What is it like to film bats in caves?

If you have ever seen the amazing footage of bats leaving or entering caves you might have been curious what it is like to flim thousands of animals all flying around your camera? 

Today I saw a great video on this topic and was excited to share it here.  What makes it extra special is that in addition to great images of bats in the wild and in a wind-tunnel the person explaining everything is someone who's presentations and videos I've seen before.  AMAZING STUFF!

Interviewed is Nickolay Hristov from Winston-Salem State University.  Read about some of his ongoing projects by clicking this (link).

From Hristov's STEM page I thought this was a great list of questions that have been addressed in bats using high-speed video recording

"Questions scientists have answered by filming bats in high-speed:

• How do individual bats move within a group?
• How bats use their wings to fly?
• What is the speed of a group of bats?
• Do bats hit or touch each other in a group
• How close are bats when they emerge from a cave?"

From 'Science Fridays' Enjoy!

Distractingly Sexy!

A Twitter Storm hit the internet in response to a comment from Tim Hunt of U. College London who has since lost his job over the comment.

i.e. 
“Let me tell you about my trouble with girls … three things happen when they are in the lab … You fall in love with them, they fall in love with you and when you criticise them, they cry."  

Distractingly sexy pipetting at Organ Pipe Cactus National Park 

A few links are below if you were not witness to the storm:  
 
https://twitter.com/hashtag/distractinglysexy?src=rela

Distractingly sexy (note 'wink' shirt) karyotyping in Panama.

Female scientists post 'distractingly sexy' photos

https://twitter.com/VagendaMagazine/status/608584030032945152

http://www.gcgaviator.com/careers-for-someone-who-loves/188/

New White Nose Syndrome fact sheet out (2015)

*Hot off the press--

You can read the new White Nose Syndrome (WNS) fact sheet here.

Impacted : 7 species including of which are 2 endangered 

Still no disease has been seen in tree bats and a few others that have been found with the fungus (Pseudogymnoascus destructans).


(*I will  try to look into this last aspect more for future blogs as understanding how/why certain species may not be exhibiting disease is key for ascertaining the impacts of the fungus).