Category Archives: Biology

IRFD report

Posted on September 3, 2007 by cicada

My excursion in honor of the first ever International Rock-Flipping Day (IRFD), September 2, was disappointing. I was full of hope, given the cicada-filled trees outside my apartment and the bizarre insectoid life I’ve already encountered in the few weeks … Continue reading →

Posted in Biology, Blogs and Blogging, Frivolity, Science | 4 Comments

The Bestiary on WPR

Posted on September 3, 2007 by cicada

On Sunday, Wisconsin Public Radio’s “To The Best of Our Knowledge” aired an interesting episode called The Bestiary, about cryptozoology, strange biology, and mythology. You can stream it on the website. I found the handling of the Archaea a bit … Continue reading →

Posted in Biology, Books | 4 Comments

Juxtaposition: Icy chiasma

Posted on August 31, 2007 by cicada

Y and X cubosomes? Last night while drinking some water, I noticed that two ice cubes had fused, forming a complex that resembled an X chromosome in metaphase: two chromatids joined by a wee little centromere! I realized at that … Continue reading →

Posted in Biology, Frivolity | 3 Comments

A Different Kind of Asperger’s

Posted on August 31, 2007 by cicada

Tim Page has a remarkable essay in the August 20 New Yorker about his personal experience with Asperger’s syndrome: In the fall of 2000, in the course of what had become a protracted effort to identify—and, if possible, alleviate—my lifelong … Continue reading →

Posted in Biology, Department of the Drama | 3 Comments

Flip that rock!

Posted on August 29, 2007 by cicada

Remember when you were a kid, and you’d flip over a rock just to enjoy being grossed out by all the many-legged photosensitive beasties suddenly scurrying out at you? Miss that skin-crawling thrill of discovery? You’re in luck! Via Negativa … Continue reading →

Posted in Biology, Blogs and Blogging | 3 Comments

Comparative shmoonatomy

Posted on August 28, 2007 by cicada

Shmoo Michael Paulus Wait – I don’t believe that a Shmoo even HAS a skeleton. Isn’t it entirely cytoplasmic? Or am I thinking of yeast? I do like the little vestigial arms – kind of like the rudimentary, internal “hindlimbs” … Continue reading →

Posted in Artists & Art, Biology, Frivolity | 1 Comment

Praying Mantis of Death!

Posted on August 28, 2007 by cicada

Praying mantises are cool. If you don’t have them around already, consider buying an egg case – hundreds of ghostly miniature mantises hatch out and, if not dispersed soon enough, voraciously eat each other. The surviving siblings grow to remarkable … Continue reading →

Posted in Biology | 12 Comments

Poissons de mer

Posted on August 21, 2007 by cicada

This just made me happy today. Via Agence eureka.

Posted in Artists & Art, Biology, Ephemera | 1 Comment

You are not invited in!

Posted on August 19, 2007 by cicada

  I found this bizarre critter right outside my new DC apartment. I guess my entomological skills will have to expand, along with my tolerance for exuberant tree growth, because I have absolutely no idea what it might be. It was … Continue reading →

Posted in Biology | 3 Comments

Adelson’s checkerboard illusion

Posted on August 17, 2007 by cicada

Square A is exactly the same color as square B. No kidding. Our visual systems are old pros at tricking our consciousness. What’s going on here is a simple case of lightness constancy: our visual system is designed to feed … Continue reading →

Posted in Biology, Frivolity | 3 Comments