mothernaturenetwork:

Gene mutation explains dark-skinned blonds
The genetic mutation, located on a chromosome that controls hair pigment, seems to have arisen independently and persisted in the Melanesian population.

discoverynews:

Dead Birds Join Dolphins on Peruvian Beach

The mysterious maritime macabre continues in the Pacific Ocean off the northern coast of Peru. First, hundreds of dolphins began washing up on the beaches in the state of Lambayeque. Now, in the same area, hundreds of seabirds are joining the marine massacre.

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(via pod313)

discoverynews:

Mutant Crabs Showing Up in the Gulf

BP’s massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico may be related to the eyeless shrimp, clawless crabs and other deformed animals now found in the Gulf, reported Al Jazeera. Fishers and marine biologists believe tremendous amounts of highly toxic chemicals may have had a negative effect on creatures that are constantly bathed in them, contrary to what BP asserts.

Al Jazeera quoted numerous fisherman who had pulled warped crustaceans from the waters where nearly 5 million barrels of oils spewed forth after the 2010 explosion that cost 11 mens’ lives on the BP-operated Deepwater Horizon oil rig.

• “I’ve seen the brown shrimp catch drop by two-thirds, and so far the white shrimp have been wiped out,” Keath Ladner, a seafood processor in Hancock County, Mississippi told Al Jazeera. “The shrimp are immune compromised. We are finding shrimp with tumors on their heads, and are seeing this everyday.”
• Tracy Kuhns and her husband Mike Roberts, commercial fishers from Barataria, Louisiana, found eyeless shrimp and: “We are also finding eyeless crabs, crabs with their shells soft instead of hard, full grown crabs that are one-fifth their normal size, clawless crabs, and crabs with shells that don’t have their usual spikes … they look like they’ve been burned off by chemicals.”
• “We also seeing eyeless fish, and fish lacking even eye-sockets, and fish with lesions, fish without covers over their gills, and others with large pink masses hanging off their eyes and gills,” Darla Rooks, a lifelong fisherperson from Port Sulfur, Louisiana said.

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(via pod313)

denverpost:

Fish in Gulf of Mexico found with lesions tied to petroleum and other pollutants

Fish harvested from the Gulf of Mexico have been found with unusual lesions and infections. Two years after the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded and sank, the latest research into its effects is starting to back up those early reports from the docks: The ailing fish bear hallmarks of diseases tied to petroleum and other pollutants. 

(via pod313)

newshour:

An unusually high number of dead dolphins - including stillborn and infant calves - have washed up along the Gulf of Mexico shores in the two years since the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded into flames, unleashing tens of thousands of barrels of oil into the ocean.

In a normal year before the spill, about 74 strandings would be reported in the area. That number has increased eightfold in the past two years. Since February 2010, more than 600 have been found on the shores between the Louisiana-Texas border and the western coast of Florida.

mothernaturenetwork:

By 2050, sex-for-hire robots may be the norm
Bordellos of the future will offer for-hire sex robots for disease- and guilt-free pleasure, according to a new scientific paper.

mothernaturenetwork:

You’d think albino penguins would be more common since they spend so much time in the snow. (If you’re going to be an all-white animal, what better backdrop could you find? But, of course, nature doesn’t work that way.) Snowdrop the penguin was one of the few albinos that made it to adulthood. He was born at the Bristol Zoo in England, and was accepted by his clutchmates unconditionally.
7 famous albino animals

latimes:

In search of the ‘lost ladybug’: Thousands of citizen scientists send in photos to help Cornell University researchers determine why some species of the colorful beetles are becoming so rare.

Photo: A ladybug in flight at Rooks Park in Walla Walla, Wash. Credit: Jeff Horner / Walla Walla Union-Bulletin

mothernaturenetwork:

Mysterious ‘dark matter’ even weirder, astronomers say
Astronomers scanning the Milky Way said on Wednesday they were baffled when they failed to spot evidence of dark matter.

discoverynews:

Storm of Spider Silk Drapes Wagga Wagga

The arachnid at the root of a story that went viral this week doesn’t actually make webs. So, what were they doing when they draped a town with spider silk?

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(via pod313)

mothernaturenetwork:

Meet the whiz kids of the Intel science fair
These impressive high school students focused on solving medical issues, providing a small snapshot of the 40 finalists who will participate in the Intel Science Talent Search this week.

(via pod313)

discoverynews:

Solar Storm Warning Satellite on Last Legs

The spacecraft that offers key warnings of incoming solar storms is more than a decade past its expected orbital lifetime.

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(via pod313)

mothernaturenetwork:

It’s no secret that the planet’s glaciers are melting. The Environmental Protection Agency reports that sea levels have risen from 6 to 8 inches in the past 100 years. Some experts estimate that sea levels will rise as much as 20 inches by the year 2100, which could wreck havoc on coastal cities.
 
NASA has been mapping deteriorating glaciers in the Antarctic through the Operation IceBridge program, called “the largest airborne campaign ever,” over the world’s polar regions.
How NASA is tracking Antarctica’s sea ice

mothernaturenetwork:

Elusive quadruple rainbow photographed for first time
Tertiary and quaternary rainbows are natural products of the combination of refraction, dispersion and reflection inside raindrops.