A TURKEY FOR A DAD

Allow me to introduce this handsome bird, Alec. 

His proper name is Alectura lathami (Australian Brush Turkey) and he checks out the visitors at Shelly Beach near Port Macquarie, NSW.  His Mum and Dad never taught him any lifeskills, in fact, he may have never met them, but he will care for the eggs in his magnificent nest as if they were solid gold.  "Why bother mate? Those chicks will leave home as soon as they hatch."  

Let's find out more about Alec's incubator skills and those very special eggs, prized by dingoes, pythons, goannas and people.

The male Brush Turkey laboriously builds his nest on the ground, 4 - 5 metres in diameter and 1-1.5 metres high, from sticks, leaf litter and soil.  One or more females will lay their eggs in his jealously guarded nest over a 5 month period, with the eggs requiring incubation for 50 days.  He will maintain the temperature of the nest at 33 degrees C (91 F) and the humidity at 99%, checking regularly by testing soil in his beak from test holes in the nest.  When the chick hatches it must struggle unassisted to the top of the nest and immediately begin its independant life of finding food, running, retreating into branches of trees and nest building or egg laying, without any training from Mum or Dad.
The question is, why does it take an American biologist to tell us this about our local bird?.....  Apparently the thick egg-shells have pores that are cone shaped, so that as the chick scratches for more air, the holes dilate and admit more oxygen.
Wow!  Is that good design or good luck?

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

Michael Morcombe, 'Field Guide to Australian Birds', 2000, Steve Parish Publishing, Archerfield,    
Reader's Digest 'Complete Book of Australian Birds', 1990, Surry Hills, NSW
Dr. Jobe Martin, biologist
Photo Credit: Tony Sullivan

'BY JUPITER!'

“E fantastico!", exclaims Galileo.                                                                                                     

“Nah...listen Galileo, that’s just JUPITER with a few moons to keep it company.”                                  

Is that so??

It’s January 1610 and Galileo Galilei is 35 kms from Venice, checking Jupiter through his new-fangled telescope. Although he can’t realize Jupiter’s size he finds 4 moons. For cryin’ out loud - he's even inclined to agree with Copernicus proposing that outrageous theory that the 6 known planets orbit around the Sun...but he still 'hedges his bets' on that one. Is Galileo wrong to refer to these moons as planets? 

‘Jou pater’ (Father Jove) is HUGE: a mass greater than all other planets put together, and compared with Earth: 318 times greater, a volume 1000 times larger, and a magnetic field 14 times stronger. Could you take 10 hours to rotate your belt at 45,250 kmh?  This unique gaseous planet RADIATES twice the energy it receives, being the centre of its own MINIATURE SOLAR SYSTEM with at least 64 satellites including the very unique Galilean Moons: volcanic Io, icy Europa, rocky Ganymede and Callisto of silicate and ice. Its Great Red Spot alone is three times the size of Earth and has been storming for at least as long as we’ve been watching.

By the way, Jupiter sits right where Bode’s Law says it should be at 5.2 times further from the Sun than Earth, and in its 12 year orbit spends one year aligned with each of the constellations of the Zodiac – right now it’s Cancer’s turn.  How neat.

Did we learn anything new?

Photo credit: noao.edu

DRAGONFLIES - beautiful aviators

What is it about this little critter that so fascinates schoolgirls?

It can't be seen easily for most of its life, being a jet-propelled nymph (mud-eye) under water, and when it finally gets airborne near the end of its life, it might hover, or fly so fast (80 kph) you might not even see it, inspiring a unique aviation design.  It is a skilfull killer, with 3 sets of jaws, 30,000 eye facets and a voracious appetite to match - hardly appealing to feminine sensitivities.

Ahhh, but those fairy wings!.......beautiful and delicate like gossamer.

The dragonfly has 4 flutter-resistant wings that can be operated independently in hover, forward or reverse flight, with turns on a dime in the blink of an eye.  Wow! better than any modern aircraft design! 

Now beat this one.  A male and a female dragonfly can mate in flight, requiring them to manipulate 8 delicate independent wings in coordinated flight, clasp together, and now transfer sperm - all at the same time, without auto-pilot or GPS.  Too easy - when you're designed for it.

 

 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
Dr. Jobe Martin, biologist
Photo credits:
Dragonfly wings / marketplace.secondlife.com
Dragonflies mating / birdingindia.wordpress.com