When you’ve found two of everything else. That’s the conclusion of a fascinating, if disappointing, paper about the ivory-billed woodpecker in the latest issue of Conservation Biology. Most experts believe the “Lord God” bird was driven to extinction in the middle of the twentieth century. Occasional reports of sightings, however, have kept some hope alive. A report [...]
Archive for the ‘Nature’ Category
When Should You Stop Looking for a Possibly-Extinct Species?
Posted in Environment, Nature, tagged Biology, Birds, Statistics on February 7, 2012 | 2 Comments »
The Best Photograph of the Year
Posted in Nature, tagged Nature, Photography on December 26, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Last week I made my nomination for the most important economic chart of the year. Now here’s my nomination for best photo: Yes, that’s a photograph. National Geographic’s Frans Lanting captured these camel thorn trees silhouetted against dunes welcoming the rising sun in Namib-Naukluft Park. I love the photo for its sheer beauty and the [...]
Visiting Brazil? Skip the Amazon and Head to the Pantanal
Posted in Life, Nature, tagged Brazil, Nature, Pantanal on September 12, 2011 | 1 Comment »
Posting has been light in recent weeks thanks to a two-week sojourn in Brazil and a week recovering therefrom. I mostly turned off my inner economist to get in touch with my inner Darwin. So I have only a handful of economic observations: After arriving in Rio, the car that picked us up was made in China, fueled [...]
Avoiding Road Kill in Ghana
Posted in International, Nature, tagged Animals, Development, Ghana, Humor, International on June 28, 2011 | 1 Comment »
In Washington’s economic circles, the only animals we usually have to worry about are hawks and doves. (And the occasional raccoon or vole.) If you’re doing development research in Ghana, however, things are more complicated. Zipping from village to village on her motorcycle, my friend Liz has become intimately familiar with the behavior — often stochastic – of different [...]
Incentives and Property Rights, Dead Raccoon Edition
Posted in Life, Nature, tagged Incentives, Life, Nature, Property Rights on May 9, 2011 | 9 Comments »
It seems like only yesterday that I met Rocky. Probably because it was yesterday. Our smallest cat Caramel was staring intently upward. Following his gaze, I spied Rocky tucked between two branches high in the silver maple near our deck. Rocky didn’t look well. Raccoons aren’t usually out and about at 3:00 on a sunny [...]
Panda Prices Plummet
Posted in Nature, tagged Humor, Pandas on January 19, 2011 | 2 Comments »
In another sign of deflationary pressures, the Washington Post’s Michael Ruane reports that panda prices have plummeted: The National Zoo has reached an agreement with China to extend for five years the stay of Washington’s beloved black and white bears at a dramatically reduced cost. … The old $1 million-a year, 10-year lease expired Dec. [...]
Thanksgiving Reading
Posted in Business, Microeconomics, Nature, Politics, Technology, tagged Microeconomics, OpenTable, Politics, Tragedy of the Commons, Voting on November 24, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
So many fascinating economic issues, so little time to blog. Here are some of the fun items that I would have discussed in recent days if I had infinite time: How OpenTable uses its market power. Over at Incanto, Mark Pastore describes how OpenTable uses its dominant position in online restaurant reservations to get as much [...]
We Are Not Going To Die
Posted in Life, Nature, tagged Nature, Whale on September 12, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
It’s quiet weekend, so please forgive one more item from my recent sojourn in southeast Alaska. If you are a regular watcher of nature documentaries, you know that Alaska’s humpbacks employ a unique feeding technique called bubble-netting. A group of whales will corral herring in a wall of bubbles, push them to the surface, and [...]
I Found What I Was Looking For …
Posted in Life, Nature, tagged Life, Nature on August 22, 2010 | 1 Comment »
Just back from eight days in southeast Alaska. I won’t torment you with too much of a travelogue (my wife and I have another blog for that; so far it covers the first day of the trip). But I will note that we did find puffins, glaciers, and humpback whales, as wished in my last [...]
The Hot Tentacle
Posted in Behavioral Economics, Finance, Nature, tagged Humor, Nature, Octopus on July 11, 2010 | 3 Comments »
The World Cup started with vuvuzelas and ended with Paul the octopus. The world’s most famous cephalopod grabbed headlines by correctly predicting the winners of eight straight World Cup matches, including today’s victory by Spain over the Netherlands. I’ve enjoyed Paul’s exploits, but his success got me wondering: just how many animals are out there [...]
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