This rare butterfly has been seen at 7 new sites in Devon.Only previously recorded at 45 sites.The reason maybe due to meadow restoration but still stays threatened in Britain and Europe.
Sunday 7 September 2014
Euphydryas aurinia-MARSH FRITILLARY IN DEVON
This rare butterfly has been seen at 7 new sites in Devon.Only previously recorded at 45 sites.The reason maybe due to meadow restoration but still stays threatened in Britain and Europe.
Saturday 6 September 2014
duncan-jones-marine-discovery-penzance-interviewd bymark antony riane -ghostman
https://soundcloud.com/ghostman-cole/duncan-jones-marine-discovery-penzance-a better version may be done through cfz onthe track with jon downes as i have original for him to edit.mark..ghostman
Ronan Coghlan interviewed by mark antony raines -ghostman
what inspired you to get into cfz subject?1) Reading Heuvelmans' <On the Track> at university WHAT ARE YOUR AIMS? I'm past an age where one has aims - I have but memories .what plans do you have for the future? Producing an earth-shattering bestseller.
ZEN FOUND IN THE GARDEN
Who said you cant find out new things about yourself as you get older.I was in need of something to do and a friend jon downes asked if i could use a lawnmower ,if you seen me i have a crutch,move a bit,am paranoid and ocd .Anyway as i go about using the mower ,cleaning up i gat a sense of inner peace or as some may say zen.I would go into the in and outs to debate but i dont know why and i going to leave it that way ,so dear reader i wish you all great karma,mark,ghostman.
Monkey leaders and followers have 'specialised brains'
Monkeys at the top and bottom of the social pecking order have physically different brains, research has found.
A particular network of brain areas was bigger in dominant animals, while other regions were bigger in subordinates.The study suggests that primate brains, including ours, can be specialised for life at either end of the hierarchy.
The differences might reflect inherited tendencies toward leading or following, or the brain adapting to an animal's role in life - or a little of both.
Neuroscientists made the discovery, which appears in the journal Plos Biology, by comparing brain scans from 25 macaque monkeys that were already "on file" as part of ongoing research at the University of Oxford.
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Dr MaryAnn Noonan University of OxfordDominance might depend not only on aggression and physical strength, but also on forming bonds and making coalitions - and being quite smart about placing your loyalties”
"We were also looking at
learning and memory and decision-making, and the changes that are going
on in your brain when you're doing those things," explained Dr MaryAnn
Noonan, the study's first author.
The decision to look at the animals' social status produced an unexpectedly clear result, Dr Noonan said. "It was surprising. All our monkeys were of different ages and different genders - but with fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) you can control for all of that. And we were consistently seeing these same networks coming out."
The monkeys live in groups of up to five, so the team identified their social status by watching their behaviour, then compared it to different aspects of the brain data.
In monkeys at the top of their social group, three particular bits of the brain tended to be larger (specifically the amygdala, the hypothalamus and the raphe nucleus). In subordinate monkeys, the tendency read more
Cockatoos teach tool-making tricks
A team of researchers has discovered that the birds emulate
tool-making tricks when they are demonstrated to them by another bird.
The results are published in the Royal Society journal Proceedings B.
The researchers are interested in what they call "technical intelligence", which is essentially animals' ability to use objects to solve problems.
Figaro also worked out how to make his "fishing sticks" by stripping long, thin pieces off a wooden block in his enclosure.
"So we had one innovator, and a very important aspect of innovation [is] how it can spread in a group," Dr Auersperg explained to BBC News.
To investigate this, the researchers set up an experiment where six birds were shown, by Figaro, how to strip a block and fish for a nut.
After watching the demonstration, most of the birds were able successfully to make their own strip of wood, and use it to retrieve a piece of food.
Fishing technique "This was the interesting thing," said Dr Auersperg "They were successful and interacting with the materials, but they weren't copying Figaro - they devised their own strategy of obtaining the reward."
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The results are published in the Royal Society journal Proceedings B.
The researchers are interested in what they call "technical intelligence", which is essentially animals' ability to use objects to solve problems.
Continue reading the main story
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Dr Alice Auersperg University of OxfordIt confirms how innovative and how adaptable this species is to novel problems”
"Cockatoos are very interesting
for this, because they're very playful with objects," explained lead
researcher Dr Alice Auersperg, from the University of Oxford and the
University of Vienna.
She and her colleagues had already noticed that one of birds
in their research aviary, named Figaro, spontaneously used sticks to
drag nuts under the bars. Figaro also worked out how to make his "fishing sticks" by stripping long, thin pieces off a wooden block in his enclosure.
"So we had one innovator, and a very important aspect of innovation [is] how it can spread in a group," Dr Auersperg explained to BBC News.
To investigate this, the researchers set up an experiment where six birds were shown, by Figaro, how to strip a block and fish for a nut.
After watching the demonstration, most of the birds were able successfully to make their own strip of wood, and use it to retrieve a piece of food.
Fishing technique "This was the interesting thing," said Dr Auersperg "They were successful and interacting with the materials, but they weren't copying Figaro - they devised their own strategy of obtaining the reward."
They may be in a battle with the crow family for the title of most intelligent bird.
And Goffin cockatoos have now shown an impressive ability to learn from one another how to use and even how to make tools. read more
California blue whales bounce back to near historic numbers
Researchers believe that
California blue whales have recovered in numbers and the population has
returned to sustainable levels.
Scientists say this is the only population of blue whales to have rebounded from the ravages of whaling.The research team estimate that there are now 2,200 of these giant creatures on the eastern side of the Pacific Ocean.
But concerns remain about their vulnerability to being struck by ships.
At up to 33m in length and weighing in at up to 190 tonnes, blue whales are the largest animals on the planet.
The California variety is often seen feeding close to the coast of the state, but they are found all the way from the Gulf of Alaska down to Costa Rica.
Soviet secrecy Writing in the journal, Marine Mammal Science, researchers from the University of Washington say the California blue whales are now at 97% of their historical levels.
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Dr Tevor Branch University of WashingtonThe real key finding here is that they are close to recovery which is a bit of a surprise”
Working out that this species is now back at its traditional numbers required some dogged scientific sleuthing.read more
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