Buy the ticket, take the ride.

rhamphotheca: Survival denied: Birds, fish, plant, pygmy...

Fri, 26 Oct 2012 15:40:24 -0400

Survival denied: Birds, fish, plant, pygmy rabbits lose out on endangered species protection

by John R. Platt

A variety of rare and threatened species have been denied protection under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in recent weeks, including North America’s smallest rabbit and a plant that may already be extinct in the wild.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), which makes the final determination on which species get protected status, ruled that some of these species deserve protection, although not as much as other, higher priority species. FWS also said it lacks the funding to add some of these species to the endangered species list at this time.

The most recently denied species is the Sacramento splittail (Pogonichthys macrolepidotus), a minnow that was listed as threatened under the ESA from 1999 to 2003 then removed after a lawsuit from the San Luis and Delta–Mendota Water Authority in California. After seven years of additional review spurred by another lawsuit from the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), FWS ruled on Tuesday that the splittail does not warrant ESA protection, saying “while habitat loss has occurred over the years, the existing data fail to show a significant long-term decline of the splittail.” The splittail can be one of the region’s most abundant fish, but only during flood years, which California has not experienced lately. The CBD says it will challenge this most recent decision.

Another tiny species, the pygmy rabbit (Brachylagus idahoensis), was denied ESA protection on September 29. The decision affects the rabbit’s dwindling populations…

(read more: Extinction Countdown Blog | Scientific American)

(photos: USBLM, USFWS)

sciencephotolibrary: Jellyfish larva. Coloured scanning...

Fri, 26 Oct 2012 15:33:34 -0400

sciencephotolibrary:

Jellyfish larva. Coloured scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of a stage in the larval development of a jellyfish. Jellyfish are any of numerous usually free-swimming marine coelenterates of the class Scyphozoa, characteristically having a gelatinous, tentacled, often bell-shaped medusoid stage as the dominant phase of its life cycle. This immature medusa or ephyra was found in a sample of zooplankton, the array of microscopic animals found floating in the world’s oceans. Magnification: x250 when printed at 10 cemtimetres across.

Credit: STEVE GSCHMEISSNER/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Photo

Fri, 26 Oct 2012 15:09:41 -0400

bloodshotmary: IT HAS FEETIES FEEE. TIEEES.

Fri, 26 Oct 2012 15:06:59 -0400

bloodshotmary:

IT HAS FEETIES

FEEE. TIEEES.

7h475p00kyc4p70r: milesjai: Man the 90’s were weird. i...

Fri, 26 Oct 2012 14:51:30 -0400

7h475p00kyc4p70r:

milesjai:

Man the 90’s were weird.

i remember this shit omg

this was why i was afraid to eat gushers

angrybrownbaby: disconnectedreality: cosmicportal: Figure of...

Sun, 21 Oct 2012 16:17:16 -0400

angrybrownbaby:

disconnectedreality:

cosmicportal:

Figure of Goddess Hathor found in “Cueva de los Tayos” (Ecuador)

Time to relearn history folks, scrap your modern european warped view of how we came to be. The ancients were connected

People really think only Europeans knew how to sail the oceans? Oh.

Riddle me this...

Sun, 21 Oct 2012 16:14:57 -0400

If you’ve lived your whole life as a lazy ass bum with no job or motivation and freeloaded off of every person who ever showed you kindness, what do you think is going to happen when you consciously decided that you’re still not going to get a job, you’re still not going to get up off the couch, and you’re still going to freeload? Oh, that’s right. You’ll suddenly shit a million dollars and everything will be ok. GTFO.

Photo

Sun, 21 Oct 2012 16:11:12 -0400

Photo

Sun, 21 Oct 2012 16:10:46 -0400

Photo

Sun, 21 Oct 2012 16:09:43 -0400

lizzysouth: The most powerful argument for gay marriage I have...

Tue, 16 Oct 2012 13:18:17 -0400

lizzysouth:

The most powerful argument for gay marriage I have ever read - Imgur

I love when teachers say they’re going to test you on one thing, fucking ignore it, and test...

Tue, 16 Oct 2012 12:40:40 -0400

I love when teachers say they’re going to test you on one thing, fucking ignore it, and test you on finite details of some random bullshit they mentioned once COMPLETELY unrelated to what they said they were going to test you on. How the hell am I supposed to prepare for that? Last time I checked, I’m not the fucking Wizard of Oz with 1000 tricks up my fucking sleeves. It’s times like this that I think traditional school is fucking bullshit. What am I learning?!?! Why do these teachers play fucking mind games with us? Fuck them all.