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Harry Potter and the Jesus lizard 

4/10/2015

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The Basilisk is a giant serpent bred by Dark Wizards. Herpo the Foul was the first to breed a Basilisk; he accomplished this by hatching a chicken egg beneath a toad which resulted in the creature known as a Basilisk. Although classified as an XXXXX creature, meaning it is a known wizard-killer that cannot be domesticated due to its immense powers, because the Basilisk is still a serpent, a Parselmouth may place a Basilisk under his or her control. This depends on the relationship between the Basilisk and the Parselmouth, as Tom Riddle alias Lord Voldemort, was the only one who could command Salazar Slytherin's Basilisk, while Harry Potter had no control over it.

Basilisks can live a natural life of at least nine hundred years, though Salazar Slytherin's Basilisk lived for approximately a thousand years. This is accomplished by using Parseltongue to put the creature into a deep sleep that prevents it from aging, similar to suspended animation. Their mortal weakness is the crowing of a rooster. Basilisks feed off vertebrate animals and its venom is extremely toxic and so powerful that it can kill a person within minutes, making the person drowsy and blurry-visioned before they die, phoenix tears is the only known cure.
Photos: harrypotter.wikia.com
In "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets", the second book of the Harry Potter saga, Voldemort tries to kill Harry Potter by setting his basilisk snake on him. In the entire movie, Ron and Harry talk about the basilisk as if it is a huge snake but in real life basilisk's are quite different.
ImagenPhoto: en.wikipedia.org
The common basilisk (Basiliscus basiliscus) is a lizard found in Central and South American rainforests near rivers and streams. The basilisk is part of the corytophanid family. 

It is also known as the Jesus lizard because when startled, escapes by speeding to the nearest edge of water and continues sprinting.  The lizard runs on only its hind legs in an erect position, holding its fore legs to its sides. This basilisk is so adroit on water because its feet are large and equipped with flaps of skin along the toes. When moving quickly, the lizard can cross a surface of water before sinking.

Photo: telegraph.co.uk
Photo: bestphotosite.net
The common basilisk can be distinguished from similar species within its range by its large size and the high fin-like crests down its back. Most are brown and cream in colour. Males also have high crests on their heads and tails. Both sexes are brown to olive, and have a white, cream or yellow stripe on the upper lip and a second stripe along either side of their bodies. These stripes have higher contrast in juveniles and fade as the lizards age. 

This basilisk is an omnivore. Its diet consists of insects, flowers, and small vertebrates such as snakes, birds, eggs, and fish.

Source: 
harrypotter.wikia.com
wiki/Common_basilisk
The Reptile Database: reptile-database.org
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3D Organ Printing 

4/7/2015

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Additive manufacturing, otherwise known as three-dimensional (3D) printing, is driving major innovations in many areas, such as engineering, manufacturing, art, education and medicine. Recent advances have enabled 3D printing of biocompatible materials, cells and supporting components into complex 3D functional living tissues. 

3D bioprinting is being applied to regenerative medicine to address the need for tissues and organs suitable for transplantation. Compared with non-biological printing, 3D bioprinting involves additional complexities, such as the choice of materials, cell types, growth and differentiation factors, and technical challenges related to the sensitivities of living cells and the construction of tissues. Addressing these complexities requires the integration of technologies from the fields of engineering, biomaterials science, cell biology, physics and medicine. 

3D bioprinting has already been used for the generation and transplantation of several tissues, including multilayered skin, bone, vascular grafts, tracheal splints, heart tissue and cartilaginous structures. Other applications include developing high-throughput 3D-bioprinted tissue models for research, drug discovery and toxicology.

Source: nature.com

Fabricación aditiva, también conocido como  impresión tridimensional (3D), está impulsando innovaciones importantes en muchas áreas, como la ingeniería, manufactura, arte, educación y la medicina. Los avances recientes han permitido que la impresión en 3D de materiales biocompatibles, convierta células y componentes en tejidos funcionales complejos vivos en 3D.

La bioimpresión en 3D está siendo aplicada a la medicina regenerativa para hacer frente a la necesidad de tejidos y órganos adecuados para  transplantes. En comparación con la impresión no biológica, la bioimpresión en 3D implica complejidades adicionales, tales como la elección de materiales, tipos de células, factores de crecimiento y diferenciación, y desafíos técnicos relacionados con la sensibilidad de las células vivas y la construcción de tejidos. Abordar estas complejidades requiere la integración de las tecnologías en los campos de ingeniería, ciencia de biomateriales, biología celular, la física y la medicina.

La bioimpresión en 3D ya ha sido utilizada para la generación y trasplante de varios tejidos, incluyendo varias capas de la piel, hueso, injertos vasculares, férulas traqueales, el tejido del corazón y las estructuras cartilaginosas. Otras aplicaciones incluyen el desarrollo de modelos de tejido impresos en 3D de alto rendimiento para la investigación, el descubrimiento de fármacos y la toxicología.

Fuente: nature.com
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Tempescope 

4/6/2015

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Photos: tempescope.com
Ambient weather display for your home

The tempescope is an ambient physical display that visualizes various weather conditions like rain, clouds, and lightning.  By receiving weather forecasts from the internet, it can reproduce tomorrow’s sky in your living room.

The tempescope originally started with a prototype created by Ken in 2012, as a weekend project, the first prototype was made from $1 shampoo bottles.

The prototype received a lot of attention, and in 2013, Ken created an Open Source version (OpenTempescope) that was designed to be reproducible by anyone with access to simple tools.

Source: tempescope.com
Aparato para visualización del ambiente para su hogar

El "tempescope" es un exhibidor físico ambiental que visualiza diversas condiciones climáticas como la lluvia, las nubes y los rayos. Al recibir el pronóstico del tiempo de Internet, se puede reproducir el cielo de la mañana en su sala de estar.

El tempescope originalmente comenzó con un prototipo creado por Ken en 2012, como un proyecto de fin de semana, el primer prototipo se hizo de $ 1 botellas de champú.

El prototipo recibió mucha atención, y en 2013, Ken creó una versión de código abierto (OpenTempescope) que fue diseñado para ser reproducible por cualquier persona con acceso a herramientas simples.

Fuente: tempescope.com
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The Not So "Itsy Bitsy" Ice Spiders of Westeros

4/3/2015

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By guest blogger: Katey Duffey 
“In that darkness the White Walkers came for the first time. They swept through cities and kingdoms, riding their dead horses, hunting with their packs of pale spiders big as hounds.”

~Old Nan to Bran, A Game of Thrones

Imagen
Image: awoiaf.westeros.org
As if the thought of supernatural, undead, ice-beings haunting the wilderness and rising against humanity isn’t terrifying enough, lets include giant man-eating spiders as their war beasts.  Giant ice spiders are mentioned within the first three books in George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones saga. 

Old Nan describes them in a tale to Bran Stark, while Samwell Tarley describes them to Jon Snow when he remembered reading about them. In either account, they were depicted as being used as fighting creatures or ridden by the “White Walkers” or “Others”.  Not much else is known about these icy arachnids from the frozen wasteland beyond the Wall, other than those brief mentions. The idea of such a species being able to exist in such an extreme climate seems a bit far-fetched, right? Actually, Planet Earth has its own “ice spiders”.
There are over 300 species of spiders that live in the Arctic! This region comprises of: Greenland, Alaska, Canada and parts of Europe. The most common species belong to the Erigoninae family, also known as the “Dwarf Spiders”, in which species may average in size between 1-6mm. In other words, most are not much bigger than a pinhead. With only a couple months out of the year where temperatures are warm enough for growth and reproduction, spiders in these harsh environments need a few special adaptations to survive life in the tundra. 

Depending on a species’ particular behaviors, adaptations may vary. The Arctic wolf spider of the Lycosidae family, for example, which measures in at a whopping 2.5 cm (1in), is among the largest of the spider species in this environment. Its body has glycol, or antifreeze proteins, to prevent from freezing. Running crab spiders, belonging to the Philodromidae family, hide within plants. Some spiders may only allow ice to form outside the cell walls in their body. To escape the cold and strong winds, Arctic spiders will seek out warm pockets under the snow. They also go through a rest period called diapause, in which their growth stops or slows down during winter. Furthermore, because temperatures are so chilly and food is less plentiful, Arctic spiders can take several years to reach maturity, while their more southern cousins, may only take a year or two to mature.
Arctic wolf spider
Running crab spider (Thanatus arcticus)
Photos source: polartrec.com , jorgenlissner.dk


So while our real world “ice spiders” may not be large enough to ride into battle or have the ability to hunt down human prey, they are no less incredible. In fact, they play a valuable role in maintaining a balance of other invertebrates throughout their ecosystem. Considering that over 2,200 species of insects live in the Arctic, more than any other kinds of animals in the region, these underappreciated arachnids are vital for keeping those insect numbers in check! Arctic spiders may also hold a key to monitoring global warming! As temperatures rise, these spiders will grow faster, and have longer time frames of activity. However, warming temperatures will also invite southern species northward to compete with the Arctic species for resources. That could prove disastrous for the northern species, in that their southern cousins may end up outcompeting them. In the meantime, more research is needed on fully understanding the natural history and behavior of these spiders in order to consider how future environmental changes may affect them.

References
Animals.pawnation.com
Danks, H.V. (2004). Seasonal adaptations in Arctic insects. Integrative and Comparative Biology, 44(2): 85-92. Doi:10.1093/icb/44.2.85. 
Doyle, A. (2007). Arctic Spiders May Hold Clues to Global Warming . www.reuters.com
Duman, J.G. (1979). Subzero temperature tolerance in spiders: the role of thermal hysteresis factors. Journal of Comparative Physiology, 131: 347-352.
www.polarcom.gc.ca

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Coral reef in Komodo National Park

4/1/2015

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Imagen
Coral reef in Komodo National Park in Komodo, Indonesia. The reefs in Komodo are among the richest in the world and home to over 1,000 types of fish, nearly 400 varieties of coral, 70 kinds of sponges and several types of whales, sharks, turtles and dolphins.

Photos: Michael Patrick O’Neill
Source



Arrecifes de coral en el Parque Nacional de Komodo en Komodo, Indonesia. Los arrecifes en Komodo se encuentran entre los más ricos del mundo y son hogar de más de 1.000 especies de peces, cerca de 400 variedades de corales, 70 tipos de esponjas y varios tipos de ballenas, tiburones, tortugas y delfines.

Fotos: Michael Patrick O’Neill
Fuente
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Vocal learning skill in baby bats

4/1/2015

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Imagen
Photo: Jens Rydell
Researchers have discovered a vocal learning skill in baby Egyptian fruit bats (Rousettus aegyptiacus), a highly social species found from Africa to Pakistan. Only a handful of other mammals, including cetaceans and certain insectivorous bats, are vocal learners. 

The adult fruit bats have a rich vocal repertoire of mouselike squeaks and chatter, and the scientists suspected the bat pups had to learn these sounds. Scientist placed baby bats with their mothers in isolation chambers for 5 months and made video and audio recordings of each pair. Lacking any other adults to vocalize to, the mothers were silent, and their babies made only isolation calls and babbling sounds, suggesting that unlike many songbird species (and more like humans), the fruit bats don't have a limited period for vocal learning. Although the bats’ vocal learning is simple compared with that of humans, it could provide a useful model for understanding the evolution of language. 

Source: news.sciencemag.org
Los investigadores han descubierto una habilidad de aprendizaje vocal en las crías de murciélagos de la fruta egipcios (Rousettus aegyptiacus), una especie altamente sociale que se encuentra desde África a Pakistán. Sólo un puñado de otros mamíferos, incluyendo los cetáceos y algunos murciélagos insectívoros, son aprendices vocales.

Los murciélagos de la fruta adultas tienen un rico repertorio vocal de chirridos como ratas y otros sonidos, y los científicos sospechan que las crías de murciélago tuvieron que aprender estos sonidos. Los científicos colocaron a los bebés con sus madres en cámaras de aislamiento durante 5 meses e hicieron grabaciones de vídeo y audio de cada par. A falta de cualquier otro adulto para vocalizar o intercambiar sonidos, las madres estaban en silencio, y sus bebés sólo hicieron llamados aislados y sonidos de balbuceo, lo que sugiere que a diferencia de muchas especies de aves canoras (y más como seres humanos), los murciélagos de la fruta no tienen un tiempo limitado para el aprendizaje vocal . Aunque el aprendizaje vocal de los murciélagos es simple en comparación con la de los humanos, podría proporcionar un modelo útil para la comprensión de la evolución del lenguaje.

Fuente: news.sciencemag.org
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    All the pictures on this blog and social networks belong to their respective authors and proper credits are given. Photos are used for illustrative and educational purposes only.

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