On September 9th 2001, I encountered this hammer-eyed fly (Richardia telescopica) on STR trail (~600m mark) at La Selva Biological Field Station in Costa Rica. I was rushing on my bicycle to my field site one morning. I had to make an abrubt stop because my path was blocked by a tree fall which I believe was a Hampea appendiculata (Malvaceae). I noticed the fly on one of the branches of the downed tree. I rushed to get the camera […]
Hummingbirds. Today they are strictly found on American continent but there are hummingbird-like fossil specimens from Germany hinting that this group might have been more widespread in its evolutionary past. More than 8000 species of plants have evolved to get their pollination services from hummingbirds. In 2013 a 50 million year old fossil showed the earliest ancestor of hummingbirds. With a heart beating at 600 beats per minute hummingbirds are champions of survival. The PBS documentary explores a rich repertoire […]
Dr. Rebecca Shirk has studied genetic diversity and adaptation in native and invasive populations of Carolina cranesbill (Geranium carolinianum) during her PhD project in Department of Plant Biology at the University of Georgia in Athens. Flowers of this genus has a quite diverse pollination strategy. Flowers come in a staggering diversity of forms. There are huge flowers; tiny flowers; flowers that never open; flowers with patterns that can’t be seen by the human eye; and extremely specialized flowers that are […]
The Cosmos, is a thirteen part documentary produced written and presented by Carl Sagan aiming to expand public understanding of science. It is one of the most successful series and is perhaps the best one for telling the fascinating history of science reaching audiences in 60 countries since it has been aired. It inspired generations to become scientists from all over the world. It was written with such poetic vigor that in title of every episode there is an attractive […]
Carl Sagan 1980’li yıllarda televizyonu olan pek çok evin salonuna misafir olmuş Amerika’lı bir astronomdur. Onüç bölümden oluşan Kozmoz dizisi 6.3 milyon dolarlık bir bütçe ile hazırlanarak 60’dan fazla ülke televizyonunda yayınlandı. Gelmiş geçmiş en başarılı bilim belgeselinin tarzı öylesine şiirseldir ki, bölümlerin başlıkları bile işlenen konuyu kavramada yardımcı derin benzetmeler içeren özenle seçilmiş kelimelerden oluşur. Carl Sagan, “kişisel bir yolculuk” olarak nitelediği eserinde bizleri yolculuğuna yoldaş eder. Bilim tarihinde nefes kesici bir gezintiye çıkarız birlikte. Dizi içinde bir biyolog […]
Insects never have boring lives. Mud daubers set a great example. These busy wasps build their nest chambers out of mud. Here in two separate videos you can see the two stages of nest construction: [1] Gathering mud by Sceliphron caementarium filmed in Athens, GA, USA. [2] Construction of the nest chambers by Sceliphron destillatorium from Canary Islands. The genus Sceliphron is found in all of the temperate and tropical continental areas of the world and on many islands (some […]
Canlılığın sürekli değişen sorunlara karşı geliştirdiği evrimsel çözümleri anlayabilmek için alışılmışın dışındaki üreme biçimlerini mercek altına almakta yarar var. Doğada genel olarak dişiler yavru bakımının getirdiği yük nedeniyle seçici roldedir. Erkekler, dişilerin seçici süzgecine takılabilmek için pek çok kılığa bürünür. Bu yazıda üç ayrı balık türünde babaların yavru bakımında üstlendiği evrimsel olarak kararlı davranış biçimlerini inceliyeceğiz. Birbirine evrimsel açıdan yakın akraba olan denizatı (Hippocampus) ve deniz iğnesi (Syngnathus) türlerinde doğada görmeye alışkın olduğumuz eşeysel roller değişmiştir. Deniz iğnelerinde hamileliği erkekler […]
A total solar eclipse recorded in two countries on the same day of March 29th, 2006 by the Sunrise Earth team. The Sunrise Earth series belongs to a genre known as “Experiential TV”, developed by David Conover. The genre was also precursor to the Slow TV genre famously popularized by the Norwegian director Thomas Hellum. In this poetical recording, the eclipse starts in Baia Formosa of Natal, Brazil and moves towards the east to Aspendos of Antalya, Turkey. You can […]
Edward O. Wilson is one of the leading myrmecologists of our time. However, he is best known as a sociobiologist which in his words is “the extension of population biology and evolutionary theory to social organization”. Sociobiology didn’t gain major recognition as a concept until 1975. That year, the publication of his book, Sociobiology: The New Synthesis created a lot of rattle in public space. It quickly drew arrows from prominent scientists of their field including evolutionary biologists. In a […]
These migratory shrimp were filmed in the Peje River, along the border of La Selva Biological Station in April of 2009 by aquatic ecologist Dr. Marcia Snyder. She studied them by measuring their habitat preferences, densities, growth rates and secondary production. She used capture mark recapture technique to estimate their densities and growth rates. Shrimp are largely nocturnal to avoid predators that like to eat them including otters, caiman and fish. During the day, they are often found hiding under […]
Until very recently the oldest known carrion beetle fossils were 50 million years old. The fossil discoveries coming from Daohugou and Jehol rock deposits in Northeastern China extended our knowledge further back till 160 million years ago. During Jurassic period dinosaur abundance had a cascading influence on animal world. When a dinosaur died its carcass became a protein rich multi-generational feeding island. Insects including carrion beetles most certainly exploited this opportunity. Therefore carrion beetle evolution took a new turn leading […]
On 7th of July 2011, I noticed these two female parasitoid wasps (Braconidae) while walking along the Orange Trail of the State Botanical Garden of Georgia. They were fighting with each other to lay their eggs inside a crack of a log using their long ovipositors. One had a pretty good grip. The other was very grumpy for not having access to the crack. These wasps are said to parasitize a sphingid moth species the Rosy Maple Moth (Dryocampa rubicunda). […]
This is an invitation for a citizen science project organized by Discover Life initiative based at the University of Georgia. Help scientists and together learn more about moths by participating in or organizing a moth party. If you would like to organize a moth party here are the main guidelines for your observations. You can obtain more info or get involved at Discover Life’s website: http://www.discoverlife.org/moth/ Moths are an ideal group to study for scientific, educational and logistic reasons — […]
Ölçümlerin başladığı 1884 yılından beri dünyamızın giderek ısındığı kaydedilmekte. Uydulardan elde edilen yüksek çözünürlüklü ölçümler ısınmanın yakın gelecekteki etkileri konusunda net veriler sunuyor. NASA’nın yörüngeye oturttuğu 16 uydu sayesinde okyanus akıntıları ve yüzey sıcaklıkları gibi küresel ölçekteki olaylar üzerindeki bilgimiz her geçen gün daha da artıyor. Yükselen deniz suyu yüzey sıcaklıkları Atlantik’deki kasırgaların sıklığını ve şiddetini artıran bir etken. Atmosfer bilimciler kasırgaları anlayabilmek için bulutları gerçek değerlere yakın hesaplayabilen bilgisayar modelleri kullanıyorlar. NASA’nın geliştirdiği GEOS-5 bulut modeli bunlardan biri. Akdeniz’deki […]
World Without Sun is perhaps the most progressive documentary in Cousteau’s filmmaking career. Produced in 1964 it captures activities of six crew members living in Continental Shelf Station II at 10m depth for 30 days in Red Sea. The undersea colony was the forerunner of other human habitation experiments such as Biosphere2 or Mars500 and even the International Space Station ISS. It also inspired other film makers like James Cameron. The film must be watched considering the context of its […]
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