tortoises

Ok, so I should apologize for my absence. This time, partly due to circumstances beyond my control. In my mind I was drafting up some new posts based on some articles I'd seen, and then last week as I was about to sit down and write one of those...my internet was down. For nearly all week.

At first on Monday night, I didn't mind too much. I spent the evening catching up on some reading and it was kind of nice. But then on Tuesday...I started to get a little antsy. But it's better now. For now. So I'll continue with the article I wanted to mention.

A couple of weeks ago I saw this article on the BBC: Extinct tortoise can 'live again'

The headline sounds kind of mad scientist, doesn't it? Which I think was the point. Anyway, so there was this species of tortoise on the Galapagos island that became extinct many, many years ago. But scientists have discovered another species that is remarkably similar to the Geochelone elephantopus on another island. It's thought that these were in essence survivors from whaling expeditions that took too many turtles, and so sent some back. These tortoises went to a different island from where they originated, and slowly mixed with the other species on the island.

But because their breeding and maturation process takes so long, they retained many of the characteristics of the extinct elephantopus tortoise they originated from. So the article thinks that with a little cross-breeding, and of course about 100 years or so, the elephantopus can essentially be brought back to life. No playing with genes in a test tube or a lab required.

Anyway, I just thought it was really kind of fascinating. Oh, and on a side note, I finally bought a plant yesterday. It's a small spider plant...sort of a "test" plant. Growing up I didn't have the best track record with plants, they either died or took over (I had a mint plant that completely took over the other herbs). But in college I had a beautiful, leafy bamboo plant...until my cat ate it. And at my last office, I kept the plants there green and leafy and yes, I was proud of them. So if this one thrives, I'm going to take it to my office and then get a larger plant for my apartment.

But I've been wanting/meaning to get a plant for a very long time. And I'm excited now that I finally did. Wish me luck with it!

finding admiration in the object of irrational fears

I have an irrational fear. Probably several, but the one that I thought about today was my fear of sharks. Yes, I realize that I have a greater chance of dying by being struck by lightening than being attacked by a shark. I realize that given the whole world with its huge population, on average there are about 100 shark attacks.

But what can I say? I was a Jaws fan growing up. For some inexplicable reason.

And that is why I never learned to surf those years in California, even though I really, really wanted to. So that's my irrational fear.

I bring this up because despite my irrational fear, sharks are, for lack of a better word, cool. Very, very cool.

I think they're fascinating. And this morning I came across this article about whale sharks (which it should be pointed out do not attack humans), that had this to say: "Monster sharks can execute underwater 'flight' moves that would have put some fighter pilots to shame...."

The sharks are normally placid when close to the surface, but when they dive into depths not easily reached by us, they can be quite...oh let's say acrobatic.

There was another link to an article on a "fossil" shark captured on film that was oddly in shallow enough waters to be seen a caught (and if you look at the picture...it does kind of look like a fossil). This article, along with the media buzz on the colossal squid, are just one of several reminders that there is so much we don't know, about the depths of the ocean and even the specimens we do have access to. Again, looking at the whale shark and beginning to find out all this information that was unexpected.

There's so much we don't know, in all of our thousands of years of observations and study. And I, for one, look forward to the next discovery.