Science, Travel

Something New Under The Sun

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We have had an impressive run of discoveries in recent weeks.

From the soon-to-be simple parlor trick of making matter out of light, to the location of a prehistoric underwater volcano that helped form the island of Oahu, scientists have been uncovering all sorts of wonders.

And even as far too many of Earth’s creatures disappear forever, we are finding new ones to hound into oblivion. A distinctive sea anemone was just identified, and you’ll be delighted to know there is a vicious mantis in Rwanda that’s as scary as anything from Jurassic Park.

Not to be outdone by such a pipsqueak, the already-extinct dinosaurs have just wowed us again by producing a creature that was probably as large as a seven story building!

But my favorite discovery story of the week is this study in persistence:

In 1936 a scientific researcher discovered a particular kind of snake on a remote Mexican island and cataloged it for the American Museum of Natural History in New York.

You’ve gotta love the pluck of these old explorers. Here’s what William Beebe wrote about that initial moment of contact:

“We walked on, flashing the light all around. Not far from the water on the black lava I saw a small dark brown snake. It seemed to be unlike the one I had found in daylight, having lines of black spots on the body, so I picked it up and cached it in my shirt.”

Naturally. Who wouldn’t do it just like that?

Tromping around an exotic place in the dark and stuffing strange snakes into my shirt is definitely on my bucket list, though I’m saving it for the very last thing. And clearly I’m not the only one who feels this way! Almost 20 years after Beebe felt a wriggle in his blouse, a return expedition tried and failed to find the aforementioned snake and wrote off the original discovery as a mistake. Maybe they didn’t turn over enough rocks, or perhaps their pockets were already full.

Fast forward to 2013 and another effort has validated the first discovery. Overcoming obstacles like limited access (you can only get to the island under military escort) and visibility (the creature is nocturnal and lives on an island almost 700 miles from shore), National Museum of Natural History researcher Daniel Mulcahy has learned that the elusive Clarion Nightsnake really exists!

Of course we love our new creatures to be exciting and dangerous, but based on the latest descriptions (brown, with some black spots) and historically nonthreatening demeanor (excessive shirt-friendliness), it’s on-again, off-again status may be the most interesting thing about the Clarion Nightsnake.

What’s your greatest discovery?

43 thoughts on “Something New Under The Sun”

  2. Quinoa, home rendered lard, and the fact that I could competently replace the door knob on the bathroom door.

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  3. Good morning. As some of you know, I did research on nematodes as a graduate student. If you would like to discover new species of animals you should study nematodes. Most of them have never been described. In my thesis I described 14 new species. Are those great discoveries? Apparently not because there are now very few people, or maybe no one, who is working on describing nematodes even through most of them have not been described.

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  4. My greatest discovery has been life itself: how interesting people are, how complex we all are, how generous some people can be, how much of a joy it is to see a bunny bouncing in the grass and grooming istelf in my backyard, how I continue to learn and change and grow day by day in spite of all the time I’ve logged on this planet. It both amuses and embarrasses me to learn daily that I am a work in progress, a highly imperfect and changing person struggling with my own set of faults, abilities, secrets and surprises. How could anyone ever become jaded when life is so incredibly surprising and rewarding?

    Yesterday I learned that (once again) I had screwed up my thinking about the schedule for leaving this home. I’m now in full panic mode, delivering an OT warning that I might soon loose my voice on this site for a few days or more.

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  5. Gosh – this list for me could go on and on. So a few that have been fairly recent, not necessarily the most life-altering:
    1. A group of new friends, found on a blog no less!
    2. That it didn’t kill me when Teenager went off to college
    3. That no matter what, where my two sisters are involved, it’s always my fault.
    4. That I can hit the high A and Aflat in choir!

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      1. It started when I was born first. What was I thinking? These days, just pointing out reality usually does it.

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  6. Rise and Shine Baboons!

    I have recently discovered how very difficult it is to come back to regular life after a really wonderful trip. Reality Bites.

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  9. Like VS, there are innumerable ones:
    – things that come easy for me don’t come easy to everyone (playing an instrument by ear, organizing)
    – that I seem to have unlimited energy when I’m organizing, planning, or rearranging furniture
    – that I could survive losing my son Joel almost 7 years ago now
    – a corollary to that is that it can depend largely on where I put my focus what kind of day I’ll have…
    I’m sure I’ll think of more.

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  10. For me, it’s having finally learned how to do pretty quick self-repair when a relationship turns south. It used to take at least several months; now only a few days. I allow myself to proceed quickly through the emotional stages (stunned, angry, hurt, etc), then do what works to heal it. Last year, a 5-year friendship ended rather brutally with a blindsiding email. My initial reaction was to write an email with a point-by-point “rebuttal”, but I wisely stored it in my draft box. Within a couple of days, the clouds cleared and I emailed a detailed list of every kind, caring thing this friend had every done for/with me and told her I’d be forever grateful. When I hit “Send”, my self-repair was completed.

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  12. Besides this blog?

    That living alone brings great peace of mind. That you meet the kindest people in the strangest places. That it can be enormously rewarding to work with a unique group of people. That even though there may be big bumps in the road, there is also great joy in following your bliss.

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      1. Krista, Renee and I clicked on the little “like” star. You can see that under your original post (no comments, just that it was liked). I have no idea why it would have sent you to the other blog.

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  13. That I am now in a position where people look to me for leadership, advice, guidance, etc. And not just kids, real grown-ups. I was stunned when my now old boss informed me that others on the team looked to me as a leader and a mentor – gosh, what had I done to be viewed that way, I wondered. I’m just me – me being curious, me being encouraging, me thinking thingish things, me speaking out. I guess that’s all it is, really – I am just me and others see that as a good thing. (And, me being me, I am grateful to those around me who said, “just be you” – and pushed me a bit to let that light shine where more could see it…)

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  14. That getting in 10.000 steps in a day is REALLY hard to do. Hennepin County has a challenge going on this month where communities and organizations compete for the most steps. I bought a pedometer and I have been recording. I work from home and if I don’t go anywhere in the evening, I’m lucky to get 900 steps. I’ve only met the daily goal of 10,000 once and for that I did an hour of Zumba, a 35 minute walk outside and a 30 minute walking video on youtube.
    I’m worried that I’m bringing down the per-person amounts for my team.

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      1. son joined sherilees company and they have a walking measure for bonus points going on continulously and he has been averaging over 10,000 steps every day. the big dogs who are the upper eschelon walkers in the company have recruited him to be on their team for the big competition. he may or may not be a good sales guy but man can he burn energy

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    2. Husband and I have both tried for 10K steps a day as well – he had better luck, but he works at the U of MN and takes the bus most every day, so just that extra bit of walking and walking across campus to catch busses helped boost his score. I can get to 5000 by parking at the farthest entrance from my desk (which adds at least an extra half mile round trip), and can get to 7000 if I take myself on a midday excursion across campus and back…but 10K is devilishly difficult when you work a mostly sedentary job.

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        2. There are three available for use in the health club at BBY (you don’t have be a health club member to use them). I have used them off and on – and learned you need to be selective about what you do while walking. Reading email, sure. Looking at reports or documentation, okay. Trying to copy and paste data in a spreadsheet, not so much…

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  16. I discovered stupidity and callousness in the medical world. We drove a friend for 3 hours of colonoscopy and related tests. She knows she has cancer and they do too. Her husband is too old to drive. We drove them over and dropped them off. When they found out that the driver had not sat in the waiting room for three hours but was one mile away at home waiting for the call, they chewed out her and her husband, Beyond belief.

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  17. i have discovered that the difference between thinking about it and doing it is the difference.
    i have discovered the difference between thinking about it and not doing it is a bigger difference
    i have discovered that i need not worry about what others think of me, they dont very often and if i try to please them i am also displeasing an equal number on the other side of the equation who are just as equally not me as the rest.
    if i ever start thinking i got the hang of it i discover i was wrong wrong wrong i may have an aspect of life down for a minute but thats the best i can hope for.
    i discovered if i dont celebrate the moment it doesnt carry over. you better recognize the moment quick before its gone. and milk it for all its worth.
    i have discovered that i still fall asleep at concerts and events even without the wine. i always thought it had to be the wine. i think its just the response to relaxing for a moetn. i dont sleep long sometimes just 30 seconds but i wake up refreshed
    i learned that you do become an expert at the stuff you are interested in so pick it and watch it grow. 5 years form day after tomorrow is going to come at the same time regardless of whether you add new stuff or not,

    i discovered i really like dale reading all these science news blips wherever it is he finds them. thanks dale

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    1. You’re welcome tim. and thanks for all your lower case meanderings. it is like a scientific expedition each time i delve into one of your stream-of- consciousness responses. one never knows what will be revealed!

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