Mind-Controlling Wasp Parasites

Learn more about zombie animals and the parasites that control them at Discover.

Via Radiolab.

Greenhouse Gas Poisons Oceans, Too

Carbon dioxide, long considered the primary culprit of global warming, is now facing a second serious charge: it's threatening precious marine life as well.

The burning of fossil fuels in our cars, homes, and factories have led to an ever-increasing level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Most of the carbon dioxide stays in the atmosphere and contributes to global warming; one fourth of those emissions, however, are absorbed by the world's oceans.

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is soluble in water -- it dissolves in water to form carbonic acid (H2CO3). Scientists estimate that the acidity of the oceans have increased 30% since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution.

The acidity threatens the survival of coral reefs and shellfish, which in turn, can disrupt the food web of oceans.

Read the original article in the NYT.

What Funky Body Odor Says About You

With temperatures rising above 100 degrees this week in New York City, it's inevitable your olfactory nerves are going to be impinged upon by another person's body odor. Even though you may not enjoy the experience, you can learn something about your neighbor just by taking a whiff.

For one, body odor can indicate a person's health. For example, people who give off the scent of ammonia may be suffering from kidney or liver disease. And for those who smell sweet -- while it may sound great in theory, it may mean that you're developing diabetes. So...not so great.

Even though most of us try to mask our natural scents, scientists believe that we may be covering up a good thing -- these odors may be used to communicate information and emotions to others. We're more likely to recognize and feel comfortable around the smell of our kin, and feel fear around those who smell different than us.

And guys -- worried about sweating in front of your crush across the table from you? It turns out it may not work against you: women who are fertile pick up on certain chemicals found in men's sweat that women who are not fertile do not. So if you're interested in picking up a beautiful young lady, your best bet may be to work up a sweat! Just try not to sweat on the lady; I'm pretty sure they're not too keen on that.

Read the article here for yourself.

Archaeologists Use Ancient Droppings to Date the Presence of Humans in North America

Recent evidence suggests people settled North America at least 14,000 years ago. The evidence? None other than human coprolites -- a fancy scientific term for fossilized feces -- discovered in an Oregon cave.
The photograph above is none other than a healthy helping of number two deposited over 12,300 years ago, containing 14,000 year old human DNA and protein. (Not sure why a person's doo-doo contains human DNA and protein -- the New York Times article, unfortunately, doesn't address this issue).

This is certainly not the first time I've heard of scientists using scat for evidence. Wildlife enthusiasts often use dookie to track and locate animals. Because of my field trip to Taconic three years ago, I can now discern deer defecation from other animal leavings (they are small round balls often in neat little piles). And one of my coolest professors from Swarthmore College was an ethnobotanist who analyzed the chemistry of elephant droppings to determine the nutrients elephants consumed when they became ill -- information that could potentially be used to synthesize new medicines for humans. Pretty neat (though mildly nauseating) stuff.

So the next time you take time to vacate your bowels, ponder this: What are you leaving behind for the rest of the world to discover, and what is it saying about you?

:-/

Pink Dolphins!

You've heard of pink flamingos, but pink dolphins? According to Neatorama, these dolphins are pink for the same reason flamingos are -- their colorful diet. These animals both feed on a large quantity of crustaceans like shrimp, which happen to be high in alpha- and beta-carotenes. Carotenes are pigments that give foods like shrimp (and veggies like carrots) their bright orange and yellow hues. I assume that when the dolphins and flamingos "process" the shrimp, the color changes from orange to pink.

Hmmm...I noticed that the yuppies in my room have lost their orange sheen since I lost my fish food. They've been living off of te aquatic plants in the aquarium, and have looked progressively less orange (and more gray).

I wonder if I eat a whole lot of carrots I just might be able turn my skin orange for Halloween??