While I love to write about human rights and amazing change agents, I also like to share my love of science. Most of my time is spent researching social activism and writing about the human side of life. On my days off I love to go in a different direction. My favorite subjects are biology, chemistry, and astronomy. New inventions fascinate me and I love stories of kids falling in love with science. On Facebook the posts I read most often are from my former HS science teacher. Science is as much a part of me as writing and empowering individuals. After all, without it we would not make advancements in medicine, sustainability, and technology to fight disease, pollution, or injustice.
I find it amazing that there are still new species yet to be discovered. It seems that in an era of such technology and development there couldn’t be anything new to find. Haven’t we spread out, domesticated, and destroyed too much of our planet to find new species? Thankfully not.
According to Jeremy Hance of Mongabay news, we have only discovered 20% of all species on earth. Read that article here: http://news.mongabay.com/profiles/new_species.html
Finding new species of plants can help our health as we find new cures. Discovering a new species of animal gives us a chance to protect and conserve the land they are on. So let’s hope that we can continue to learn more about the wonderful eco-system we depend on for life. Here are some highlights of new species found in recent years. Enjoy!
Flying Frogs in Vietnam: http://news.msn.com/science-technology/australian-biologist-finds-new-species-of-flying-frog
1,200 New Amazon Discoveries including transclucent frogs, blind ants, colored tarantulas and insect eating flowers: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/oct/26/wwf-amazon-new-species
1,000 New species in New Guinea including a fanged frog, blue lizard and a blue eyes spotted possum: http://news.discovery.com/animals/sharks/new-species-discovered-in-new-guinea-110627.htm
600 New Species on Madagascar. The Madagascar periwinkle is used to treat leukemia and Hodgkins disease. http://planetsave.com/2011/06/07/over-600-new-species-found-in-madagascar-during-past-decade/
Imagine a crazy new species of animal or plant.
What would it look like?
What would make it distinct?
Why has nobody found it?
🙂
Individual Empowerment 
LOL! 🙂
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The blue lizard is amazing. I want one now!
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Hahaha! There probably is. 🙂 Thanks for commenting.
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Heck, we didn’t even have airplanes and cars were new when our great grandfather was a grown man. Sometimes we forget how new this all is!
I imagine there’s probably still a species of pig hiding on one of the thousands of Polynesian islands (like New Guinea). I think you can guess what makes it go extinct… delicious belly meat!
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That’s awesome and it sounds beautiful. I love that it fights cancer. Thanks Honie
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I imagine a plant that has dark purple foliage and produces fluffy, yellow blooms in March all over the world, in any climate. The blossoms are edible and the foliage make a delicious tea that only needs to steeped for three minutes. A sip of tea, a snack of the blooms or a whiff of either turns cancer cells into dust. Cancer ceases to be fatal! Why hasn’t it been discovered? Because disease is big business.
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