Posts Tagged ‘Dead’

History Is Dead: A Zombie Anthology

Posted on June 28th, 2010 • Filed under mediarosa • 5 Comments

Product Description
Our team of crack historians has uncovered the truth you never learned in school: the living dead have walked among us since the dawn of time. In this collection of gruesome tales from throughout the ages, the ravenous undead shamble through bloody battlefields, plague-ridden cities, genteel country estates, and dusty frontier towns. They emerge from foggy cemeteries, frozen barrows, loamy bogs, cursed mines, and gore-spattered operating rooms to prey on the living…. More >>
History Is Dead: A Zombie Anthology

 

Darwin’s rarest finch meets an “evolutionary dead end”

Posted on June 28th, 2010 • Filed under mediarosa • No Comments




Darwin’s finches may be the best-known example of evolution by natural selection, yet a new study suggests that one species of this famous group of birds may be reaching an “evolutionary dead end.” According to a paper in PLoS ONE this week, the mangrove finch—one of the rarest birds in the world—is undergoing a speciation event that could reduce it to two populations with dangerously small numbers.

There are only about 100 mangrove finches in the world, and they are all confined to Isabela, one of the Galapagos islands. Only two populations survive: one group of about 80 birds on the island’s west coast, and a tiny population of about 20 on the island’s eastern side. The two populations are separated by more than 40 miles of lava desert and volcanic terrain, and the authors estimate that they have been isolated from each other for more than 100 years.

The authors decided to test whether this isolation has caused enough divergence between the two populations that they are unlikely to interbreed. They recorded the songs of 20 male mangrove finches on the western population, and the songs of the only 2 males they could locate in the eastern population. They found significant differences between the two groups in song duration, syllable rate, and peak frequency.

Moreover, when the eastern songs were played to finches on the west coast (and vice versa), the birds responded much more strongly to songs from their own side of the island. Male birds increased their territorial behavior and female birds approached the loudspeaker at a much higher rate when a local song was played than when the other population’s song was played. The responses to the other population’s songs were low for males and nearly nonexistent for females (although the sample size for female responses was merely 5 finches). 

These results suggest that birds from opposite sides of the island might not recognize each other by song and, since song is a major part of the courtship ritual in mangrove finches, they would likely show little or no interest in breeding with each other. Once this type of reproductive isolation occurs, the two populations can be considered separate species.

In addition to the song divergence, the authors show evidence of both morphological and genetic differences between the two populations. Birds on the eastern side of Isabela have a dark stripe on their breasts that western birds lack, and the authors found they had seven completely unique alleles when a panel of 16 variable DNA regions was genotyped. If speciation is occurring—or already has occurred—in mangrove finches, they are likely to face extinction. With minute population sizes and no interbreeding, it is very likely that one of Darwin’s famed finches will go the way of the dodo.

PLoS ONE, 2010. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0011191  (About DOIs).

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The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead

Posted on June 16th, 2010 • Filed under mediarosa • 5 Comments

Product Description
The Zombie Survival Guide is your key to survival against the hordes of undead who may be stalking you right now. Fully illustrated and exhaustively comprehensive, this book covers everything you need to know, including how to understand zombie physiology and behavior, the most effective defense tactics and weaponry, ways to outfit your home for a long siege, and how to survive and adapt in any territory or terrain.

Top 10 Lessons for Surviving a Zomb… More >>
The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead

 

The New Dead: A Zombie Anthology

Posted on June 10th, 2010 • Filed under mediarosa • 5 Comments

Product Description
RESURRECTION! The hungry dead have risen.  They shamble down the street.  They hide in back yards, car lots, shopping malls.  They devour neighbors, dogs and police officers.  And they are here to stay.  The real question is, what are you going to do about it? How will you survive?HOW WILL THE WORLD CHANGE WHEN THE DEAD BEGIN TO RISE?Stoker-award-winning author Christopher Golden has assembled an original anthology of never-before-published zombie stories from… More >>
The New Dead: A Zombie Anthology

 

“Many Dead Things: The Specimens of Alex CF,” Superette Gallery, London

Posted on May 24th, 2010 • Filed under mediarosa • No Comments


Friend-of-Morbid-Anatomy Suzanne G. of the incomparable Wurzeltod website and Tumblr, asked me to help get the word out about the upcoming exhibition: “Many Dead Things: The Specimens of Alex CF.” The opening reception will take place on May 17th and the show will be on view until June 12th.

Full information following; check it out!

MANY DEAD THINGS – THE SPECIMENS OF ALEX CF
27 May – 2 June 2010
Opening reception: 27 May, 6 – 9 PM | 28 May – 2 June, 12 – 6 PM daily

Superette Gallery
66A Sclater Street, Off Brick Lane
London, E1 6HR, United Kingdom

In his first solo exhibition, following the release of his monograph, artist Alex CF offers the public a unique opportunity to see his bizarre specimens in person – objects that have so far only been witnessed by private collectors, such as Maxime Chattam (author) or Reece Shearsmith (actor, League of Gentlemen) who wrote the foreword for his book, and will be lending pieces from his own collection for the show.

Alex has spent the last five years crafting wondrous relics of an alternate past – a rich tapestry of 19th century cryptozoological artifacts and creatures that challenge our understanding of the natural world: The mummified remains of a vampire child, the taxidermied corpse of a 7-foot-tall adult werewolf, the trappings of scientists and archaeologists pertaining to the study of these species in the form of antique research cases, amongst many other fascinating objects.

The show will encompass a number of works including 6 new pieces and Alex will be signing his book.

Alex’s work has been featured in a number of well-known publications both online and in print, such as Weird Tales, Bizarre, BoingBoing, and io9. His work has also been featured on book covers, and in a number of independent films.

Click here to download press release.

To find out more, visit the exhibition website by clicking here. To visit Suzanne’s amazing Wurzeltod website, click here; to visit her equally if not more amazing Tumblr, click here.

Image: By Alex CF, from exhibition website: L’enfant Diabolique, mixed media, 2010

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