Amusing: Bug-eating society

BABES is a society in San Francisco devoted to the recreational consumption of bugs. Whodathunkit?

Found on Improbable Research Blog

Amusing: plucky gull

This gull survived an attack by a falcon. The falcon was holding him down and, in preparation for the main course, picked his neck clean of feathers. His repast was interrupted by a buzzard that chased away the falcon, leaving a wobbly gull to make his escape.

Found on Improbable Research

Mini tech post: Practical superlens for microscopes

University of California researchers have discovered a way to convert evanescent (near-field) light waves into "normal" light waves so that they can be detected by standard microscopes. A recently-developed silver-film "superlens" is placed  within 35 nanometres of the surface, and corrugations in the film's surface diffract the evanescent waves, converting them into  normal light waves that can be captured using a conventional microscope. As a result, the system was able to distinguish two nanowires placed within 70 nanometres of each other, more than three times closer than is possible using conventional methods.

Mini tech post: Leading the charge in reef recovery

Researchers in Bali have discovered a new way to encourage coral reef growth: electricity. The metal structures shown here carry a low-voltage  that appears to help the coral recover from environmental damage.

Mini tech post: Saturn's flying saucer moons.

A "flying saucer" detected in orbit about Saturn. Scientists are puzzled by the shape of several of Saturn's moons, like Atlas featured here. 

Amusing: pothead bunnies

Pot-head bunnies

Found on Scientist, Interrupted via Scienceblogs

Gadgets: The Cave bookshelf

A bookshelf you can really get into.

Gadgets: Pencil Bench

Gadgets: tongue sucker

The "tongue sucker" is used in emergency situations to help keep the tongue from blocking the airway. Strange as it may look, it has a real, life-saving application.

Gadgets: Mummy wrap

A new Zealand company has developed a shirt, dubbed MummyWrap, that it promises to protect fetuses from electromagnetic fields, such as those associated with cell phones.Bear in mind that there is no evidence that the EM fields to which we are all typically exposed represents any real risk to a fetus. The shirt contains copper wire embedded in the material. The maker claims, despite evidence to the contrary, that the shirt will protect against EM fields generated by high-voltage power lines.