Daphnia magna

Check out our Daphnia magna! They're in kingdom anamalia and phylum arthropoda (insects, crustaceans, spiders, etc.). They've got a clear exoskeleton so that you can see all their internal organs, and they reproduce in quite an interesting way! They use parthenogenesis, which means that the entire species is female and they produce eggs that are already fertilized! They can make males under certain conditions, but 'tis certainly more efficient when you don't have to reproduce. They're our lab for this week. Next week, YOU are the lab, as we discuss the nervous system. Oo....foreshadowing.

Plants can TALK!

Well, not really, but scientists have discovered that they can communicate in heretofore unheard of ways! The scientists who did the study poked tiny electrodes into the open stomata of some common plants, and measured the voltages of the cells. They found that wounding of the plant can actually induce a change in voltage, which can change how the cells of the plant act. Check it out here. The signal can be passed from leaf to leaf, and to the stem as well.

Osteichthyes!

We have 11 new friends in our class that will be helping us with our lab this week. They're comet goldfish, Carassius auratus. We will be investigating the effect of temperature on the rate of opercular opening. The operculum is the flap that covers the gills, and allows fish to fill up their mouths with water and
then push it out over their gills. Fun times! Osteichthyes is the scientific name for the bony fish,
to contrast with chondricthyes, which are things that swim but have skeletons made out
cartilage, like sharks and rays. We need names for them, because currently they are simply
"Fishy I,Fishy II, Fishy III...and so on. Help us out! Also...note the sunken pirate ship in the
lower left corner...ARRR...

Ozzy

Ozzy, our bearded dragon, has recently popped out of his period of brumination. Brumination is similar to hibernation, but is slightly different due to lizards being ectotherms, while hibernating animals are generally endotherms. This period of dormancy is brought about by reduced temperature and daylight. In november, I begin taking time off the timer for Ozzy's UV light, so he senses that the days are getting shorter. When the days start to get longer, I add time back on, triggering him to come out of his dormant period. He always welcomes visitors, especially endothermic ones with warm hands that he can sit on.

Eye-Fi!

So I got this new card for my digital camera from Eye-Fi. It connects to a wireless network and instantly uploads my pictures to photo-sharing software like picasa, facebook, or a bunch of others. No cables, no waiting. It's pretty neat. It'll even use other wireless networks around you to triangulate your location and geotag your photos for you. I highly recommend. It doesn't upload directly to blogger, but maybe that'll be included in the future.

NEW SPECIES!

Check it out -- a new species of frogfish! Really nifty, becuse it actually "walks" on its fins, instead of swims. Check out the news release from www.sciencedaily.com below for more info.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080402164131.htm