You may be familiar with earth day, which, funnily enough, is today. The purpose of which is largely to spread awareness about the impact of human exploitation on our planet, and to drive people towards trying to reverse, or at least mitigate, some of the negative changes we’ve made. The fact that we still need to convince people that there’s a problem to be solved here is frustrating ... »
A most interesting study group is taking place at WITS University this week. Mathematicians will attempt to find a solution to the problem of Rhino poaching. International mathematicians and graduate students will converge at Wits University next week to help solve various industry problems during the 2013 Mathematics in Industry Study Group (MISGSA) Workshop. With more than 600 rhinos poached in ... »
Christmas is filled with a lot of stuff. Literally – STUFF. People buy things for other people that the other people don’t want and people buy children so much crap yet the children still cry that they didn’t get the crap that they requested and adults just search for something (ANYTHING) to buy for that brother-in-law one sometimes cuts your lawn so you feel obligated to give hi... »
Much in the way that humans might carry pepper spray or learn martial arts, plants and animals also have their own unique and interesting defence mechanisms. You might not catch a fig trying to karate chop you- but the flora and fauna of the natural world have found varied and surprisingly interesting ways of keeping predators at bay. »
The planet earth is awash with a variety of ecosystems; groups of organisms interacting with each other and the environment in relative balance. For every insect, every plant, every microorganism, there is a wide range of creatures that are dependent on this organism’s life cycle for the perpetuation of their own; this doesn’t stop with the biosphere either, everything about our earth ... »
Sometimes, fact is much, much stranger than fiction. In this case, nature has got most horror movie writers beat, no question. Because deep in the Thailand rainforest, mind-control fungi are creating an army of zombie bugs. And the infection is spreading, as spores erupt from the hordes. If it was a movie, this would be the trailer (warning: it’s kind of gross, and full of insects and fungi... »
Last Thursday I arrived in China for my summer stay. I’m doing a language course until June 21st and then research for the rest of the summer. The trip so far, while short, has been full of ups and downs and a lot of “wtf!?” moments… especially when I was chatting with my Fudan University exchange partners. »
A theme that often comes up in religious debates — often with fellow non believers of some stripe and practically never with traditionalists or mainstream believers — is the idea that religion isn’t really harmful. Furthermore, there is the idea that religion isn’t really what motivates people. In this view, religion does no wrong because the individual’s psychology a... »
