Postal conks
The best gifts keep on giving. This artist’s conk (Ganoderma applanatum) came to me by post. It turned out to be quite literally full of surprises. Eleven unexpected organisms popped out of it: one other fungus, and ten fascinating beetles. Also, and this was really quite satisfying: when it arrived, I knew I had won the argument.
Beware! The Slime Mold!
Our intrepid reporter studies the science behind the movie, The Blob, debunking Dr. Meddow’s longstanding theory that The Blob is a mutant bacterium from outer space. Warning: this post contains actual ooze, plus a song that, if you get it in your head, will haunt you for days.
Bioblitz Final Report
An update from your editor, Kathie Hodge Classes have just ended here and it is the time of final reports, term papers, assignments. For my part, I’d like to tell you about our bioblitz results. We had about 46 participants (a handful of them kids). I asked each person to estimate how many species we […]
Getting ready for the Bioblitz
An update from Kathie Tomorrow’s the big day. I’m hosting a Bioblitz on a 5 acre patch of land near Ithaca. A pack of roving naturalists, taxonomists, mycologists, and ilk will join me to inventory all the life forms we can find. I’m excited. And to think that just eleven days ago I was despairing […]
First Annual Blogger Bioblitz in Ithaca
An invitation from Kathie Despite the snowy weekend to come, Spring has come to Ithaca, and Ithacans are itching to get outside. In that spirit, the Cornell Mushroom Blog announces our participation in the First Annual Blogger Bioblitz. Jeremy Bruno of The Voltage Gate conceived the idea, and he challenges science and natural history bloggers […]
Something funny in the herbarium
Guest blogger Susan Gruff was Curator of the Cornell Plant Pathology Herbarium until her retirement in 2007. With over a quarter of a century of daily dealings in the Herbarium, Susan has some stories to tell. There are thousands upon thousands of interesting specimens contained in the Cornell Plant Pathology Herbarium. Every now and then, […]
Protein synthesis in 1971
Hippies, protein synthesis, and Lewis Carroll, mixed together like some weird Jell-O mold. Too fascinating to look away.
A tribute to Carl Sagan
I’m fortunate to work in the same place Carl Sagan did. On the 10th anniversary of his death, a brief remembrance, and a celebration of a couple of other science communicators who influenced me.
Cabbage monstrosities
The things that were once called Fungi but aren’t anymore are legion. Here’s one of them, a little swimmy thing that causes clubroot of cabbage. It gives cabbage monstrously clubbed roots, and as a bonus, acts as a vector for other diseases. Although we love its monstrous cruelty, we have banished it from the kingdom of Fungi. Be gone!