Comments on: Which one of these recent science headlines is incorrect?

By: Donnie B.

Donnie B. — Sat, 01 May 2010 15:22:49 +0000

You might get more flak over “Laden” if your first name was Benjamin.

By: Victoria

Victoria — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 14:58:51 +0000

The early bird gets the worm!

By: MadScientist

MadScientist — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 09:43:38 +0000

@davidp: giant worms for giant birds like the emu and moa?

By: MadScientist

MadScientist — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 09:40:46 +0000

I loved Colbert’s story on the worm. The giant worm was discovered – except it wasn’t so giant. And it didn’t smell like lillies, it smelled more like a worm. And it didn’t spit. He then condemned the scientists for spoiling the story.

By: Gaythia

Gaythia — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 02:51:15 +0000

@18 As a child, I always figured that the next worm I found would be at least as big as your Giant Gippsland one. It is not clear to me why the researchers reported on in headlines 1 and 2 above think that their adult sample is of maximum size.

But then, not too far north from the Palouse, nearer to the Canadian border (and forested) there are people who think they’ve seen the Sasquatch (or Bigfoot). The sasquatch, in case you don’t “have” those in Australia, is supposed to be a giant hairy ape. Now that’s just silly!

By: davidp

davidp — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 02:30:28 +0000

I'm very disappointed. The "giant worm" is tiny compared to our Giant Gippsland earthworm I have seen the Giant Gippsland earthworm in the flesh in a purpose built museum about 100km from home.

By: Gaythia

Gaythia — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 20:59:30 +0000

The Palouse region of Idaho and Washington is very heavily cultivated (wheat and lentils)and its almost sand dune like loess hills have also been heavily eroded. The loss of earthworms would mean that the mechanisms for rejuvenation of topsoil also are threatened. Earthworms are unlikely to care for either plows or herbicides. If they are going the way of the frogs and fireflies that would be a tragedy.

Stories of arks on Mt Ararat were common in the 1970’s, at which time it was remembered that centuries before ark shrines were constructed which were a popular “tourist trap”. I assume that one of these shrines is being “recycled” yet again.

By: Greg Laden

Greg Laden — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 20:55:14 +0000

Birger Johansson [13] … well, you have definitely caught on to the meaning of my post. The monster is not real, but the worm is, but the headline is not about a real connection. The ark is clearly not real but there is a news story (about delusional people as you point out).

By: Greg Laden

Greg Laden — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 20:52:59 +0000

“Laden” has evolved independently in (presumably) German and Arabic.

And, as it turns out, Irish. Laden/Leyden/Layden is an Irish name. And, amazingly I get very little crap about it.

By: Birger Johansson

Birger Johansson — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 20:31:50 +0000

“It is a bit sad that modern newspapers would want to sell copies by perpetuating this story.”

Sorry, I did not read the source. I should have known it was Fox….but the earthworms are still cool.