Life's Little Pleasures

mouse · Joined: 10 Jul 2006 Posts: 21238 Location: under the bed

i'm going to put this here, because reading it gave me pleasure, and also since it's a link to the new yorker and i'm not sure everyone can read it, i don't want to upset anyone because they can't read Something Important.

anyway, it turns out dung beetles can use the milky way to navigate at night.

which is a) cool and b) reminded me how fun, and funny, scientists can be.

well, here:

ShadowCell · Joined: 02 Aug 2008 Posts: 7395 Location: California

that article is the most amazing thing ever

dung beetles! navigating by the light of one of the grandest celestial bodies we know! while rolling along balls of poop! it's sublime

fritterdonut · Joined: 24 Jul 2012 Posts: 1462

Bees use the earth's magnetic field to navigate, as do homing pigeons. In addition to that, magnetic bones and a magnetosensitive protein have been found in the human nose and eye.

Couple that with the fact that scientists have found the Earth's magnetic field is about 10% weaker than it was when Gauss first began measuring it in the 1840's, and you may have one of the reasons for the disappearance and hive collapse of honeybees lately.

Science (almost) always makes me happy.
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The Thirties dreamed white marble and slipstream chrome, immortal crystal and burnished bronze, but the rockets on the covers of the Gernsback pulps had fallen on London in the dead of night, screaming. - William Gibson, The Gernsback Continuum

Kitten · Joined: 10 Jul 2006 Posts: 1614 Location: mil pitos

cutest and smelliest story of the year?

cixelsyD · Joined: 09 Oct 2010 Posts: 1360

You know you are a gangster ass beetle when you are kicking around tiger poo.
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Yorick · Joined: 10 Jul 2006 Posts: 12293 Location: Laganglia

DeD CHiKn · Posted: Fri Feb 01, 2013 3:26 am Post subject:

mouse · Joined: 10 Jul 2006 Posts: 21238 Location: under the bed

nono, honey bees are _good_.

they really and truly aren't the same as wasps.

really, if you aren't careful, you are going to get a reputation as some sort of hymenopterist.
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aka: neverscared!
a flux of vibrant matter

fritterdonut · Joined: 24 Jul 2012 Posts: 1462

I've always liked bees. They always seem friendly.

Wasps are the devil incarnate, however.
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The Thirties dreamed white marble and slipstream chrome, immortal crystal and burnished bronze, but the rockets on the covers of the Gernsback pulps had fallen on London in the dead of night, screaming. - William Gibson, The Gernsback Continuum

Falkonn · Posted: Sat Feb 02, 2013 6:14 am Post subject:

I got to do my first treatment on a patient in my small group class yesterday. Totally incredible experience. It was so cool to see someone walk into the room one way at the beginning of the treatment, and describe themselves as more at peace then they had been in a long time just before they walked out the door. I feel super lucky to get to be a part of this incredibly rewarding work!

Finnegan · Posted: Sat Feb 02, 2013 7:18 am Post subject:

what is it that you do?
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Formerly Green_Finn

hey! rock bottom's not that bad
we've got glow-in-the-dark fish down here that's rad

Halen · Joined: 09 Jul 2006 Posts: 1885 Location: England

Prostitute.

Falkonn · Posted: Sat Feb 02, 2013 8:10 am Post subject:

I'm working on a master's of acupuncture and a master's of oriental medicine right now. The second one will allow me to use chinese herbs in my practice. So basically I had a bunch of the purple drank and I'm a certified hippie or something.

Finnegan · Posted: Sat Feb 02, 2013 8:30 am Post subject:

cool. unfortunately, I've never had much luck in that area but that's not to say I don't see it as a valid and legitimate therapy technique. it just didn't help with my chronic migraines. I'm search for a crainio-sacral therapist currently. I had it done a few times when I was in Chicago for a month it so last november and it was amazing. can't find anyone locally though.
_________________
Formerly Green_Finn

hey! rock bottom's not that bad
we've got glow-in-the-dark fish down here that's rad

Falkonn · Posted: Sat Feb 02, 2013 8:48 am Post subject:

Sorry to hear that it didn't help with your migraines. I'm glad that you tried it out though because acupuncture does have a pretty good track record with headaches (I know its suggested pretty frequently when western medicine doesn't seem to be helping). Hopefully you find something that does help!

Edit: Also where do you live?