Also in today’s links: pregnant whales giving birth on land, mice living the good life, and more.
- Horned lizards have a specific behavior — and handy anatomy — that lets them eat venomous ants without getting stung. Your grandmother, however, would not approve of their manners.
- A paleontologist has found the fossil of a pregnant whale — which appeared initially to be a confusing jumble of adult and fetus bones — indicating that early amphibious whales gave birth on land.
- Somewhere along the way, ethanol developed a bit of a reputation as an eco-friendly alternative fuel — it’s corn! corn’s a plant! This somehow seemed to be a confused interpretation of the fact that ethanol can be produced domestically — so long as you don’t look too far down the supply chain. But a new study finds that the total environmental and health costs for ethanol outweigh that of gasoline.
- A study on mice indicates that mothers who live a more stimulating life can pass on to their children improved memories. There’s a pot-smoking joke here, but I can’t quite make it out.
- Hong Kong scientists have developed an “invisibility umbrella” that can make an object next to it — not within it — undetectable — provided one is doing the detecting with microwaves.