Posted by Steven Goodheart on March 3, 2010 · 4 Comments
LADYBUGS! LOTS of ladybugs! If you love nature and enjoy amazing images from nature, stop by my Berkeley, Naturally! nature blog and take a look at my new post about my discovery of several hundred thousand ladybugs amassed in the Berkeley Hills near my home. The post is called: They are the Lady(bugs) of the … Continue reading →
Filed under biology, entomology, life-science, nature, science, zoology · Tagged with animals, aphid-eater, aphids, aposematism, beetle, Berkeley-Hills, coccinellids, ecology, ecosystem, God's-Hen, God's-Little-Cow, God's-Little-Sheep, God's-Oxen, house-is-on-fire, hundreds-of-thousands-of-ladybugs, Joni-Mitchell, Ladies-of-the-Canyon, lady-bird, lady-birds, lady-bug, lady-bugs, ladybird, ladybird-beetles, ladybirds, ladybug, ladybug-beetles, ladybug-larvae, magic, make-a-wish, nature, overwintering, predator, rains, rainstorm, storms, Strawberry-Canyon, swarm, weather, wonder
Posted by Steven Goodheart on February 12, 2010 · 14 Comments
Just about everyone knows that on land, no animal can sprint faster than a cheetah. Able to hit top speeds of 70 to 75 mph (112 to 120 km/h) the cheetah is probably the fastest animal that has ever lived on Earth. In the long, amazing history of animals on Earth, it is our privilege … Continue reading →
Filed under engineering, life-science, physics, zoology · Tagged with 0-60-mph, animals, Bugatti-Veyron, cheetah, Cheetah-Conservation-Fund, Cheetahs-of-Namibia, drag-race, endangered-species, Enzo-Ferrari, Ferrari, Ferrari-Enzo, machine-animal-race, Namibia, predator, quarter-mile, SSC-Ultimate-Aero, wonder, world's-fastest-animal, world's-fastest-car, world's-fastest-land-animal
Posted by Steven Goodheart on February 5, 2010 · 14 Comments
My article “The Largest Snake that Ever Lived” proved to be my most popular post to date. It’s not surprising. First of all, snakes can be incredibly beautiful: And a truly big snake is an amazing sight: Big snakes naturally evoke both awe and fear—who knows, maybe we have ancient memories of being their prey: … Continue reading →
Filed under biology, environmental-science, ethics, life-science, nature, science, zoology · Tagged with 6th-great-extinction, animals, Barbados, Blair-Hedges, British-Virgin-Islands, endangered-species, extinction, loss-of-ecosystem, Madagascar, Pale-Blue-Dot, sixth-great-extinction, smallest, smallest-frog, smallest-lizard, smallest-snake, wonder, world's-smallest, world's-smallest-frog, world's-smallest-lizard, world's-smallest-snake
Posted by Steven Goodheart on January 27, 2010 · 44 Comments
The sea squirt is one of my favorite sea creatures. When I was a young boy, I first met my first one in a tidal pool in Laguna Beach, California. I remember bending down close to examine it, and like any kid, I gave it a gentle poke. Imagine my surprise when it squirted me … Continue reading →
Filed under biology, life-science, nature, oceanography, science, zoology · Tagged with animals, chordates, coral, coral-reef, hermaphrodite, invertebrate, Jan-Messersmith, larvae, oceans, reef, reefs, sea-squirt, tunicates, vertebrate
Posted by Steven Goodheart on January 27, 2010 · 2 Comments
The first time I saw a photo of a colony of salp, I thought it was a picture of something from a science fiction movie: As a science and nature writer, I’ve become familiar with many sea creatures over the years. But somehow, I had never come across the salp before. What in the heck … Continue reading →
Filed under biology, life-science, nature, oceanography, zoology · Tagged with animals, chordates, climate-change, invertebrate, jellyfish, oceans, Pale-Blue-Dot, plankton, plankton-bloom, salp, salp-swarm, salps, sea-squirts, Southern-Ocean, tunicates, vertebrate, wonder
Posted by Steven Goodheart on January 6, 2010 · 1 Comment
One of the best science books I read in 2009 was Life Ascending: The Ten Great Inventions of Evolution by biochemist Nick Lane. Although I think I have a good basic understanding of fundamental biological processes, I didn’t find the book an easy read, frankly. This is no criticism of Lane’s writing. The biological processes … Continue reading →
Filed under biochemistry, biology, botany, chemistry, earth-science, environmental-science, evolution, geology, life-science, nature, oceanography, science · Tagged with animals, bacteria, complex-cell, consciousness, death, DNA, evolution, hot-blood, inventions-of-evolution, movement, multi-celled-organism, Nick-Lane, oceans, origin-of-life, oxygen, Pale-Blue-Dot, sex, sight, wonder
Posted by Steven Goodheart on January 4, 2010 · 7 Comments
The fishermen of the Sea of Cortez in Mexico are said to call it Diablo Rojo, or Red Demon. They tell of fishermen who have fallen into the water and been dragged to horrible deaths, their bodies never recovered. The object of their fear and respect is one of the more formidable predators in the … Continue reading →
Filed under biology, life-science, nature, oceanography, science, zoology · Tagged with animals, Cephalopod, danger, Diablo-Rojo, diving, fish, humbold-squid, humboldt, Humboldt-attack, jet-propelled, Mexico, oceans, parrot-beak, predator, Red-Demon, red-devil, Sea-of-Cortez, squid, tentacles
Posted by Steven Goodheart on December 28, 2009 · 1 Comment
As readers of my blog know, I’m passionate about saving our environment from the effects of human pollution and reckless industrialization. In Global Warming and the Loss of Earth’s Coral Reefs I discussed the scientific evidence for the disastrous effects of ocean warming and increasing CO2 in ocean water on our planets reefs. In The … Continue reading →
Filed under biology, climate, earth-science, environmental-science, geography, life-science, oceanography, science · Tagged with acidification, animals, coral, coral-reef, disaster, environment, fish-population-collapse, garbage, global-warming, oceans, overfishing, Pale-Blue-Dot, pollution, reefs, wonder
Posted by Steven Goodheart on December 22, 2009 · 4 Comments
The anaconda is one big snake, as this capture picture shows: Now, imagine an anaconda-like snake that’s 3 times longer, 3 or 4 times bigger in diameter, and 6 to 8 times as heavy! No, this isn’t a fake monster from a bad Hollywood B-Movie! It’s an actual creature that lived in Columbia some 60 … Continue reading →
Filed under biology, herpetology, life-science, nature, zoology · Tagged with anaconda, animals, biggest-animal, boa, boa-constrictor, constrictor, fossil, heaviest, heaviest-animal, largest-snake, prehistoric-snake, python, reticulated-python, snake, Titanoboa-cerrejonesis, weight, wonder
Posted by Steven Goodheart on December 22, 2009 · 1 Comment
This is the first in a series of posts I’m going to call Amazing Creatures. And what better way to start off, than with a fish with a transparent head! Pictures of this bizarre fish were first taken in 2004 but not released until 2009. You can find great pictures and an explanation of the … Continue reading →
Filed under biology, life-science, oceanography, science, zoology · Tagged with animals, barrelfish, fish, Mesopelagic, Monterey-Bay-Aquarium-Research-Institute, oceans, transparent-head, weird-fish, wonder