- How do baby plant-hopping insects get their jump on? According to Malcom
Burrows, a zoologist at the University of Cambridge, these tiny creatures’ series
of rapid-fire leaps are powered by structures in their legs that look and work
like human-made mechanical gears. If proven out, these findings represent a
remarkable case of similar evolution in animals and machines, Burrows said. "I
think it's quite cool," he declared. "It's a convergence on a
solution to the same problem." Burrows and colleague Gregory Sutton
set out to study how insects manage to jump so quickly and stumbled across a
species found in gardens across Europe called Issus coleoptratus,
also known as the planthopper. They studied immature forms, or nymphs, of the
insect and discovered protruding, teeth-like structures on their hind-leg
joints. "We thought, well, that's pretty weird," Burrows recalled. When
they looked closer using a microscope, the "teeth" proved to be part
of curved gear- or cog-like strips found on each hind leg. The teeth of those
protrusions were cog-like, appearing to intermesh with one other like on the
gears of a bicycle. "We were totally dumbfounded when we saw this,"
Burrows said. To further explore their find, the researchers took high-speed
video of live planthoppers and watched as the gear teeth of the insect's
opposing hind legs locked together and rotated in preparation for a jump. They
watched as the gears moved right past each other like those on a man-made wheel
and found that the same mechanism worked to couple the insect's legs to a
remarkable degree. Movement of one leg resulted in its cog engaging with its
counterpart on the other leg, turning it and causing it to move by the exact
same amount. By the time all of the movements and mechanisms are finished, both
legs are synchronized to within 30 millionths of a second of one another. "They're
going incredibly fast," Burrows said. "In one millisecond, they're
going from zero velocity to about 12 mph." Sounds like the inspiration for
BMW’s next overpriced luxury car………
- Sunday’s NFC West showdown between the Seattle Seahawks
and San Francisco 49ers could be the game of the weekend in the NFL. Two of the
best teams in the league will square off in Seattle and no one would be
surprised to see them playing again in mid-January in the NFC championship game.
That kind of contest can inspire some pretty unfriendly behavior among fans and
with a sellout crowd expected at Qwest Field in Seattle, the city’s men in blue
aren't taking any chances. According to the Seahawks, the Seattle Police
Department will
have undercover police officers in the stands wearing 49ers apparel in order to
prevent hostile behavior among the unwashed masses. In fact, the SPD will do
the same for every home game this season. The team announced the plan Wednesday,
saying the goal is to ensure a safe environment for all fans, including those
supporting the visiting team. Along with the undercover officers, Seahawks gameday
staff members will patrol the crowd and intervene against unruly behavior, foul
or abusive language and verbal and physical harassment of opposing team fans or
stadium guests and staff members. In keeping with league policy, any fan
ejected from the stadium for inappropriate behavior will be required to
complete a four-hour online educational course at their own cost before they
will be cleared to attend events at the stadium again. "We have great
fans," Seahawks president Peter McLoughlin said. "Our goal is to
ensure a safe environment for all in attendance, including visiting team
fans." Eliminating alcohol from the mix would go a long way toward
reaching that goal, but that would mean the team giving up its voluminous
revenues from those $8.50 12 oz. beers………
- Rise up, angry Catalonians, rise up. Residents of this
autonomous region in eastern Spain have long pushed for their independence on
the grounds that they aren't like the rest of Spain, but their ire reached new
heights this week as hundreds of thousands of Catalans held hands in a 250-mile human chain
across their region to send a message to the Spanish government to let them
vote on breaking away and forming their own country. Dressed in yellow
T-shirts and draped in blue, red and yellow separatist banners, the Catalonian
crusaders r joined hands through cities and along rural roads, jumping and
shouting in celebration when the chain was completed. Participants spoke about
the need for a referendum to gauge interest in independence and lamented the
government’s refusal to listen to their ideas. Many believe their region is
treated unfairly over taxes and cultural issues such as the Catalan language,
despite having significant self-governing powers. Like the rest of Spain,
Catalonia has been affected by a deep recession and cuts in public spending
across the country, but residents of the wealthy industrial region that accounts
for a fifth of Spain's economic output are unhappy with the government’s
response. With 7.5 million angry Catalonians pressing their independence issue,
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy must find a way to placate the region
while dealing with a corruption scandal and trying to pull Spain out of
recession while pushing through unpopular spending cuts. The human chain
demonstration took place on Catalan national day, one month after Rajoy and
Catalan President Artur Mas met in secret and agreed to continue negotiations
to end a year-long standoff over the referendum and greater tax powers for the
region. However, Rajoy says a referendum on Catalan independence would be
unconstitutional and has vowed to block it in the courts. A massive human
chain of 500,000 people stretching unbroken from the Pyrenees in the north to
the border with Valencia in the south may or may not change that point of view……..
- Can a guest appearance mid-concert from a punk rock legend
give any real credibility to pop-punk poseurs Fall Out Boy? Trick question.
Nothing can accomplish that impossible feat, but that didn’t stop Marky Ramone of
iconic punk rock outfit the Ramones from playing his band’s classic tracks “Blitzkrieg
Bop” and “I Wanna Be Sedated” with Fall Out Boy at Brooklyn's Barclay's center
during a recent show. Fans cheered wildly as Ramone took his place behind the
high hats and he wasn’t the only guest star on hand for the show. Travie McCoy
also performed his track “Billionaire” with the group as they made one of the
first stops on their North American arena tour. Perhaps sensing that they are
still a colossal joke and could use any boost they can get, Fall Out Boy have
been working with some big names of late, including a recent recording session
that saw they lay down nine new tracks with indie rock icon Ryan Adams. Fall
Out Boy worked with the singer-songwriter over two nights at Adams' Pax-Am
studios in Los Angeles this summer, with Adams in the producer’s chair. Fall
Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz remarked afterward about the experience of working
with someone he and his bandmates had looked up to for years. "It was punk
rock – the stuff that makes you want to kick the shit out of your bedroom at
your parents' house. It's impossible to deny the spirit of what was happening
there,” Wentz said. "It was like hanging out with your older brother that
got you into punk rock. Except he gets all the jokes and he's not like, 'Here's
these sh*tty kids' or whatever. So that was cool." Maybe Adams’ help can
avert a disastrous and inappropriately named effort like Fall Out Boy’s
rock-killing latest album, “Save Rock & Roll,” which dropped in April………
- Look at city officials in Pittsburgh, dropping the hammer
on the common man for no reason other than an insipid and moronic law that
makes no sense on any level. Score one for bureaucratic idiocy. Residents of
the West End
and Squirrel Hill areas of the Steel City have been receiving parking citations
at an increased rate because they have dared to park…..in their own driveways.
Yes, parking in one’s own driveway can be a crime, at least on two specific
streets. Pittsburgh City Councilman Corey O’Connor represents the affected
areas and is worried that the problem could grown beyond one small sliver of
the city. “This could happen tomorrow to any resident of the city of
Pittsburgh,” O’Connor said. For residents like Eileen Freedman, who has parked
in the same spot in her short driveway for the past 17 years, the citations
came as a total surprise. Freedman resides on Hobart Street in Squirrel Hill
and her first hint that something was wrong was a warning letter from the
Pittsburgh’s Bureau of Building Inspection. “We’re no longer allowed to use our
driveway to park, because of a law that says you have to park at least 30 feet
away from the street,” Freedman explained. That policy is a problem for her because
she can't park 30 feet back between her home and the neighboring one; it’s just
too narrow. Trying to obey the law has left a pregnant mother of seven who
lives across the street unable to get out of the driver’s side of her van because
the only legal place she can park is too narrow. “It’s a pretty ridiculous
problem, actually,” O’Connor accurately noted. He pointed out that the
little-known 30-foot back law originated in the 1950s and went largely
unenforced until recently. “because you have to have what is called an
occupancy permit. The funny thing about that is, we don’t tell you need an
occupancy permit.” The law has already forced one family to pay a $2,400 fine
and it seems like a fine time for the council to address the subject before an
angry, down-and-out resident of one of America’s hardest cities decides to
enact some civic change with a steel pipe to a council member’s face……….
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