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Showing posts from November, 2012

A new Fern Genus named "Gaga"

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Duke University scientists have name a new fern genus after the singer Lady Gaga. There are nineteen species in the genus Gaga including 2 new species and 17 split off from other genera based on DNA sequencing. Among the reasons the name was selected are the costume Lady Gaga wore at the 2010 Grammys which resembled a fern gametophyte and the fact that one of the identifying DNA sequences in one gene was "gaga" for the base sequence guanine-adenine-guanine-adenine. Lady Gaga and the fern gametophyte.from  http://today.duke.edu/2012/10/gagafern here is the link to the youtube video of the 2010 Grammy performance with the costume. Enjoy the ferns and the music! Mike p.s here is my favorite (biology based no less!)  Lady Gaga parody: 

Muhlenberg Botanical Society Meeting -November 2012 meeting - the last one of the year.

November 15, 2012: Link Davis, " Name That Remnant!" 7:00 pm - 9 pm at the North Museum Come enjoy a botanical guessing game in which Link will show us  the  picture of a seed pod or flower remnant  and ask the audience  to guess  what it is. Then he will follow with a picture of each plant in bloom. Link Davis, a lifelong resident of Montgomery Co., has degrees in biology  and physical science. For thirty years  he taught physical science  and  chemistry in the Norristown Area School District. Since retirement he has   driven  a school bus and volunteered for Habitat for Humanity  and his local  SPCA. He continues to educate children  by presenting lessons  on insects  and by sharing his collection with schools to enhance  their  curricula.  Although  his interest in wildflowers began about two decades ago  when he  began attending botany walks sponsored  by  the Perkiomen  Watershed  Conservancy, it is only in the last five years that he has seriously