Et tu Spock?

Though obviously less active today where film and Television are concerned ( he actually announced his retirement from acting last year), like Shatner and the rest of the cast, Nimoy has gone on to do a variety of things post-Trek.

He's appeared in loads of television shows, the Star Trek Movies of course, two of which he directed ( he also directed Three Men and baby, which I did not know, but will try not to hold against him), he's an accomplished photographer (link contains naked people), AND he even managed to record an album of his own AS Mr. Spock.

So, if you're fan, why not take a moment to hop on Twitter wish @TheRealNimoy a Happy birthday?! Oh, and if you make a live long and prosper joke when you do it, you're a terrible human being and your children will all be born with two heads.

-CAINE-

Shatner's 80th

As you are no doubt aware, earlier this week William Shatner celebrated his 80th birthday, which I obviously failed to mention at the time thanks to the rediculous hours I keep during the week.

But I simply could not pass up the oportunity to share one of my favorite things in the history of recorded time, Two of my favorite beings in the known universe, William Shatner and Henry Rollins (who's 50th I failed to mention last month), together performing the track “I can’t Get Behind That” from Shatner’s 2004 album, “Has Been”. Happy belated 80th Bill!

Enjoy.

-CAINE-

Unfortunately, there is no official video for this song, why no one set up a camera to record this session I’ll never know, but the song itself is the important part, so just hit play and listen!

Source: Compendium oF Strange

Ophiocordyceps unilateralis And Zombie Ants

Earlier this month, scientists David P Hughes, Simon L. Elliot , and Harry C. Evans, published an article in the online journal Plos one describing their discovery of four new species of Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, or the "Zombifying" fungus, as many of us have now come to know it.

Ophiocordyceps is just one of literally hundreds of endoparasitic species of fungus belonging to the the genus Cordyceps, which can be found throughout the world, but are particularly abundant in humid areas like tropical forests. These endoparasites thrive by infecting a host animal, or in some cases other fungi, which they then begin to grow inside of and ultimately kill in order to complete their own life cycles. But what makes Ophiocordyceps unique amongst other cordyceps, is its ability to control the behavior of it's chosen host, in this case various species of ants.

Infection with these parasitic organisms begins with the host coming into contact with it's spores, which then gain access to the animals inner body cavity. As to the exact method of entry, I was unable to find a definitive answer, so I suspect it depends on the particular species of fungi you're dealing with. But what ever the method, once inside the spores continue to grow, extending fungal filaments called mycelia throughout the ants body and into it's brain.

Though the exact nature of how the plant manages to manipulate the animals behavior is unknown, it's at this point that the fungus manages to take control, driving it's host down from the canopy where the colony lives and onto the underside of leaves sprouting from the northwest side of plants growing on the forest floor where the colony forages. Once the Ant has reached this very specif destination, it is then compelled in the final moments of it's life to clamp its jaws down on the central vein of the leaf, where it will remained anchored even after it's death. This final resting place is purposely located in an ideal position to allow the fungi to continue to grow, ultimately erupting through the ants head and producing a spore pod, which eventually releases it's spores onto the forest floor below, allowing the cycle to begin once again.

-CAINE-

Image credit: Erich G. Vallery
Source: gaurdian.co.uk, PLos one.org, Livescience.com also posted on: Compendium oF Strange

George Hrab "God is Not Great" Video by:Octavio Valdés

William Shatner's Wake up Call to the Space Shuttle Discovery

APOD: Cassiopeia A and a Cooling Neutron Star

Supernova remnant Cassiopeia A (Cass A) is a comfortable 11,000 light-years away. Light from the Cass A supernova, the death explosion of a massive star, first reached Earth just 330 years ago. The expanding debris cloud spans about 15 light-years in this composite X-ray/optical image, while the bright source near the center is a neutron star (inset illustration) the incredibly dense, collapsed remains of the stellar core. Still hot enough to emit X-rays, Cass A’s neutron star is cooling. In fact, 10 years of observations with the orbiting Chandra X-ray observatory find that the neutron star is cooling rapidly, so rapidly that researchers suspect a large part of the neutron star’s core is forming a frictionless neutron superfluid. The Chandra results represent the first observational evidence for this bizarre state of matter.

Source:NASA, Astronomy Picture of The Day