Holy crap this Hercules beetle pupa is awesome:
https://imgur.com/H6dR7XG
If you’re an anti-vaxxer, read this! (you can read also if you believe in vaccines, for reaffirmation): http://imgur.com/gallery/IwDF7
I keep telling people not to eat mouldy bread, but they don’t believe me. NPR is on my side, though: http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/04/21/523647669/is-it-safe-to-eat-moldy-bread
Oh NPR…PLEASE DON’T CALL CATERPILLARS “WORMS”: http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/04/25/525447206/a-worm-may-hold-the-key-to-biodegrading-plastic
Combining my love of maps and hiking:
Managed ground-nesting bees (i.e. honeybees aren’t the only bees we manage for agriculture!). These alkali bees, or alfalfa bees, are way better at pollinating alfalfa than the honeybee (and they have pearly bands on their abdomen): https://agresearchmag.ars.usda.gov/2017/apr/bees/
My father alerted me to the fact that there is a fungus taking over the space station. He said it is even growing on the OUTSIDE of some of the windows…whhhhaaaat(bonus points for making a tricorder, NASA, you win this round): http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4448508/NASA-investigate-unknown-fungus-space-station.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490
Related Smithsonian articles (posted far apart) on unexpected medicine in nature: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/how-humble-moss-helped-heal-wounds-thousands-WWI-180963081/
There was an interesting RadioLab episode on this one: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/nasty-medieval-remedy-kills-mrsa-180954808/
Lovely botanical illustrations and an interesting history to boot: http://www.tcd.ie/library/epb/blog/2017/04/spring-into-the-fagel-collection/
