May 17, 2012
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Parachuting Mice, Invisibility Cloaks, and LA Smog
I love Treehugger.com. I waste many hours on that site and love most of their articles.
Today, after reading about Buddy71′s yucky snakes, I found the best way to combat snakes – parachuting mice that are laced with acetaminophen. To rid Guam of their invasive brown snake problem (which has eliminated 10 of their 12 native bird species), millions of suicidal mice are parachuting onto the island with poison.
That’ll teach those nasty little snakes.
In other news, color changing squid are teaching us new ways to create invisibility cloaks. And we have all wanted one of those!
“Other than being a really cool science experiment, this biomimetic artificial muscle technology could have some neat applications. Project lead Jonathan Rossiter said “Our artificial chromatophores are both scalable and adaptable and can be made into an artificial compliant skin which can stretch and deform, yet still operate effectively. This means they can be used in many environments where conventional ‘hard’ technologies would be dangerous, for example at the physical interface with humans, such as smart clothing.””
This sounds like the coolest fashion craze ever.
Cows, not cars, are to blame for smog in LA.
“Ammonia emissions due to dairy cattle in the Southern California air basin (SoCAB) could be almost triple the tonnage of ammonia emissions from automobiles. Ammonia serves as a key ingredient in the recipe for smog.”
That is all I have today.
Comments (32)
kamikaze mice and cow pee. i think you have done your part today.
@promisesunshine - Thanks! I thought so, all important things we need to know.
When I was in college, one of my roommates had pet mice (surviving lab mice, mostly) and was into model rockets. We fantasized about launching paratrooper mice dressed in commando gear into the football stadium during a game, but never got around to it.
@Roadkill_Spatula - You should have. Commando gear and sunglasses, of course!
Smart clothing… What do yahoos like me get to wear?
@xplorrn - Just the invisibility cloak
I like to read nature sites too, and my favorite title from this week is “Great Tits Cooperate.” (Great tits are birds).
So this is what it feels like to have achieved Nirvana!
@we_deny_everything - Great tits sounds like a site I need to visit~
@Shadowrunner81 - You know it!
yeah the cows do produce large amounts of gas and the university of Wisconsin was working on gene splicing to give cows DNA from a kangaroo because kangaroos don’t produce all that gas or something like that. This was a few years ago when I first heard about this work. Apparently they are worried that with all the cows here it’s going to destroy the atmosphere and create smog and weaken the ability to produce crops. The only downfall I can see in splicing kangaroo DNA into a cow is that the cows will start jumping all over the place. I’m fearful of something that weighs more than a Toyota Prius jumping around and getting loose.
What Mr. Rossiter failed to mention in his article was his meeting with a young man named Potter. Harry Potter.
I thought Jerry Brown got rid of LA smog when he was governor back in the 70s. Those sneaky cows!
@godfatherofgreenbay - The visual of that made me genuinely lol!
@Kellsbella - That was on a need to know basis! Geez!
@PrisonerxOfxLove - Smelly, too!
:O oh those poor lil mice (have no idea how the plural goes)
Also I’d totally pay w/e for an invisibility cloak, that would be my greatest wish lol
Because I’m that necessary to keep secret? Or I’m that necessary to be kept secret?
@xXxlovelylollipop - Think of all the trouble we could cause with one of those!
@xplorrn - We would keep you a secret so no other ladies could try to steal you away. I would only share you with @Kellsbella.
Rec’ed because I didn’t know that thing about the cows.
@lucylwrites - Thanks! Are you sure it wasn’t for the courageous, snake killing, airplane jumping mice?
@BoulderChristina - def the cows. moo. lol!
haha. I had heard the cow thing before but didn’t know if it was legit or not. How funny!
And the mice thing is just….genius!!!
I wonder if I can preorder an invisibility cloak…you know, just in case they DO make them work
I am deathly, morbidly and pathologically afraid of snakes. I am surprised I was bold enough to type the word above. Can you see the hair on my arms stand up???
GREAT! just one more fucked up thing about where I live!
@godfatherofgreenbay - That’s obviously a worry, but think of the milkshakes.
@DivaJyoti - I didn’t know that was your area! Oh well, you have plenty of fresh milk!
i must use this as metaphor one day.suicidal mice truly fascinating stuff
@bonmots - Do you want an invisibility cloak, too? Sometimes I think I shouldn’t post all the strange things I think about, but if I didn’t tell you guys, who would I tell?
@BoulderChristina - I don’t feel inclined to eat or drink anything that comes from an animal which is somehow also emitting smog. guess it’s lucky that I wouldn’t eat or drink anything from a cow anyway. we’re a little south of L.A.
@DivaJyoti - Are you a vegan? I had no idea, kudos!