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Fish Evolution: Take 2

By Animals

When I think of evolution, I think of small changes over millions of years, but not so for the hardy tomcods of the once heavily polluted Hudson river. Deadly PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) were discharged to the river by General Electric Co between 1947 and 1976. This naturally had a deadly impact on the inhabitants, with the tomcod being hit quite hard, as they are filter feeders (PCB contaminants settle on the bottom river bed ). Their life span was reduced from an average 7 years to 2 years and many suffered from tumours.

However, they are fighting back and have evolved to be resistant to the toxin (unlike their counterparts in other ecosystems).  Studies continue into their mutated, toxin resistant genes. Refer to this LiveScience.com link for the related article

May 29, 2012
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Here Fido – Fetch!

By Dogs

And you guessed it, the topic for today is the boomerang.  Some boomerang facts you might not have known:

  1. Boomerangs are not solely native to Australia – Boomerangs have been found world-wide, including Egypt.  Our favourite pharaoh, King Tut possessed a few boomerangs, some  plated in gold – now that’s my kind of stick!
  2. Not all boomerangs are designed to return – there are two types: ‘returning’ and ‘hunting’. The non returning ‘hunting’ variety are typically used to knock down the prey and travel straight, rather than curved.
  3. The oldest ever found boomerang is about 30,000 years old and was found in a cave in Poland. It was made from a mammoth’s tusk
  4. The smallest boomerang to travel over 20m was weeny s a teeny-48mm
May 25, 2012
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Don’t argue with the laws of thermodynamics

By Pot Luck

So a little lesson in the wonders of thermodynamics….Obviously you are hard-core, because your eyes have not glazed over and you are still reading.

To put it simply, it helps to mathematically explain why a system will change from ordered to disordered over time.  The theory introduced the property known as entropy, which is used to explain the ‘amount’ of order.

The theory unfolded in the 1800s when scientists were trying to understand the maths around fluid dynamics – specifically to help engineers improve the efficiency of steam exchangers (such as old steam trains!) However, it has found application in physics and helps explain why ultimately everything (including the universe) will move from a state of order (low entropy) to disorder (high entropy).

My explanation is no where near as elegant as that of Professor Brian Cox.  For a succinct explanation (using a sandcastle!) watch this 2 minute video, taken from one of my all time favourite top 3 documentaries ever – The Wonders of the Universe

May 23, 2012
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Darwin 6: Dinosaurs 0

By Dinosaurs

My thanks need to go to Mark from Australian Migration – This was his contribution to one of the possible reasons for the ultimate demise of those cute, green dinosaurs. If you have a theory, why not submit a joke on the Submit a joke page and I’ll have a crack at drawing it. I’m targeting 50:0!

May 21, 2012
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To dwell, or not to dwell – that is the question

By Dung Beetles

You might recall an earlier Doug Dung Beetle post which explained that there are 3 types of dungs beetles – roller (Doug), tunneller and dweller (Doug’s cousin). Well for a bit of Friday fun, I thought it was time to have another poll.  Tell us what you think – just click your choice, then hit the vote button – easy!

[polldaddy poll=6214557]

May 18, 2012
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Every cloud has a silver lining – even in heaven

By That's life

Yes, this might look familiar to some. It made its debut appearance in the March Freebie.

What? You missed the March Friday Freebie – well don’t worry, here’s the link again. And while you’re at it, how about giving the Freebie page a rating?   Feel free to give it a 5 star stellar rating!

May 17, 2012
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