Blue Moon

Did you know that tonight, July 31st is a blue moon? It is! And for those astronomically challenged, a "blue moon" is the third full moon in a astronomical period (season). 

A normal year has four astronomical periods (seasons) of spring, summer, fall, and winter. Each are ~3 months long and have three full moons. When one of the seasons has four full moons (about every 2-3 years) the extra full moon is called a Blue Moon. Hence, the old expression. "That only happens in a blue moon." That is, not often.

A visually blue-colored moon is actually pretty rare. Rather, the atmosphere through which a moon rises affects the way it looks. When the atmosphere is filled with dust or smoke particles wider than 0.7 microns, they scatter red light making the Moon look blue. This can happen after a dust storm, forest fire or a volcanic eruption.

Eruptions like on Mt. Krakatoa, Indonesia (1883), El Chichon, Mexico (1983), Mt. St. Helens (1980) and Mount Pinatubo (1991) resulted in blue moons.

So all being said, go outside tonight and enjoy the blue moon. You can even howl if you like. Go science!

Bats and Sonic Plants Cozy Up

I've heard of birds nesting in trees and insects building homes in foliage, but bats in pitcher plants? So interesting!

In Borneo, carnivorous pitcher plants (Nepenthes hemsleyana) figured out a way to get bat guano (fertilizer) delivered for free. They offer bats (Kerivoula hardwickii) their vase-shaped leaves as natural sleeping bags to spend the daylight hours in protected comfort. 

Apparently, the plants advertise the comfy roost as well. They have evolved a way to reflect back the bats' high frequency sonar in a 5 star luxury hotel way (compared to the 1 star surrounding plants). The thin pitcher shape is crucial to the habitat marketing and allows the bats to find them easily and settle in. 

In the past, scientists reported tropical plants that evolved sonic skills to attract bats as pollinators. This is the first time a plant has used sound to call the hogs (er... bats in for the night). Go science! 

Catching Up with Iconic American Wildlife

If you are like me, most vacations include chance sightings of many of America's best loved animals. My last trip to Yellowstone included, buffalo, numerous raptors, and even a cheeky coyote who trotted along the side of the rode at roughly the same speed as our car in the summer tourist traffic. 

Many of these favorites and others are compiled in a list by science and wildlife writer, Matt Miller (of The Nature Conservancy blog), here. The listing also provides updates of numbers, endangered status and overall health of the different species.

Go science!