help i love bugs

grandpa tiktaalik loves you kids!

From 3billionbirds.org:

"In less than a single lifetime, North America has lost more than one in four of its birds, according to a report in the world’s leading scientific journal.

Published in Science by researchers at seven institutions, the findings show that 2.9 billion breeding adult birds have been lost since 1970, including birds in every ecosystem.

The losses include iconic songsters such as Eastern and Western Meadowlarks (down by 139 million) and favorite birds at feeders, such as Dark-eyed Juncos (down by 168 million) and sweet-singing White-throated Sparrows (down by 93 million).

The disappearance of even common species indicates a general shift in our ecosystems’ ability to support basic birdlife, the scientists conclude."

Polarized-light micrograph of crystals of testosterone

Credit: Sidney Moulds/SPL

Today, the biochemistry of this steroid hormone is well known, from its daily fluctuations to its synthesis from cholesterol and occasional conversion to oestradiol, a form of oestrogen. Testosterone is known to restore sex drive and muscle tone among men with ailments that reduce levels of the hormone, such as pituitary tumours. During puberty, a surge of testosterone in young men typically leads to enlargement of the muscles, penis, testes and prostate gland, and the emergence of secondary sex characteristics. In women, testosterone excreted by the adrenal glands and ovaries is generally important for ovarian function and bone strength.

Source: Nature - Testosterone book sifts truths from tall tales

Cellulose nitrate was used to make dice from the late 1860s until the middle of the twentieth century, and the material remains stable for decades. Then, in a flash, they can dramatically decompose. Nitric acid is released in a process called outgassing. The dice cleave, crumble, and then implode.

Orange & Black

Get ready for a flood of Halloween backgrounds

Some spots on Earth are too hostile for life 

There’s life on polar ice sheets, in scalding hot springs, and kilometers underground. But in hot briny lakes in Africa’s Rift Valley and the cold, dry soil of Antarctica’s Shackleton Glacier Valley, life reaches its limits. In both places, teams of researchers have pinpointed conditions too hostile for even the toughest microbes.

Gideon Mendel’s The Ward

Memories from the heart of the Aids crisis shows true love in a time of terrible tragedy.