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<title>Nature&#x27;s Blog RSS Feed</title><link>http://www.philipchard.com/index.html</link><description>News From the Natural World</description><dc:language>en</dc:language><dc:creator>pschard@earthlink.net</dc:creator><dc:rights>Copyright 2009 Sutton</dc:rights><dc:date>2009-11-04T11:10:57-06:00</dc:date><admin:generatorAgent rdf:resource="http://www.realmacsoftware.com/" />
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<lastBuildDate>Sat, 12 Jul 2008 10:21:37 -0500</lastBuildDate><item><title>Ocean Under Construction</title><dc:creator>pschard@earthlink.net</dc:creator><category>None</category><dc:date>2009-11-04T11:10:57-06:00</dc:date><link>http://www.philipchard.com/page7/files/9f2742a69a0342264ba6e94edfcb8929-25.html#unique-entry-id-25</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.philipchard.com/page7/files/9f2742a69a0342264ba6e94edfcb8929-25.html#unique-entry-id-25</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Well, in about a half million years or so, the nearby Red Sea, which is also growing, is expected to pour into the rift, filling it and connecting the whole new expanse with the Gulf of Aden, which is part of the Arabian Sea.  
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Vegan Spider</title><dc:creator>pschard@earthlink.net</dc:creator><category>None</category><dc:date>2009-10-14T09:20:22-05:00</dc:date><link>http://www.philipchard.com/page7/files/af1507570e529db43c81a03dafb2d392-24.html#unique-entry-id-24</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.philipchard.com/page7/files/af1507570e529db43c81a03dafb2d392-24.html#unique-entry-id-24</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[The problem is that these shrubs have a symbiotic relationship with a species of ants that also prefer their nectar and, in exchange for this largesse, protect the acacia shrubs from other creatures who would like some of that sweet stuff for themselves, thank you. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>It&#x27;s Raining . . . From Outer Space</title><dc:creator>pschard@earthlink.net</dc:creator><category>None</category><dc:date>2009-08-14T12:05:06-05:00</dc:date><link>http://www.philipchard.com/page7/files/0cf3c0ef46a3f3380d2781c85f1cb4de-23.html#unique-entry-id-23</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.philipchard.com/page7/files/0cf3c0ef46a3f3380d2781c85f1cb4de-23.html#unique-entry-id-23</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[A lot of this celestial "rain" is called "space dust," and that's pretty much what it is &mdash; small particles of dust and debris left over from the birth of our solar system (which billions of years ago coalesced from a huge cloud of this stuff), although some of it may come from comets that leave a "tail" of material in their wakes. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Fish See&#x2c; Fish Do</title><dc:creator>pschard@earthlink.net</dc:creator><category>None</category><dc:date>2009-06-18T10:24:50-05:00</dc:date><link>http://www.philipchard.com/page7/files/e09e0108c2e398d856febe8c110c6348-22.html#unique-entry-id-22</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.philipchard.com/page7/files/e09e0108c2e398d856febe8c110c6348-22.html#unique-entry-id-22</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[They observe their fellow fish searching for and finding food, compare the choices these other fish make with their own food-finding experiences, and then alter their behavior to conform to the most successful approach they observe in the other fish.  ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Great Basin Blob</title><dc:creator>pschard@earthlink.net</dc:creator><category>None</category><dc:date>2009-05-28T15:27:30-05:00</dc:date><link>http://www.philipchard.com/page7/files/1b061c67b94ed13655ea0a9c093de3a4-21.html#unique-entry-id-21</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.philipchard.com/page7/files/1b061c67b94ed13655ea0a9c093de3a4-21.html#unique-entry-id-21</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Now, despite comparing this blob to honey or peanut butter, geologists point out that it is composed of highly compressed rock that tends to move and act a lot like a thick, viscous substance . . . such as peanut butter. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Tough and Tougher</title><dc:creator>pschard@earthlink.net</dc:creator><category>None</category><dc:date>2009-05-07T11:52:52-05:00</dc:date><link>http://www.philipchard.com/page7/files/4b863e329e10f21c456ffea77b65e70b-20.html#unique-entry-id-20</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.philipchard.com/page7/files/4b863e329e10f21c456ffea77b65e70b-20.html#unique-entry-id-20</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[When you take the massive amount of matter in a big star and then shrink that down into a very tiny and dense orb, you get this super-tough stuff.
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Fish Feel Pain . . . Really</title><dc:creator>pschard@earthlink.net</dc:creator><category>None</category><dc:date>2009-05-01T13:43:48-05:00</dc:date><link>http://www.philipchard.com/page7/files/d5ceccb0da9feddc8dba2f532f5205ea-19.html#unique-entry-id-19</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.philipchard.com/page7/files/d5ceccb0da9feddc8dba2f532f5205ea-19.html#unique-entry-id-19</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[For instance, if you burn yourself by touching a hot stove plate, the next time you are around one, you're likely to both approach it warily and have some anxiety-provoking recall of what happened when you got singed the first time. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Suck It Up</title><dc:creator>pschard@earthlink.net</dc:creator><category>None</category><dc:date>2009-04-15T11:07:57-05:00</dc:date><link>http://www.philipchard.com/page7/files/29a1d7186aac2f7891cfef3ea3ec3c1d-18.html#unique-entry-id-18</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.philipchard.com/page7/files/29a1d7186aac2f7891cfef3ea3ec3c1d-18.html#unique-entry-id-18</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[A mature sequoia (redwood tree) is as tall as a 27 story building, weighs in fully grown at about 3 tons, is wider than many city streets, and can live up to 3,000 years. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Olfactory Navigation</title><dc:creator>pschard@earthlink.net</dc:creator><category>None</category><dc:date>2009-04-04T13:32:25-05:00</dc:date><link>http://www.philipchard.com/page7/files/e04245395d31449e84511a7b82f9dc30-17.html#unique-entry-id-17</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.philipchard.com/page7/files/e04245395d31449e84511a7b82f9dc30-17.html#unique-entry-id-17</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[If you've ever been lost in the wilds and lived to tell the tale, then you realize how impossible it can be to use sight (visual cues) to find your way out. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Space Weather</title><dc:creator>pschard@earthlink.net</dc:creator><category>None</category><dc:date>2009-03-13T15:58:21-05:00</dc:date><link>http://www.philipchard.com/page7/files/1384a90a6160642aaca5b665cf3463e0-16.html#unique-entry-id-16</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.philipchard.com/page7/files/1384a90a6160642aaca5b665cf3463e0-16.html#unique-entry-id-16</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Sometimes one of these huge CMEs targets the Earth, bombarding the outer reaches of our atmosphere with highly energized particles that can disrupt communication and energy technology on our planet's surface. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Clear Headed</title><dc:creator>pschard@earthlink.net</dc:creator><category>None</category><dc:date>2009-03-05T09:47:51-06:00</dc:date><link>http://www.philipchard.com/page7/files/bf4175c6801750678cd970307fb092ea-15.html#unique-entry-id-15</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.philipchard.com/page7/files/bf4175c6801750678cd970307fb092ea-15.html#unique-entry-id-15</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[While most humans continue to suffer the arrogant delusion that we are the best thing ever invented through natural selection, a variety of other species, like the barreleye, harbor adaptations and capacities well beyond our reach.
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Long Walk</title><dc:creator>pschard@earthlink.net</dc:creator><category>None</category><dc:date>2009-03-02T10:52:40-06:00</dc:date><link>http://www.philipchard.com/page7/files/0a7c2f40c261a46d0d7e2c2823fb97a0-14.html#unique-entry-id-14</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.philipchard.com/page7/files/0a7c2f40c261a46d0d7e2c2823fb97a0-14.html#unique-entry-id-14</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[This ancient print was probably left by a member of Homo erectus, a precursor to Homo sapiens (us) that had what anthropologists call a "modern foot," meaning one designed for walking upright, as opposed to climbing or scampering on all fours.  ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>It&#x27;s the Climate&#x2c; Stupid</title><dc:creator>pschard@earthlink.net</dc:creator><category>None</category><dc:date>2009-02-21T12:00:07-06:00</dc:date><link>http://www.philipchard.com/page7/files/d8e9a8cf764063830e8c274b1bde96b9-13.html#unique-entry-id-13</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.philipchard.com/page7/files/d8e9a8cf764063830e8c274b1bde96b9-13.html#unique-entry-id-13</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[While not a center for arts or entertainment, and certainly no tourist destination, this sprawling swath (4.7 million acres) of agricultural topography between the Pacific Ocean and the Sierra Nevada Mountains has been among the most productive farming areas in the United States, if not the world.  ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Wish Upon a Star</title><dc:creator>pschard@earthlink.net</dc:creator><category>None</category><dc:date>2009-02-08T10:00:00-06:00</dc:date><link>http://www.philipchard.com/page7/files/ba3aedcaa36702cc5fafb290d33496b8-12.html#unique-entry-id-12</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.philipchard.com/page7/files/ba3aedcaa36702cc5fafb290d33496b8-12.html#unique-entry-id-12</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[On a clear night far from city lights, we can see only a few thousand with the naked eye, but the cosmos holds an astounding number &mdash; by some estimates, more stars than there are grains of sand in all the Earth's beaches and deserts. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Noah&#x27;s Ark for Amphibians</title><dc:creator>pschard@earthlink.net</dc:creator><category>None</category><dc:date>2009-02-03T08:27:56-06:00</dc:date><link>http://www.philipchard.com/page7/files/077a81f3312679c49bb719e870a4fc6e-11.html#unique-entry-id-11</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.philipchard.com/page7/files/077a81f3312679c49bb719e870a4fc6e-11.html#unique-entry-id-11</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[This is even more promising because Columbia sits atop a migration corridor linking North and South America, providing the long-term opportunity to repopulate some areas that have suffered a loss of amphibians in recent years.
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Think You&#x27;re Old?</title><dc:creator>pschard@earthlink.net</dc:creator><category>None</category><dc:date>2009-01-24T12:53:34-06:00</dc:date><link>http://www.philipchard.com/page7/files/ea1ee0e1579b9dd395280d1dbed6d9a4-10.html#unique-entry-id-10</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.philipchard.com/page7/files/ea1ee0e1579b9dd395280d1dbed6d9a4-10.html#unique-entry-id-10</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[But recently, they discovered a much older tree &mdash; a spruce in Sweden that has been carbon dated at about 9,550 trips around the Sun. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Shake&#x2c; Rattle &#x26; Roll</title><dc:creator>pschard@earthlink.net</dc:creator><category>None</category><dc:date>2009-01-21T11:12:44-06:00</dc:date><link>http://www.philipchard.com/page7/files/6e104278433cc7ed6c65e9a47ea83fe2-8.html#unique-entry-id-8</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.philipchard.com/page7/files/6e104278433cc7ed6c65e9a47ea83fe2-8.html#unique-entry-id-8</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[But in March of 2008, those of us who inhabit the upper Great Lakes region were reminded that we do experience earthquakes, just not as often as our fellow citizens on the West Coast.  ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Got Gas?</title><dc:creator>pschard@earthlink.net</dc:creator><dc:subject>Nature&#x27;s Blog</dc:subject><dc:date>2009-01-19T11:37:05-06:00</dc:date><link>http://www.philipchard.com/page7/files/874e861699cd45c4abcb2be2c93a71e7-7.html#unique-entry-id-7</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.philipchard.com/page7/files/874e861699cd45c4abcb2be2c93a71e7-7.html#unique-entry-id-7</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[The NASA scientists acknowledge that this methane could be produced from non-living sources, including chemical and thermodynamic processes deep beneath the surface of Mars. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Stormy Weather</title><dc:creator>pschard@earthlink.net</dc:creator><dc:subject>Nature&#x27;s Blog</dc:subject><dc:date>2009-01-17T06:45:56-06:00</dc:date><link>http://www.philipchard.com/page7/files/ab08ad670a21b7b8cf101189f8d6bf02-6.html#unique-entry-id-6</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.philipchard.com/page7/files/ab08ad670a21b7b8cf101189f8d6bf02-6.html#unique-entry-id-6</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Granted, there are other countries that can claim the worst weather in one particular category (Antarctica, for example, takes the prize for most extreme cold), but the USA's cornucopia of varied and intense meteorological events is unparalleled.   
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