Roy Zimmerman sings

It seems as if Roy Zimmerman has taken the role sadly abandoned by Tom Lehrer.

Listen to “Let’s Go After the Buddhists.”

Hat tip to PZ Myers at Pharyngula.

Snow Monkeys

Japan has the most northerly-living monkeys.

The Japanese Macaque (Macaca fuscata) is a monkey species native to northern Japan, and is the most northern-living non-human primate, surviving winter temperatures of below -15 °C. They have brown-gray fur, a red face, hands and bottom, and a short tail – and often seem remarkably human

A group of them live at a famous hotspring. Follow the link photographs.

More about the Bornean Clouded Leopard

There are perhaps 8,000 to 18,000 Bornean clouded leopards on Borneo and Sumatra. Those numbers sound high to me.

On the islands the clouded leopard is the top predator, preying on monkeys, deer, wild pigs and lizards, and has a crucial influence on the regional ecosystems. At their largest they reach just over 1m long, and for their size sport the largest canine teeth of the cat family. Their name comes from the mottled white patches that cover their skin.

Ancient religions: Mithraism

According to my research,

Mithras’s early life was one of hardship and painful triumph. Finally, he captured the primaeval bull and, after dragging it back to his cave, killed the animal in order to release its life force for the benefit of humanity: from the bull’s body grew useful plants and herbs, from its blood came the vine, and from its semen all useful animals. This bull slaying scene – known as a tauroctony -was to be found in relief or as a wall painting in all Mithraea. The scene includes the Sun god and the Moon goddess as well as the Raven, the Sun god’s messenger. Mithras is assisted by a dog, a snake and a scorpion, and is attended by the twin Torchbearers, Cautes and Cautopates.

State of the Canadian Cryosphere

The Cryosphere is the portion of the Earth’s climate system that consists of snow and ice deposits. This includes seasonal snow cover, river, sea and lake ice, glaciers and ice caps or sheets, ice shelves and permafrost/frozen ground. The term “cryosphere” traces its origins to the Greek word kruos for frost.

he cryosphere is a integrated part of the global climate system with important feedbacks generated through its influence on the surface images provided by John Hanesiak (University of Manitoba) energy budget, moisture fluxes, clouds, precipitation, hydrology, and atmospheric and oceanic circulation. Monitoring the cryosphere is an important component of any plan to monitor the global climate system, particularly because much of the cryosphere is located at high latitudes where enhanced warming is projected by climate models. …the cryosphere is especially sensitive to small changes in temperature.

The map below shows snow anomalies.