Did you know pinecones open from drying and close when they get wet?
I kinda did but hadn't realized how fast! A timelapse experiment, it opens fast from a blowdryer on high and mostly closes from me spraying water on it, but I had to leave and without a constant spray it didn't move much more so I looped it.
Some species of pine are fire-adapted, and their cones won't open until exposed to temperatures in the the neighborhood of 300 degrees Fahrenheit.
For an exam, one of my Botany professors gave us a pine cone to identify. From its characteristics, it looked like it came from a Pond Pine (Pinus serotina), but the instructor assured us that he'd plucked it fresh from a tree just yesterday. Since the cones of this species will not normally open when fresh and resinous unless exposed to high temperatures, and since there had been no fires in the vicinity recently, I reasoned that though it looked like Pond Pine, it must be something else. So, I put down my alternate choice as the correct answer.
I was, of course, wrong -- it had been a cone from a Pond Pine. When I asked the instructor how that could possibly have been a fresh cone from a Pond Pine, he replied, "I put it in the oven."
__________________
“The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be.”
The Metric Conversion Act of 1975 declared that it was the policy of the United States "to designate the metric system of measurement as the preferred system of weights and measures for United States trade and commerce."
This act was later amended by the Omnibus Foreign Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988, the Savings in Construction Act of 1996 and the Department of Energy High-End Computing Revitalization Act of 2004, all aimed at pushing the routine use of the metric system — so far, without much success.
It is bad that I'm now assuming this is something Trumpster will push to repeal?
I suppose it all depends whether any black people were involved.
I worked in a machine shop in the late 70's, as a draftsman for about 4 years around 1980, and later in another machine shop after the turn of the century in 2000. I don't recall ever having to use the metric system in my work, I always used the English system of measurement.
__________________ The highest form of ignorance is when you reject something you don’t know anything about. Wayne Dyer
I'm not sure if I've posted this here but the US is technically metric, just converted to make us feel better.
An inch is exactly 2.54cm, not approximately but exactly as an inch is defined based on metric units.
While looking up bird references today, I discovered something hilarious: Anting. Apparently it's a normal thing for lots of species of birds to find a writhing anthill, flop upon it like a discarded rear-end, and just for a while.
Bluejays do it, crows do it, robins do it, even a few birds of prey do it. Nobody's quite sure why, but they're more likely to do it while hungry.
Nobody's quite sure why, but they're more likely to do it while hungry.
I bet The Lone Ranger knows why.
I thought this behaviour was something to do with inviting ants to come and eat parasites on the bird's skin. Or to spray formic acid to kill said parasites. And provide a nice tingly feeling in the process.
Yes, though there's no way to be sure, the most commonly-accepted explanation is that they do it because the ants will remove parasites and also because the formic acid they release onto the bird's skin and feathers will discourage colonization by more parasites. Often, the birds will help themselves to a snack and eat some of the ants.
__________________
“The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be.”
A remarkable photo of a single atom trapped by electric fields has just been awarded the top prize in a well-known science photography competition. The photo is titled “Single Atom in an Ion Trap” and was shot by David Nadlinger of the University of Oxford.