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A spider in the name of Neil Young

Sun, 11 May 2008 20:43:02 GMT

clipped by: dakotayii
clipper's remarks: Now I have more respect for spiders.........

LOS ANGELES (Reuters Life!) - Iconic singer and songwriter Neil Young has had an honor bestowed upon him that is not received by many musicians -- his own spider.

An East Carolina University biologist, Jason Bond, discovered a new species of trapdoor spider and opted to call the arachnid after his favorite musician, Canadian Neil Young, naming it Myrmekiaphila neilyoungi.

"There are rather strict rules about how you name new species," Bond said in a statement.

"As long as these rules are followed you can give a new species just about any name you please. With regards to Neil Young, I really enjoy his music and have had a great appreciation of him as an activist for peace and justice."

He confirmed through the spider's DNA that the Myrmekiaphila neilyoungi is an identifiable, separate species of spider within the trapdoor genus.

Tags: science

Functions of the heart

Sun, 11 May 2008 17:15:28 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: webplaza.pt.lu

Endangered parrots born in captivity reproduce in wild

Sun, 11 May 2008 15:59:54 GMT

clipped by: CrazyRedHead

Clip Source: www.cnn.com

Endangered scarlet macaws born in captivity are reproducing in the wild for the first time on Costa Rica's southern Pacific coast.

The ZooAve Center for the Rescue of Endangered Species has released 100 of the birds into the wild in the past decade. But biologists didn't spot offspring until last year,

Since then, they have recorded 22 chicks born in the wild, and four more scarlet macaw couples have laid eggs

The parrots once occupied all of Costa Rica. But hunting and poaching dramatically cut their population, and they are now found only in two national parks along the coast.

The parrots, which live up to 80 years, can start reproducing at age 7.

Many parrots in the breeding program were confiscated by environmental authorities or turned in by their former owners. Some can't leave the sanctuary because they don't know how to survive in the wild.

"Many don't even know how to feed themselves," Fournier said.

Tags: animals, birds, nature

How do dogs perceive time?

Sun, 11 May 2008 13:52:34 GMT

clipped by: swampfoxz
clipper's remarks: Do dogs and other animals have these same abilities? If you climbed inside a dog's mind, would you be presented with the memory of eating a raw hide bone earlier this morning? Read the next page to find out what it would feel like to be a dog.

Clip Source: animals.howstuffworks.com

How do dogs perceive time?

Most dogs are never late for a meal -- they know exactly where to be at the same time every day. They also know when to expect their owner home and, like clockwork, place themselves patiently at the door for that arrival. When you witness this behavior, you assume dogs have a sophisticated understanding of time. But what is time really like for a dog?

They say a human year is equivalent to about seven dog years. But what does this common theory tell us about a dog's perception of time? Actually, very little. The idea of "dog years" comes from the life expectancy of dogs compared to humans. So it wouldn't be correct to apply this idea to the concept of time perception.

To understand how dogs perceive time, we first need to understand how humans perceive time. Arguably, each person experiences the passing of time in different ways at

Tags: dogs, time, perception

The Stupidity of Dignity

Sun, 11 May 2008 11:27:22 GMT

clipped by: wildcat
clipper's remarks: Steven Pinker, a modern most advanced thinker, a must read

Clip Source: www.tnr.com

This spring, the President's Council on Bioethics released a 555-page report, titled Human Dignity and Bioethics. The Council, created in 2001 by George W. Bush, is a panel of scholars charged with advising the president and exploring policy issues related to the ethics of biomedical innovation, including drugs that would enhance cognition, genetic manipulation of animals or humans, therapies that could extend the lifespan, and embryonic stem cells and so-called "therapeutic cloning" that could furnish replacements for diseased tissue and organs. Advances like these, if translated into freely undertaken treatments, could make millions of people better off and no one worse off. So what's not to like? The advances do not raise the traditional concerns of bioethics, which focuses on potential harm and coercion of patients or research subjects. What, then, are the ethical concerns that call for a presidential council?

Tags: steven pinker, bioethics, genetics, dignity