Association Of Catholic Bloggers

Chameleons may be more famous for changing color than for their rapid-fire tongues: but today I'll be talking about both.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Some cyanobacteria — pond scum — swim toward brighter areas. Scientists didn't know how the microorganisms could tell where the light is, until now. Other scientists discovered four new species of an odd-looking sort of critter: including one that looks like a purple sock. I'm fascinated by this sort of thing, your experience may vary.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Humans sleep , which shouldn't be surprising. Just about all critters with brains sleep: mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish — even insects and nematodes experience something like sleep. Poets and playwrights have written of sleep.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Here is an excerpt from my journal dated 7 August 15: "Today i cried when someone was sick. My beloved pet dog, Socks, is suddenly sick and its just too much for my heart and mind. I had to sob. Now m trying to figure out why am sobbing so much. What is it about her that makes me feel i just can't live without her. Like she is irreplaceable. Like she is the one who taught me many important lessons. Like i v not yet matched her when it comes to giving love. Like i don't care what this ache sounds like." And i lost her in this life on 8 August 2015. Read the full post at J.A.M.

"...'Brother Wolf, you have killed and pillaged like a wanton criminal, and for that you deserve punishment! But accept instead the forgiveness of all the men you have wronged. Come now, here is my hand. In the name of the Holy One, come to me, and pledge that from this day on you will live at peace with men. Come!'... "...He was only in time to see the berserker-wolf take the last hesitant step of its advance. To see it raise one metal paw — and with its steel claw-fingers gently touch the kneeling friar's extended hand...." That's from Fred Saberhagen's "Brother Berserker." The "berserker-wolf" part of Saberhagen's tale is based on a legend in " Fioretti di San Francesco ," written a century and a half after Francis of Assisi died. "Firoetti" is probably the most popular collection of stories about Saint Francis: but "Scripta Leonis, Rufini et Angeli Sociorum S. Francisci," compiled by Brot

Beavers are back in England, which is good news or bad news: opinions differ on that point. Quite a few folks died when drains blocked up in Nigeria's capital. Then a gas station exploded. There's more rain in the forecast, so their troubles are far from over. Finally, there's a new doomsday prediction in a brand-new publication. Madagascan lemurs are imperiled: but not, I think, cockroaches, rats — or humans. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

The last I heard, Rubenstein's robot swarm was pretty good at forming different shapes: but not much else. ( August 22, 2014 ) What we're learning about how fire ants build their nests may change that. Scientists discovered that the pests use different excavating techniques, depending on what sort of soil they're in. Other scientists found stretchy nerves in rorqual whales. The nerves are made from the same stuff found in other animals — what makes them stretchy is how the nerve fibers fold up.... ...Looking up rorqual whales and baleen encouraged a (very brief) tangent on evolution. I figure I'd better review why I don't argue with the Almighty about this world's development: and don't fear a robot revolution.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

We've known about the Capitanian crisis for some time: some scientists have, anyway. What's new is the idea that it may have been a major mass extinction in its own right: a sort of prequel to the Great Dying. Other scientists solved part of the puzzle of how octopuses coordinate their arms when moving. Their research may help folks design soft robots: useful in medicine and rescue work.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Those trilobites were huge: in the Cambrian. These days, foot-long critters are common, and not particularly big. Scientists thought related species of animals generally got bigger as they evolved: now a team has evidence to back up that assumption. We still don't know why critters usually get bigger, though. That, and seven "croc" species sharing the same turf in the Amazon Basin — before the Amazon was there — is what I picked for this week's post.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Humans have hands . So do apes, monkeys, lemurs, and koalas. For that matter, a chameleon's feet look and act a lot like hands. But they don't have precision-grip thumbs that can line up with any finger. We do: and apparently have had a firm grip on tools for over two million years. Scientists had a pretty good idea about how the common ancestor of dinosaurs, crocodiles and alligators, and birds, developed. A quarter-billion-year-old fossil shows that the situation is more complicated than scientists thought.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Scientists found the genetic code mice use for growing paws — in spotted gar, after they thought about what happened to fish 300,000,000 years back. An amateur fossil hunter found a complete ichthyosaur skeleton in Wales , professional fossil hunters found parts of a critter that isn't quite an ichthyosaur in China, and other paleontologists described a cat-size dinosaur that lived in what's now Montana. Still other scientists named a Cambrian — thing — after an esteemed colleague. Quite a few Cambrian critters are just like nothing that lives on today's Earth. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

We've been learning a great deal about human origins in the last century: and discovering that there's much more to learn. Scientists studying bones from a cave used by both Neanderthals and the current human model found DNA from a girl who was 'none of the above.' She's from a previously-unknown species, or sub-species, of human Other scientists discovered that chimpanzees communicate in an unexpectedly 'human' way. We live in an exciting era: or a disturbing one, depending on a person's assumptions and preferences.... ... Denisovans lived in or near the Altai mountains about 41,000 years before we started playing baseball. Some scientists call them a different species, others say they're a subspecies of homo sapiens sapiens . Either way, they're part of the human family. We don't know much about the Denisovans yet, apart from a bit of finger bone, two teeth, and a toe bone. That's not much to work with: but scientists found i

A 520,000,000 year old fossilized heart caught my eye this week: so did genetically engineered bacteria, and the continuing search for life in the universe.... ...I don't need an iPad to be Catholic: which is just as well, since I don't own one. My son has smartphone, and that's another topic. Catholics coped quite well without WiFi gadgets in their pockets: and without pockets, for that matter. But our faith doesn't depend on avoiding new ideas and technology. We've even been at the cutting edge of new tech a few times: like Gothic cathedrals , stone buildings with walls made mostly of stained glass. The pointed arches, ribbed vaults, and flying buttresses of Gothic architecture are traditional now, but 12th century traditionalists were horrified at the 'barbarous' style. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

The Holy Family with a Bird , Murillo, painted 1650. I was in our parish church in Dublin this afternoon praying when I saw a young man of about 19 come in, kneel in the front pew for a couple of minutess, light a candle in front of the latar of the Blessed Virgin and then leave. I was thinking that it was a hopeful sign to see a young person do this. Indeed, yesterday at Sunday Mass, while the congregation at the Mass at 11am wasn't great, there were some young people present. A few minutes latr thee young man came, approached me and told me his dog was sick. I wouldn't describe him as distressed but he was upset. I asked hiim how old his dog was and he said 'three'. He also gave me the dog's name, 'Sam'. I asked him if he had taken Sam to the vet. 'He's with him right now', he told me. I mentioned two saints to the young man, whose name I asked but won't mention here, who had the gift of healing animals, St Francis and St Martin de Porr