The Atavism

Sunday Spinelessness – A darkling beetle

David Winter • Nov 06, 2011

• beetle,
• photos,
• sci-blogs,
• sunday spinelessness

Life continues to be busy down here in Dunedin, so this will have to be another Sunday marked by a quick photo-heavy look into the world of the spineless. I don't pretend to be a great photographer, but I do get a lot of pleasure from recording the ... Read More

Sunday Spinelessness – Om nom nom nom

David Winter • Oct 30, 2011

• caterpillar,
• lepidoptera,
• photos,
• sci-blogs,
• sunday spinelessness

I wasn't very happy with the caterpillar photos last week, so I had another go. Still not quite there, but I think I might end up with a nice shot of these guys before they turn into moths: … Read More

Sunday Spinelessness – Spike

David Winter • Oct 23, 2011

• lepidoptera,
• photos,
• sci-blogs,
• sunday spinelessness

Blogging is going to be slow going around here for a little while, in fact, it may just be limited to photographs of bugs from out back garden. Here's one, the absurdly spiky caterpillar of a magpie moth (taken in the glaring sun, sorry):   ... Read More

Sunday Spinelessness – a weta

David Winter • Oct 16, 2011

• orthoptera,
• photos,
• sci-blogs,
• sunday spinelessness,
• weta

The ground weta we uncovered in the garden this afternoon, which got sick of its photoshoot and decided to round on the photographer … Read More

Sunday Spinelessness – The other monster

David Winter • Oct 09, 2011

• arachnophilia,
• harvestman,
• Opiliones,
• sci-blogs,
• sunday spinelessness

I've never taken a good photo of an ant. I've tried plenty of times, but even when I've happened across queens, whose size should give the point'n'shooter the best chance to capture a passable shot, I've failed. I haven't given up though, and... Read More

The Nobel Disease

David Winter • Oct 08, 2011

• Nobel Prize,
• sci-blogs,
• Skepticism

Bruce A. Beutler, Jules A. Hoffmann, Saul Perlmutter, Brian Schmidt, Adam Riess, Ralph M. Steinman and Dan Shechtman. Seven new Nobel Laureates and seven new names to include in the most exclusive club in science. The Nobel prize comes with a trip t... Read More

Sunday Spinelessness – For aussie beetles, beer bottles are an evolutionary trap

David Winter • Oct 02, 2011

• beetle,
• sci-blogs,
• Skepticism,
• sunday spinelessness

It's Nobel season. Over the next month or so, we'll hear who has received a telegram summoning them to Stockholm and to fame and fortune (the cash part of the prize is worth about 1.5 million dollars). Of course, the Nobels are a big dea... Read More

Sunday Spinelessness – How chitons are tougher than stone

David Winter • Sep 25, 2011

• chemistry,
• chitons,
• molluscs,
• photos,
• sci-blogs,
• sunday spinelessness

No time to say anything meaningful today, so here's a pretty picture of a green chiton (Chiton glaucus)   Of course, I wouldn't be a self-respecting invertebrate evangelist if I didn't try an convince you that chitons represent... Read More

Sunday Spinelessness – Speciation by magic

David Winter • Sep 18, 2011

• sci-blogs,
• snails,
• speciation,
• sunday spinelessness

For someone that writes about evolution, I don't spend much of my time talking about the 'debate' that surrounds that topic. That's probably an artifact of living in a county that doesn't allow people who are so confused about the world that ... Read More

Sunday Spinelessness – Visualising fungal communities

David Winter • Sep 11, 2011

• biopython,
• fungi,
• geekery,
• python,
• sci-blogs,
• sunday spinelessness

If you read the Sunday post last week you'll remember that I started a little "when my brains are completely destroyed by thesis wrangling and I need a break" project, and that I'm the sort of person that takes a break from one science project by playi... Read More