When Engineers Are Bored.

the translucent skin of the northern glassfrog (hyalinobatrachium fleischmanni) allows us to see its internal viscera, and, in the case of the fifth photo, a mother’s eggs.

and yet, it is the male glassfrogs who alone provide the parental care, as the females flee the scene once the eggs have been delivered. it for this reason that these protective male glassfrogs can be extremely aggressive.   

to date, there is no clear explanation for the evolution of this transparency. most frogs are not transparent, as this would expose organs to the deleterious effects of sunlight and heat.

but the transparent underbelly of the glassfrog is covered in light reflecting organelles called iridiphores which could give the glassfrogs the ability to optimize their internal homeostasis.

some suspect this abdoninal transparency helps the glassfrog to blend into its environment, though no evidence as yet supports this crypsis hypothesis. 

photos by (click pic) alejandro arteaga, nicholas reusens, thomas marent, pete oxford, heidi and hans jurgen koch, joel sartore and geoff gallice

I feel ya

…can you hear me?

For more on the Fermi Paradox and why alien life hasn’t found us yet. (Infographic via futurism)

Why isn’t Pluto a planet?!?!?

Ahhhhh sweet cute innocent little Pluto, what did you do to deserve the demotion? How can we live in a world with only 8 planets? Were all those years of elementary school for nothing? Many people …

oldie but goodie

name one difference between birds and children

What are some of your favorite science segments from the Tonight Show?

Hey, @luminarysiralexrluma! 

We <3 science here at The Tonight Show! 

Kevin Delaney has shown us how to make toothpaste for elephants! 

We’ve made ping-pong balls fly. 

And Kevin even hung out backstage to share 8 interesting science facts! 

Jimmy and Bill Gates tried poop water. 

Jimmy, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Astronaut Scott Kelly became friends via Twitter! 

Neil DeGrasse Tyson schooled us on physics! 

And we tried to sell Charles Barkley on space travel! 

Science rules! 

Hope your week is out of this world! - Noah