Old songs are the best. This is one I associate with Roy Rogers, if for no other reason than he made a movie of the same name. He also sang it in “Hollywood Canteen.” However, it wasn’t the King of the Cowboys that took the song to the top of the charts. It was Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters. There’s no justice in the world.
What’s been on your mind? Got something you’d like to share? A topic to discuss? It’s Tuesday Night Open Thread.
Who wants to start?
Lizard That Lays Eggs and Gives Live Birth Might Be Undergoing a Major Evolutionary Transition
Ya think?
ScienceX.com / April 3, 2020
Charles Foster and Camilla WhittingtonThere are two main reproductive strategies in vertebrates.
Animals that lay eggs are called “oviparous.” For instance, many fish species spawn eggs that are fertilized externally. In other oviparous species, including birds and some lizards and snakes, eggs are fertilized inside the mother, an eggshell is added, and then eggs are laid.
Depending on the species, much or all of the nutrition needed to grow a healthy baby is supplied in the egg yolk.
In contrast, “viviparous” animals carry embryos internally until they are fully developed. The embryos can rely entirely on yolk for nutrition, or the parents can provide supplementary nutrition, sometimes via a placenta (as in humans).
I’m with you so far… Learned that in Miss Busty’s biology class.
Despite the vast differences between egg-laying and live birth, some species can do both. This phenomenon called “bimodal reproduction” is exceptionally rare. There are more than 6500 species of lizards worldwide, but only three exhibit bimodal reproduction.
We’re lucky enough to have two of these in Australia. Our research group at the University of Sydney studies the bimodally reproductive three-toed skink, in the hope of understanding how live birth evolved.
I just wanted the excuse to use the word “skink” in a post. “Three-toed” is a bonus.
The three-toed skink displays geographic variation in reproductive mode. It has four very tiny legs, and only three toes per foot.
In northern NSW, the three-toed skink gives birth to live young, but near Sydney, they lay eggs. Even though they reproduce differently, previous research has shown these lizards are a single species.
Even the egg-laying members of the species are odd, as the eggs are retained within the mother for a relatively long time. After being laid, ordinary skink eggs are incubated for at least 35 days before they hatch, but some three-toed skink eggs hatch in as few as five days after being laid.
One female even laid eggs and gave birth to a live baby in the same litter.
She’s a rebel.
Photocatalytic Optical Fibers Convert Water Into Solar Fuel
University of Southampton / April 3, 2020 / Phys.orgResearchers at the University of Southampton have transformed optical fibers into photocatalytic microreactors that convert water into hydrogen fuel using solar energy.
Sounds so much like a freshman Liberal Arts grant application.
But:
The ground-breaking technology coats the inside of microstructured optical fiber canes (MOFCs) with a photocatalyst which—with light—generates hydrogen that could power a wide range of sustainable applications.
Chemists, physicists and engineers at Southampton have published their proof of concept in ACS Photonics and will now establish wider studies that demonstrate the scalability of the platform.
… there is real science! behind it.
Since this is a PG site, I won’t speculate on what “MOFC” originally meant.
Dr. Matthew Potter,
— the meanest man in Pottersville —
Chemistry Research Fellow and lead author, says: “Being able to combine light-activated chemical processes with the excellent light propagation properties of optical fibers has huge potential.” …
The scientists coat the fibers with titanium oxide, decorated with palladium nanoparticles. This approach allows the coated canes to simultaneously serve as both host and catalyst for the continuous indirect water splitting, with methanol as a sacrificial reagent.
My advice to you is to invest heavily in producing methanol.
Submitted by FormerHostage:
Ain’t no sunshine in Wuhan.
It’s not warm when Xi’s away.
Ain’t no sunshine when Xi’s gone
And Xi’s always gone too long
Anytime Xi goes away
Wonder this time where Xi’s gone
Wonder if Xi’s gone to stay
Ain’t no sunshine when Xi’s gone
And this house just ain’t no home
Anytime Xi goes away
