Sunday Spinelessness – Flat animals and biology’s age of discovery | Animals In Ages Of Discovery

Sunday Spinelessness – Flat animals and biology’s age of discovery | Animals In Ages Of Discovery

Sometimes it’s tempting to look back on the history of science and feel just a little envious of the people that went before us. Imagine being alive at a time when you could jump on a boat, sail to some tropical country and discover thousands of species not yet known to science. Even better, you could use your discoveries learn some of the most important ideas in biology. Darwin is the obvious example, but imagine being Wallace and finding flying frogs and searching for birds that were said to spend their whole lives on the wing and, so, have no feet. Or being with Banks and Solander as they arrived in New Zealand and discovered an entirely new flora to describe, catalogue and learn from.

It would be pretty great to live in those times, but I wouldn’t swap places for the world – biology’s age of discovery is still going strong. There are probably ten times as many species on earth as we know about. In the last couple of months we’ve heard news of new fish species discovered in the kermadecs, a nematode that survives a mile below earth’s surface, bioluminescent fungi, and an antelope species discovered in a meat market. Then there’s biodiversity’s dark matter; whole groups of creatures we know must exist, but have no clue as to their biology. Recently DNA sequences have revealed a new group of fungi discovered in a pond in Devon, and maybe, just maybe, a whole new branch of life in a set of DNA sequences that are similar to each other but like nothing else we know. In the 21st century there is no lack of species for us to discover, and, in fact, modern tools mean we don’t have to get on boat to discover them. You’re average shovel load of soil almost certainly has bacteria and fungi that aren’t known to science.

Sunday spinelessness has, rather arbitrarily, limited itself to animals (I am from a zoology department, these things rub off) – and one of my favourite examples of how little we really know about biology comes from some very strange animals. Meet a placozoan (literally ‘flat animal’):Read More

Sunday Spinelessness – Flat animals and biology’s age of discovery | Animals In Ages Of Discovery

Sunday Spinelessness – Flat animals and biology’s age of discovery | Animals In Ages Of Discovery

Sometimes it’s tempting to look back on the history of science and feel just a little envious of the people that went before us. Imagine being alive at a time when you could jump on a boat, sail to some tropical country and discover thousands of species not yet known to science. Even better, you could use your discoveries learn some of the most important ideas in biology. Darwin is the obvious example, but imagine being Wallace and finding flying frogs and searching for birds that were said to spend their whole lives on the wing and, so, have no feet. Or being with Banks and Solander as they arrived in New Zealand and discovered an entirely new flora to describe, catalogue and learn from.

It would be pretty great to live in those times, but I wouldn’t swap places for the world – biology’s age of discovery is still going strong. There are probably ten times as many species on earth as we know about. In the last couple of months we’ve heard news of new fish species discovered in the kermadecs, a nematode that survives a mile below earth’s surface, bioluminescent fungi, and an antelope species discovered in a meat market. Then there’s biodiversity’s dark matter; whole groups of creatures we know must exist, but have no clue as to their biology. Recently DNA sequences have revealed a new group of fungi discovered in a pond in Devon, and maybe, just maybe, a whole new branch of life in a set of DNA sequences that are similar to each other but like nothing else we know. In the 21st century there is no lack of species for us to discover, and, in fact, modern tools mean we don’t have to get on boat to discover them. You’re average shovel load of soil almost certainly has bacteria and fungi that aren’t known to science.

Sunday spinelessness has, rather arbitrarily, limited itself to animals (I am from a zoology department, these things rub off) – and one of my favourite examples of how little we really know about biology comes from some very strange animals. Meet a placozoan (literally ‘flat animal’):Read More

Honey Badger: Honey Badger Exploration Announces Results of Annual Meeting of Shareholders and Meeting of Board of Directors

Honey Badger: Honey Badger Exploration Announces Results of Annual Meeting of Shareholders and Meeting of Board of Directors

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - July 4, 2011) - Honey Badger Exploration, Inc. (TSX VENTURE:TUF) (the "Company") announces the results of its Annual General and Special Meeting ("AGM") of its Shareholders held on June 23, 2011 at the Company's corporate offices. A quorum of the Company's outstanding common stock as of the record date of May 16, 2011 was present in person or by proxy at the AGM.

Proposed Resolutions

1. To receive and consider the financial statements of the company for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2010 and the Auditors' Report thereon.

2. To appoint MSCM LLP, Chartered Accountants, as the auditors of the Company, and to authorize the Directors to fix the remuneration.

3. To elect Directors to serve until the next Annual General Meeting of Shareholders or until their successors are elected or appointed.

4. To approve continuation of the Stock Option Plan of the Company as instituted and as approved by the TSX Venture Exchange.

5. To approve share issuances in lieu of cash remuneration to Directors and Officers with respect to services rendered to a maximum limit of 2,000,000 shares collectively.

6. To approve the sale of the remaining 49% interest in the Blackjack Property.

7. The resolution to approve a share consolidation as per the addendum to the information circular dated May 16, 2011 was withdrawn from consideration at the Meeting.

Read More

Honey Badger: Honey Badger Exploration Announces Results of Annual Meeting of Shareholders and Meeting of Board of Directors

Honey Badger: Honey Badger Exploration Announces Results of Annual Meeting of Shareholders and Meeting of Board of Directors

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - July 4, 2011) - Honey Badger Exploration, Inc. (TSX VENTURE:TUF) (the "Company") announces the results of its Annual General and Special Meeting ("AGM") of its Shareholders held on June 23, 2011 at the Company's corporate offices. A quorum of the Company's outstanding common stock as of the record date of May 16, 2011 was present in person or by proxy at the AGM.

Proposed Resolutions

1. To receive and consider the financial statements of the company for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2010 and the Auditors' Report thereon.

2. To appoint MSCM LLP, Chartered Accountants, as the auditors of the Company, and to authorize the Directors to fix the remuneration.

3. To elect Directors to serve until the next Annual General Meeting of Shareholders or until their successors are elected or appointed.

4. To approve continuation of the Stock Option Plan of the Company as instituted and as approved by the TSX Venture Exchange.

5. To approve share issuances in lieu of cash remuneration to Directors and Officers with respect to services rendered to a maximum limit of 2,000,000 shares collectively.

6. To approve the sale of the remaining 49% interest in the Blackjack Property.

7. The resolution to approve a share consolidation as per the addendum to the information circular dated May 16, 2011 was withdrawn from consideration at the Meeting.

Read More

Honey Badger: Sassy Gay Friend meet Honey Badger. Honey Badger, Sassy Gay Friend

Honey Badger: Sassy Gay Friend meet Honey Badger. Honey Badger, Sassy Gay Friend

Have you seen this? Holy hotcakes, you are going to need a Depend DIAPER by the time you finish watching. Get ready to DIE laughing! Cause honey badger don't give a s#it.

Now, watch this, too. It's a spoof of what would happen to Ophelia if she'd had a sassy gay friend during Hamlet. Amazing! Read More

Honey Badger: Sassy Gay Friend meet Honey Badger. Honey Badger, Sassy Gay Friend

Honey Badger: Sassy Gay Friend meet Honey Badger. Honey Badger, Sassy Gay Friend

Have you seen this? Holy hotcakes, you are going to need a Depend DIAPER by the time you finish watching. Get ready to DIE laughing! Cause honey badger don't give a s#it.

Now, watch this, too. It's a spoof of what would happen to Ophelia if she'd had a sassy gay friend during Hamlet. Amazing! Read More

Honey Badger: Honey Badger Infects America (VIDEO)

Honey Badger: Honey Badger Infects America (VIDEO)

Long live the honey badger. No flash in the proverbial pan is he, no sir, honey badger has staying power. He's not going anywhere, and thanks goodness, because he provides some funny sh**.

Heck in the last few days, he's been seen splashed across Olivia Wilde's chest, and he even made President Obama's first-ever Twitter Townhall from the White House. Someone submitted the question: "Does honey badger care?" Obama has yet to respond to that particular question, but perhaps he needs time to ponder.

If you have no clue what I'm talking about then you've been missing out and must watch the following video titled "Crazy Nastyass Honey Badger." If you've already seen it you know you want to watch it again.

Since it was uploaded in January it has gotten more than 11 million clicks. When I first wrote about the video back in April, it had only received 4 million clicks, so honey badger just keeps getting bigger.

Now Wilde and her chest have given him a whole new boost of popularity. Who knows how far honey badger will go? The awesome narrator, who makes the whole video, is a guy known just as Randall. He has some other one great ones too like "The Miracle of the Daffy Jesus Lizard" and "The Slowass Sloth," and it's easy to get lost laughing in his YouTube channel.

It's hard to explain why honey badger hits the funny bone of America just right, other than it's just funny and infectious. Of course, not everyone thinks so, but guess what ... honey badger don't give a sh**. Read More

Honey Badger: Honey Badger Infects America (VIDEO)

Honey Badger: Honey Badger Infects America (VIDEO)

Long live the honey badger. No flash in the proverbial pan is he, no sir, honey badger has staying power. He's not going anywhere, and thanks goodness, because he provides some funny sh**.

Heck in the last few days, he's been seen splashed across Olivia Wilde's chest, and he even made President Obama's first-ever Twitter Townhall from the White House. Someone submitted the question: "Does honey badger care?" Obama has yet to respond to that particular question, but perhaps he needs time to ponder.

If you have no clue what I'm talking about then you've been missing out and must watch the following video titled "Crazy Nastyass Honey Badger." If you've already seen it you know you want to watch it again.

Since it was uploaded in January it has gotten more than 11 million clicks. When I first wrote about the video back in April, it had only received 4 million clicks, so honey badger just keeps getting bigger.

Now Wilde and her chest have given him a whole new boost of popularity. Who knows how far honey badger will go? The awesome narrator, who makes the whole video, is a guy known just as Randall. He has some other one great ones too like "The Miracle of the Daffy Jesus Lizard" and "The Slowass Sloth," and it's easy to get lost laughing in his YouTube channel.

It's hard to explain why honey badger hits the funny bone of America just right, other than it's just funny and infectious. Of course, not everyone thinks so, but guess what ... honey badger don't give a sh**. Read More