Earth Day - Make it every day.

This wouldn't be a very decent, science/nature themed blog without a post about Earth Day. Celebrated annually on April 22, Earth Day (coordinated globally by the Earth Day Network) is a time when all people, regardless of race, gender, income, or geography, are reminded of their moral right to contribute to a healthy, sustainable environment.

The Earth Day Flag, from Wikimedia Commons.

"Tree of Lies"

Yes, I too thought it was a clever play on words. I am, from time to time, extremely vocabularious (a term coined by my brother and I back at the turn of the 21st century that means "funny with words" but apparently has other current definitions on the internet).

This is just a teaser post/question for my readers. Can anyone spot the problems with this cladogram? I'll give you a hint: it is not accurate. If you've already been part of the e-mail discussion regarding it, don't spoil it for everyone else, at least not immediately. Everyone else, happy hunting!

Image courtesy of Peter .

"Oriental Yeti"? I don't think so.

Ok, I'll be the first to admit that I've always had an interest in cryptozoology (and xenobiology, and really bad science fiction, among other things). The world is a big place, and new species are discovered every day. That being said, I'm still a skeptic at heart. People report creatures they can't identify. That doesn't make it a cryptid. It just means that they couldn't identify it. And with astonishing speed, the media picks up the story, and the whole world is on the lookout for Sasquatch in their backyards. Not necessary.