F@#$ Yeah! Biology!

rhamphotheca:

Mexican Mole Lizard (Bipes biporus)

by IUCN staff

This fossorial (burrowing) species requires areas with sandy soils with abundant leaf litter; it is rarely seen on the surface. The general habitat in its area of distribution is dryland and desert, with xeric shrub vegetation. Animals are often collected close to fenceposts, and populations are believed to be able to survive in moderately disturbed landscapes. They construct an elaborate system of burrows just below the surface, usually centered on stands of vegetation.

This species is endemic to the Baja California peninsula of Mexico, where it ranges from extreme southwestern Baja California State through western Baja California Sur, to the Isthmus of La Paz and the western Cape Region. It is probably a relatively abundant species, but it is secretive and is not often encountered. Papenfuss (1982) collected 2,719 specimens in an extensive study of the species…

(read more: IUCN)        

(TL - Bradford D. Hllingsworth; TR - Dr. Jessie Maisano via: Digimorph; BL - via Mexico Herps; BR - uncredited)

my new spirit animal.

realcleverscience:

smarterplanet:

Powerhouse Solar Cell Inspired by Leaf Biomimicry

A team of scientists headed up by Princeton University has achieved a whopping 47 percent increase in electricity generation from flexible plastic solar cells, simply by texturing the surface to mimic the wrinkles of a typical leaf.

Full Story: Cleantechnica

via emergentfutures:

1) Biomimicry is amazing. I love that human design is now recognizing that it has so much to learn from natural design. Especially when it can replace eco-questionable solutions with much more eco-friendly solutions - such as simply creating wrinkles on a surface as opposed to something like nano-sprays with unknown side-effects.

2) As the article notes, solar is getting very, very close to the 10-15% efficiency needed to make it competitive with traditional energy sources. And with the various solar innovations coming out, I expect we’ll hit that goal soon… and then surpass it by quite a bit. But of course, this requires research and funding. *cough*fund_science*cough*

(via blamoscience)

fuckyeahbiomedicina:

Steps of Scientific Method - Meme version

mothernaturenetwork:

Edible wild plants: Add some variety to your kitchen

Dandelions! Who knew. 

the-star-stuff:

Translucent Marine Animals

• Larval Blenny Fish. Photograph by David Liittschwager
• Larval Squid. Photograph by David Liittschwager
• Mantis Shrimp Larva. Photograph by David Liittschwager
• Larval Flounder. Photograph by David Liittschwager
• Glass Squid. Photograph by David Wrobel
• Jellyfish. Photograph by Bill Curtsinger
• Antarctic Ice Fish. Photograph by Russ Hopcroft

and this is why studying larval fish is hard, guys. They’re tiny and translucent and hella hard to find in seaweed. 

(via scishow)

fuckyeahcuttlefish:

• Cuttlefish are said to be one of the most intelligent invertabrae in the world, even smarter than octopuses.
• They have the ability to change the colour of their skin at will. Completely change it.
• There blood is actually a blue-green hue, because it carries a copper-containing protein, rather…

allcreatures:

Flapjack (or pancake) devilfish (or octopus) are rarely seen swimming in open water, preferring to flatten themselves on the bottom, when the reason for their name becomes apparent.

Deep sea wildlife photo gallery by Lia Barrett

it’s a good thing I contribute to this blog because otherwise my personal tumblr would be constantly inundated with biology posts. 

nature-life-scinece:

In a first, scientists have discovered a species of cyanobacteria that makes tiny calcified structures inside its cells. Related microbes calcify on the outside.

(via blamoscience)

shainareads:

bakedstitches:

fuckyeawow:

ianbrooks:

Scientists by Tomas Muller

With the intention of depicting science as the true adventure and worthy pursuit it is, Tomas created this series as a promotion for the Charles University’s Faculty of Science in Prague. These Titans of ginormous stature are each a visual representation of an area of science: biology, geography, chemistry, and geology.  I’ll let you figure out which Titan is which, after all, you should already know this stuff. But before you ask: the Titan representing the science of pizzamaking was, sadly, omitted.

Artist: behance / website

Hi solidgrey, our 2000th follower! <3 Might I add that your blog is awesome, and this is pretty fucking cool.

this gives me an art boner.

Dis pretty.

discoverynews:

Human Societies Starting to Resemble Ant Colonies

The similarities offer a look at just how ever-growing human societies could collapse.

The human population is growing at such a staggering rate that we are organizing ourselves more like ant supercolonies, with new research finding that we have more in common now with some ants than we do with our closest living animal kingdom relatives.

The new study, published in the journal Behavioral Ecology, points out that both humans and ants (termites, too) live in societies that may consist of up to a million plus members.

keep reading