Darwinmania, chocolate, extreme, sponge, lightning, martins

==> Darwinmania is almost here!

Perhaps most importantly, the “Origin” changed our view of ourselves. It made us as much a part of nature as hummingbirds and bumblebees (or humble-bees, as Darwin called them); we, too, acquired a family tree with a host of remarkable and distinguished ancestors.

==> Long live chocolate! A United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service facility in Miami will be participating in a project to sequence and analyze the entire cocoa genome. This is an interesting joint effort with IBM, Mars Inc. (the candy bar folks), and the U.S. government all having a hand in it.

==> “Extreme Planets,” a new show at the South Florida Museum, explores what makes a planet habitable in the first place, and takes you on a hypothetical journey to learn what these newly discovered worlds might be like. From water worlds to molten landscapes, inhabitable moons to planets with multiple suns, these exotic worlds may not be just science fiction after all.

==> The breadcrumb sponge wants to know: “Who am I?” The Census of Marine Life is trying to help the critter out. Also see MarineSpecies.org

==> Florida is number one! In lightning deaths. Here’s some safety tips. And here is some lightning research going on here.

==> I would hate to be under that cloud. Davie, Florida is a pit stop for thousands of purple martins.

Still, there are so many birds in the Davie roost now that the airways are dangerously over-crowded. Katz said RaceTrac employees find an average of three dead martins a day, felled by collisions with the roof over the gas pumps or with each other. When the birds take off in the morning before dawn, the flock can show up as a fast-moving dot on weather radar, Bryant said.

==> Take the words in the post title and make a news headline out of them. “Darwinmania 08-09: Chocolate martins love extreme sponge surfing during lightning storms.”

About Brandon Haught

Communications Director for Florida Citizens for Science.
This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.

One Response to Darwinmania, chocolate, extreme, sponge, lightning, martins

  1. firemancarl says:

    “Darwinmania 08-09: Chocolate martins love extreme sponge surfing during lightning storms.”

    Brandon,

    After that winner, why even try?

Comments are closed.