"Clever little fish!"

My daily read the Metro is running a piece on training fish. I quote:

He can shoot hoops, slip through a slalom and is limber at limbo – the only obstacle to global sports stardom is that Comet lives in a tank.

The goldfish has been trained to perform a range of tricks, debunking the myth of a three-second memory.

His owner, Dr Dean Pomerleau, gave him a piece of food every time he correctly performed a trick.

I wonder does this backup angler's claims that fish can be clever. If a goldfish can be trained then does it follow that a trout for instance can acquire skills. Allowing that the fish would have to be caught and released several times in order to reach the point of enlightenment, could it actually learn to distinguish between real food and artificial offerings. Or is it simply that the fish doesn't recognise an artificial as food at all because the likeness is so far out?

Chicken or Egg?

At some point or other you've gotta have debated it. Maybe over a late night beer when conversation was getting sketchy.

It's a debate which just won't go away. Which came first: the chicken or the egg? Well, Prof John Brookfield, one of the School of Biology's resident population geneticists, is hoping he can sort out an answer once and for all. Find out what John had to say to Chris Evans on the subject on [BBC] Radio 2.

(School of Biology, University of Nottingham)

Wildlife Force

On my morning commute, I pass through the centre of the city of Nottingham where I collect a free copy of Metro. Reading the newspaper helps pass the time on route to the biology department of the university where I work. Mostly the paper is pretty dire but it does host a small section centred on environmental topics. A couple weeks ago, there was a short piece on the Wildlife Force webcam project based in the Amazon rainforest. Being recommended by David Attenborough I figured the website had to worth a look.

Now, I've seen a few hummingbirds around a feeder at a friends house in Minneapolis, but down there in the Amazon they get ten or twenty at a time, at least! It's amazing. I was so impressed by the project that also looks at reforestation at the Buenaventura reserve, funded by World Land Trust, that I was inspired to respond to the Get Involved message on the website.

Being one for accessible website design I first offered a few technical suggestions to the folks running the project.... things like avoiding scrolling divs (You techy people will know what I'm talking about.). Anyway, in the end, rather than just offer advice, I thought I'd put my money where my mouth is. I offered to rewrite the CSS and some of the HTML for the site. It took me a little longer than I thought it might - no surprise there - but in the end the site ended up working more or less the same across the browsers and validating with W3C. Hopefully my aim to help the website provide better access will support further success in the project.

Go take a look if not to support the project then at least because it's just plain fascinating.... did you ever see so many hummingbirds in such close quarters!?

Saved by Trout

"When he realized what he had, he spun a 180, and took off downstream like a rocket! The drag screamed that sweet string symphony in my ears, but I couldn't see my rod". A man saved by a trout, Jerry Giles with a tale of risk and adventure... Read the full story »

Family Matters

I will return to my blog when my new family and job require a little less of my time!? Heck, even fishing has taken a back seat!!