Darwin's finches evolving

Peter Grant of Priceton, a biologist studying Galapagos finches, has watched one particular physically smaller species for more than twenty years as a physically larger species of finch moved in on their territory, ate their food, and starved the larger individuals, leaving only the smaller individuals to continue the species. As a result, the species in question now has smaller beaks than when the invaders first came in 1982.

And in case you're wondering about the legitimacy, this work was funded by the NSF, and is being published in the peer-reviewed Science magazine.

Ages old debate

That age-old debate on whether dinosaurs were warm- or cold-blooded has a tentative answer: Yes. By examining growth rates observed in fossil bones, the paleontologists determined that most dinosaurs don't have any process to regulate their body temperature, so small dinosaurs stayed at ambient temperature while big dinosaurs stayed warm b/c body processes generate heat and they can't dissipate it.

To make matters even more complex though, there's one species that switches from being warm-blooded when young, to cold-blooded when adult! Ain't that freaky? "Is it just me, or is it warm in here?" "You're just having hot flashes honey."

Summertime post!

Since summer's in full swing, I thought I'd point y'all towards a list of ideas for more efficient summer cooling. Enjoy! :)

Bush proposes doubling federal funding for physical science research

This is really good news, Bush's proposed putting more money, an additional $136 billion over 10 years, into basic research in the physical sciences! The root cause of this is that Bush feels it will keep America competitive on the global market - I'm slightly skeptical over the direct cause-and-effect he implies, but anything that puts more money into science is good. And better yet, some of that money would go to training more math and science teachers. Sadly, this might be at the expense of other education fields such as "the arts, parent-resource centers and drug-free schools," causing the Democrats concern, but I think it's worth it.

This has already been approved in the house, but the Senate is stalling on it. I think I'm going to draft a letter to my Senators on the issue - presuming it's not already too late. Or maybe even if it is. If I do write it, I'll post it here for others to copy.

ETA: I think the bill in question is H.R.5672 - Making appropriations for Science, the Departments of State, Justice, and Commerce, and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2007, and for other purposes. Anyone else know for sure? If you want to write your senator, the easiest way I know of to find out who (s)he is, is via the AAS Contacting Congress page.

Worm composting - fruit flies?

Anyone out there have a worm compost bin and get fruit flies? This time it wasn't even from bananas, I think it was from the soil I was using for an experiment for my online course! But the house is infested again and when I went to put in some corn husks today the poker I use to move the material around was covered in what I'm pretty sure was little fruit fly grubs (or whatever they're called). Made my skin crawl. I put the bin outside, and it's staying out there for a week. I'm also cleaning everything wet or raw in the house and drying the sinks before I go away for around 5 days! Any other, less drastic, ideas?

Discovery flies on the 4th

It was [NASA Administrator Michael Griffin] Griffin who chose to go ahead with the mission over concerns from the space agency's safety officer and chief engineer about foam problems that have dogged the agency since Columbia was doomed by a flyaway chunk of insulation 3 1/2 years ago.

Somebody explain to me WHY in the world Griffin gave it the goahead when ignoring concerns from engineers and safety officials is what doomed both the Challenger and Columbia missions?! Gadnabbit, Griffin's a scientist, I was really expecting better from him.

There is one cool part though:

If photos during launch or the flight show serious damage to Discovery, the crew could move into the space station. Then a risky shuttle rescue — fraught with its own problems — would have to be mounted. The rescue ship, Atlantis, would face the same potential foam threat at launch. NASA also worked on a possible plan for flying Discovery back to Earth unmanned if necessary.

50 years of highways

Ooh, this looks like an interesting article - it's apparently a biography of the nation's interstate system, and for me it's pure mapporn! *grin* However, the following severely mangled nest of mixed metaphors made me cringe.

So it's hard to believe that America's freeway system turns 50 this summer — a chronological blip on the tectonic plates too slight for a spectrometer, but in the life of our republic, a golden anniversary.

*shudder*