Biology

How-To: Elegantly simple squirrel-proof bird feeder

How-To: Elegantly simple squirrel-proof bird feeder

I love this bird-feeder tutorial from Instructables user me13lake. It’s not flashy (indeed, with a title like “Small simple horizontally mounted squirrel resistant/proof bird feeder that requires no specialist tools to make,” I’m guessing it was written by a scientist or engineer) but it’s well thought-out, easy and inexpensive to make, and it looks like it would work very well. The clear squirrel-guard rotates freely so they can’t get a grip, and can be made from a 2-liter plastic bottle. Or you could try cutting one from a glass bottle.

Continue Reading Sean Michael Ragan16
Beautiful ‘silk frost’ fibrous ice formations

Beautiful ‘silk frost’ fibrous ice formations

Dr. James Carter is a professor in the Department of Geography-Geology at the University of Illinois. One of his many interesting pages collects photos and other reports (dating back to 1884) of so-called “hair ice,” “haareis,” or (my fav) “silk frost.” The fibrous ice crystals seem to be caused by the pore structure of certain woods, and only forms where the bark has been removed. Reportedly, the phenomenon is reproducible: if you find a piece of wood growing hair ice, you can warm it up, then re-freeze it, and it will grow hair ice again. [via Neatorama]

Continue Reading Sean Michael Ragan12
Do-it-yourself Bed-bug Detector

Do-it-yourself Bed-bug Detector

Do-it-yourself Bed-bug Detector @ Science News… After trying some 50 arrangements of household objects, researchers have come up with a new low-cost, homemade bed-bug detector. To lure the bugs out of hiding, Wan-Tien Tsai of Rutgers University in New Brunswick put dry ice into an insulated, one-third-gallon jug, the kind available at sports or camping […]

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