Like A Bee Sees By now you’ve probably all watched the latest It’s Okay To Be Smart video  about the amaaaaazing ways that bees are able to sense flowers. (actually I know a few of you haven’t so go do that, mmkay? Thanks!) Beyond the electric field sensing part (which is cool in its own right), it’s the fact that bees see into the “invisible” that just blows my mind. Bees (and butterflies too, actually) have photoreceptors that respond to wavelengths down in the UV range (see chart above). They use that vision to zoom right in on the important part of the flower: the sweet, sugary nectar pot. Spoiler alert: As much as we love flowers, they don’t really give a crap about us. But they do love bees. In return for giving the bees the sugary yum-yums, flowers get pollinated. And in the name of the evolutionary game, that’s the most important thing. To help get the gene-passing-on done, flowers have evolved certain pigments near the center of the flower that absorb UV light. That paints a big, fat bulls-eye for the bee to land on, right where the flower needs them (next to all the flower-sex bits). To us, the whole flower may look yellow or orange. To a bee. BIG “land here” spot in the middle.  THAT IS AMAZING!!! Nature, you are just too cool. Thanks to camera technology, we can take UV filtered photos of flowers and see those patterns pop out. It’s a pretty advanced technique, but some of my favorites are above. Check out those photographers’ galleries at the links below: UV floral photography by Klaus Schmitt and Bjørn Rørslett.  Click to subscribe to IOTBS on YouTube.
Zoom Info
Like A Bee Sees By now you’ve probably all watched the latest It’s Okay To Be Smart video  about the amaaaaazing ways that bees are able to sense flowers. (actually I know a few of you haven’t so go do that, mmkay? Thanks!) Beyond the electric field sensing part (which is cool in its own right), it’s the fact that bees see into the “invisible” that just blows my mind. Bees (and butterflies too, actually) have photoreceptors that respond to wavelengths down in the UV range (see chart above). They use that vision to zoom right in on the important part of the flower: the sweet, sugary nectar pot. Spoiler alert: As much as we love flowers, they don’t really give a crap about us. But they do love bees. In return for giving the bees the sugary yum-yums, flowers get pollinated. And in the name of the evolutionary game, that’s the most important thing. To help get the gene-passing-on done, flowers have evolved certain pigments near the center of the flower that absorb UV light. That paints a big, fat bulls-eye for the bee to land on, right where the flower needs them (next to all the flower-sex bits). To us, the whole flower may look yellow or orange. To a bee. BIG “land here” spot in the middle.  THAT IS AMAZING!!! Nature, you are just too cool. Thanks to camera technology, we can take UV filtered photos of flowers and see those patterns pop out. It’s a pretty advanced technique, but some of my favorites are above. Check out those photographers’ galleries at the links below: UV floral photography by Klaus Schmitt and Bjørn Rørslett.  Click to subscribe to IOTBS on YouTube.
Zoom Info
Like A Bee Sees By now you’ve probably all watched the latest It’s Okay To Be Smart video  about the amaaaaazing ways that bees are able to sense flowers. (actually I know a few of you haven’t so go do that, mmkay? Thanks!) Beyond the electric field sensing part (which is cool in its own right), it’s the fact that bees see into the “invisible” that just blows my mind. Bees (and butterflies too, actually) have photoreceptors that respond to wavelengths down in the UV range (see chart above). They use that vision to zoom right in on the important part of the flower: the sweet, sugary nectar pot. Spoiler alert: As much as we love flowers, they don’t really give a crap about us. But they do love bees. In return for giving the bees the sugary yum-yums, flowers get pollinated. And in the name of the evolutionary game, that’s the most important thing. To help get the gene-passing-on done, flowers have evolved certain pigments near the center of the flower that absorb UV light. That paints a big, fat bulls-eye for the bee to land on, right where the flower needs them (next to all the flower-sex bits). To us, the whole flower may look yellow or orange. To a bee. BIG “land here” spot in the middle.  THAT IS AMAZING!!! Nature, you are just too cool. Thanks to camera technology, we can take UV filtered photos of flowers and see those patterns pop out. It’s a pretty advanced technique, but some of my favorites are above. Check out those photographers’ galleries at the links below: UV floral photography by Klaus Schmitt and Bjørn Rørslett.  Click to subscribe to IOTBS on YouTube.
Zoom Info
Like A Bee Sees By now you’ve probably all watched the latest It’s Okay To Be Smart video  about the amaaaaazing ways that bees are able to sense flowers. (actually I know a few of you haven’t so go do that, mmkay? Thanks!) Beyond the electric field sensing part (which is cool in its own right), it’s the fact that bees see into the “invisible” that just blows my mind. Bees (and butterflies too, actually) have photoreceptors that respond to wavelengths down in the UV range (see chart above). They use that vision to zoom right in on the important part of the flower: the sweet, sugary nectar pot. Spoiler alert: As much as we love flowers, they don’t really give a crap about us. But they do love bees. In return for giving the bees the sugary yum-yums, flowers get pollinated. And in the name of the evolutionary game, that’s the most important thing. To help get the gene-passing-on done, flowers have evolved certain pigments near the center of the flower that absorb UV light. That paints a big, fat bulls-eye for the bee to land on, right where the flower needs them (next to all the flower-sex bits). To us, the whole flower may look yellow or orange. To a bee. BIG “land here” spot in the middle.  THAT IS AMAZING!!! Nature, you are just too cool. Thanks to camera technology, we can take UV filtered photos of flowers and see those patterns pop out. It’s a pretty advanced technique, but some of my favorites are above. Check out those photographers’ galleries at the links below: UV floral photography by Klaus Schmitt and Bjørn Rørslett.  Click to subscribe to IOTBS on YouTube.
Zoom Info
Like A Bee Sees By now you’ve probably all watched the latest It’s Okay To Be Smart video  about the amaaaaazing ways that bees are able to sense flowers. (actually I know a few of you haven’t so go do that, mmkay? Thanks!) Beyond the electric field sensing part (which is cool in its own right), it’s the fact that bees see into the “invisible” that just blows my mind. Bees (and butterflies too, actually) have photoreceptors that respond to wavelengths down in the UV range (see chart above). They use that vision to zoom right in on the important part of the flower: the sweet, sugary nectar pot. Spoiler alert: As much as we love flowers, they don’t really give a crap about us. But they do love bees. In return for giving the bees the sugary yum-yums, flowers get pollinated. And in the name of the evolutionary game, that’s the most important thing. To help get the gene-passing-on done, flowers have evolved certain pigments near the center of the flower that absorb UV light. That paints a big, fat bulls-eye for the bee to land on, right where the flower needs them (next to all the flower-sex bits). To us, the whole flower may look yellow or orange. To a bee. BIG “land here” spot in the middle.  THAT IS AMAZING!!! Nature, you are just too cool. Thanks to camera technology, we can take UV filtered photos of flowers and see those patterns pop out. It’s a pretty advanced technique, but some of my favorites are above. Check out those photographers’ galleries at the links below: UV floral photography by Klaus Schmitt and Bjørn Rørslett.  Click to subscribe to IOTBS on YouTube.
Zoom Info

Like A Bee Sees

By now you’ve probably all watched the latest It’s Okay To Be Smart video  about the amaaaaazing ways that bees are able to sense flowers. (actually I know a few of you haven’t so go do that, mmkay? Thanks!)

Beyond the electric field sensing part (which is cool in its own right), it’s the fact that bees see into the “invisible” that just blows my mind. Bees (and butterflies too, actually) have photoreceptors that respond to wavelengths down in the UV range (see chart above). They use that vision to zoom right in on the important part of the flower: the sweet, sugary nectar pot.

Spoiler alert: As much as we love flowers, they don’t really give a crap about us. But they do love bees. In return for giving the bees the sugary yum-yums, flowers get pollinated. And in the name of the evolutionary game, that’s the most important thing. To help get the gene-passing-on done, flowers have evolved certain pigments near the center of the flower that absorb UV light. That paints a big, fat bulls-eye for the bee to land on, right where the flower needs them (next to all the flower-sex bits). To us, the whole flower may look yellow or orange. To a bee. BIG “land here” spot in the middle. 

THAT IS AMAZING!!! Nature, you are just too cool.

Thanks to camera technology, we can take UV filtered photos of flowers and see those patterns pop out. It’s a pretty advanced technique, but some of my favorites are above. Check out those photographers’ galleries at the links below:

UV floral photography by Klaus Schmitt and Bjørn Rørslett.  Click to subscribe to IOTBS on YouTube.

Help Boing Boing and the Encyclopedia of Life catalogue the grandeur of life and you could win fantastic prizes! If you’re a lover of interesting creatures, or an armchair biologist, or a teacher looking for something fun to do with your class, or maybe you just want to try your hand at some science-y writing, this sounds like fun. So much species information isn’t openly accessible to the public, and EOL is trying to change that. Every species deserves an entertaining and rich description of its place on Earth. Even the weird ones.  Visit the link above for more information! I know quite a few of you have written me looking for ways to sharpen your science writing chops, so here’s your chance.
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Help Boing Boing and the Encyclopedia of Life catalogue the grandeur of life and you could win fantastic prizes! If you’re a lover of interesting creatures, or an armchair biologist, or a teacher looking for something fun to do with your class, or maybe you just want to try your hand at some science-y writing, this sounds like fun. So much species information isn’t openly accessible to the public, and EOL is trying to change that. Every species deserves an entertaining and rich description of its place on Earth. Even the weird ones. 

Visit the link above for more information! I know quite a few of you have written me looking for ways to sharpen your science writing chops, so here’s your chance.

New episode of It’s Okay To Be Smart is up and poppin’ over at the channel! 

It’s about beeeeeeeeees.

Specifically about the amazing relationship that they have evolved with flowers and how they are able to sense a world that is completely invisible to us via ultraviolet light and electric fields. Makes you realize how much you don’t see.

Check it out and share some springtime science with your friends.

Sex with Other Early Species Might Have Been Secret of Homo sapiens Success Just a few tens of thousands of years ago, Homo sapiens existed next to several close evolutionary cousins, including Neanderthals and Homo floresiensis. But shortly after our human species migrated out of Africa, we were left as the only hominin species on Earth. What was the secret to our success? Did we out-compete the others for resources? Did we just flat-out kill them? Did we reproduce faster? All of those theories have some merit, but thanks to DNA analysis of ancient human and Neanderthal genomes, a new idea is emerging: We may have interbred our way to the top. By analyzing how much of our genomes (nuclear and mitochondrial) we share with these other species, it appears that there was significant “genetic mixing”, if you know what I mean. Many of these hybrid gene mixes could have added new tools for our early immune system, leading to tougher, more survivable humans. We still lack many details in this story, and lots of questions remain. But it’s pretty clear that human evolution does not follow a single line out of Africa. Instead, it’s a web that stretches first across Europe and then into Asia, mixing and branching along the way into the global population that today we see mixing in entirely new ways. Check out the wonderfully detailed full story by Michael Hammer at Scientific American.
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Sex with Other Early Species Might Have Been Secret of Homo sapiens Success

Just a few tens of thousands of years ago, Homo sapiens existed next to several close evolutionary cousins, including Neanderthals and Homo floresiensis. But shortly after our human species migrated out of Africa, we were left as the only hominin species on Earth.

What was the secret to our success? Did we out-compete the others for resources? Did we just flat-out kill them? Did we reproduce faster? All of those theories have some merit, but thanks to DNA analysis of ancient human and Neanderthal genomes, a new idea is emerging: We may have interbred our way to the top.

By analyzing how much of our genomes (nuclear and mitochondrial) we share with these other species, it appears that there was significant “genetic mixing”, if you know what I mean. Many of these hybrid gene mixes could have added new tools for our early immune system, leading to tougher, more survivable humans.

We still lack many details in this story, and lots of questions remain. But it’s pretty clear that human evolution does not follow a single line out of Africa. Instead, it’s a web that stretches first across Europe and then into Asia, mixing and branching along the way into the global population that today we see mixing in entirely new ways.

Check out the wonderfully detailed full story by Michael Hammer at Scientific American.

Source: scientificamerican.com

LOLscience of why cats (and other animals) like stroking

Nature covers a nearly purr-fect neuroscience study that looks at why cats and other animals love to groom each other. Specialized neurons respond to stroking, but not poking, and stimulate pleasure circuits in the brain. Humans might share some of these neurons in our own skin, which explains our fondness for massages, head scratching and other gentle caresses.

In short, why pets like to be pet. 

Source: youtube.com

The Science of Cats

The guys at AsapSCIENCE take aim at the internet’s favorite animal/purpose for its existence: Cats. 

You’ll never believe what a cat is doing when it sticks its tail up and rubs along your leg. Smelly little weirdos. 

“I notice they forgot to cover the science of why dogs are so much cooler,” said the science blogger who was clearly trying to raise a ruckus by starting a cats vs. dogs battle after the video he posted. 

Bonus: Check out The Oatmeal’s infographic on just how much cats kill.

Source: youtube.com