Music from Tree Rings

This is super neat. Artist Bartholomäus Traubeck has developed a modified record player that can translate tree rings into piano notes with the help of some nifty computer code. The project, explanation of which can be found here, describes the  methodology as such: “A tree’s year rings are analyzed for their strength, thickness and rate [...]

Two Genes Linked to Caffeine Consumption Identified

Here’s a neat study – two genes have been identified that statistically correlate with the amount of caffeine a person consumes. Using 40,000 genotyped participants who self-reported daily caffeine intake, two genes were identified as explanatory (known as CYP1A2 and ADH). This result was obtained by scanning the genome for loci (similar to a Quantitative [...]

A Social Amoeba Practices Primitive “Agriculture”

Check this out, people! In a paper published in Nature, a species of amoebic slime mold (Dictyostelium discoideum) have been shown to perform activities resembling primitive agriculture, including refraining from consuming all of their prey bacteria when their prey numbers dwindle, and carrying the bacteria with them as they aggregate to migrate to a new [...]

49 States Receive Snow!

After this week’s spate of snowstorms across the South, Midwest, and Great Plains, and seasonal snowfalls in the Rockies, Appalachians, Northeast, and elsewhere (including the Hawaiian mountains), 49 out of 50 states now have snow on the ground in one place or another. The only state to escape? Florida, but only by a few miles [...]

Obama Plans to Redirect the Mississippi; Restore Wetlands?

This might be one of the most astounding and positive things to come out of the Obama white house, that is, if it turns out this idea is more than just political posturing and an actual goal of the President. Long story short: the possibility of a “Gulf Recovery Act” on par with the Tennessee [...]

Hypocrisy Watch: ACORN Versus BP

“This is not an environmental disaster. And I will say that again and again, because it it a natural phenomenon” – Rep. Don Young (R-AK) How do you sleep at night, saying things like that? My personal guess is on a very comfortable mattress in a very nice home, tuckered out after counting your stacks [...]

Live Oil Spill Footage and Deja Vu

Thanks to Congressman Ed Markey (D-MA), you can now view live footage of the BP Oil Spill on the House website here. Oh, and looks like we had an incredibly similar spill event over 30 years ago, with the same leak-stopping techniques being employed. >.< And now that the top-kill seems to maybe have worked, [...]

Male Tree Frogs Shake Booty to Intimidate Rivals

Based on the namesake of this blog, I certainly couldn’t pass this up! Scientists working in Panama have discovered an interesting tidbit about the well-known Red-Eyed Tree Frog (Agalychnis callidryas). Apparently males, competing for territory, food, and mates, engage in aggressive displays of hind-waggling. The winner is the frog with the wiggleyest waggle, who will [...]

Wetlands or Greed?

A lovely op-ed piece about the nature of the Gulf Coast oil spill, the untenable position of current regulation, and the inherent trade-off between the exploitation of natural resources and the preservation of our environment – and all the ecosystem services it provides. Coming from a state with an extensive (and some would say pristine) [...]

Holiday Gifts for Science Nerds

It’s time for the ProfessorTreeFrog First-Ever Holiday Gift Guide!!! 1) This line of plush toys is seriously cute and seriously awesome. They’re called “Evolvems“, and are zip-inside-out plushies demonstrating major evolutionary milestones. They have the Coelacanth-to-Ichthyostega transition, as well as Dimetrodon-Cynognathus, Yinlong-Styracosaurus, and Pakicetus-Squalodon!!! 2) Also a line of plush toys, “Foodchain Friends” is for [...]