Exotic species may aid diversity, research suggests

Posted on by Lori Jia

The New York Times, September 9, 2008

Link

New Zealand is home to 2,065 native plants found nowhere else on Earth. They range from magnificent towering kauri trees to tiny flowers that form tightly packed mounds called vegetable sheep.

When Europeans began arriving in New Zealand, they brought with them alien plants — crops, garden plants and stowaway weeds. Today, 22,000 non-native plants grow in New Zealand. Most of them can survive only with the loving care of gardeners and farmers. But 2,069 have become naturalized: they have spread out across the islands on their own. There are more naturalized invasive plant species in New Zealand than native species.

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Invaders Settle In

Posted on by Lori Jia

I live near the Long Island Sound, in a landscape overrun with invaders from all over the world. My wife spends her free time ripping out Japanese knotweed from our garden. The Connecticut salt marshes are overrun with invasive Phragmites reeds. Starlings descend on us like a hail storm. So I found it intriguing to discover some scientists who don’t consider invasive species to be all that big a deal compared to other effects we’re having on the environment, like habitat destruction and climate change. In today’s Science Times section of the New York Times, I have an article about some of their recent research, and their critics who think they’re missing the true dangers of invasives.

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Could an Inner Zombie Be Controlling Your Brain?

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Discover, September 8, 2008

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If you had to sum up the past 40 years of research on the mind, you could do worse than to call it the Rise of the Zombies.

We like to see ourselves as being completely conscious of our thought processes, of how we feel, of the decisions we make and our reasons for making them. When we act, it is our conscious selves doing the acting. But starting in the late 1960s, psychologists and neurologists began to find evidence that our self-aware part is not always in charge. Researchers discovered that we are deeply influenced by perceptions, thoughts, feelings, and desires about which we have no awareness. Their research raised the disturbing possibility that much of what we think and do is thought and done by an unconscious part of the brain—an inner zombie.

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Unfolding the Carbon Cage

Posted on by Lori Jia

Jessica writes:

“I’m happy to send you my very own science tattoo — a buckyball net. I’ve always been fascinated by carbon and its presence on our planet — but I didn’t want to choose an ordinary representation of carbon for my…uh…lifetime ink commitment. Behold the carbon 60 molecule, which just happens to fit my idea and look ridiculously cool, especially when “unfolded.” I initially wanted the design to be small and discreet, but my tattoo artist thought it was such a cool design that he insisted I get it bigger. I’m happy I took his advice.”

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Friendly Invaders

Posted on by admin

The New York Times, September 8, 2008

Link

New Zealand is home to 2,065 native plants found nowhere else on Earth. They range from magnificent towering kauri trees to tiny flowers that form tightly packed mounds called vegetable sheep.

When Europeans began arriving in New Zealand, they brought with them alien plants–crops, garden plants and stowaway weeds. Today, 22,000 non-native plants grow in New Zealand. Most of them can survive only with the loving care of gardeners and farmers. But 2,069 have become naturalized: they have spread out across the islands on their own. There are more naturalized invasive plant species in New Zealand than native species.

Continue reading “Friendly Invaders” →