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This is sweet.

Between Jason K and Jason F, I think you guys could have a great nature blog.

Peep this: death and regeneration of a frog

http://youtube.com/watch?v=gEa3_mlCX9g

Does anyone else find it fascinating how similar the scaled down physics of their leaps and falls appear to ours when slowed down?

With their flailing limbs and (relatively) high falls, I instinctually found myself almost cringing at the seeming violence of their crash-landings.

Gah! 8 cm… but 40 ft? C’mon, 12 m. If you’re going to doggedly stick with backasswards Imperial measurements, you should be committed to it. Instead of 8 cm you should have written 3 and 77/512ths inches.

It would look like ‘Matrix’ if they landed on their feet ! This is cool.

Even plants have some pretty amazing behaviors. Consider the common jack-in-the-pulpit plant, which starts out as a male and grows for several years that way until it can amass enough energy in its rootstock to become a female and produce seeds. If you accidentally step on a female jack-in-the-pulpit or cut it down in mid-summer, it will come up next year as a male.

Another cool plant behavior is more instant: the common mountain laurel, which is often used as an ornamental shrub, uses spring-loaded stamens to get pollen on the bees and butterflies that visit it. The stamens all sit well back of the pistil, nestled against the petals, but once an insect inserts its proboscis into the bottom of the flower to suck out the nectar, the stamens release and pop forward, showering the insect with pollen. You can duplicate the effect yourself by inserting a broom straw, a piece of monofilament, or other stiff but thin material down into the center of the flower. You’ll see the ripe stamens spring forward; any stamens that haven’t fully formed their pollen load yet will remain back against the petals.

If you accidentally step on a female jack-in-the-pulpit or cut it down in mid-summer, it will come up next year as a male

What if you deliberately step on one? ;)

apmeehan: Yes. I thought the same thing … it really gives you a sense of the “impact” they can withstand. Ouch. Makes you wonder what they feel when their little head goes bouncing off the ground like a rag doll.

Crazy – so I guess they just jump for fun as well? It doesn’t look like any of the ants in the film where agitated in any way (well maybe at the end). Cool stuff – even though I friggin’ hate insects.

The scientist who discovered this species was interviewed on Quirks & Quarks – Canada’s science radio show – some time ago. You can listen to it here: http://www.cbc.ca/quirks/archives/06-07/sep16.html (scroll down a bit)

The ant also holds the world record for the fastest moving appendage – the jaws move at up to 64m/s, generating a force 300 times that of gravity.

This footage is from the Wholphin DVD series, which is a great collection of short and rare films. They also do interesting things in playing with our traditional views of DVD menus.

What if you deliberately step on one? ;)

That’s when things really get interesting: Jack pops up out of his newly squashed pulpit and spits fire and brimstone at you until you fall to the ground and beg for mercy. Plants are amazing, really.

Know I know why my build tool is called ANT . It can be so frustrating, you just flip out.

To create such things…God is amazing.