You are here: Home / biology This isn’t from all that long ago–September, 2020–but it’s interesting and worth a repost. Tad on the longish side so if you aren’t flush with time, skim through the biography and prairie voles and get to the list of Getz’s major accomplishments. Interesting guy. Someone needs to write his biography. I do not have words
Continue reading →
Like this:
Like Loading...
Having a long running blog is like keeping a diary. Someone, somewhere in the USA or UK (no Koreans have visited yet today) read this post from January 23, 2012. I saw it in the list and hadn’t a clue so I clicked on it. This is from when we first got Missy! By the
Continue reading →
Like this:
Like Loading...
To begin, I note that the spring peeper has apparently been reclassified. In the Animal Encyclopedia and in the Complete Field Guide to American Wildlife (Harper and Row, 1959) it is Hydra crucifer. That infallible source says it is Pseudacris crucifer. Hydra is the tree frog genus, Pseudacris is chorus frogs. The two are differentiated
Continue reading →
Like this:
Like Loading...
I am at a meeting of the Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology (SSPP). This particular session is on Neural Tools. I was going to skip the first talk but I’m glad I didn’t. The image is of the inside of a cell, taken with some fancy crystallography tool. Beautiful, isn’t it? If you remember
Continue reading →
Like this:
Like Loading...
Not a single primary primary reference regarding their behavior. Larry & Zuoxin. 2004. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I think I’m going to go pick Hungarian peppers and try to not think about the state of the universe.
Like this:
Like Loading...
I am not kidding, I have tears in my eyes. This is such a beautiful study. And they just don’t do it this way anymore which is a real shame. Yeah, yeah. It has confounds galore and probably no power but so what? Think of what’s to come.
Like this:
Like Loading...
“The Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce (MDAC) will be accepting applications for its Wild Hog Control Program (WHCP) Monday, September 28, through Monday, October 12. “Ag Commissioner Andy Gipson says, “smart” wild hog traps will be provided to landowners and managers for the control of wild hogs on private agricultural and forestry lands in Mississippi. Traps will
Continue reading →
Like this:
Like Loading...
I do not have words to tell you how blown away I am. So I’ll just tell you what happened. We’ll start with Prairie Voles (Microtus ochrogaster). Prairie Voles are one of only 4% of mammalian species which have a monogamous social structure. Males and females pair-bond for life. When one passes, the other frequently
Continue reading →
Like this:
Like Loading...
Here on the Farm, there’s always a crappy old book to help illuminate the dark recesses of my brain which used to not only know, but teach this stuff. Kat & I talked about this yesterday.
Like this:
Like Loading...
The growth or movement of a fixed organism toward or away from light. In plants, phototropism is a response to blue wavelengths of light and is caused by a redistribution of auxin from the illuminated side to the darker side of the shoot, resulting in quicker growth on the darker side and bending of the
Continue reading →
Like this:
Like Loading...
So Mr. Big Food, The J-Man and I went to this guy’s talk: Sep 13, 2016 Visiting Speaker September 23 – Dr. Gregory Pence Dr. Gregory Pence will be giving a talk in our department on September 23. Dr. Pence is a Professor and the Chair of the Department of Philosophy at the University of
Continue reading →
Like this:
Like Loading...
Who Knew? If you don’t know what’s going on in this photo– … . Well, you are an idiot. You may recall that Tony invited Nassim Nicholas Taleb to our dinner party some years ago. Scroll on, Bro. View at Medium.com
Like this:
Like Loading...
Via Powerline’s The Week in Pictures
Like this:
Like Loading...
or Any Other Earth/Life Science, but I’ve been considering a few things I’d like to open up for discussion. The small brown tree frog population has exploded and I just don’t know enough about amphibian reproductive biology to say this with any authority but I think it has something to do with the lack of
Continue reading →
Like this:
Like Loading...
I mentioned the other day that I’d gotten a crappy old book about legumes (the bean family; The Leguminosae: A Source Book of Characteristics, Uses and Nodulation) from the Friends of the Library “freebie table” and was surprised to discover that it’s going for considerably more than $0.00 at Amazon. And then there’s this nearly
Continue reading →
Like this:
Like Loading...
May’s Crappy Old Book of the Month was Science in Your Own Back Yard (Cooper, 1958). There was a lot I didn’t get to in this book. I had hoped to comment briefly on Chapter 10: Plants from Spores because one of the funniest things ever is the settled science of crappy old cook books, specifically the
Continue reading →
Like this:
Like Loading...
Quick! What’s the first step in the good old scientific method? … … Time’s up. If you guessed, ‘ask a question‘ or ‘form a hypothesis‘ I’m sorry to be the one to tell you, but you are wrong. The first step is observation. Grass is green. What is the mechanism by which blades of grass reflect
Continue reading →
Like this:
Like Loading...
THE CICADAS ARE HERE!!!!! Brood XXIII, a 13-year brood, has emerged! This is exciting! ~~ I began this post on the 17th– four days ago. At that time we’d been hearing the cicadas for about a week or so. If you’ve never heard the din of a periodical cicada emergence, your life is impoverished in
Continue reading →
Like this:
Like Loading...
There are as many reasons to enjoy crappy old books as there are days in the year. This (poorly photographed, sorry) illustration is from Principles of Economic Zoölogy written back in the crappy olden days when folks still bothered to spell zoology with “ö”. Its title page tells me the book has 301 such beautiful
Continue reading →
Like this:
Like Loading...
I’m no Biologist– haven’t played one for years– but I think this is how ♂ and ♀ robins make F1 robins.Seen across the street from the Starkvegas library on the 1st Monday of the month… the book sale day!I thought I had recorded more than I had– I’m not familiar with recording on my iThingy.
Continue reading →
Like this:
Like Loading...
{"id":null,"mode":"button","open_style":"in_modal","currency_code":"USD","currency_symbol":"$","currency_type":"decimal","blank_flag_url":"https:\/\/www.bigfoodetc.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/tip-jar-wp\/\/assets\/images\/flags\/blank.gif","flag_sprite_url":"https:\/\/www.bigfoodetc.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/tip-jar-wp\/\/assets\/images\/flags\/flags.png","default_amount":1000,"top_media_type":"featured_image","featured_image_url":"https:\/\/www.bigfoodetc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Whats-happening-copy-4-1.jpg","featured_embed":"","header_media":null,"file_download_attachment_data":null,"recurring_options_enabled":true,"recurring_options":{"never":{"selected":true,"after_output":"One time only"},"weekly":{"selected":false,"after_output":"Every week"},"monthly":{"selected":false,"after_output":"Every month"},"yearly":{"selected":false,"after_output":"Every year"}},"strings":{"current_user_email":"","current_user_name":"","link_text":"All current contributions go toward redesigning the cover, and publishing an eBook of Miss Missy's School.","complete_payment_button_error_text":"Check info and try again","payment_verb":"Tip!","payment_request_label":"Big Food, Big Garden, Big Life","form_has_an_error":"Please check and fix the errors above","general_server_error":"Something isn't working right at the moment. Please try again.","form_title":"Big Food, Big Garden, Big Life","form_subtitle":"All contributions go toward cover redesign and eBook publication of Miss Missy's School: Book I A Pack of Farm Dogs Starts a School","currency_search_text":"Country or Currency here","other_payment_option":"Other payment option","manage_payments_button_text":"Manage your payments","thank_you_message":"Thank you for your help and encouragement!","payment_confirmation_title":"Big Food, Big Garden, Big Life","receipt_title":"Your Receipt","print_receipt":"Print Receipt","email_receipt":"Email Receipt","email_receipt_sending":"Sending receipt...","email_receipt_success":"Email receipt successfully sent","email_receipt_failed":"Email receipt failed to send. Please try again.","receipt_payee":"Paid to","receipt_statement_descriptor":"This will show up on your statement as","receipt_date":"Date","receipt_transaction_id":"Transaction ID","receipt_transaction_amount":"Amount","refund_payer":"Refund from","login":"Log in to manage your payments","manage_payments":"Manage Payments","transactions_title":"Your Transactions","transaction_title":"Transaction Receipt","transaction_period":"Plan Period","arrangements_title":"Your Plans","arrangement_title":"Manage Plan","arrangement_details":"Plan Details","arrangement_id_title":"Plan ID","arrangement_payment_method_title":"Payment Method","arrangement_amount_title":"Plan Amount","arrangement_renewal_title":"Next renewal date","arrangement_action_cancel":"Cancel Plan","arrangement_action_cant_cancel":"Cancelling is currently not available.","arrangement_action_cancel_double":"Are you sure you'd like to cancel?","arrangement_cancelling":"Cancelling Plan...","arrangement_cancelled":"Plan Cancelled","arrangement_failed_to_cancel":"Failed to cancel plan","back_to_plans":"\u2190 Back to Plans","update_payment_method_verb":"Update","sca_auth_description":"Your have a pending renewal payment which requires authorization.","sca_auth_verb":"Authorize renewal payment","sca_authing_verb":"Authorizing payment","sca_authed_verb":"Payment successfully authorized!","sca_auth_failed":"Unable to authorize! Please try again.","login_button_text":"Log in","login_form_has_an_error":"Please check and fix the errors above","uppercase_search":"Search","lowercase_search":"search","uppercase_page":"Page","lowercase_page":"page","uppercase_items":"Items","lowercase_items":"items","uppercase_per":"Per","lowercase_per":"per","uppercase_of":"Of","lowercase_of":"of","back":"Back to plans","zip_code_placeholder":"Zip\/Postal Code","download_file_button_text":"Download File","input_field_instructions":{"tip_amount":{"placeholder_text":"How much would you like to tip?","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"How much would you like to tip? Choose any currency."},"empty":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"How much would you like to tip? Choose any currency."},"invalid_curency":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Please choose a valid currency."}},"recurring":{"placeholder_text":"Recurring","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"How often would you like to give this?"},"success":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"How often would you like to give this?"},"empty":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"How often would you like to give this?"}},"name":{"placeholder_text":"Name on Credit Card","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Enter the name on your card."},"success":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"Enter the name on your card."},"empty":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Please enter the name on your card."}},"privacy_policy":{"terms_title":"Terms and conditions","terms_body":null,"terms_show_text":"View Terms","terms_hide_text":"Hide Terms","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"I agree to the terms."},"unchecked":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Please agree to the terms."},"checked":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"I agree to the terms."}},"email":{"placeholder_text":"Your email address","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Enter your email address"},"success":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"Enter your email address"},"blank":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Enter your email address"},"not_an_email_address":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Make sure you have entered a valid email address"}},"note_with_tip":{"placeholder_text":"Your note here...","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Attach a note to your tip (optional)"},"empty":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Attach a note to your tip (optional)"},"not_empty_initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Attach a note to your tip (optional)"},"saving":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Saving note..."},"success":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"Note successfully saved!"},"error":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Unable to save note note at this time. Please try again."}},"email_for_login_code":{"placeholder_text":"Your email address","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Enter your email to log in."},"success":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"Enter your email to log in."},"blank":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Enter your email to log in."},"empty":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Enter your email to log in."}},"login_code":{"initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Check your email and enter the login code."},"success":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"Check your email and enter the login code."},"blank":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Check your email and enter the login code."},"empty":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Check your email and enter the login code."}},"stripe_all_in_one":{"initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Enter your credit card details here."},"empty":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Enter your credit card details here."},"success":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Enter your credit card details here."},"invalid_number":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card number is not a valid credit card number."},"invalid_expiry_month":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's expiration month is invalid."},"invalid_expiry_year":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's expiration year is invalid."},"invalid_cvc":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's security code is invalid."},"incorrect_number":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card number is incorrect."},"incomplete_number":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card number is incomplete."},"incomplete_cvc":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's security code is incomplete."},"incomplete_expiry":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's expiration date is incomplete."},"incomplete_zip":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's zip code is incomplete."},"expired_card":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card has expired."},"incorrect_cvc":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's security code is incorrect."},"incorrect_zip":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's zip code failed validation."},"invalid_expiry_year_past":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's expiration year is in the past"},"card_declined":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card was declined."},"missing":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"There is no card on a customer that is being charged."},"processing_error":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"An error occurred while processing the card."},"invalid_request_error":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Unable to process this payment, please try again or use alternative method."},"invalid_sofort_country":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The billing country is not accepted by SOFORT. Please try another country."}}}},"fetched_oembed_html":false}
{"date_format":"F j, Y","time_format":"g:i a","wordpress_permalink_only":"https:\/\/www.bigfoodetc.com\/tag\/biology\/","all_default_visual_states":"inherit","modal_visual_state":false,"user_is_logged_in":false,"stripe_api_key":"pk_live_51H1In9KDLfKHlvGgsliZe4efNchBVkhUvpkfy3DJTf5J6Kumgyzt5CgC0gY8E4J6dsAemyUcNLRf68pdCdkj8ZWn0021C5X4gj","stripe_account_country_code":"US","setup_link":"https:\/\/www.bigfoodetc.com\/wp-admin\/admin.php?page=tip-jar-wp&mpwpadmin1=welcome&mpwpadmin_lightbox=do_wizard_health_check","close_button_url":"https:\/\/www.bigfoodetc.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/tip-jar-wp\/\/assets\/images\/closebtn.png"}
