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The Cicadas are Coming!

May 6, 2013 by

The weather is great, the sun is shining, the birds are chirping, and soon, the cicadas will be chirping, too. This year marks the end of a 17 year long life-cycle for the cicada genus magicicadas in the Northeast. After spending nearly two decades burrowed in the ground as nymphs, they are slated to spring out of the ground to mate and lay eggs for the next generation of cicadas.

These cicadas are part of the North American genus magicicadas that have one of the longest life spans of all insects. If you are near any place that has trees that have not been disturbed for the past 17 years, you can expect many cicadas to be flying around soon- though they will be flying around everywhere soon enough! When the ground reaches a toasty 64 degrees, cicadas that have burrowed deep in the ground around trees will emerge. Scientists are reporting that billions of cicadas will emerge very soon with the warm weather.

Many are dubbing the return of the cicadas as “Swarmageddon” because of the number of cicadas that are expected to emerge. Cicadas are harmless and won’t bite or sting you, though their loud buzzing noises (some as loud as a subway) will let you know that they have arrived.

As you wait out the cicada-storm, check out these PUP books on bugs!

1. Bugs Rule!: An Introduction to the World of Insects by Whitney Cranshaw & Richard Redak

Bugs Rule! provides a lively introduction to the biology and natural history of insects and their noninsect cousins, such as spiders, scorpions, and centipedes. This richly illustrated textbook features more than 830 color photos, a concise overview of the basics of entomology, and numerous sidebars that highlight and explain key points. Detailed chapters cover each of the major insect groups, describing their physiology, behaviors, feeding habits, reproduction, human interactions, and more.

Ideal for nonscience majors and anyone seeking to learn more about insects and their arthropod relatives, Bugs Rule! offers a one-of-a-kind gateway into the world of these amazing creatures.

Another book by Cranshaw that is currently available features an entire chapter on cicadas among many other bugs.

2. Garden Insects of North America: The Ultimate Guide to Backyard Bugs by Whitney Cranshaw

Garden Insects of North America is the most comprehensive and user-friendly guide to the common insects and mites affecting yard and garden plants in North America. In a manner no previous book has come close to achieving, through full-color photos and concise, clear, scientifically accurate text, it describes the vast majority of species associated with shade trees and shrubs, turfgrass, flowers and ornamental plants, vegetables, and fruits–1,420 of them, including crickets, katydids, fruit flies, mealybugs, moths, maggots, borers, aphids, ants, bees, and many, many more. For particularly abundant bugs adept at damaging garden plants, management tips are also included. Covering all of the continental United States and Canada, this is the definitive one-volume resource for amateur gardeners, insect lovers, and professional entomologists alike.

To ease identification, the book is organized by plant area affected (e.g., foliage, flowers, stems) and within that, by taxa. Close to a third of the species are primarily leaf chewers, with about the same number of sap suckers. Multiple photos of various life stages and typical plant symptoms are included for key species. The text, on the facing page, provides basic information on host plants, characteristic damage caused to plants, distribution, life history, habits, and, where necessary, how to keep “pests” in check–in short, the essentials to better understanding, appreciating, and tolerating these creatures.

Whether managing, studying, or simply observing insects, identification is the first step–and this book is the key. With it in hand, the marvelous microcosm right outside the house finally comes fully into view.

For more on cicada-watch 2013, Radiolab has a cool interactive map that is tracking cicada sightings along the East Coast. You can also check out this article over at New York Daily News for more information on the cicadas.

Have you seen any cicadas in your area?

Filed Under: Birds and Natural History, In the News, Twitter

Social Learning: People See, People Do/ Monkey See, Monkey Do

May 1, 2013 by

It has been studied and proven that human beings learn socially. We observe that it is right and polite to hold the door open for others instead of slamming it in their faces and we learn that you don’t cause a loud ruckus in a crowded library (especially during finals week) or you will be hated by everyone in there.  These are not lessons we are told explicitly; rather these are lessons we learn through observing the behavior of other humans. Similarly, animals learn socially just as we do.

In a study reported on by The New York Times, researchers discovered that monkeys learned socially. The monkeys had been previously classically conditioned to only eat pink or blue-dyed corn and to shun the other colored corn. When the monkeys were moved to a different location in which the other colored corn was the corn that the local monkeys were conditioned to eat, the pink and blue-dyed corn eating monkeys switched to eating the colored corn that the local monkeys were eating.

Humpback whales have also demonstrated that they socially learn, as reported in this article on National Geographic. A renegade humpback whale in the Gulf of Maine made a new method in catching fish that was much different than the normal routine. Soon enough, 40% of humpback whales have adopted the practice to catch their dinner.

These phenomena can be understood through Social Learning: An Introduction to Mechanisms, Methods, and Models, a new book on social learning that is available this summer.

Many animals, including humans, acquire valuable skills and knowledge by copying others. Scientists refer to this as social learning. It is one of the most exciting and rapidly developing areas of behavioral research and sits at the interface of many academic disciplines, including biology, experimental psychology, economics, and cognitive neuroscience. Social Learning provides a comprehensive, practical guide to the research methods of this important emerging field. William Hoppitt and Kevin Laland define the mechanisms thought to underlie social learning and demonstrate how to distinguish them experimentally in the laboratory. They present techniques for detecting and quantifying social learning in nature, including statistical modeling of the spatial distribution of behavior traits. They also describe the latest theory and empirical findings on social learning strategies, and introduce readers to mathematical methods and models used in the study of cultural evolution. This book is an indispensable tool for researchers and an essential primer for students.

  • Provides a comprehensive, practical guide to social learning research
  • Combines theoretical and empirical approaches
  • Describes techniques for the laboratory and the field
  • Covers social learning mechanisms and strategies, statistical modeling techniques for field data, mathematical modeling of cultural evolution, and more

William Hoppitt is senior lecturer in zoology at Anglia Ruskin University. Kevin N. Laland is professor of behavioral and evolutionary biology at the University of St. Andrews. His books include Culture Evolves and Niche Construction: The Neglected Process in Evolution

Filed Under: Biological Sciences, Psychology, Twitter

Posting Remorse: Deleting isn’t Permanent on the Internet

May 1, 2013 by

The internet is great for sharing. But what happens when you are done with sharing?  The internet isn’t a chalkboard that you can write on and erase at your leisure. Once something is out there in the internet, it will more or less be there forever.

Take such simple things as posting a picture on Facebook to share with your friends. It may be a goofy picture of you and your college buddies but in a few years, that photo seems tasteless and may make you look bad for whatever reason. So, you delete it. Problem solved. However, your picture still lingers on the internet though you may not be able to see it and it can always be dug up to haunt you.

Anthony Weiner was just a regular old politician before his scandal leaked. Now a simple Google search defines him as a sexual deviant with his humiliation dubbed Weinergate. He may bounce back from his shame but the power of the internet will make it hard to forget what he’s done.

In an op-ed for The New York Times, Bill Keller discusses why the ability to permanently delete information off the internet is a measure that needs to be taken. Viktor Mayer-Schönberger discusses this idea in depth in his book Delete: The Virtue of Forgetting in the Digital Age. The ability to forget allows people to move forward in life. Though he does not say that history should be forgotten (like Weinergate), there are certain pieces of information about individuals that should be allowed to be forgotten, such as news stories about convictions that were eventually resolved but did not have any subsequent media coverage discussing their innocence. Mayer-Schönberger proposes expiration dates on information that may help fix this problem among other ideas that may help make internet posting remorse a thing of the past.

Delete looks at the surprising phenomenon of perfect remembering in the digital age, and reveals why we must reintroduce our capacity to forget. Digital technology empowers us as never before, yet it has unforeseen consequences as well. Potentially humiliating content on Facebook is enshrined in cyberspace for future employers to see. Google remembers everything we’ve searched for and when. The digital realm remembers what is sometimes better forgotten, and this has profound implications for us all.

In Delete, Viktor Mayer-Schönberger traces the important role that forgetting has played throughout human history, from the ability to make sound decisions unencumbered by the past to the possibility of second chances. The written word made it possible for humans to remember across generations and time, yet now digital technology and global networks are overriding our natural ability to forget–the past is ever present, ready to be called up at the click of a mouse. Mayer-Schönberger examines the technology that’s facilitating the end of forgetting–digitization, cheap storage and easy retrieval, global access, and increasingly powerful software–and describes the dangers of everlasting digital memory, whether it’s outdated information taken out of context or compromising photos the Web won’t let us forget. He explains why information privacy rights and other fixes can’t help us, and proposes an ingeniously simple solution–expiration dates on information–that may.

Delete was awarded prizes in 2010 for its focus on media ecology and science and technology politics from the Media Ecology Association and American Political Science Association respectively.

Filed Under: Technology & Media, Twitter

Bernard Carlson talks Tesla at Johns Hopkins Bookstore tonight!

May 1, 2013 by

j9941[1]Did Tesla really invent a death ray? Could he have provided unlimited free energy to the world? Did he really fall in love with a laser-eyed pigeon? There are many rumors and myths surrounding Nikola Tesla, and biographer Bernard Carlson will separate fact from fiction tonight at the Johns Hopkins University Bookstore at 7 PM.

With a functioning Tesla coil by his side, Dr. Carlson will discuss his new biography, Tesla: Inventor of the Electrical Age. 70 years after Tesla’s death, this major new book sheds new light on his visionary approach to invention and the business strategies behind his most important technological breakthroughs. Publishers Weekly calls the book “[An] electric portrait,” and it received a starred review in Booklist.

See you there!

 

Location:

Homewood – Barnes & Noble JHU Book Store
3330 St. Paul Street
Baltimore, MD 21218
Phone: 410-662-5850

 

Find this event on the PUP Calendar, to set a reminder for yourself and share news of the event.

Filed Under: Events, Physics, Popular Science, Technology, Twitter

Wildflower Wednesday — Miterwort

May 1, 2013 by

Mitella diphylla

The quarter-inch flowers of miterwort resemble floral snowflakes.
This close-up view shows one of the several flowers that are
arranged on an upright stalk arising from a basal rosette
of hairy leaves. © 2012 Carol Gracie

 

Miterwort (Mitella diphylla) – may be one of our most beautiful and least appreciated wildflowers. Because its habitat is deep forest it is noticed by few who venture into the woods in spring, and even when spotted, it requires close inspection with a 10x magnifying hand lens to see its delicate beauty. However, it is well worth getting on one’s hands and knees to do so. The intricate filigree surrounding the tiny, white cup-like flowers gives them the appearance of 5-parted snowflakes.

 

Miterwort is named for the shape of its tiny fruits, said to resemble the hats (miters) worn by bishops of the Catholic Church. Even if the flower stalk bends over, the fruits always orient themselves such that their opening faces upward, thus ensuring that they are in the proper position for their unusual method of seed dispersal. The shiny black seeds are ejected from the fruits by the force of raindrops, a method termed splash-cup dispersal. Depending on the angle and force of the rain, seeds may be splashed up to a meter from the plant.

 

Miterwort will be in flower in the New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut area within the next week or two. Look for its thin flower stalks subtended by paired leaves on your next woodland walk.

 

Learn more about miterwort and many other spring wildflowers in Carol Gracie’s book, Spring Wildflowers of the Northeast: A Natural History.

Filed Under: Birds and Natural History, Twitter, Wildflower Wednesday, WildflowerWednesday

The hummingbirds are back in New Jersey already!!

April 30, 2013 by

ruby throated humminbird

Check out this map at hummingbird.net to see when they arrived in your region.

Meantime, enjoy this gorgeous plate from The Crossley ID Guide: Eastern Birds.

Filed Under: Birds and Natural History, The Crossley ID Guide, Twitter

How to Use The Warbler Guide‘s Quick Finders

April 30, 2013 by

Tom Stephenson and Scott Whittle have created the most innovative and complete guide to warblers available in their forthcoming book The Warbler Guide. We will be posting a series of videos that highlight and explain how to use some of the key features of the book over the coming weeks. In this video, they explain how readers can easily find any warbler featured in the book using the visual and audio Quick Finders printed throughout the book.

Click here to learn more about The Warbler Guide. The book will be available July 2013.

For more tips on how to use The Warbler Guide and how to identify warblers in the field, please see additional videos in this series.

Filed Under: Birds and Natural History, Trailer, Twitter Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Tesla wins Geek Madness, named Greatest Geek of All Time

April 30, 2013 by

GeekMadnessChamp-1024x687[1]

GeekWire recently held a Geek Madness. Over several weeks their readers whittled down a field of 32 all-star scientists to name Tesla, the Greatest Geek of All Time.

Tesla entered the competition as the #2 seed in the Math/Science field of competitors, but emerged victorious after vanquishing opponents like Linus Torvalds (ranked 14 on the Technology side), Albert Einstein (1), Charles Darwin (7), and Alexander Graham Bell (15). High praise from a geeky audience and as publishers of Tesla: The Inventor of the Electrical Age, we couldn’t agree more.

Here’s the blow-by-blow from GeekWire:

Tesla led from start-to-finish in the championship match over 14-seed Linus Torvalds, as Mr. Cinderella fell one upset short of what would have been one of the most epic underdog stories in geek history.

But it was Tesla garnering 1,764 of the votes to edge Torvalds, who still managed to do his Linux faithful proud with 1,293 votes to his name.

Read the complete post at GeekWire: http://www.geekwire.com/2013/geek-madness-tesla-named-greatest-geek-trouncing-torvalds/

 

We hope some of these Tesla fans will show up to meet Bernard Carlson and get an autographed copy of Tesla: The Inventor of the Electrical Age.

Here’s the complete list of dates and places: http://blog.press.princeton.edu/2013/02/22/bernard-carlson-author-of-tesla-to-tour-college-bookstores/

Filed Under: Physics, Technology, Twitter

Wildflower Wednesday — Wild Ginger

April 24, 2013 by

Week 05 Asarum_canadense

 

A beetle’s eye view of a wild ginger
plant showing the interesting flower
prostrate on the ground.

 

Wild ginger – As one might suspect from its common name, wild ginger has been used as substitute for the spice known as ginger, which comes from an entirely unrelated plant. Early colonists were eager to find flavorings to replace those that they knew from home, and the rhizomes of wild ginger filled that need. All one needs to do is scratch the exposed rhizome (an underground stem that is often exposed at the top of the soil) to smell the gingery fragrance. However, research has shown the rhizomes to contain aristolochic acid, a known carcinogen, so this use is no longer recommended.

 

The odd maroon and white flowers of wild ginger lie on the ground, hidden under the heart-shaped fuzzy leaves. They attract few insect visitors, and thus are usually self-pollinated, but the primary method of propagation is vegetatively by the spreading rhizomes. Thus, the plants in a colony of wild ginger are genetically identical and form a clone. Gardeners are fond of wild ginger for use as a ground cover in a shade garden.
 

 

Filed Under: Birds and Natural History, Twitter, Wildflower Wednesday, WildflowerWednesday Tagged With:

Exploring Fungi’s Kingdom

April 23, 2013 by

Some things just don’t get enough credit. The fungi kingdom is a sometimes forgotten but extremely important kingdom within our world. Why are organisms that are so small so important? Jens Peterson, author of The Kingdom of Fungi answers this question and more in BBC The Forum’s latest interview. Check out the interview here.

The fungi realm has been called the “hidden kingdom,” a mysterious world populated by microscopic spores, gigantic mushrooms and toadstools, and a host of other multicellular organisms ranging widely in color, size, and shape. The Kingdom of Fungi provides an intimate look at the world’s astonishing variety of fungi species, from cup fungi and lichens to truffles and tooth fungi, clubs and corals, and jelly fungi and puffballs. This beautifully illustrated book features more than 800 stunning color photographs as well as a concise text that describes the biology and ecology of fungi, fungal morphology, where fungi grow, and human interactions with and uses of fungi.

The Kingdom of Fungi is a feast for the senses, and the ideal reference for naturalists, researchers, and anyone interested in fungi.

  • Reveals fungal life as never seen before
  • Features more than 800 stunning color photos
  • Describes fungal biology, morphology, distribution, and uses
  • A must-have reference book for naturalists and researchers
Filed Under: Birds and Natural History, Interview, Natural Science, Popular Science, Twitter

Don Yeomans is one of TIME’s Most Influential

April 22, 2013 by

Don Yeomans, author of Near-Earth Objects: Finding Them Before They Find Us, is named one of TIME’s most influential people in the world! Yeomans has surely earned his spot on the list for his work with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab as they keep an eye on the sky to keep our world safe from near-earth objects- congratulations!

Don Yeomans- Pioneer

Don Yeomans is one of the reasons we can all sleep a little better at night. For over a decade, Don and I have been hunting for incoming asteroids that come too close to Earth, with Don leading the NASA effort to find and track them, while I focus via the B612 Foundation — named for the asteroid home of the Little Prince — on how to deflect them if necessary.

Every night, telescopes make thousands of asteroid observations which go to Don’s premier team at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where that data is converted into information about the trajectory of the rocks years or even decades into the future.

One day, without question, it will be Don and his team who issue a warning to the world that it’s time to launch a deflection campaign to prevent an incalculable disaster. We know how things worked out for the dinosaurs; it takes a levelheaded leader like Don to spare us their fate.

Filed Under: Astronomy and Cosmology, In the News, Popular Science, Twitter

Happy Earth Day!

April 22, 2013 by

Today, all across the globe, we’re celebrating Earth Day. This year, Earth Day Network has declared its focus The Face of Climate Change. Each year on April 22, we acknowledge our appreciation for the amazing planet we call home and the take steps to protect it. What will you do today to celebrate Mother Earth? Here are some books to get you started. Get reading!

k8719The Long Thaw: How Humans Are Changing the Next 100,000 Years of Earth’s Climate
David Archer
Check out the Prologue
Archer argues that it is still not too late to avert dangerous climate change–if humans can find a way to cooperate as never before. Revealing why carbon dioxide may be an even worse gamble in the long run than in the short, this compelling and critically important book brings the best long-term climate science to a general audience for the first time.

Hubbert’s Peak: The Impending World Oil Shortage (New Edition)
Kenneth S. Deffeyes
Read Chapter 1
One of Choice’s Outstanding Academic Titles for 2002
Honorable Mention, 2001 Association of American Publishers Award for Best
Professional/Scholarly Book in Geography and Earth Science
In this updated edition, Deffeyes explains the crisis that few now deny we are headed toward. Using geology and economics, he shows how everything from the rising price of groceries to the subprime mortgage crisis has been exacerbated by the shrinking supply–and growing price–of oil. Although there is no easy solution to these problems, Deffeyes argues that the first step is understanding the trouble that we are in.

The World’s Rarest Birdsk9823
Erik Hirschfeld, Andy Swash & Robert Still
Here are some Page Spreads
This beautifully illustrated book vividly depicts the most threatened birds on Earth. It provides up-to-date information from BirdLife International on the threats each species faces, and the measures being taken to save them. Today, 590 bird species are classified as Endangered or Critically Endangered, or now only exist in captivity. This landmark publication features stunning photographs of 515 species–including the results of a prestigious international photographic competition organized specifically for this book.

The White Planet: The Evolution and Future of Our Frozen World
Jean Jouzel, Claude Lorius & Dominique Raynaud
Here’s the Preface
One of Two Winners of The 2012 Vetlesen Prize of the G. Unger Vetlesen Foundation
Scientifically impeccable, up-to-date, and accessible, The White Planet brings cutting-edge climate research to general readers through a vivid narrative. This is an essential book for anyone who wants to understand the inextricable link between climate and our planet’s icy regions.

k9426Eco-Republic: What the Ancients Can Teach Us about Ethics, Virtue, and Sustainable Living
Melissa Lane
Read Chapter 1
Honorable Mention, 2012 Green Book Festival, General Non-Fiction
Honor Book, 2012 NJCH Book Award, New Jersey Council for the Humanities
An ecologically sustainable society cannot be achieved without citizens who possess the virtues and values that will foster it, and who believe that individual actions can indeed make a difference. This book draws on ancient Greek thought–and Plato’s Republic in particular–to put forward a new vision of citizenship that can make such a society a reality.

How to Build a Habitable Planet: The Story of Earth from the Big Bang to Humankind (Revised and Expanded Edition)
Charles H. Langmuir & Wally Broecker
Read the Preface
Honorable Mention, 2012 PROSE Award, Earth Sciences, Association of American Publishersk9691
Interweaving physics, astronomy, chemistry, geology, and biology, this sweeping account tells Earth’s complete story, from the synthesis of chemical elements in stars, to the formation of the Solar System, to the evolution of a habitable climate on Earth, to the origin of life and humankind. The book also addresses the search for other habitable worlds in the Milky Way and contemplates whether Earth will remain habitable as our influence on global climate grows. It concludes by considering the ways in which humankind can sustain Earth’s habitability and perhaps even participate in further planetary evolution.

Also, be sure to check out our Princeton Primers in Climate series. These primers reveal the physical workings of the global climate system with unmatched accessibility and detail. Princeton Primers in Climate is the ideal first place to turn to get the essential facts, presented with uncompromising clarity, and to begin further investigation–whether in the classroom or in one’s own reading chair.

Filed Under: Habitable Planet, Princeton University Press, Twitter
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