Biomes Blog

Entry #2086

I mentioned the sargassumfish I caught the other day, and last night I had some unexpected free time. So I put together a DK Marine Life Series essay on how these pelagic animals cross the ocean. It's called Expat Sargassum Community, and includes this movie of the fish swimming using jet propulsion by shooting bursts of water through its gills. My Nikon doesn't take the best quality footage, but it gives you an idea of how this thing moves.

Six things that (almost) guarantee a speeding ticket.

The Caminato del Rey in Spain is possibly the world’s most dangerous walkable pathway.

Albino Monday: Watch a pair of albino skunks

Entry #2085

This swan sculpture is made completely out of lard. Here's a slide show with more fatty artwork.

Wayne has some photos of a green frog in one of his ponds, and it’s this week’s Green Thing.

I didn’t even know video of Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan existed, but here you go.

Morford: The evolution of hate mail.

Buy your shoot ‘em up cookboy! condiment gun here.

Entry #2084

This is why I love offshore hurricanes and tropical storms so much. Look at this gorgeous guy I caught yesterday. It's a sargassumfish that was blown into Rhode Island on a raft of weeds from the Sargasso Sea out near Bermuda. He's about three inches long and you can learn more about them from this essay I wrote for Daily Kos. Click to biggit.

Pet Corner: A day in the life of Sonya. I think Sonya is a slow loris.

Buy your vintage popcorn vender’s corn poppers here.

Today’s slide show is of the winners of the 2003 “small world” microphotography contest (click on “slide show” to view).

There, I Fixed It is another niche blog that catalogues odd fixes for common everyday problems.

Entry #2083: Health Care

James Fallows has an excellent deconstruction of Betsy McCaughey’s appearance on The Daily Show that shows the insanity of the “death panel” nonsense in the health care debate. I honestly don’t understand the objection of anyone who isn’t an HMO executive to universal health care.

The Rude Pundit has a message on Ted Kennedy for conservatives who hated him. Nicely done.

Five myths about health care from around the world.

This chart of health care claims shows that Republicans are lying and Democrats are telling the truth, and explains why once again Fox News viewers have absolutely no idea what the hell they’re talking about.

If you’ve had a heart attack and survived you might want to consider eating chocolate a couple of times a week.

The Wall Street Journal talks about the swine flu and its vaccination policy.

Wondermark: In which the species is bettered.

Entry #2082

Cool Site of the Week: This cartoon history of Thomas Jefferson is great.

Buy your global warming mug here. When it’s filled with hot tea or coffee the oceans start to spread across the continents.

Ken got yesterday's trivia. It was the first ever computer mouse.

Animal of the Week: Honey birds talk to mammals, including humans, to guide them to honey bee colonies. As the mammals gather the honey the birds pick out their share as well.

Check out this swarm of krill.

iPod Shuffle:

1. Toss the Feathers (The Corrs)
2. This Wheel's on Fire (Bob Dylan)
3. The Indifference of Heaven (Warren Zevon)
4. The Future of the Future (Everything but the Girl)
5. She Crawls Away (Hootie and the Blowfish)

Entry #2081

Ten of the strangest beasts to ever die, as in go extinct.

Andy, from the blog News in Print, sends in his article on the seven most impressive libraries from throughout history.

Craig Venter is at it again, and may be just months away from creating artificial life.

I’m pretty up on my world history, but I’ve never even heard of the Third Reich’s Flak Towers.

Trivia (4 Biomes points): What’s this wooden thing?

Entry #2080

Paleontologists found a 150 million-year-old squid ink sac embedded in fossilized rock. The ink was so well preserved they used it to draw a picture of the animal it belonged to.

Now we’re cookin’: Eighteen delicious rodents.

Welcome to the Icelandic Phallological Museum.

Stuff you should know: Why we swing our arms when we walk.

Tuesday Coonhound Blogging: What happens when a tied-up coonhound sees a squirrel. I really loved my chiminea. Click to embiggen the carnage.

Entry #2079: Three Snakes

Read an ungodly creatures thread, including this two-headed corn snake.

The Big Picture has a wonderful photo essay of people at work.

Isreali snake massage.

Today's long read is Understanding Atheism, the atheist strawman arguments and what atheism isn’t.

Albino Monday: Python, not sure which species.

Entry #2078

This week’s Green Thing is an illustrated guide by Good Magazine showing how much water you can save based on the daily choices you make.

Thirty three of the healthiest foods on earth, and what they do in your body.

Photos of jets breaking the sound barrier.

Morford: Me and my 5,000 Facebook friends.

Buy your pee without noise stool here.

Entry #2077

If you’re interested in the politics of health care over the past twenty years, read Ezra Klein.

“Insurers make money by denying claims. Money they spend on health care is money they lose (they even have a name for it: the "medical-loss ratio"). Private insurance is a bit like a fire department that turns a profit by letting buildings burn down.”

Krakatoa erupted 126 years ago, and these photos show it possibly reawakening again.

Motivated Grammar is a niche blog devoted to grammatical sticklers. It really is a good read by a linguist that points out ways that language is and not how it should be. Not everything you learned in school is necessarily correct.

Buy stuff at the Creationist Fossil Shop. For six bucks you can get a TV that was created on Day 8, 4000 B.C. (false estimate: 1950 A.D.)

Today’s slide show is fabulous nature’s collection of beach images.

Entry #2076

Cool Site of the Week: Smashing Magazine has a collection of stunning space photographs. This one is of the Sombrero Galaxy, which is 28 million light years from Earth.

Geek Stuff: Buy your Monty Python baby killer rabbit plush doll here.

Movie Rating: The Pink Panther (2006)
I have this thing about returning Netflix movies unwatched, but they accidentally sent me the Steve Martin version of this flick and now I’m rethinking that policy. 1.0 starfish out of 5.

The four word film review features critical reviews of over 30,000 films in only four words or less. Here are the entries for Star Wars.

iPod Shuffle:

1. Sailor (Hem)
2. Happy (Rolling Stones)
3. Tequila Sunrise (The Eagles)
4. It's Not Safe (Aimee Mann)
5. A Mile High in Denver (Jimmy Buffett)

Entry #2075

Animal of the Week: Flying elephant coming in for a landing. This ad by the International Fund for Animal Welfare warns travelers not to bring home products made from exotic animals.

Enjoy some photos of animals hugging and kissing.

Icon Story.

If you’re a redhead, a new study shows why you may dislike going to the dentist even more that the rest of us.

Watch a teaser trailer for Michael Moore’s new film. It isn’t titled yet, but it’s about the bank bailouts.

Entry #2074

After appearing on National Geographic’s website, the crasher squirrel is now showing up all over the place.

Republican Jesus rebukes public option.

Counting down (or up) to the Twitpocalypse.

Ten ridiculous Time magazine covers.

Hump Day Musical Interlude: I've never heard of the Red Stick Ramblers before, but they're coming to The Towers in Narragansett tomorrow night and I'm going to head out and give them a listen. Based on the videos they have posted, they seem like my kind of band. This one's called Made in the Shade. From what I understand, if you show up early the band members give dance lessons before the show.

Entry #2073

I've long been aware of the threat horseshoe crabs face from over-harvesting, and the regulations that have been put in place to try to protect them, but I always picture the harvesting as being done by guys walking along the shore and picking up the animals by hand and tossing them into a boat or pickup truck. That's how it's done around here. Until someone sent me this image in an email I didn't realize they were trawled up in such huge numbers at one time.

Now we're cookin': Here's how they make  horseshoe crab soup in Vietnam.

Stuff you should know: Everything you need to know about slings and slingshots.

Two things you need in life.

Tuesday Coonhound Blogging: Scroll down on this coonhound page a bit until you get to the part about "common misspellings" and then tell me this absurd paragraph isn't just a ploy to increase the site's google ranking.

Entry #2072

Seven more amazing cloud formations.

If I ever go to Chinatown I’m not eating here.

You do want to watch this German forklift safety video. Skip to about the 2 minute mark and enjoy.

A bird that was thought to be extinct has been found and photographed in the Philippines, and then it was eaten.

Albino Monday: Another hummer.

Entry #2071

Watch the Oscar-nominated animated short film “Guard Dog”.

This week’s Green Thing goes to Colorado, which saw its first wolverine roaming the mountains since 1919. Not to be outdone, the U.K. has seen its beavers return after having been wiped out 400 years ago.

Fifteen unique chess sets. By far the coolest is the set made out of insects embedded in amber.

Morford: Dick Cheney rolls in his grave.

You can buy a brand new dirty coffee mug here.

Entry #2070

Five animals with lovely markings.

I think it’s safe to say that this is not a hundred-foot long snake.

Really boring books for kids.

Pet Corner: Pets who want to kill themselves.

Today’s slide show is a collection of some of the strangest items left behind in hotel rooms.

Entry #2069

Click the image to watch Champ William’s Attack of the Sea Slugs.

Geek Stuff: For only $2,933.02 you can get your own life-sized replica of Capt. Kirk’s command chair.

Cool Site of the Week: The winter 1972 project, redecorating rooms with white post-it notes.

Play! Newsweek’s mugshot quiz. Match the mugshot with the crime.

iPod Shuffle:

1. The 20th Century is Almost Over (The Highwaymen)
2. You Know What They're Writing About (Van Morrison)
3. Sweetness Follows (R.E.M.)
4. The Show Goes On (Bruce Hornsby)
5. Life in the Fast Lane (The Eagles)

Entry #2068

Animal of the Week: It wasn’t a sea monster that washed up on a beach in Wales. It’s a mass of what the article calls “goose barnacles”, but they’re actually called gooseneck barnacles. They are strictly pelagic, but can wash ashore stuck to logs or debris that have been floating out at sea for a few years.

In some parts of India snake charmers begin their training as young as two-years-old.

Bill Y got yesterday's trivia. It's Bobby Kennedy's assassin Sirhan Sirhan.

Statue of Liberty timeline.

Meet John Doe.

Entry #2067

Here are twenty iTems iNspired by the iPod, like these iCandies.

Trivia (10 Biomes points): This mug shot is of a well-known criminal 35 years after his arrest. Who is it? As a reminder for newbies, I'm keeping track of all the points. When someone reaches 100 I'll donate $25 to the non-religious charity or Democratic candidate of their choice. Winners start at zero but everyone else keeps their points. So far we've donated to two senate candidates, St. Jude's Hospital and some other charity I can't think of offhand.

The mustache ring clips onto your soda bottle so you’ll look more distinguished while drinking.

Ten gross hot dog recipes.

Hump Day Musical Interlude: “Folsom Prison Blues” by some five-year-old kid.