iBiome

Fallen

I found this at Unreasonable Faith and, as he says: "Life — enjoy it while you have it"

Fallen
by mikropikol

Super Bugs from Outer Space

Salmonella exposed to space travel come back nastier.   National Geographic:

When the bacteria—which had been safely isolated from the space crew—returned to Earth, scientists injected them into mice.

They found the space-faring bacteria caused death quicker and more often than Earth-restricted organisms.

The findings are concerning for future astronauts who will embark on longer space missions farther away from Earth-based medical help, experts say.

Genetic Transformations

Cheryl Nickerson is an associate professor of microbiology at Arizona State University's Biodesign Institute and lead author of the study....

...When the bacteria returned to Earth, genetic sequencing showed that 167 genes and 73 proteins had been altered.

One protein, called Hfq, helped control more than a third of the altered genes. Hfq regulates RNA—the code of bacterial life—during stressful events. When activated, the protein previously had been shown to strengthen several types of pathogens.

An technique called scanning electron microscopy also showed some Salmonella were starting to form biofilms, a protective slime layer.

On Earth, biofilms can grow on ship hulls and clog pipes, costing industry billions of dollars. Biofilms also worsen some diseases and reduce the effectiveness of many antibiotics.

Could it be....the cosmic rays?!

Air Traffic Patterns

Buried under work so not much blogging lately, so I'll take the easy way out with a YouTube link.

Stranger Fruit has a link to a very cool visualization of air traffic patterns over the USA.

Data from the U.S. Federal aviation administration is used to create animations of flight traffic patterns and density.</span>

The Circle of Life

Lions vs Buffalo vs Crocodile. Via Andrew Sullivan.  This is riveting. 

Watch to the end.

crack-whore spiders and Hinterland Who's who

I stumbled across this at Retrospectacle.  Hilarious.

Shark vs Octopus

When the keepers at the Seattle Aquarium investigated the disappearance of several sharks, they found an unexpected culprit. via Grrlscientist

Giant Octopus vs Shark

how the hell did that happen?

Which God or Goddess are you like? Your Result: The Christian God   You are the Holy Lord. You are the shepherd and those that follow you are your lambs. You are kind and patient, but when need be, you are vile and creul. You are often asked for advise or wisdom, and you willingly give it. Congratulations!! You are God!!
Jesus
Budha
Goddess Bast
God Zeus
Goddess Sekhemet
You are your own God or Goddess
Satan
Which God or Goddess are you like? Make Your Own Quiz

I was going for Zeus

DC vs. Marvel

The age-old rivalry, as seen through the eyes of the Mac / PC commercials. 

Giant Robots

                 

via Ezra Klein, giant Nazi Robot.  very cool animation from Code Guardian by Marco Spitoni - http://www.cee-gee.net via http://news.itsartmag.com

Doonesbury on ID