Scaling the World’s Largest Trees in the Name of Science

filed under: nature

Biologist Anthony Ambrose climbs the world’s largest trees, but he doesn’t do it for the endorphin rush. The University of California-Berkeley researcher studies how drought and climate change affect forest ecosystems—and right now, he’s concerned about how the state’s sequoia trees are faring under California’s ongoing drought.

Ambrose and his team of researchers check on the trees by measuring their water status, a.k.a. how much water is available for them to continue to function and grow. To do this, the biologist needs to take samples from the trees’ crowns, so he scales the 300-foot sequoias in the name of science.

“As water moves up the tree it’s fighting gravity and friction and the top of the tree is going to be the most stressed part of the tree. So in order to get a really good idea of how stressed they are, we need to go to the tippy top,” Ambrose explains.

Learn more about Ambrose’s research in the video above, courtesy of Great Big Story.

[h/t Great Big Story]

Banner image: iStock


February 3, 2017 – 3:00am

What’s the Correct Pronunciation of February?

Image credit: 
ThinkStock

In the United States, the most common pronunciation is feb-yoo-air-ee. Both Merriam-Webster and American Heritage dictionaries consider the common pronunciation correct, along with the less common, more traditional standard feb-roo-air-ee.

This gets fans of the traditional standard all worked up. But the loss of the first r in February is not some recent habit propagated by lazy teenagers. People have been avoiding that r for at least the last 150 years, and probably longer than that. Given certain conditions having to do with word stress and the other sounds in a word, we simply do not like to have two r’s so close to each other. The name for the linguistic process where one sound drops out because another of the same sound is too close to it is dissimilation, and it affects lots of languages.

Consider your pronunciation of the following words, and be honest about whether you really say the r’s in parentheses: su(r)prise, gove(r)nor, pa(r)ticular, be(r)serk, paraphe(r)nalia, cate(r)pillar, southe(r)ner, entrep(r)eneur, p(r)erogative, interp(r)etation. Not everybody drops these r’s, but at the same time, nobody seems to get too upset when they hear others do it.

There are, however, a few cases of r dissimilation that get people very worked up, namely, lib(r)ary and Feb(r)uary. Lib(r)ary attracts attention due to its association with commonly disparaged dialects. Feb(r)uary only seems to attract attention when someone asks what the proper pronunciation should be.

Here’s a little help from the (parody!) guide Pronunciation Manual:


February 3, 2017 – 12:00am

11 Things You Might Not Know About Bill Belichick

Image credit: 
Getty Images

When the New England Patriots step on to the field for their record ninth trip to the Super Bowl this Sunday, broadcasters will likely inundate you with facts and trivia about the players. But that doesn’t mean the people on the sidelines are any less interesting. Check out some information about notoriously tight-lipped Patriots coach Bill Belichick that you can share between nacho plates.

1. HIS COLLEGE EXPERIENCE WAS RIGHT OUT OF ANIMAL HOUSE.

Before graduating from Wesleyan University in 1975, Belichick was reportedly the polar opposite of his current reserved persona. Classmates recall that as president of the Chi Psi fraternity, the son of Navy’s football scout and future NFL Hall of Famer could usually be found in the vicinity of frat guys peeing on rival houses and blasting soda machines with a shotgun.

2. HE’S BEEN UNDER FBI PROTECTION.

Before moving to the Patriots, Belichick spent four years as head coach of the Cleveland Browns. When he cut popular quarterback Bernie Kosar from the roster, Belichick was so reviled by Cleveland fans that he began to receive death threats. So did Casey Coleman, an area broadcaster who defended Belichick’s decision. Both men got FBI protection until the furor died down.  

3. HE’S PALS WITH BON JOVI.

While not the personification of a rock fan, Belichick counts New Jersey musician Jon Bon Jovi among his closest friends. The two met when Belichick was working for the New York Giants in the early 1980s. The singer even brought a reticent Belichick and Patriots defensive coordinator Charlie Weis on stage for a song. “That happened one time and it was forgettable,” the deadpan coach once said of the performance (which you can see above).

4. HE’S HAD A LOT OF NICKNAMES.

Since beginning his NFL coaching career in 1975 with the Baltimore Colts, Belichick has assumed several identities in the league. Stints in Detroit and Denver led to the nicknames “Boy Genius” and “Punk”; in New York, Bill Parcells called him “Doom and Gloom” for his aloof demeanor.

5. HE GOT HANDED THE LARGEST FINE FOR A COACH IN NFL HISTORY.

After a Patriots employee was caught videotaping defensive hand signals from the New York Jets in 2007, the NFL slapped Belichick with a $500,000 fine, the largest in league history and roughly 12 percent of the $4.2 million salary he reportedly earned that year.

6. HE WAS HEAD COACH OF THE JETS—FOR ONE DAY.

MALCOLM CLARKE/AFP/Getty Images

After leaving the Browns, Belichick was brought on as an assistant coach with the New York Jets with the contractual promise that he’d be promoted to head coach if head coach Bill Parcells left or was let go. When Parcells retired in 1999, the Jets named Belichick their new coach. The problem? He apparently wasn’t into the idea since the Jets appeared to be nominating him reluctantly. After just one day, Belichick resigned from the position and moved to the Patriots the following year.

7. HE WON’T ACCEPT YOUR FREE CARS.

As a high-profile sports figure, Belichick is often approached by car dealers with offers of free vehicles in the hopes his celebrity will provide them with greater visibility. While it’s hard to turn down free wheels, Belichick does: He buys his family’s cars only from Farrell Volvo in Southborough, Massachusetts, a dealership owned by his college friend, Jim Farrell.

8. YOU CAN SOMETIMES FIND HIM IN PRISON.

Belichick uses his off-season time to do humanitarian work, and he’s particularly interested in rehabilitation of our incarcerated population. Belichick has worked with former NFL great Jim Brown on the Amer-I-Can program, lending aid and support to prisoners as well as paying visits to gang members for talks on how to avoid violence.

9. HE REFUSES TO BE DEPICTED IN MADDEN VIDEO GAMES.

Ethan Miller/Getty Images for Microsoft

Fans of the long-running Madden NFL video game series might be perplexed whenever they call up the Patriots head coach. It’s never Belichick, but an anonymous character named Josh Moore. (Sometimes, the more generic “NE Coach” is used.) For a game officially licensed, it’s a strange decision. While Belichick typically avoids queries as to why, one possible answer might be the fact that he hasn’t joined the NFL Coaches Association, which works with Electronic Arts to license coach likenesses.

10. HE HAS HIS OWN YODA.

The voice most frequently in Belichick’s headphones during games is longtime friend Ernie Adams, who met Belichick in 1970 and has been one of his closest confidantes ever since. Officially the Patriots “director of football research,” Adams suggests plays and adjustments to Belichick while making sports math calculations in the press box. Intensely private, very few pictures of Adams are known to exist.

11. HE ONCE SPIKED A TABLET.

Having been involved in football since watching his dad in the 1950s, Belichick isn’t one to abandon what works. After trying some tablets to arrange his plays and other data on the sidelines, Belichick was seen smashing one to the ground in October 2016. “As you probably noticed, I’m done with the tablets,” he told media. “They’re just too undependable for me. I’m going to stick with pictures, which several of our other coaches do, as well, because there just isn’t enough consistency in the performance of the tablets. I just can’t take it anymore.”


February 2, 2017 – 8:00pm

The Sarcastic Jokes Found on Roman Bullets

5285435796001

Ancient Greek and Roman soldiers used football-shaped lead bullets as ammunition for their slingshots. These projectiles could wreak havoc on their targets, but the soldiers weren’t content to merely wound their enemies. They also taunted them by inscribing insults and sarcastic jokes on their bullets.


February 2, 2017 – 7:00pm

These Cardboard Drones Are (Highly Useful) Paper Airplanes for the Military

Image credit: 
Otherlab

The U.S. military has started playing with paper airplanes. DARPA, the Defense Department’s technology lab, is funding research into inexpensive, biodegradable cardboard drones that can deliver supplies and then disappear, as the MIT Technology Review reports.

Designed by Otherlab, Aerial Platform Supporting Autonomous Resupply Actions (APSARA) gliders are made of heavy-duty cardboard that ships flat, like IKEA furniture. They’re cheap to mass-produce, so it’s not risky to send them into remote areas where the military might otherwise lose another pricey drone. Soldiers can assemble them in the field if necessary.

There’s no engine or battery, just a small set of electronics to allow the glider to navigate to its destination. They can carry 2.2 pounds (one kilogram) of blood, medicine, or other humanitarian supplies into areas that don’t have road or plane access, including onto the battlefield.

According to Otherlab’s press release, a military transport plane stocked with hundreds of pre-programmed cardboard gliders could deliver supplies to an area the size of California in one go. However, this design is just a trial run for the concept. According to Air & Space magazine, Otherlab plans to make the final product out of mycelium (living root structures from mushrooms) that could be activated when the glider is released. The spores would digest the frame, and within a few days, the drone would disappear completely.

If you thought the military’s drone programs were secretive now, just wait until they have drones that can eat themselves.

[h/t MIT Technology Review]


February 2, 2017 – 5:30pm

020317 newsletter

Newsletter Subject: 
A Behind-the-Scenes Look at Puppy Bowl XIII (and Why Are There Only 28 Days in February?)
Featured Story: 
Newsletter Item for (91677): A Behind-the-Scenes Look at Puppy Bowl XIII
From the Editors: 
Newsletter Item for (91677): A Behind-the-Scenes Look at Puppy Bowl XIII
Newsletter Item for (91768): Scientists Convert Human Skin Cells Into Cancer Killers
Newsletter Item for (91689): 5 Ways Doing Improv Can Help Your Professional Life
Newsletter Item for (91705): New Technology 'Reads' the Thoughts of ALS Patients
Newsletter Item for (91642): 25 Rich Facts About ‘Beverly Hills, 90210’
Newsletter Item for (55327): Why Are There Only 28 Days in February?
The Grid: 
11 Geeky Hats to Keep Your Noggin Warm This Winter
Apply Now to Be an Apprentice to a Globe Maker
A Hidden Coin in 'Donkey Kong 64' Went Undetected for 17 Years
Facebook’s ‘Customer Service Number’ Can Lead to a Scam
Fun Fact Text: 

Franklin Mars named the Snickers bar after his wife’s favorite racehorse.

Fun Fact Image: 
Fun Fact Url: 
http://mentalfloss.com/article/90662/50-sweet-facts-about-your-favorite-candies
Mailchimp Campaign Id: 
2b9835e309
Use Grid Ad: 
Scheduled Send: 
Send Date: 
Friday, February 3, 2017 – 08:45
Fun Fact Caption: 
iStock
More Info Text: 

Plants Tailor Their Chemical Weapons to Match Their Opponent

Image credit: 
Nicole van Dam

Plants look so helpless and innocent, leafing about in their fields and lawns, but mess with the wrong one and you could find yourself in a world of pain. Scientists say some plants can identify their herbivore attackers—and that the plants use that information to call in bigger, herbivore-killing bugs. A report on the findings was published in the journal New Phytologist.

The arms race between plants and plant-eaters is both brutal and surprisingly advanced. To combat opponents that can bite, pinch, fly, crawl, and run, plants have developed an impressive suite of chemical weapons. Some of these weapons are poison; others simply make the plants taste awful. And then there are the wasp calls. When under attack, some plants emit volatile gases that act almost like dog whistles, silently summoning gangs of parasitic wasps to take care of the offending insect.

Even without the benefit of external sensory organs, plants can tell when they’re being assaulted. Previous studies have found that some plants can sense their attackers’ odors in the air. Others ‘listen’ for the chemical distress calls emitted by nearby plants. Still others pick up on chemicals in a slobbering bug’s saliva.

So lots of plants can tell when they’re being eaten, but can they tell who’s doing the eating? To find out, researchers paired field mustard (Brassica rapa) plants with 12 different herbivore species, including caterpillars, aphids, and a slug. Some species were gnawers and chewers, while others fed via sucking. Some were local and some were unfamiliar. The researchers covered each plant/pest pair with a plastic bag to collect any gases the plants emitted, then tested the gas.

The plants were having none of it. They fought back admirably against all 12 attackers, producing different compounds for each species in order to summon the right species of wasp. The gases all contained the same chemicals; the plants simply adjusted the ratio of chemicals to customize each cocktail. They even concocted successful blends to dispose of species they’d never met before.

Lead author Nicole van Dam says the findings are “spectacular proof” of plants’ hidden capabilities. “The plants may not have a nervous system, eyes, ears, or mouths,” she said in a statement, “but they are capable of determining who is attacking them. What I find truly amazing is that they’re even capable of distinguishing between a native and an exotic herbivore.”


February 2, 2017 – 5:00pm

Hybrid Electric Bus Can Charge When It Pulls Up to a Stop

Image credit: 

In a suburb outside of Stockholm, bus stops are more than just places to pick up and drop off passengers. They’re also chargers. A new pilot program along a bus route in Södertälje is testing electric buses that can charge up at every stop, as recently highlighted by Co.Exist.

The electric hybrid buses charge automatically when they pull up to the bus stop, where a charging station is buried under the asphalt. It takes seven minutes to charge the bus battery enough for the full 6.2-mile route.

Right now, the Södertälje buses charge overnight and then at the final stop on the route. Sensors direct the bus drivers to park over the right section of the road. A charging box is lowered from under the bus to access the wireless charger.

It’s a collaboration between the Royal Institute of Technology KTH, the city of Södertälje, and Sweden’s national power company, Vattenfall, as well as the bus manufacturer Scania. This is partially a test to see how the system fares in northern climates, and Scania is still working out the best way to implement it, including where the charging stations should be placed along the route.

Seven minutes is a long time for a bus to sit at one stop in the middle of the route, and though this bus route is relatively short, another route probably wouldn’t be able to support a bus running on just one charge. For full-city usage, there would have to be more chargers throughout the route, which could lead to bus bunching as drivers wait for their vehicles to charge. Another solution might be to put chargers under the entirety of the road. The UK has already begun testing an under-road charging system it plans to one day install under the nation’s highways.

[h/t Co.Exist]


February 2, 2017 – 4:30pm

11 People Who Turned Up Alive at Their Own Funeral

Image credit: 
iStock

by Simon Brew

Picture the scene: You’re at a funeral, or are in the process of arranging one, when the person who’s supposed to be in the coffin turns up to see what’s going on. Stuff of imagination? More often than not, yes. But sometimes, it really does happen.

1. THE MAN MISTAKENLY IDENTIFIED BY HIS BROTHER

Gilberto Araujo of Brazil was pronounced dead back in 2012, after his body had been identified at the local morgue by his brother. Family members of the 41-year-old were standing alongside his coffin in mourning when Araujo turned up at the door.

The untimely funeral was a case of mistaken identity: Araujo worked as a car washer in the town of Alagoinhas, Brazil, where there had been a murder. That murder took the life of another car-washer, who apparently looked like Araujo—hence his brother’s confusion. We can only imagine the two weren’t very close.

2. THE WOMAN WHO CONFRONTED THE HUSBAND WHO’D ORDERED HER DEAD

The story of Noela Rukundo made headlines around the world in 2016. A resident of Australia, she had returned home to Burundi to attend the funeral of her stepmother. Unbeknownst to her, her husband had arranged hitmen to take her life while she was there, and they duly grabbed her.

However, these were hitmen with a heart. When they realized her own husband had ordered her killed, they gave Rukundo her freedom and she flew home, approaching her husband at her own funeral to confront him about his plan. He was sentenced to nine years in prison at the end of 2015.

3. THE CHINESE MAN WHO STAGED HIS OWN FUNERAL

Zhang Deyang was 66 years old when he decided to stage his own funeral. He arranged it himself, wondering how many would turn up given that he had never married and had no children. There was a particular reason for his concern—in Chinese culture, the dead are said to have needs, and their graves are supposed to be visited regularly to ensure those needs are met.

In the event, 40 invitees turned up at Deyang’s funeral, along with several hundred others. Yet he wasn’t happy: 20 relatives and friends didn’t show up. “I can’t believe so many relatives and friends don’t care about me,” he was quoted as saying.

4. THE SERBIAN MAN WHO THANKED PEOPLE FOR ATTENDING HIS FUNERAL

There’s more than one example of someone who arranged their own funeral just to see who would turn up. In 1997, Serbian pensioner Vuk Peric posted a fake death notice in his local newspaper, and sent invites to his funeral. He then watched the event from a distance, eventually emerging to reveal that he was, indeed, alive. He thanked the mourners for attending.

5. THE MAN WHO GOT TWO MORE WEEKS.

Seventy-eight-year-old Walter Williams of Mississippi was pronounced dead on February 26, 2014. As CNN reported, the correct paperwork was completed, his body was put into a bodybag, and he was taken to a funeral home.

Yet Williams didn’t make it to his funeral, because when his body was taken to the embalming room, his legs began to move. Then, the coroner noticed him lightly breathing. Williams was alive.

It was, as it turned out, a short-lived reprieve. Just over two weeks later, he passed away for real. The family double-checked. “I think he’s gone this time,” confirmed his nephew.

6. THE REAWAKENING THAT INSPIRED A HOLIDAY

The village of Braughing in Hertfordshire, England, celebrates “Old Man’s Day” on October 2 each year. The tradition dates back to 1571, and the funeral of a local farmer by the name of Matthew Wall. On the way to his funeral, though, one of his pallbearers dropped his coffin.

It’s a good thing he did, because the jolt promptly woke up Wall up. The farmer would live for over two decades more, finally passing away in 1595. His coming back to life continues to be cause for celebration in Braughing.

7. THE BISHOP WHO WOKE UP AFTER TWO DAYS

Nicephorus Glycas was a bishop working in Lesbos, Greece, when he was declared dead on March 3, 1896. In accordance with tradition, his body was left on display in the Methymni church.

It was on the second night of what was known as “the exposition of the corpse” that things took a turn. For Glycas sat up, reportedly demanding to know what all the fuss was about. Turned out, he’d just been having a long nap.

8. THE MAN WHO TURNED UP DRUNK AT HIS OWN FUNERAL

When Ecuadorian man Edison Vicuna went missing for three days, his friends and family assumed the worst. Especially when the body turned up of a man whose face had been severely disfigured following a car accident. A post-mortem was performed, and the corpse was confirmed to be Vicuna’s.

Only it wasn’t. In fact, come his funeral, Vicuna turned up, drunk, causing mourners to scream in horror. The funeral, as you might expect, was halted, and the body was returned to the morgue, where it was properly identified as belonging to someone entirely different.

9. THE WOMAN WHO WOKE UP—THEN DIED FOR REAL

When Fagilyu Mukhametzyanov of Kazan in Russia collapsed at home following a heart attack in 2011, she was quickly rushed to her local hospital. But the journey was apparently in vain; she was soon declared dead.

This story that follows, though, has both good and bad sides to it.

The good part? She was alive. A few days later, as she was lying in her coffin at her own funeral, she woke up. She saw the mourners around her, crying and praying for her, and quickly twigged to what was happening. She reportedly—and understandably—began yelling, and was quickly rushed back to hospital.

However, the shock of what had happened took its toll. As her husband Fagili Mukhametzyanov recalled, “her eyes flapped. However, she just lived for an additional 12 minutes in intensive care prior to dying once more, this time permanently.” Heart failure was ultimately registered as the cause of death.

10. THE MAN WHO TURNED UP TO THE LAST DAY OF HIS FUNERAL

When a government airstrike killed over 100 people near Damascus, Syria last year, one of the casualties was seemingly Mohammed Rayhan. He had been at the local market, which took the force of the blast, and was apparently dead, buried under rubble.

That turned out to be only half-true.

Rayhan’s family and friends organized his funeral, which went ahead a few days later without the corpse. But said friends and family got a very pleasant shock when the man himself turned up at it. Rayhan had been buried under the rubble following the explosion for 36 hours, but eventually managed to free himself. When he arrived at his funeral, he was still covered in the remnants of the rubble in his hair and beard.

11. THE WAITER WHO RETURNED TO LIFE

Twenty-eight-year-old Hamdi Hafez al-Nubi worked as a waiter in Luxor, Egypt back in 2012. It was while he was working one day that he had a heart attack, and apparently perished. He was declared dead, and his family took the body home, washed it according to Islamic traditions, and readied it for his burial at the end of the week.

The fact that al-Nubi was actually alive was spotted by the doctor sent to sign the final death certificate. He took a closer look at the body when he noticed it was still warm, and discovered that al-Nubi was still breathing. He quickly alerted the man’s mother, and what was set to be his funeral turned into a celebration instead.

All photos via iStock.


February 2, 2017 – 4:00pm

Megabus Wants to Throw You a Free Wedding (on a Megabus)

Image credit: 
iStock

Marriage can be a bumpy road, but Megabus wants to give one lucky couple a smooth start by awarding them a free wedding. The discount travel company’s new “Marry Me On A Megabus” sweepstakes provides winners with an all-expenses-paid ceremony aboard a bus, along with two round-trip tickets for the honeymoon and $2500 in cash.

For most people, buses don’t exactly scream “romance.” But according to Sean Hughes, Megabus’s director of public affairs, they often serve as a vehicle for lasting love.

“Over the past 10 years, we have loved hearing about couples that have met on a Megabus or used megabus.com to travel to see their long-distance loves,” Hughes said in a news release. “It’s a pleasure to play Cupid and be a part of so many people’s love life.”

Touching anecdotes aside, all couples—not just far-flung sweethearts—are invited to enter Megabus’s giveaway until February 21, either through the company’s Facebook page or an online form. Submit the story of how you met, and why exactly you want to be married on a Megabus. (The giveaway’s perks—which, in addition to a paid honeymoon, include free music, flowers, and an officiant; and complimentary transportation to and from the ceremony—probably don’t count toward your answer.)

The winning duo will be announced on social media on March 15, 2017; they can select a wedding destination from more than 100 cities. Interested couples can view the official sweepstakes rules online.


February 2, 2017 – 3:30pm