A page from a Cycad's diary

Dear diary...

I think I grew a little this last century.
That is all.

Love,
C.

You know those old, awesome-looking, hardy plants that Triceratops liked chewing on in children's dinosaur picture books... cycads?? Well, as it turns out, cycads lied about their age like a 16 year old in a liquor store. They are younger than they appear... sort of... if you count 10 million years young as oppose to 280 mya.

The species around today are not the same species that were around with the early amphibians during the Permian nor are they the same species feeding the plumpy herbivorous dinosaurs. These modern cycads are fairly new in the grand scheme of plant diversification - having only really decided to extend the *snicker* branches of the family *snicker* tree out around 10 mya.

The full article can be found on Science : "Recent synchronous radiation of a living fossil" --- but subscription to the journal is necessary to view it. Or you can GOOGLE it and read the News feed.

The Zodiacs

This one goes out to Ben, because I read this on Smosh and I laughed so hard coffee leaked from my nose (I was drinking coffee at the time, I'm not a caffeine dispenser normally).

SEVERELY RECOMMEND CLICKING ON THE IMAGES FOR AN AMAZING FULL VIEW!! OR YOU WILL DIE FROM IGNORING THIS CLEARLY DRAMATIC SUGGESTION. YOUR ZODIAC SAID SO... (you'll never know if you don't read it).

Jelly is AMAZING!

I have discovered jelly art! It's always been there but I haven't paid it much attention until now! This is one of the coolest desserts you could make -ever-. I want to make these so bad, but leaving me in the kitchen with a rather large needle with coloured gelatin is the worst thing anyone can do (not that I'd consider injecting jello; but more because I'm exceedingly uncoordinated and I do want to keep my eyes puncture-free). I've found HEAPS of footage on YouTube under "Gelatina Encapsulada" and "Gelatina Artistica"; some pretty awesome DIY clips too.

image from Jellyciuos Creations

If anyone manages to make these (and it's their first attempt) I'd love to see photos! Post a link in the comments or IM me (or FB me if you're on my friend's list - if you're not, then !!YAY!! You're the <5% of people who read this and weren't forced to as a "friend's obligation").