Yesterday the Canadian readers of this blog had their turkey bites. Today, everyone gets some beetle bytes!<\/p>\n
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A report from the Endangered Species Coalition<\/a><\/p>\n Vanishing: Ten American Species Our Children May Never See<\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/p>\n Time to say good-bye to the tumbling tumbleweed<\/a><\/p>\n Dana Berner wants to start an epidemic among tumbleweeds. Berner is a pathologist with the U.S. Agricultural Research Service who studies the diseases that afflict plants. One of his projects has been a search for something that’s able to infect and kill the iconic, spiny, rolling weed of the American West.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/p>\n Take a look at this beautiful creature<\/a><\/p>\n When threatened, P. wahlbergii<\/em> exhibits deimatic behavior, a threatening and startling response intended to discourage predators. \u00a0The mantis spreads out its body, raises its forelimbs, and opens its magnificent wings to expose patterns which resemble two large eyes.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/p>\n 12 tips for talking to science faculty about new teaching strategies<\/a> (by Terry McGlynn<\/a>)<\/p>\n Don\u2019t push technology as a solution to a pedagogical challenge. We\u2019d like to see what works, but not to have it marketed to us. (For example, tell us about clickers. But don\u2019t claim that they make students learn better, because they don\u2019t. They promote active learning, problem-solving and reflection, which causes learning. Scientists dislike false claims that often accompany technological promises.)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/p>\n North Korea’s “Winston Smith”<\/a><\/p>\n Because Jang was required to write in a foreign style, he was one of the few people in the country permitted to read South Korean newspapers. Jang was shocked to learn that everything he\u2019d learned as a child was a lie \u2014 and that South Korea was a thriving democracy many times more rich than its northern counterpart. More shocking still, he learned, writers in South Korean newspapers were permitted to criticize the government, a capital offense in North Korea. (In fact, everything in North Korea is a capital offense, as a sampling of public posters described in the book attests: \u201cDeath by Firing Squad to Those Who Disobey Traffic Rules!\u201d \u201cDeath by Firing Squad to Those Who Waste Electricity!\u201d \u201cDeath by Firing Squad To Those Who Gossip!\u201d)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/p>\n