Articles by Andrew Sharpless

Small fish used to detect toxins

Evildoers beware -- a new soldier's been drafted into the war on terror. If our color-coded charts and duct tape sent chills up your spine, wait until you get a load of our bluegills.

San Francisco, New York, Washington and other big cities are using bluegills -- aka sunfish or bream -- to safeguard their drinking water. These fish are highly attuned to chemical disturbances in their environment, and could be able to detect chemical warfare before traditional detection means. When the fish are exposed to toxins, they flex their gills in the same way a human would cough.

Sadly, there are plenty of toxins that could make these freshwater fish "flex their gills," and Osama didn't put them there.

Fifty new species found in Papua

Be careful when you remark, "yeah, when pigs fly!" because we just discovered a shark that can walk. In fact, we discovered two.

Researchers from Conservation International found 50 new species in the Bird's Head region in Papua. The new discoveries include 20 corals, 24 fish and eight mantis shrimp. But the ones that've got everyone cocking their head to the side with a resounding "huh!" are the two new species of epaulette shark, which spend most of their time walking across the sea floor, swimming away when danger looms.

See for yourself.

Japan eradicates dolphins as form of ‘pest control’

Every year environmental and animal welfare groups join forces to boo and hiss at (and work to oppose) Japan during the International Whaling Commission meeting. In 1986 the IWC instituted a moratorium on commercial whaling, and ever since Japan has been fighting to overturn it. This year, Japan and its allies came dangerously close to inhaling the sweet smell of success.

In the 20 years since the ban has been in place, approximately 27,000 whales have been slaughtered -- either accidentally or for "scientific" purposes. This is hardly a secret. But you probably aren't aware of the 20,000 dolphins and porpoises Japan kills every year.

Re-naming fish makes some more appetizing

Juliet knew what she was talking about when she uttered the famous line, "that which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." But the question remains: "to be or not to be?" "would it taste as good?"