“After nosing about in guano [GWAH-noh, bird poo] for several hours, one goes completely cuckoo.” This was the problem faced by Professor Bo Elberling and his team on South Georgia Island, as they tried to uncover links between global warming and penguin colonies. They couldn’t conduct the research without getting high. Fish and krill, the … Continue reading Penguins, drugs and global warming
Category: Biology
The amazing electric bacteria: power out of thin air
When looking to invent a new technology, often the best approach is to copy or steal from nature. This even applies to electronics, as shown by researchers from America. They’re using bacteria to generate electricity out of the air itself. The Geobacter variety of bacteria produces a type of protein ‘nanowire’ that is able to … Continue reading The amazing electric bacteria: power out of thin air
Rhinos use bird-lar alarms
Rhinos have a unique relationship with oxpeckers. These small birds live on the backs of large mammals, eating the parasites that infest their skin. However, they also provide another vital service – protection from hunters. Rhinos have incredibly poor eyesight; anything more than a few metres away gets very blurry. Generally, they use their senses … Continue reading Rhinos use bird-lar alarms
Secrets of the best smell in the world
Okay, I’ll admit this is just my personal opinion, but the smell of rain on dry ground is by far the greatest smell in existence. I assume that at least some of you agree, and humans aren’t the only ones. This smell is known as petrichor, and it’s caused by several factors. One of these … Continue reading Secrets of the best smell in the world
Butterflies are blacker than black
Butterflies are famous for their impressive colours. Their wings can come in the brightest shades of blue, green, red, yellow and more. Surprisingly though, the most spectacular butterfly colour is black. The wings of black butterflies are covered in the darkest material found in nature. They absorb more than 99.9% of all the light that … Continue reading Butterflies are blacker than black
It’s not easy seeing green
For most of us, red and green are incredibly different colours. However, many people with colour-blindness find them almost impossible to tell apart. This is the problem that a new design of contact lens is aiming to solve. The most common type of colour-blindness is called deuteranomaly (dyoo-ter-an-om-al-ee), commonly referred to as red-green colour-blindness. People … Continue reading It’s not easy seeing green
Dogs sniff out warmth
Dog noses are pretty spectacular. Their sense of smell is between ten thousand and a hundred thousand times better than ours. This means they can detect pretty much anything we train them to, including drugs, endangered animal poo and cancer. If that wasn’t enough, we now think they can even ‘smell’ heat. Scientists gave dogs … Continue reading Dogs sniff out warmth
Why are the trees foaming?
This week Canberra received 70mm of rainfall in three days; for context, the entire month of March normally only gets 55mm. Luckily this caused little damage, but it did result in an unusual sight around the city. In what appeared to be a bizarre act of vandalism, trees were covered in foam. It looked like … Continue reading Why are the trees foaming?
Hey, that’s my food!
Seagulls stealing your chips is a common beachside stereotype, but it’s actually more true than we thought. Not only do seagulls want food, they want OUR food. Researchers showed seagulls two identical bars of food. They then picked up and held one of the items for twenty seconds before putting it back and walking away. … Continue reading Hey, that’s my food!
Return of the pink manta ray
A bright pink manta ray has made its spectacular return to Queensland, delighting and confusing researchers with its unique colour. The ray, named Inspector Clouseau after the main character of the ‘Pink Panther’ films, has been recorded only seven times since it was first spotted in 2015. He is the first and only pink manta … Continue reading Return of the pink manta ray
Lachlan Writes Science 