Biomes Blog

Entry #3105: Four-twenty

All the clocks in the movie “Pulp Fiction” are not stuck at 4:20, which is another reason to ignore those inane “interesting facts” lists. The movie myth probably came about via the association of the number “420” being synonymous with smoking pot. (In the 1970’s, 420 was the police call for “marijuana smoking in progress”, and it was picked up and co-opted by Greatful Dead fans.)

Jim Crow in Cyberspace is Greg Palast’s series on how the vote was stolen in Florida back in 2000.

You’ve been Reichrolld.

Entry #3104: Danger of Death

Artwork centered around “danger of death” electrical signs.

How to make a guy who stuffs dead animals look even weirder. Meet Chuck Testa.

If I had a JC Penny store near me, I’d shop there. How awesome is it that the company responded to a boycott by homophobic right-wingers by putting out a gay Father’s Day ad?

Entry #3103: Feeding Pitchers

It’s long been believed that the giant carnivorous pitcher plants of Borneo fed on small mammals. But now it’s known that the rodents actually feed the plants by using them as toilets.

This is a mosquito getting killed by a laser. Make it full screen and tell me you didn’t feel just a bit bad for the poor thing.

How many tapeworms could your body support? I could house two. Here's an animation showing the typical life cycle of a tapeworm. One I pulled out of a small live shark last year was a little over six feet long.

Entry #3102: Tatonka

Today’s slide show documents the near annihilation of America’s buffalo. This photo shows a pile of bison skulls. In a few decades the buffalo population went from a half billion to only 2,000 individuals.

Tips on dealing with plastic problems, like untying knots in plastic bags, using a can opener to break through those bullet-proof cases everything seems to come in, and other helpful household hints.

Tuesday coonhound blogging: The orangutan and the blue-tick coonhound.

Entry #3101: Medieval Chateau for Sale

Maybe a reader in the U.K. can help me out with this one. The medieval castle where Richard the Loinhearted supposedly died is up for sale for 20,400,000 Euros ($25.8 million, I think). The listing says it has 17 bathrooms and 1 toilet. How can that be, unless a “toilet” is some kind of room of its own?

A Natural History, by Roger Ebert. He’s not just a movie critic.

Unnecessary mustache products.

Entry #3100: Shark Fin Soup

This is the price sharks pay so we can eat a tasteless soup. Here’s my essay on this deplorable practice.

Two squirrels are crossing the road, and one gets hit by a car. The survivor watches over the body and fights off crows trying to scavenge it. Sounds incredible, but I’ve actually seen this happen in front of my house about eight years ago.

Apparently the U.S. isn’t the only place were Sunday pundit shows are basically a bunch of people sitting around yelling at each other. A member of the Greek fascist party is being arrested for assaulting two female panelists on live TV, throwing a glass of water at one and slapping another three times.

Entry #3099: Zarathustra

June's architectural eyesore of the month is Cough Triangle in Brooklyn.

Learn about the ancient Zoroastrians.

Now we’re cookin’: Chocolate gadgets, like this functional chocolator.

Entry #3098: Seeing Things

Orchids that look like monkeys.

Watch a newborn baby deer.

In An Atheist Manifesto, Sam Harris argues that belief in God, and appeasement of religious extremists of all faiths by moderates, has been and continues to be the greatest threat to world peace.

Entry #3097: A Sheared Alpaca

Today’s slide show is a series of sheared alpacas.

How twitter helped one man become Chicago’s most popular cab driver.

Forty years later, “Napalm Girl” tells her story.

Good for Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe for establishing the largest conservation area in the world. The importance is that this protects large mammals throughout their migration, rather than in separate pockets scattered among the six nations.

Entry #3096: The Lucky Get Kevlar

Today’s long read is Disaster Capitalism: The new economy of catastrophe.

This Basic Instructions comic about how to create house rules for board games is pretty funny, but the first comment is awesome.

Hump day musical interlude: In “Perpetual Ocean” NASA has put the world’s ocean currents to music.

Entry #3095: I Choose Not to Bite You

Pet corner: The ten canine commandments.

Richard McKenzie says that our economic and political freedom has led us to be an obese nation, and that there’s no reason to change.

Tuesday coonhound blogging: To give you an idea how big my new center will be, that's Creole in the far corner (click to embiggen).

Entry #3094: Murmuration Over Water

Europe history time lapse. Watch the continent’s political change over a thousand years. Click on the expand button for the best effect.

Terry got yesterday's trivia right. It’s the first millisecond of a nuclear explosion.The ball of fire isn’t microscopic, but 65 feet across.

Mittens or Shrub? We already had our first CEO/President. How’d that go again?

An amazing murmuration of starlings over water.

Entry #3093: Potato Crust

Now we’re cookin’: Making pizza without dough, but instead using a pile of shaved potatoes to hold the toppings, looks like it’d be worth a try.

Here’s a list of the fifty top atheist personalities. Instead of 45, James Randi should be in the top ten.

Trivia (15 Biomes points): What’s this?

Entry #3092: Biomes' New Home

It's taken nearly a year and a half, but I've found a new home for the Biomes Marine Biology Center. My current facility is 2,000 sq/ft and houses what is now (species-wise) the largest collection of New England marine life in the world. The building above has two floors, and each floor is 12,000 sq/ft. 

Understanding engineers.

Can anyone tell me what the purpose of comment spam is? Hundreds of words of utter nonsense doesn't seem like it would be helpful to anyone producing it other than acting as an irritant.

Entry #3091: Dog and Owl

I love this post by Charles Pierce about U.S. post offices and how they formed, in the sixties thirties during the New Deal, a link between the common man and his government. And how, of course, Republicans are actively trying to destroy it.

Driving a tractor trailer in Norway.

I’m surprised it took this long for the Muppets to get their own star on the Walk of Fame.

In North Wales, an owl and a dog have become inseparable buddies.