Butterfly Folds Wings to Say 'Back Off, Boys'

"When a female copper butterfly folds her wings, it sends the same message to males of her species that a wedding ring on a woman's finger says to males of our species: “Move on, fellas. I'm not interested.”

A pregnant female copper butterfly, Lycaena phlaeas daimio, will fold up her wings when males pass by, if she wants to avoid amorous attention. This makes evolutionary sense, since both the butterflies only mate once in their lives."
via Discovery News /read more

Sarah Palin Riding a Motorcycle

Top 5 captions for this photo:

1. "Maybe you can't put lipstick on a pig but you can put a dipstick on a hog." -Daniel C.
2. "I can see Russia from here!" -Shelby J.
3. "The back of the bikers shirt says, "If you can read this, the crazy, ill-informed, media nutjob fell off." -Brian H.
4. "A pig riding a hog!" -Suzanna S.
5. "Sarah Palin once again proving her lack of leadership ability! When it comes down to it, she's always just along for the ride." -Joan H.
via

Five Questions With Wilma Melville, Founder of the National Search Dog Foundation

In the face of disaster, some of the most critical rescuers have four legs.
In 1995, retired schoolteacher Wilma Melville and Murphy, her FEMA-certified search dog, were deployed to the site of the Oklahoma City bombing to aid in the critical search and rescue mission. Alongside six other canine teams, Melville and Murphy combed through the wreckage to seek out survivors and recover bodies of those who had perished. It was an eye-opening moment for Melville, who wondered how the United States could have just 15 search dog teams to aid in disaster response, when in a crisis the size of Oklahoma City, using all 15 could be the difference between life and death.
With this in mind, Melville returned home to California and planted the seeds that would become the National Search Dog Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to providing the most highly trained canine disaster search teams in the nation. Sixteen years and 77 deployments later, including a recent journey to tornado zone in Joplin, MO, the SDF has played a critical role in aiding rescue missions around the world.
  NewsFeed spoke with Melville to find out how she turns these dogs from rescued to rescuers.

Ratko Mladic Arraigned at the Hague Court for War Crimes

 "THE HAGUE — Ratko Mladic, the former Serbian general accused of genocide in the deaths of thousands people during the Balkan conflict, on Friday made his first appearance before a United Nations tribunal to face charges of war crimes."
In the former general’s initial appearance before the court, judges were expected to read out large parts of the indictment against him, underscoring the seriousness of the charges against one of the most important war crimes suspects to appear before the International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
via NYTimes.com / read more

Dog in a Bin by Simon Brundret

The Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition 2011 /more here

Why Health Authorities Are So Worried About Europe's Mutant E. Coli Outbreak

Health officials were worried enough about an unusually virulent outbreak of food-borne illness from the E. coli bacteria, which has infected more than 1,500 people in Germany and killed at least 17. But the concern jumped to another level on Thursday when the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that the responsible pathogen was a strain of E. coli that they believe had never before been seen by scientists.
According to the Beijing Genomics Institute in China, which has been working with German scientists on the outbreak, the new strain is dangerous:
"Bioinformatics analysis revealed that this E. coli is a new strain of bacteria that is highly infectious and toxic.
This is a new serotype — not previously involved in any E. coli outbreaks. Comparative analysis showed that this bacterium has 93% sequence similarity with the EAEC 55989 E. coli strain, which was isolated in the Central African Republic and known to cause serious diarrhea. This new strain of E. coli, however, has also acquired specific sequences that appear to be similar to those involved in the pathogenicity of hemorrhagic colitis and hemolytic-uremic syndrome. The acquisition of these genes may have occurred through horizontal gene transfer. The analysis further showed that this deadly bacterium carries several antibiotic resistance genes, including resistance to aminoglycoside, macrolides and Beta-lactam antibiotics: all of which makes antibiotic treatment extremely difficult."

via TIME Healthland /read more

AKC Recognizes Three New Dog Breeds

The American Kennel Club announced Wednesday that it is expanding its litter of recognized breeds by three — bringing the registry's total to 173 breeds in the U.S.
The American English Coonhound, Finnish Lapphund and Cesky Terrier are all getting the AKC paw-print of approval, which means that you'll start seeing these types of dogs at the more than 20,000 shows and events that are held around the world.
So what can you expect from the new pups on the block?
via TIME NewsFeed /read more

Woman denies military's claims about 'virginity test'

Amnesty International officials reported that some in a group of 18 women detained March 9 in and around Cairo's Tahrir Square were subjected to "virginity tests" as well as beatings, electric shocks and strip searches as male soldiers looked on. This week, they called for an investigation by the Egyptian government into the alleged abuses. Late Wednesday, about 100 people gathered outside a meeting of the country's ruling military council, many hoisting signs calling for the military to address the issue.

One of the women who appeared on CNN, 20-year-old Salwa Hosseini, spoke with Babylon & Beyond on Wednesday about the controversy and what she wants now from the government:

How were you treated by the soldiers?

Soldiers beat me when I told the other women not to be afraid. When we were in the room [holding cell], soldiers were taking photographs. Girls were covering their faces, but I did not cover mine. I said, "Hold up your head, you are Egyptian" [a common protest chant among revolutionaries]. ... The guards called us bastards, prostitutes, they cursed our families.

What about female soldiers?

I was strip-searched by a woman in a room. I asked her to close the window and doors, and she refused. After I was naked, I saw a guard in the window, taking photos. I screamed, and he ran away. Then the woman searching me said she would call the guard to shock me if I kept insisting she close the window and doors.

How was the test conducted?

A man made me take off my underwear and examined me.

Did he touch you?

Yes. He used two fingers.

Was anyone else there?

The virginity test took place in front of guards and military officers.

Did you request a female doctor?

Yes. I wanted a woman, not a man, and not all these men around.

What did the military officers say?

They electroshocked me.

Did all 18 women take the test?

No. They made us sign a document saying we were virgins. About 10 of them did not sign it. One of them lied.

What happened to her?

They tortured her.
read more

Tommy waited all night

Lolcats

The Soviet ape-man scandal

"In February 1926, Russian biologist Ilia Ivanov set out for Guinea in French West Africa, where he planned to perform one of the world's most sensational experiments. Ivanov was an expert in artificial insemination and had used his ground-breaking methods to create an assortment of hybrid animals. Now he was going to try something even more radical - crossing an ape and a human. His trip to Africa was expensive and its purpose highly questionable, yet the Bolshevik government not only sanctioned it but also financed it at a time when few Russians were allowed to leave the country. Why would so eminent a scientist risk his reputation? And why did the Bolsheviks back him?"
Blasts from the past: The Soviet ape-man scandal - life - 23 August 2008 - New Scientist/continue reading

Cyanide & Happiness

Explosm.net

How to Survive the Modern Day Breakup

 "Breaking up sucks. It's painful, complicated, and makes you listen to sad MP3s. And technology—Facebook, texting, email—only makes things more complicated. So how do you navigate 21st-century heartbreak?"
via Gizmodo/read more

Deepest-Dwelling Creature Could Be 'Mephisto'

 "The world's deepest dwelling multicellular organisms have just been identified, according to a paper in the latest issue of Nature. If you were to dig down about 2.2 miles, you might encounter Halicephalobus mephisto ('Mephisto') and its other nematode relatives.

You probably wouldn't want to go there, though.

Food at such a depth consists of bacteria. Temperatures are unbearably hot. There's no sex."
via Discovery News/read more

Endeavour Returns to Earth

The Endeavour space shuttle returned safely to Earth early Wednesday, ending the penultimate mission in NASA’s 30-year space shuttle program.

The 16-day mission, which included the installation of a $2 billion cosmic ray detector at the International Space Station, was the last for Endeavour. After decommissioning, the shuttle will be housed at a museum in California.
Endeavour landing with VIDEO

Horse Whisperer App

 By Dan Piraro

Early Human Dads Stayed at Home While Females Roamed

Males within two human ancestral species that existed roughly 2.7 to 1.7 million years ago were stay-at-home fellows, while females of these same species traveled, according to a new Nature paper.

The finding not only suggests that homebody males today may have a genetic predisposition for their lifestyle choice, but that certain female dispersal patterns among humans may mirror those of chimpanzees and bonobos. These two other primates also have stay-put males and traveling females.
via Discovery News/read more

Hybrid Mammoth DNA Found

Woolly and Columbian mammoths, two species of elephant that once lived in North America, may have interbred.

Mitochondrial DNA analysis of a Columbian mammoth (Mammuthus columbi) found in Utah suggests that its mitochondrial DNA was nearly identical to that of the woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius).
via Discovery News/read more

The prison of our beliefs and how to escape it

"In The Believing Brain, Michael Shermer argues that "belief-dependent realism" makes it hard for any of us to have an objective view of the world

You are rushing to the airport when a tree falls and blocks the road, causing you to miss your flight. Hours later you learn the plane has crashed and all its passengers are presumed dead.

If you are religious, you may interpret the falling tree as a miracle, evidence that a loving God is watching over you. If you aren't, you will likely see it as an incredibly fortunate fluke. These two interpretations of the same event exemplify Michael Shermer's view that our beliefs come first and our explanations - or rationalisations - follow.

He dubs this concept "belief-dependent realism", though it is far from a new idea: philosophers of science have long argued that our theories, or beliefs, are the lenses through which we see the world, making it difficult for us to access an objective reality.

So where do our beliefs come from?"
via CultureLab/read more

see more Lolcats and funny pictures, and check out our Socially Awkward Penguin lolz!

Spectacular sunset over New York City

Spectacular end to sunny Memorial Day as sun sets on Manhattan | Mail Online

The stunning images created by Jay Payne

Jay Payne makes the extraordinary pictures using incense sticks, his camera and Photoshop - all in the comfort of his own living room.
more here

A Riot In A Jam Jar

"In a piece called Take That, the tables are turned on the group after they used riot police in their Brit Awards performance in February. The group were joined by dancers dressed in riot gear with batons and shields when they performed Kidz at the O2 Arena for the lavish show. In Cauty's artwork, Robbie Williams is depicted lying on the ground bleeding, while other members of the group look on as an officer hits Mark Owen. The artist said: "In the small world re-enactment, the police see it as trivialisation of their work and retaliate by giving the band a well deserved kicking."
A Riot In A Jam Jar: controversial artworks by Jimmy Cauty, formerly of The KLF - Telegraph

Why the Chinese Love Their Death Penalty

"Of all the criminal cases in China, those involving corrupt officials sentenced to death arouse the greatest interest. The morbid examples abound: from the public cheering for the recent death sentences for the two deputy mayors of Suzhou and Hangzhou to the executions of the head of the State Food and Drug Administration, of the Secretary of Justice of Chongqing City, and of the vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.
China is the global leader for the number of corrupt officials who are sentenced to death, and actually executed each year. But, judging by the seemingly endless "public demand" for this kind of punishment and the surging popular anger, it would seem that there is actually not enough of it. While so many people are "beheaded," executives at all levels are still determined to brave death by trying to make the most of corruption.
So one cannot help but wonder, are there too many or too few executions in China? What else should be taken into account when considering the fate of corrupt officials — apart from the law, international human rights standards, and the public opinion?"

via TIME/read more

Sepp Blatter's re-election as Fifa president

'I'm back in, boys - business as usual.'

Mac on. . . Sepp Blatter's re-election as Fifa president

WHO Says Cell Phone Radiation Is "Possibly Carcinogenic." Now What?

"Using a mobile phone may increase your risk for certain kinds of brain cancers. That was the scientific conclusion relayed today by a working group of 31 scientists from 14 countries meeting at the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer (WHO/IARC) who completed a review of the available scientific evidence on cell-phone radiation and brain tumors."

TIME Healthland/read more