Glow in the Dark Mushrooms!

Image: Cassius V. Stevani / Chemistry Institute, University of Sao Paulo via MSNBC

I guess I thought these were based more in science fiction and fantasy than fact (what do I know?!), but they're REAL! Researchers have found them in regions spanning the globe:

The freaky findings, reported today in the journal Mycologia, increases the number of aglow mushroom species from 64 to 71, shedding light on the evolution of luminescence in nature.

The newly identified mushrooms, which emit a bright, yellowish-green light 24 hours a day, were found in Belize, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Japan, Malaysia and Puerto Rico. They include four species new to science and three new reports of luminescence in known species.

Even more interesting is a now emerging theory that many more types of mushrooms once had the glow, but lost their magical powers--er, their characteristic bioluminescence.

"What interests us is that within Mycena, the luminescent species come from 16 different lineages, which suggests that luminescence evolved at a single point and some species later lost the ability to glow," Desjardin said.

Read more on MSNBC and LiveScience...

Giant Jellyfish Grow in Numbers, Plot Conquest

Photo: Discovery News and ABC Science Online

Well, we've done it. Thanks to overfishing and global warming, giant jellyfish have begun to increase in number. Overfishing has eliminated their natural predators and the rise in ocean temperature has given them an abundance of food. How long before they can do calculus and acquire mental telepathy. And apparently, their growth means even more bad news for seafood fans. From the Discovery Channel:

Jellyfish are normally kept in check by fish, which eat small jellyfish and compete for jellyfish food such as zooplankton, researchers said. But, with overfishing, jellyfish numbers are increasing.

These huge creatures can burst through fishing nets, as well as destroy local fisheries with their taste for fish eggs and larvae.

So not only are they chowing down like never before on a fat food supply, but they're cutting into ours. That's so evil! They're already human-sized. How long before they can pilot space ships?!

"(There is) a jellyfish called Nomura, which is the biggest jellyfish in the world. It can weigh 200 kilograms (440 pounds), as big as a sumo wrestler and is 2 meters (6.5 feet) in diameter," Richardson said.

Richardson said jellyfish numbers are increasing in Southeast Asia, the Black Sea, the Gulf of Mexico and the North Sea.

Read more about our soon-to-be invertebrate overlords. Click on that photo to scare yourself silly!

Carnivorous Plant Dines on Jungle Rats

Photo: Redfern Natural History via CNN

There's an old saying that if you build a better mousetrap the world will beat a path to your door. Well it looks like mother nature has already made one. Meet Nepenthes attenboroughii the a species of Pitcher Plant, a carnivorous plant. This one eats rodents, namely jungle rats. As you can see in the photo below, they're called pitcher plants because of the vase-shaped vessel that makes up the bulk of the plant. This acts as mouth and stomach all-in-one.

Photo: Crytpomundo.com

Now, I'm sure all of you have at least seen a Venus Fly Trap at one point. Maybe at a conservatory or zoo, or even on TV. And we've all seen carnivorous plants in science fiction. Heck even Roadblock from G.I. Joe has had one run in too many with voracious flora.

But this isn't sci-fi, it's a real meat-eating plant! CNN takes us to the Philippines to where the plant was discovered:McPherson told CNN:

"Around the mouth of the pitcher are secretions of nectar which attracts insects and small animals. The rim has lots of waxy downward-pointing ridges which help prey fall directly into the pitcher.

"The pitchers are half full of a liquid consisting of acids and enzymes which help break down its prey."

The insectivorous, sometimes carnivorous diet is crucial for the plants' survival says McPherson.

"These plants grow in really harsh areas where soil quality is very poor -- often pure gravel or sand. Catching insects allows the plant to augment nutrients that it otherwise wouldn't have access to."

Still not grossed out? Here's a video of the plant feasting on a rat. And a slightly longer clip with narration explaining the deviousness of said plant. Enjoy!

The plant is named for famed broadcaster and naturalist Sir David Attenborough who although had nothing to do with it's discovery, was deemed an all-around, nice enough guy to name a deadly flesh eating plant after. Although he did do a segment on Venus Fly Traps, so that would seem to make sense.

Read more...

Venician Vampire Grave Unveiled ...MUHAHAHAHA!

Photo: Matteo Borrini / AP via MSNBC

I need to do a little catching up on some older stories. This first one is about a suspected "vampire" grave discovered at a dig site outside of Venice, Italy. A woman's well-preserved skeleton was found with a brick in her mouth--which apparently is how you keep vampires from waking up and biting you (how come we never saw THAT in a movie?).

In addition to being a decidely old-school method of beating the devil, it was also decidely dumb because--anyone, anyone? That's right! There's no such thing as vampires!

But that doesn't mean there wasn't good reason to believe that the dead might raise. After all, there was this (very circumstantial) eye-witness evidence. MSNBC drives a stake through it:

During epidemics, mass graves were often reopened to bury fresh corpses and diggers would chance upon older bodies that were bloated, with blood seeping out of their mouth and with an inexplicable hole in the shroud used to cover their face.

"These characteristics are all tied to the decomposition of bodies," Borrini said. "But they saw a fat, dead person, full of blood and with a hole in the shroud, so they would say: 'This guy is alive, he's drinking blood and eating his shroud.'"

Thanks to modern science we know that the bloating occurs from gas building up in corpses (yuck!). In any case, why let science ruin it--she was obviously a bloodsucker who deserved a brick sandwich, right?

Anyone?

Read more...