Friday roundup: Nature is beautiful, weird, terrifying, & gross, and vaccines are a social responsibility

Madagascar oxymoron: a new species of giant mouse lemur has been discovered by
a Malagasy-German research team. Credit: B. Randrianambinina.

Women in science

• An important woman in science you may have never heard of, Clelia Mosher. 
• Mae Jemison, first African-American woman astronaut to travel into space, now selected to head up the Pentagon's 100-year Starship project.

Nature is beautiful. Nature is weird. Nature is terrifying.

• National Geographic has collected together its best "Photo of the Day" selections from 2012, and this one has stayed with me since I saw it earlier this year. Astonishing. 
• Otters chase a butterfly. You may know that a group of crows is called a "murder." But did you know that a group of otters is called a "lodge" or a "bevy"? (Warning: There is music).

• Meat-eating plants are already the freaks of the plant world--why isn't photosynthesis good enough for them? But now...here's one that traps its victims underground.
• What does a blood clot look like? You may not have realized how beautiful such a deadly little structure could be. This site is packed with similarly beautiful images of the unseen world inside us. 

• In the interests of science, we share with you the future of underwater rodent travel: the hamster submarine. 

• Flowers are beautiful, most of us can agree. But did you know that they're technically beautiful, as well? 

This is just gross

• UK mom coughs up cancer. That's pretty much the story. 

This is just stupid

• Parents still deliberately infecting their children with the measles. Which kills people.

Science education (much needed, it would seem)

• Anatomy of a science fair project, part III. Great information for anyone considering entering a science fair.
• Changing the nature of science education in the United States: Do we emphasize facts over understanding process and applying critical thinking? Um...yes. We do.
• iPads for orangs. Or, as one punster on Facebook put it, "Got an old iPad lying around? Maybe there's an ape for that!" 
• When you're a scientist, the mere act of eating pasta can lead to discovery. 
• Climate vs weather: Do you know the difference? This video explains it oh so very clearly.

Health

• Vaccinating children is a social responsibility, like driving on streets and not sidewalks, not stabbing people, and giving pedestrians the right of way at street crossings. When you choose not to do it, you endanger others (see "measles," above). 
• Can moderate red wine consumption cut breast cancer risk? This study found that red wine consumption altered hormone levels in the blood in a pattern that suggests it might halt the growth of cancer cells. Not anything definitive.
• We've been reading a lot lately about these great ways to trick picky eaters into eating. We know from experience that some picky eaters are untrickable. This scimom tells us what one of the latest studies really means.