Great tits enjoying the warmer weather – so far

The wild bird has shown great flexibility to adjust breeding patterns to match higher temperatures in the UK, but more warming could start to kill it off


[New Scientist - Latest Headlines]

Cane Toad: I'm in ur grass, poisonin ur wildlifes

'Teacher toads' could be deployed as bioweaponsReleasing baby cane toads, which are poisonous but normally not fatal when eaten, could teach Australia's wildlife to avoid the deadly adults

[New Scientist - Latest Headlines]

For those too lazy to read the article, let me outline it thusly:

• In the 1930's, the Cane Toad was imported to Australia to combat the Sugar Cane Beetle, which was damaging sugar crops. It worked. Then the cane toads starting eating everything else, too. Oh, and while they look oh-so-delicious, they're also poisonous. To everything.
• One brainiac has an idea - let's release more of these little fuckers ahead of the hopping horde that's traversing the continent. That way, if native aussie animals try to eat the baby toads, instead of dying, they'll just get sick, and learn their lesson.
• Oh, and then there's this:
  

  For good measure, he says, the teacher toads could also be infected with a lung worm parasite that targets only the toads so that they won't start invading themselves.

  Because we know, by introducing something new, it's only going to solve the problem at hand... and not infect the entire south pacific with "lung worm parasite". Ick.

"Dr Orosz continued: 'When you tap your brake, the traffic may come to a full stand-still several miles behind you. It really matters how hard you brake - a slight braking from a driver who has identified a problem early will allow the traffic flow to remain smooth. Heavier braking, usually caused by a driver reacting late to a problem, can affect traffic flow for many miles.'"

So basically, if you're too busy reading a book, applying makeup, slapping your kid or masturbating (or you're some other type of self-important prick), and you react late to traffic ahead of you, you could back up traffic behind you for miles.

This shocking revelation from Dr Gábor Orosz of the University of Exeter where I presume traffic isn't all that bad. I have a feeling this mystery would have been solved long ago if a study of Bluffton, SC and its denizens was made.

Reported by Physorg.com.