Hello and welcome to my new website, Science Snapshots. This website is about telling the story of science through a series of 365 photos. That's right, one photo a day, every day, for a year. The images I upload will range from pictures of flora and fauna, to pictures of my daily life. Some will obviosly be about science and some less so. But, through this website, I hope to demonstrate that science underpins so much of that which we see around us. Click on the images above to see a random photo, or scroll down the page to see the full archive.
Sunday 3rd July, 2011
Saturday 2nd July, 2011
Friday 1st July, 2011
Thursday 30th June, 2011
Wedesday 29th June, 2011
Tuesday 28th June, 2011
Monday 27th June, 2011
Sunday 26th June, 2011
Saturday 25th June, 2011
Friday 24th June, 2011
Friday 23rd June, 2011
Thursday 22nd June, 2011
Wednesday 21st June, 2011
Tuesday 20th June, 2011
Monday 19th June, 2011
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You may be aware of species, such as kangaroos for instance, which use saliva to cool their bodies in the same way that humans and other primates use sweat. However, did you also know that some animals use their excrement for this purpose? This process is known as urohidrosis and is common among seals, vultures and storks, such as the one shown in the photo above. White storks direct their faeces and urine onto their...
Farming monoculture, such as in this corn field, can lead to decreased net ecosystem CO2 intake, meaning land becomes less useful in the fight against climate change. According to the insurance hypothesis: “Biodiversity insures ecosystems against declines in their functioning because many species provide greater guarantees that some will maintain functioning even if others fail”. Put simply, given the same set of environmental...
Increasing average global temperatures are allowing alien species from Mediterranean climates to invade into more northerly areas. This is a major problem in the large alpine forest areas of central Europe. A prime example of such an invasive species is the pine processionary moth (Thaumetopoea pityocampa). This moth species, originally from the Mediterranean is now a major defoliating pest of pine stands in Europe...
There can be few species on Earth about which more myths exist than piranhas. Piranhas have an aggressive image as flesh-eaters, able to dilacerate a human body in seconds. While piranhas do occasionally attack humans, this is only usually when water levels are low and there has never been an official recorded death due to piranha attack. It is true that many humans have lost a finger or toe to piranhas, but death is highly...
Coral reefs around the world are rapidly being degraded by a number of human activities including over-fishing, coastal development, and the introduction of sewage fertiliser and sediment. Climate change is also a major cause of coral reef destruction. Coral reefs are often described as “the rainforests of the sea”, as they are home to over 25 per cent of all marine species. However, corals are also highly sensitive to changes in the...
One of the IPCC’s key predictions for climate change in Europe is that we will experience, on average, milder winters. One of the problems warmer winters could cause is a significant rise in tick population numbers. Whilst this isn’t a problem we tend to hear too much about here in the UK, the prospect of rising tick numbers has got a lot of people in mainland Europe worried – and understandably so. Ticks are a major cause of several...
Every day, 2 million tons of human waste are disposed of in water courses. (Source: World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP)) In developing countries, 70 percent of industrial wastes are dumped untreated into waters where they pollute the usable water supply. (Source: WWAP) Projected increases in fertilizer use for food production and in wastewater effluents over the next three decades suggest there will be a 10-20 per cent global...
Earlier this year, researchers from New Zealand announced that they had observed wasps lifting up ants and carrying them away from food. This video footage also shows how the wasps hurl the ants away in their desperate attempts to monopolise the food source. Although this video was made in a laboratory environment, the ant-dropping behaviour was also observed under natural conditions between a wasp and a group of ants...
In 1620, a Jesuit priest in Peru came across the plant we now know as passion flower. Enthralled with its beauty, that night he had a vision likening its floral parts to the elements of the Crucifixion or Passion of Christ. The five petals and five sepals became the ten apostles (omitting Peter and Judas). The three pistils became the nails of the cross; the purple corona (or filaments) was the crown of thorns, and the stemmed ovary was the...
Forget cat’s eyes on our roads, now it’s all about the otters. This spring, it was announced that Highland Council plan to install reflectors alongside some roads in Wester Ross, Scotland, in order to help reduce the number of otter deaths occurring in this area. The reflectors are to be installed alongside roads at otter-eye level. The idea is that cars’ headlights will illuminate the reflectors, thus deterring the otters from crossing the roads...
A few months ago, the UK government put the Lake District forward as one of its 11 nominees for new UNESCO World Heritage Sites.Other sites nominated by the government include the Forth Bridge and St Helena, the South Atlantic island where Napoleon died in1821. The government is also making a third attempt to have Charles Darwin’s former house in Kent recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. So, why is UNESCO World Heritage...
Ever since French entomologists August Magnan and André Sainte-Lague famously declared that bee flight was aerodynamically impossible, a popular myth has prevailed that the phenomenon of bee flight is beyond our current scientific capabilities to explain. In fact, it was beyond our reach for over 70 years. However, in 2006 a team of researchers from Caltech University were able to unlock the secrets of bee flight through careful study...
The Chinese Year of the Tiger came to an end on 3rd February, 2011. As part of the Year of the Tiger, a major conservation effort has taken place in China to protect the remaining Tigers in this region. According to the most recent WWF survey, only 3,200 Tigers exist worldwide. In the last 70 years, the Bali, Javan, and Caspian subspecies of Tiger have all become extinct. The six remaining subspecies – Amur, Bengal, Indochinese, Malayan,...
Almost a third of butterflies in Europe are in decline and one in ten is threatened with extinction. This also has a severe knock-on effect for the plant species which rely on butterflies for pollination. A recent report by Natural England has found that that the number of butterflies in the UK has decreased by almost a quarter since 1880. The report also found that 75% of UK butterfly species are currently in decline...