with news videos: http://cbs5.com/local/local_story_129172309.html

What followed was an immediate lockdown of the school (no kidding!) as the authorities came to trap the wild beast, but he couldn’t be found. Like an avenging ghost, Mr. Fluffy came and went, a soldier for all those squirrels out there that have been taunted with food, chased by pets, or shot for redneck dinners.

Most squirrel attacks are due to over-eagerness of squirrels for our food, but this story didn’t involve food at all.

A similar story happened in Cuesta Park last year. A 4-year-old boy was minding his own business in a park there when a squirrel came out of nowhere, leapt onto him, and started scratching and biting his face, arm, chest, and back. Even after the boy fell to the ground, screaming, the dervish of a squirrel kept on attacking.

Story: http://www.mv-voice.com/story.php?story_id=2808

How did the city respond? By trying to destroy all the squirrels in that area, of course. Over-reacting is the American way. Using a baby stroller as bait (!!!), nine squirrels were trapped and euthanized with an overdose of chloroform gas. Given that this is America, the boy’s parents are still suing the city for $150K for mental and physical damages. The boy is apparently mentally scarred for life. But this wasn't the first squirrel attack in that park. That year there were 13 other squirrel attacks in that park, including against a 4-year-old girl.

Sigh. Can we ever see squirrels the same after this? Are we to run screaming from them as they chatter at us for our nuts? And which nuts are they going to try to attack? Watch out, guys!

Be careful when you walk through your neighborhood park or school playground. What’s that rustle in the bushes? Did you hear a squirrel chatter? Bite your nails. Mr. Fluffy may be coming to get your children!

A squirrel attack on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eguPlDQUsYA

Gay Flamingos Sit On Chick

That’s right – gay flamingos. If you were thinking being gay is just a human phenomenon, you’d be wrong. It’s actually quite common among flamingos, where mate pairs can form. Some animals do it as a form of “friendliness”, such as chimpanzees. Others as a form of dominance, such as in dogs (proof) and giraffes. I’ve personally seen this in cats. Go figure.

Lately a particular male pair of flamingos has made headlines:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070521/od_afp/britainanimalsgay

Carlos and Fernando are a male flamingo couple at the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT) in Slimbridge near Bristol. They’ve been so desperate to follow through with their maternal intentions that they have been trying to take over nests and eggs from other, “straight” flamingos. Now they’ve gotten their chance to “shine”. A nest and egg were abandoned, allowing Carlos and his beau to assume the nesting responsibilities. I guess this means they’ll be picking up at least one “chick.”

I wonder what the neoconservatives would say about this one. Gay adoption. “It ain’t natural! It ain’t godly! Perverse! One man one woman!” Well, all you neocons and evangelists out there (including those of you in the White House), it isn’t so unnatural as you may think. That bigot Jerry Falwell must be rolling in his newly-filled grave.

These flamingos are pink, after all. Now they can wear their color with even more pride.


(Thanks to my friend K.O. for the heads-up on this one.)

Image taken from http://www.ukgaynews.org.uk/Archive/07/May/2101.htm.

A Coelacanth In The Pool

An Indonesian fisherman caught a “living dinosaur” in the last few days: a coelacanth.

Story: http://www.physorg.com/news98937847.html

The four-foot long, 110-pound fish was thought extinct for 65 million years until a live one was caught off South Africa in 1938. Since then more have been caught and studied, even alive, but it is still exceedingly rare, since this species lives only in very cold, very deep water.

The fisherman, Justinus Lahama, put the fish in a quarantined pool, where it lived for another 17 hours, which a marine biologist (named Lucky) said was a very long time considering the conditions were so different from its native habitat.

It’s not every day you get to see a living fossil. Scratch that . . . you actually get to see living fossils every day. No, I'm not talking about your mother-in-law. Most insects, for instance, have changed very little in hundreds of millions of years. Same is true for some plant species, like gingko trees (at least 170 million years old), or reptiles, like crocodiles (about 220 million years). So let me re-state. It’s not every day you get to see a living fossil that was thought to be extinct.

Coelacanths have been found in this area of Indonesia before (off Sulawesi). HERE is a video of a live coelacanth in its watery environment, filmed by some Japanese researchers (and narrated in Japanese). HERE is an article about that expedition, and HERE is an article about another Indonesian coelacanth that was captured.

Now, the article about the fisherman didn’t say what kind of “quarantined pool” it was, but I would like to think it was his swimming pool. I can see his wife heading out for a few quick laps, then running back in the house, screaming.

Wife: “There’s a giant fish in the pool!”

Fisherman: “Oh, yeah, I forgot to tell you, Honey. It’s a rare living fossil. Ain’t it a beaut?”

Wife: “That’s it, Justinus! It’s not enough that I put up with washing your slimy fisherman clothes all the time and have to make love to someone who smells like tuna guts, but now you’ve gone and put a four-foot carnivorous dinosaur in my pool to eat me! I’m leaving! Put that on your hook and fish with it!”

On a side note, I wonder what coelacanth tastes like. Would it be good in sushi?


Image from Reuters, via USAToday online.