placeholder: back shortly

A fog of panicked motivation has descended on me of late. You know it’s serious when you don’t even open up the bookmarked blogs of a morning. Also, I’m moving house, the academic year is re-starting, and what is my name and why am I here?

Back when there is calm.

Until then, a quiz on the weird world of allergies.

perseids: apparently a dud

According to NASA, this year’s Perseid Meteor Shower is going to suck, because the moon is too bright. So annoying! For once I had remembered that early August was the best time to see it, only to be thwarted.

confusion: it’s what’s good for you!

A nifty editorial on science journalism from the Columbia Journalism review:

My theory is that editors of newspapers and other major periodicals are not just ordinary folk. They tend to be very accomplished people. They’re used to being the smartest guys in the room. So science makes them squirm. And because they can’t bear to feel dumb, science coverage suffers.

This nicely demonstrates the tension of a scientific approach: on the one hand to have a fierce desire to Find Out Why and interrogate the world, and on the other hand to be okay with uncertainty and confusion.

entomologipost

Apparently so, because there are a number of bug posts on this blog.

Via Grow-A-Brain, a video of the amazing Megalopyge opercularis, a moth so fuzzy and furry I squealed a little at how cute it was. Of course, that fuzz is out to get you, as the “fur” is actually venom-carrying prickles that’ll have you scratchiing at best and in palpitations at worst should you try and touch it. Big fluffy spiders like Avicularia versicolor (11th down) also induce my “oh, FUZZY” reaction and irritate the skin similarly.

I am a huge fan of lepidoptera, especially moths. Here’s some good photos of the big New Zealand Puriri Moth, including one getting nabbed by a morepork. Ah, the food chain.