It’s spring here in the northern hemisphere, and with spring comes a surge of critters. I’ve seen lots of spiders around my home lately, so I thought I’d take some time to talk about spiders and why they’re cool. Arachnaphobia warning, but also if you’re not too sure about spiders, you might want to give this one a read.
Mother (Nature) Knows Best
We humans have come up with a lot of cool stuff. But it doesn’t usually just come out of the blue. For millennia, we’ve been inspired by the natural world to invent, engineer, and improve. This area of engineering is known as biomimicry or biomimetics — quite literally, “copying life.” In this post, I’ll highlight some of my favorite examples of engineering and design inspired by the natural world.
Watch this space...
Bring Out Your Dead
The Mysterious Mola
From deep ocean denizens to strange sharks, the ocean is full of bizarre creatures. But out of all the odd marine life out there, the sunfish, or mola, might be one of the weirdest of them all.
Back Again
Hi again! It’s been a while since my last post - longer than I expected. It turns out that moving to the other side of the planet and starting a new job is a bigger process than I was anticipating. In this post I’ll cover what I’ve been up to for the last 6 months or so. Then I’ll go through my new plan for the Wild Focus Project.
The Future of the Wild Focus Project
Hi everyone. While I was writing last week’s post about the evolution and physics of bird flight, I came across a really interesting article about a team of engineers modeling a new plane off of albatrosses and their long distance flight abilities. This pulled me into the world of bioengineering. That post, however, is going to have to wait. You see, life, uh… gets in the way. …
Flight of Fancy
Ecosystem Ed.: Deep Ocean
It’s time for another installment in the Ecosystem Ed. series! In each of these posts, I focus on a different type of ecosystem around the world and break it down to the basics: what, where, why, how, and who, along with some fun facts. This week, we’re focusing on the DEEP OCEAN, one of Earth’s least-understood and inaccessible ecosystems. (Heads up – this post is kind of a long one. I’m just really excited about the deep sea, okay?)
Hey There, Neighbor: Symbiosis
While I was writing last week’s frog blog, I came a cross a particularly interesting amphibian called the dotted humming frog, which is friendly with the burrowing tarantula. They have what’s called a symbiotic relationship. This week, we’ll break down the different types of symbiotic relationships, and look at some fascinating examples of each one.
The Frog Blog
Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to attend a talk by Phil Bishop, a professor of Zoology here at the University of Otago. Phil specializes in amphibians, and is one of the world’s foremost advocates for amphibian conservation… This week, it’s all about amphibians: What are amphibians? Why do they matter? Why are they disappearing? And what can we do about it? All of that, plus some cool amphibi-friends, on this week’s frog blog.
Nature's Night Lights
Picture this: You’re walking through a dark forest, late at night. There are creepy sounds all around you. Was that sound really just the wind? Why did that twig just snap? What are those glowing things in the bushes? Well, you probably don’t need to worry too much about the glowing things. It’s more likely that you’re seeing tiny bioluminescent creatures than the Mothman…
Cameras for Conservation: New Findings
The whole reason this website exists is because of my Master’s in science communication. As part of the thesis, you have to do a creative project in addition to academic research. But what about the research I did? There have been a lot of edits and rewrites and even some new testing since then. So now, it’s time for an update on the research behind the Wild Focus Project…
Moa for #BirdOfTheYear2018
Japan's Alaska: Shiretoko Peninsula, the Final Frontier
Eli Sooker is a NZ-based conservationist, writer, and photographer, and you can now find his page in the Story collection on the Wild Focus Project! Eli is currently in Japan, and recently had the opportunity to visit the Shiretoko Peninsula, a wildlife haven. This week, he shares his photos and thoughts on the experience. Enjoy!