Tag: animals

Attack of the giant bird-eating bats!

I’m linking to this story just because it allowed me to write the above headline. Such are the little things that keep me amused.

Farming mutates into pharming:

“Genetically modified chickens lay drugs in eggs.”

Colossal calamari caught on camera:

Japanese scientists herald live giant squid footage (from PhysOrg.com): Japanese scientists have released what they say could be the first live video footage of the elusive giant squid, exposing some of the creature’s underwater secrets. Note this is a giant squid, not a colossal squid, which I only mention because “colossal squid” is a search …

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Organic chicken?

No, thanks. Turns out, …organic poultry is actually less nutritious, contains more fat and tastes worse than its mass-produced equivalent, research has shown. That’s going to make some people squawk.

Movie monster biology

Not long ago I wrote an article emphasizing that science fiction is, first and foremost, fiction, and that a little fudging of the science for the sake of the story is expected and accepted. Having said that, however, I must also admit that nothing warms the cockles of my heart (what exactly is a cockle, …

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Photo of the Day: The Bear

From my new photo series, “Things I Found in My Mother-in-Law’s House.” The bottom of this handsome bear says “Hand Carved by Kadian Crafts, Canada.” More photos here.

Photo of the Day: The Elephant

The first in an occasional series I’m calling “Things I Found in My Mother-in-Law’s House.” This is the head of a brass elephant, obviously. It’s one of two, on marble stands, obviously intended as book ends. The question is, why is there a matching candlestick holder? Would you put it in the middle of a …

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The bat-bot

How often have you said to yourself, “You know, I sure wish someone would build a robotic bat head.” What? Never? In fact, you say, the whole idea sounds…well, batty? Not too surprising, I suppose. After all, bats have suffered a serious image problem throughout most of western history. (In the Orient, they are often …

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Cat senses

It’s said there are cat people, and there are dog people. Personally, I like both, but if I had to state a preference, I’d probably give the edge to cats. It’s not very often I have an excuse to write about them in this column, but this week I do, because by some coincidence, two …

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Gorillas

I recently toured the Toronto Zoo, exciting to me because I’ve never seen it, and exciting to our two-year-old, Alice, because currently her favorite story is a short adaptation of Disney’s animated adaptation of Tarzan, in which many of the characters are gorillas–and one of the Toronto zoo’s star features is called the Gorilla Rainforest. It’s …

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Animal emotions

Anyone who has ever owned a pet, at least of the warm-blooded variety, knows that animals have rich emotional lives. Dogs whine piteously when left alone; cats sulk when their owners are going out and leaving them at home; horses can develop such strong attachments to each other that they refuse to be put into …

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The colossal squid

I don’t know how you feel about calamari, but it’s always been a little too rubber-band-like to be one of my favorites. However you feel about it, though, I’m pretty sure you can agree with me that it’s far better to eat calamari than to have the calamari eating you. That unsettling prospect was raised …

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