Category: Science (page 2)

Here is a short video explaining the first mass extinction on Earth.

It was caused by oxygen.

I got talking with a geology student recently, and we could not help not bringing up one of the subjects that bring together biology and geology: mass extinctions. So here is some information in case you ever need to impress a geology student, or plan the next extinction.

There have been 6 mass extinctions. The 5 recent ones involved multicellular life. I count them as 6 because there was an earlier major one involving the production of oxygen. Yes, oxygen was not on Earth since the beginning.

This is all relevant to the snowball earth theory, the idea that the Earth was completely covered by ice in the past. Turns out it might have happened during the mass atmospheric oxygenation event, but there are also other possible dates, all before multicellular organisms evolved. Here is plenty of information about it, a bit long but the visuals on the Earth periods over time along are worth the visit.

Do you have a cat? Does it pee or bite what you don’t want it to?

Research suggests your cat might be frustrated with its life, since it is semi-domesticated after all. Especially if it is not allowed out, it might be a good idea to enrich its environment.

The catch is you might need to collect some more food pieces from around the house than you are used to.

Here is a nice video illustrating, among other things, how traffic jams appear to go away for no reason. The solution to end all traffic is rather interesting.

Then again, one could say the solution already exists.

An excellent performance of “Last chance to see”, by the author, Douglas Adams.

Fun, intelligence and biology into one long (talk)[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZG8HBuDjgc].

Here is a nice summer project.

Melt some aluminium. Pour it over a fire ant colony to make a cast.

Gently dig out the cast.