Pedro Assunção

Archive for the ‘nature’ Category

Trekking goodness

Trekking, what a great way to spend time with friends, enjoy the wilderness, and exercise, all at the same time. I just came back from the hardest one so far. It was 2 days of very real mountain climbing (we managed to move about 1.1km vertically, for a grand total of 30km on the entire [...]

Pooping: you’re doing it wrong

Ever found yourself sitting  in the toilet and, when it’s that time to do some pushing, instinctively getting on your toes to help the process? Well, it turns out that there is a reason for that: Humans have an easier time pooping in a crouching position. So when you get on your toes you are [...]

Going on a road trip

For the past few years i’ve been playing around with the idea of going on a road trip but was never able to get anyone else on board. After people start working it becomes very hard to organize common vacations amongst friends, so it just never happened. Last month i decided that i *have* to [...]

Super regeneration, here we go

A new study has found that a specific gene (P21) is directly linked to regenerative properties that you typically find in reptilian creatures, such as salamanders. Apparently, when deactivated, this gene allows mice cells to behave more like stem cells and fully regenerate wounds without leaving any scars. Are we close to super fast regeneration, [...]

3 years in Holland

It has been exactly 3 years and 4 months since i set foot on the Netherlands and – as i get ready to leave this place – i can’t help it but thinking about all the things i found, done, and learned while being here. This is my attempt at summarizing it, in no particular [...]

Most amazing picture of diver and a whale

I can’t resist sharing this because it’s simply one of the best pictures i have seen. This is one of those times when i really feel how so damn small and insignificant we are compared to the rest of nature. Incredible! You can see more pictures in the original article.

New cockroach species found in New York

It seems a new type of cockroach might have been discovered in a new york apartment. Mutation, very-shy-hidden-for-ages-type, I have no idea but, according to the article: “[Closely-related] species don’t differ [by] more than one percent, [while] this cockroach is four percent different, (…) This suggests it is a new species of cockroach.” So there [...]

Can we finally get rid of oil?

The other day I watched a movie entitled “the age of stupid“. Long story short, it shows the point of view of someone who, around 2055, survived a human species near eradication and built a tower with all the digital records of mankind and a bunch of other stuff too, like frozen animals, art pieces, [...]