10 Worst Jobs in Science

Salute those who do the dirty work...My fave: Orangutan Pee Collector.Jar, give 'em a break.

Here's one for my across the Atlantic cousins (emphasis added): Heh. Years ago we bought some hardwood acreage in the lower Adirondacks--to preserve it, enjoy it, and some day bequeath it to the local conservancy.The local country music radio station is WBUG:"This is Bug Country Radio!"The skeeters are so big, they'll carry you home for the kids.edit: to scale the skeeter size down to the truth This message has been edited by Omnivorous, 11-29-2005 01:35 PM

haha That one was my personal favorite.

Many of you have probably already seen the pop press reports on Carel van Schaik's work on orangutan's, including their use of tools, but it continues to fascinate me because of what it suggests about both the environmental impact on the behaviors we see in contemporary populations, and the implications of his work for the evolution of intelligence in the great apes.Here's a brief article prompted by the release of his new book, "Among Orangutans: Red Apes and the Rise of Human Culture."As the article notes, orangutans were previously seen as "the only great ape that lived a largely solitary life foraging for hard-to-find fruit thinly distributed over a large area." The implication is that the orangutan we thought we knew is a product of habitat loss and diminished population density--their bare subsistence, tool-less lifestyle caused by the loss of rich habitat, not their innate intelligence or capacity for culture.The larger, more socially tolerant, tool-using population he discovered rescues the red ape somewhat from our flawed understanding.Welcome home, Orang.

haha omg. when i was 4 i wanted to be a ballerina astronaut.and a marine biologist and a mommy and a omgwtfbbqdetour.