October 31, 2007 – 7:57 pm
Seasonal–sort of–news about some ghouls. Wiki says the word originates from monsters dwelling in grave yards. There is just nothing more ghoulish than Westboro Baptist Church, and they may finally be put to rest:
“Baltimore, Maryland (AP) — A grieving father won a nearly $11 million verdict Wednesday against a fundamentalist Kansas church that pickets [...]
October 31, 2007 – 4:34 pm
I am trying to think of something creative to do with 300+ now defunct business cards. There is writing on both sides, BTW. Help! Ideas?
The trip out to the Biological Station has been fairly hazardous this week–there isn’t anything in the back of my car any more, since I’ve slammed on the brakes so many [...]
October 31, 2007 – 8:53 am
Several new papers came out in the New Public Library of Science (PLOS) Neglected Diseases Journal:
New approach to treating Chagas Disease
I’ve been meaning to write about Chagas for a while; this study reports molecular work on possible drug targets. Chagas is transmitted by a true bug, usually genus Triatoma.
Full paper: Perturbation of the Dimer [...]
October 30, 2007 – 11:21 am
Here’s my (anthropomorphic) insect pumpkin:
In other news, continuing to settle into new job, and even had a day that I felt like I had clue last week.
Definitely some big challenges ahead, but I am really happy I made the change.
October 29, 2007 – 8:54 pm
Earlier this week I was ranting about being contacted by a non-profit nature organization (CI) to plug the mal-nutritious “happy meal” associated with the Bee Movie. I found the happy meal suspect, the movie missing some key messages, and the entire campaign just a bunch of greenwashing.
As a follow-up, I did finally manage to get [...]
By Bug Girl
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Posted in Entomology, Food, Insects, Movies, Ranting (general), Skepticism
| Tags: Bees, business, conservation, film, greenwashing, marketing, McDonalds, Movies, nutrition, seinfeld |
October 29, 2007 – 9:07 am
It was only last August that the DNR posted a notice of how much it was cutting back on it’s website. Over 100 positions went vacant; huge cut backs have been made.
And now this morning, the Auditor General agrees with the DNR that even more drastic cuts will have to be made, especially if [...]
October 28, 2007 – 9:27 am
W00t! I got another interesting contact from a PR person. This one was from Conservation International, which has “partnered” with McDonalds to promote a “healthier” Happy Meal in conjunction with the marketing of the Bee Movie.*
“Hi Bug Girl,
I noticed your blog about insects and thought you and your readers might be interested in this news [...]
By Bug Girl
|
Posted in Bees, Entomology, Food, Insects, Movies, Skepticism
| Tags: Bees, business, conservation, fats, film, Food, greenwashing, marketing, McDonalds, Movies, nutrition, seinfeld |
October 26, 2007 – 9:33 pm
I’ve been thinking about hauling records around with me ad infinitum (see earlier post), which made me think of the plant hoppers, or Fulgoroidea. Their youngsters sometimes cart around a surprising amount of wax:
The adults often carry around wax as well, and females in particular cover eggs with wax to protect them from dessication (and, [...]
October 25, 2007 – 11:10 am
(Apologies to The Clash for the mangling of the song title.)
Today I am cleaning out my office, and deciding what I can recycle, what needs to be left for the person replacing me, and what I need to haul off to my new office.
I’m finding lots of stuff that is difficult to classify. Should I [...]
October 25, 2007 – 9:51 am
Yep, the first animal “born” in space was a cockroach!
”Though the newborn creatures already eat and drink respectively well, microgravity conditions may have had an impact on the natural darkening of their chitinous carapace, a part of a cockroach’s exoskeleton.
“Cockroaches are born with a transparent carapace, which gradually turns into brown, and the space [...]
