What the World’s Largest Dump Truck Can Tell Us About the Physics of the Sun
Behold the mighty Liebherr T 282B dump truck! It is one of the two or three largest dump trucks in production. By many measures, it’s the largest dump truck in the world. The Leibherr T 282B is 14.55 metter long (48 feet), 8.7 meters wide (29 feet) and stands 7.4 meters tall—a towering 24 feet! … Continue reading
Encounter with Hundreds of Thousands of Ladybugs
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
Drag Race! Cheetah takes on a Ferrari!
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
Biologist discovers world’s smallest snake, lizard, and frog!
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
Meet the Amazing Salp
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
Amazing Oxygen-Key to Planetary Life
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
We’re Killing Our Oceans
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
The Biggest Snake that Ever Lived
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
Amazing Creatures-Weird Fish With Transparent Head
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
The Beautiful and Amazing Waterspout
If you’ve visited my other nature blog, Berkeley, Naturally! you know weather is one of my great passions. In my post “Escape from New England-a weather nut’s confession,” I describe how I looked forward to the big summer push of moisture from Baja, Mexico, that gave us our July and August thunderstorms in Las Vegas. … Continue reading
Goodheart's Extreme Science 