The invisible RFID ink process developed by Somark involves a geometric array of micro-needles and an ink capsule, which is used to tattoo
an animal. The ink can be detected from 4 feet away — via Warren Ellis
Governor CL Butch
Otter said he will support public hunts to kill all but 100 grey wolves in the state once the federal government removes the animal from Endangered Species Act protections, and that he hopes to shoot a wolf himself
By genetically removing a particular protein, scientists have developed cattle that seem to be resistant to mad cow disease. Dr Juergen Richt with the United States Department of Agriculture in Ames, Iowa and colleagues generated cattle lacking the prion protein and monitored them for growth and general health status from birth to 20 months of age
It has long been known that the Toxoplasma gondii parasite alters its host’s behaviour, but now it seems the way it alters it depends on the sex of the host. A common parasite can increase a women’s attractiveness to the opposite sex but also make men more stupid. Infected men have lower IQs, achieve a lower level of education and have shorter attention spans. They are also more likely to break rules and take risks, be more independent, more anti-social, suspicious, jealous and morose, and are deemed less attractive to women. On the other hand, infected women tend to be more outgoing, friendly, more promiscuous, and are considered more attractive to men compared with non-infected controls
Millions of rockhopper penguins are disappearing in a sinister and astonishing
phenomenon that is baffling biologists. In just six years their numbers have fallen from 600,000 to 420,000 in the Falkland Islands — one of its few remaining strongholds — according to the latest survey by Falklands Conservation. The decline equates to a drop of about 30 per cent, although the Falklands population is thought to have dipped by about 85 per cent since 1932, when there were more than 1.5 million birds
Llamas are not just for transportation anymore. It turns out that the animals’ blood could be useful for detecting all sorts of maladies in the surrounding environment — from deadly pathogens to industrial emissions. A research effort has done just that, manipulating a rare type of antibody found in llamas to make an inexpensive and diverse biosensor
The molecules that make octopus skin so successful as a dynamic camouflage could provide materials scientists with a new way to make super-reflective materials. What’s even more odd is just how reflective these proteins are — they reflect all wavelengths of light that hit at any angle
An outspoken opponent of US government efforts to reestablish the gray wolf in western states has pleaded guilty to trying to poison the federally protected species. Tim Sundles, 48, planted meatballs laced with a poisonous pesticide in Idaho’s remote Salmon-Challis National Forest in 2004 with the aim of killing wolves. The meatballs instead poisoned a coyote, fox, magpies and three pet dogs. Sundles could face as much as six months behind bars and five years probation
I have gecko.
I’m sitting here, writing away, watching crap late night television and a gecko scuttled along the living room cornice. I didn’t know there were geckos around my house, let alone in it.
The little guy seems reluctant to be caught and has vanished under a bookshelf. If he plans on staying, he’d better learn to keep out of the way of the dogs.
Scientists have taught dolphins to combine both rhythm and vocalisations to produce music, resulting in an extremely high-pitched, short version of the Batman theme song. The findings, outlined in two studies, are the first time that non-human mammals have demonstrated they can recognise rhythms and reproduce them vocally
Unlike salamanders and lizards, most animals have lost the ability to replace missing limbs. But a research team in San Diego has been able to regenerate a wing in a chicken embryo — a species not known to be able to regrow limbs — suggesting the potential for such regeneration exists innately in all vertebrates, including humans
New studies on rogue elephants have determined that they rape and kill rhinoceroses; attack villages with intelligent measures like blocking escape routes and pinning down humans before goring them to death; and display psychological traits previously only observed in people — via Rogue Jeff
Union Products, the original manufacturer of the plastic pink flamingo, will close its doors by 1 Novemebr, according to the company’s president. Production of the flamingos stopped in June, along with the company’s other product lines, and the company is now in the process of liquidation, according to its president, Dennis Plante — via Improbable Research
In evolutionary circles, giant rats and miniature elephants have long been accepted as the products of accelerated evolution in isolated environments such as islands, but McGill paleontologist Virginie Millien has been the first to establish just how quickly these odd-shaped animals got that way. In fact, island mammals evolve about three times faster than their mainland counterparts, says Dr. Millien, who based her findings on an analysis of the documented evolutionary rates of 88 island mammal species, about half of which were rodents — via Warren Ellis
A woman in Surrey, England couldn’t figure out why her car wouldn’t start. An Automobile Association patrolman arrived on the scene and the two realised that the woman’s dog had swallowed the car’s immobiliser chip fob. The immobiliser contains an RFID chip that must be within a certain proximity of the steering column for the key to work. The patrolman put the dog in the front seat, turned the key and the car started right up — via Boing Boing
By studying how beetles can trap air to keep from drowning, researchers suggest artificial gills that mimic such a trick could help people breathe underwater
Endangered red wolves are living in areas that the Navy has earmarked for a landing strip for jets, according to an environmental group that opposes plans for the airfield
A century after they were wiped out by hunters and a burgeoning population, wolves have returned to parts of eastern Germany as factories close down, businesses fail and people move out
Scientists have found tasmanian devils in the state’s far north-west coast area remain cancer free, despite the spread of the disease across the rest of the state. In a recent survey, more than 100 devils were caught in the area over 10 days. Government wildlife biologist Clare Hawkins says not one was found to have the facial tumour disease, which has already wiped out about 40 per cent of the state’s devil population. Dr Hawkins believes the survey results, combined with a trial now under way, may provide avenues for keeping the north-west disease-free
Descendants of extinct mammals such as the giant woolly mammoth might one day walk the Earth again. It isn’t exactly Jurassic Park, but Japanese researchers are looking at the possibility of using sperm from frozen animals to inseminate living relatives.
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