Orangutan awareness week

Thank you KittyMowMow.

It is Orangutan Awareness Week this week. Sorry I’m slow at catching on (or maybe I was early?)

DID YOU KNOW?
The biggest threat to orangutans is the clearing of the rainforest to plant palm oil plantations. Check out the labels on your groceries. You will find palm oil in cookies, shampoo, and many other products. If something isn’t done soon to stop the spread of palm oil plantations, orangutans will have no where to live.

I learnt this at Taronga Zoo, but I don’t know how well I’ve actually acted on this knowledge. I’ve probably actually bought palm oil products this week. Nuts.

Image: finger lickin’ ape by neonman; orangutan at toronoto zoo; Creative Commons

Even the fish hate America

In case any American readers visit this page during the next 24 hours. Greg Laden has a low down on why your voice really does matter.

And back to the amusing ecological story…

You all know that animals have that sixth sense that warns them against nature.

Birds fly away just before tidal waves strike. Dogs start barking before earthquakes. Cats snarl and hiss at evil henchmen.

Well, is it an Omen that apparently Alaskan fish are migrating north into Russia rather than stay in US oceans. (LA Times – via the great beyond)

Chief suspect numero uno is climate change.

Running away from the USA may not exactly help the fishes cause. Russia’s fishery regulation is not known to be any improvement on Alaska’s. Russia seems to be playing impossibly cool with “No fish here…”

Because it is a bird-eating spider

Actually it is only an orb-weaver, a very lucky orb weaver.

Yes, it does look to be for real (I know its the dailymail). I don’t think that spider will have to eat for the rest of the year. Jackpot!!

We have spiders just like that in my back yard. And birds that size too…

hattip: GrrlScientist

Ghost slugs invade Britain?

The “Ghost Slug” (Selenochlamys ysbryda) is a newly described species of slug. Not only is it a creepy pale white colour, but it is a predator. This slug hunts down worms and eats them with its set of micro-razor teeth. As worms are considered a gardener’s friend, this slug is not.

The Museum of Wales is seeking further information on the Ghost Slug, and other related slugs. As the slugs have only been noticed in the last few years, and appear to be unrelated to local slugs (their nearest relatives hailing from Georgia and eastern Turkey), it is being assumed that it is an introduced species. Invasive species can be rather destructive to native island ecosystems, which the UK still is.

Soil-dwelling creatures are notorious global hitchhikers (eg. fire ants). Earth is moved by construction works, dirt trapped in travelers’ shoes, or the soil mix in potted plants – the latter currently being blamed for this little feller’s unwelcome trip to Wales.

And the song goes on

Something I learned doing research with endangered Australian marsupials was that Australia has the worst record on history as far as extinctions of major animal species.

This doesn’t look set to change anytime soon.

At least my Australian European-ness can feel a little less self conscious – it seems its been that way since humans started arriving on this island.

Particularly Tasmania.

Which is still very depressing. Tasmania’s island of an island status means it does have some of the more interesting ecosystem inhabitants. With creatures like the Tasmanian devil not found anywhere else anymore.

Human arrivals to isolated islands – such as Mauritias and New Zealand – has seen severe eco-damage throughout history.

There is also a feature on this research in this month’s Australasian Science.

Where the Wild Things Were

Want this book:

Life, Death, and Ecological Wreckage in a Land of Vanishing Predators: Where the Wild Things Were – William Stolzenburg

Must look into getting one of those Amazon wishlists and ransoming a small, cute, delicious animal on the internet… hmmmm….

Taking the piss out of dingoes

…and spraying it over Tasmania’s new growth forests.

Now this is an interesting “weird” science story. Dingo urine has been chosen as an innovative natural marsupial repellant.

But what sort of threat do kangaroos pose to lumberjacks and pulp mills exactly? Why is cyanide being used to kill native fauna in the first place?

Human parasite’s goody two shoes cousin helps coral

Malaria is one of the most important infectious diseases under study today. It has been with us since early medical history, and still persists as a major global threat.

The disease is caused by a parasite – a multicellular microorganism. Not just a simple bacteria, the malaria plasmodium is a complex critter that still remains quite mysterious. It is very hard to work with in the laboratory: it doesn’t culture well and the risks involved are immense.

The discovery of a non-infectious relative (albeit, rather distant) by Australian researchers is exciting news for many.

Paydirt hasn’t quite been hit as far as medical research. However the fun isn’t just for medicos, but the evolutionary biologists as well.

Chromera velia is clearly related to Plasmodium parasites, but rather than being a blood-borne obligate parasite of mammals and insects that rarely sees light of day, it is a plankton-like photosynthesising obligate symbiont of corals.

These long-lost cousins are so very different, it could almost make the ghost script of the next Wil Farrell comedy (or not, besides its been done before).

Can they really be from the same origin?

The evidence is convincing.

For more information, take a read of a great interview (it says so in the title) with the scientists responsible for the discovery, as well as the University of Sydney press release.

Image: Copyright University of Sydney. Use only for non-commercial and educational purposes with attribution.

Phones made from ears

props to GNW

Calm down. It’s not human ears.

Samsung has released a new mobile phone made from a corn-derived plastic (Has photo, looks sleek). It’s hoped it will promote non-petrochemical based plastic use is manufacturing.

“W510 is the first mobile phone Samsung has ever made using the new corn-based plastic. Samsung said it did not use heavy metals such as lead, mercury or cadmium in the handset, either. The company has been also working on the new plastic as a way to produce more environmentally friendly materials”

However, don’t get all happy happy yet. Corn is not a panacea for alternative resources.

Bio-fuel-ed demand for corn-based ethanol has contributed to deforestation, agricultural energy use, and the world food crisis. One report says the plastic is made from “corn flour“, that suggests to me that this means it is a part of the corn that might be better off being eaten. Anyone got any further info on how exactly corn-based plastics are made? I remember making plastic from milk in grade 10 science.

At least the lack of heavy metals is a step in the right direction. Companies are now starting to understand there is a demand for eco-friendly products and services. Consumers need to remain savvy and make sure these green solutions are practical and positive.

Image credit: cleanmpg.com, original caption, made with GIMP