Ladybug Zombies

This is twisted. I love it. From National Geographic: “The parasitic wasp…prepares to inject a spotted ladybug with a single egg…the ladybug has been paralyzed by the wasp’s venom…”: “In time the egg will hatch into a larva that will develop for a few days and then chew a small hole through the abdomen of the ladybug. The larva will then spin a cocoon between the legs of the ladybug, whose body will rest on top of the cocoon as the larva undergoes metamorphosis…”: “…sometimes the ladybugs survive the larva’s emergence, and in those cases, the…larva then “brainwashes” the bug into defending the vulnerable cocoon from predators, said study co-author Jacques Brodeur, a biologist at the University of Montreal…” There you have it. Ladybug

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Corn Subsidies in One Chart

I’ve heard lots of arguments from both sides about the merits of domestic corn subsidies, but I think this chart pretty much sums everything up: Either directly, or indirectly, we consume too much corn. Thanks to my brother for pointing me to the chart.

Japanese Green Tea IPA?

Last week, Stone released a couple exciting new special edition beers: a Japanese Green Tea IPA and a Cherry Chocolate Stout. From the Boston Globe’s new beer blog, ’99 Bottles’, here are some initial positive reviews: Japanese Green Tea IPA. Produced in collaboration with Ishii Brewing Co. in Guam and Baird Brewing Co. in Japan, this is an imperial India Pale Ale brewed, indeed, with green tea. Bright orange with a frothy, 2-inch head, the beer exudes hops. A pungent aroma of citrus fruit leaps from the bottle as soon as it’s uncapped, and continues apace one the beer is poured into a glass. The nose seems to grow even more tropical as it breathes, and that characteristic translates to the

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