November 5, 2012
discoverynews: soldiers occasionally used pigeons to carry messages during WWII. This one has quite the morbid history. Coded WWII Message Found on Dead Pigeon British intelligence agents are working on deciphering a coded message that has remained a secret for nearly 70 years — attached to the leg of a hero World War II carrier pigeon. Found in the chimney of 17th-century home in Bletchingley, Surrey, the bird’s skeleton was found in 1982 when the home’s current owner David Martin decided to restore the fireplace. Almost certainly, the carrier pigeon was dispatched from Nazi-occupied France on June 6 1944, during the D-Day Invasions. “We know it’s an Allied Forces pigeon because of the red capsule it was carrying — but that’s all we know,” he added. The message was sent to XO2 at 16:45 and contain 27 codes, each made up of five letters or numbers. read more about this bird-hero…

discoverynews:

soldiers occasionally used pigeons to carry messages during WWII. This one has quite the morbid history.

Coded WWII Message Found on Dead Pigeon

British intelligence agents are working on deciphering a coded message that has remained a secret for nearly 70 years — attached to the leg of a hero World War II carrier pigeon.

Found in the chimney of 17th-century home in Bletchingley, Surrey, the bird’s skeleton was found in 1982 when the home’s current owner David Martin decided to restore the fireplace.

Almost certainly, the carrier pigeon was dispatched from Nazi-occupied France on June 6 1944, during the D-Day Invasions.

“We know it’s an Allied Forces pigeon because of the red capsule it was carrying — but that’s all we know,” he added.

The message was sent to XO2 at 16:45 and contain 27 codes, each made up of five letters or numbers.

read more about this bird-hero…

5:28pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZlkSWyWh0bC7
(Notes: 360)
  
Filed under: history wwii birds humanity science code codes 
July 11, 2012
Photos: Man Spotted Selling Live Shark On The Subway

(Source: news.discovery.com, via discoverynews)

2:01pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZlkSWyP8fnFn
(Notes: 89)
  
Filed under: news animals new york city sharks science peta 
May 30, 2012
haaretz: Israeli geneticists have found that a population of Indians in the U.S. state of Colorado has genetic Jewish roots going back to the expulsion of Jews from Spain. The common marker was a unique genetic mutation on the BRCA1 gene. This mutation, commonly known as the “Ashkenazi mutation,” is found in Jews of Ashkenazi origin and is associated with an increased risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer. Read more.

haaretz:

Israeli geneticists have found that a population of Indians in the U.S. state of Colorado has genetic Jewish roots going back to the expulsion of Jews from Spain.

The common marker was a unique genetic mutation on the BRCA1 gene. This mutation, commonly known as the “Ashkenazi mutation,” is found in Jews of Ashkenazi origin and is associated with an increased risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer. Read more.

4:52pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZlkSWyMRNXZw
(Notes: 19)
  
Filed under: News Israel Jews Indians science 
May 24, 2012
Study: The Objectification of Women Is a Real, Measurable Phenomenon

(via theatlantic)

1:19pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZlkSWyM3KPTT
(Notes: 1,899)
  
Filed under: Science Gender News 
May 24, 2012
inothernews: “However, scientists concede they will never have any Grey Poupon.” There will never be an end to catsup.

inothernews:

“However, scientists concede they will never have any Grey Poupon.”

There will never be an end to catsup.

1:18pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZlkSWyM3KNVI
(Notes: 107)
  
Filed under: science ketchup food 
May 7, 2012
haaretz: DNA links prove Jews are a ‘race,’ says genetics expert   Conjuring fear of Nazism and anti-Semitism, Jews recoil from the thought that Judaism might be a race, but medical geneticist Harry Ostrer insists the ‘biological basis of Jewishness’ cannot be ignored. Although he readily acknowledges the formative role of culture and environment, Ostrer believes that Jewish identity has multiple threads, including DNA. He offers a cogent, scientifically based review of the evidence, which serves as a model of scientific restraint. Read more.

haaretz:

DNA links prove Jews are a ‘race,’ says genetics expert

 

Conjuring fear of Nazism and anti-Semitism, Jews recoil from the thought that Judaism might be a race, but medical geneticist Harry Ostrer insists the ‘biological basis of Jewishness’ cannot be ignored.


Although he readily acknowledges the formative role of culture and environment, Ostrer believes that Jewish identity has multiple threads, including DNA. He offers a cogent, scientifically based review of the evidence, which serves as a model of scientific restraint. Read more.

2:52pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZlkSWyL2xu-m
(Notes: 18)
  
Filed under: News Israel Science Jews Jewish 
April 17, 2012
theatlantic: One more shot of the Space Shuttle Discovery over DC. This one is awfully close. [via Katy Daily]

theatlantic:

One more shot of the Space Shuttle Discovery over DC. This one is awfully close.

[via Katy Daily]

10:35am  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZlkSWyJpiXzI
(Notes: 387)
  
Filed under: space shuttle discovery photography science tech 
April 9, 2012
Least shocking research ever: Homophobes may have "unacknowledged attraction to the same sex"

A decade of political scandals could have told us this.

(Source: jessicavalenti)

1:39pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZlkSWyJM-dzE
(Notes: 164)
  
Filed under: sexuality science homophobia 
February 27, 2012
discoverynews: Aussie Lizards Lick Toad Terror With Evolution Eating poisonous invasive plants whetted the appetite of eastern Australian blue-tongue lizards for invasive cane toads and prepared the lizards for the plague of toxic toad invaders sweeping across the country. The plant, mother-of-millions (Kalanchoe daigremontiana), happens to contain a toxin nearly identical to that of the cane toad (Bufo marinus). Richard Shine, a biologist at the University of Sydney, discovered that in areas where the plant has taken root in Australia, local skinks (Tiliqua scincoides) adapted to the deadly delicacy and gained immunity to the toad’s poison as well. keep reading

discoverynews:

Aussie Lizards Lick Toad Terror With Evolution

Eating poisonous invasive plants whetted the appetite of eastern Australian blue-tongue lizards for invasive cane toads and prepared the lizards for the plague of toxic toad invaders sweeping across the country.

The plant, mother-of-millions (Kalanchoe daigremontiana), happens to contain a toxin nearly identical to that of the cane toad (Bufo marinus). Richard Shine, a biologist at the University of Sydney, discovered that in areas where the plant has taken root in Australia, local skinks (Tiliqua scincoides) adapted to the deadly delicacy and gained immunity to the toad’s poison as well.

keep reading

4:06pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZlkSWyH8NsL2
(Notes: 260)
  
Filed under: news science lizards animals 
October 1, 2011
journalofajournalist: I just wrote for @talkingpointsmemo about a new government-funded chip that uses human organ tissue to test biowarfare vaccines. The future!

journalofajournalist:

I just wrote for @talkingpointsmemo about a new government-funded chip that uses human organ tissue to test biowarfare vaccines. The future!

1:23pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZlkSWyA9PnNp
(Notes: 5)
  
Filed under: news science