BEAUTIFUL NEW LIFE EMERGING NOW!

The Vernal Equinox comes a day earlier than it used to, arriving on 03.20.14, due to shifts in the Earth’s axis, orbital adjustments, and calculation inefficiencies. And after a rough winter like the one we are just coming through, we welcome the extra time.

Today as we celebrate Beautiful Spring Things in Nature and Science, we are so happy to be immersing in new life. Beautiful sprouts and shoots, buds and eggs, hatchlings and babies of all kinds are joining us for their first spin around the universe.

When a bear cub is born, it leaves its mother’s womb, and enters a kind of exo-womb -- the den. Each spring, they emerge from hibernation, seeing the outside world for the first time.

This year, the polar vortex that put North America in a extra-deep freeze, meant an unusually mild winter for Scandanavia and Russia. So the cubs came out earlier and younger than usual.

The Common Blackbird is an English Thrush that lays beautiful eggs with its monogamous partner. Usually their eggs start appearing now in early March.

A recent study showed that blackbirds that live farther to the north build thicker nests than their relatives do to the south, to offer extra insulation against cooler temperatures.

These Moon Jellyfish, which can be found all over the world, bloom in spring, like flowers. As reported recently in Current Biology.

When water temperatures begin to rise, a protein in the polyp stage of the jellyfish activates. The jellyfish splits, in a process called strobilation. Each part then develops into an adult jellyfish.

When millions of jellyfish warm up and bloom together in the sea, it’s an incredibly beautiful sight to see.

A study published recently in the journal BMC Ecology that seedlings respond to sounds created by neighboring plants. While we’ve known for some time that plants communicate via chemical signals, findings now indicate that nanomechanical oscillations in plant cells send sound waves through the air, which other plants “hear.”

Seedlings that have just the right amount of companionship, grow better than lone seedlings so.

Acoustic signaling between plants and insects has been observed for example when some types of orchids release pollen only for the high-frequency buzz of a certain bee. So it makes perfect sense that plants can use sound to their advantage to chat with each other.

Fawns might take the top prize for new beautiful spring life. Their white spots, which fade as they age, help them to blend in with white blossoms that grow to just about their height. Brilliant!

Watch this amazing video of a newborn fawn, lost in the woods, making friends with a little girl. It is precious!

Hedgehogs are born in the spring in groups of 3-4, blind. Over the next few weeks as their mother cares for them their quills will emerge and they’ll gain the ability to see the spring unfold around them.

Hedgehogs are lately becoming popular pets, with 75% increases in hedgehog pet ownership in the past two years.

Coming back from their winter trip down south, Monarch Butterflies find the first patch of milkweed that will support their caterpillars and lay their eggs there. Four days later these beautiful caterpillars emerge. They’ll stay in this form for about two weeks before they make their metamorphosis.

To combat the declining population of these beautiful butterflies, the United States, Mexico, and Canada came together a couple of weeks ago at the North American Free Trade Agreement annual summit to try to protect Monarch Butterflies from herbicides. They established “No Herbicide Zones” for roadside milkweed plants so that the Butterflies and their babies have a chance to live and grace us with their beauty.

When winter temperatures get too low, honey bees gather in the center of the hive around their queen and shiver. This raises the temperature inside to a balmy 93F. In the spring, if they were successful, more bee babies are born, ready to spread some more beauty.

Bees do so many beautiful things. So we are happy to see baby bees emerge.

Recent findings add more kudos to their list. Fruits and vegetables that have been pollinated by bees are better! Strawberries pollinated by bees, for example,  have fewer deformities, greater shelf-life, are redder, brighter, and grow larger.

Teja Tscharntke, an agroecologist at the University of Göttingen in Germany, began to study quality related to bee pollination about a decade ago, while he was investigating pollination of coffee plants in Indonesia. He’s been studying bees and strawberries ever since.

Strawberry pollination by bees led to 39% higher sales value than wind pollination and 54% higher than self-pollinating.

Pollination likely improves fruit because it stimulates two major plant hormones which promote cell division and growth, and control ripening.

Read more about the study here in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

Read more about Beautiful Spring, it relates to Arts/Design, Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Place/Time, Mind/Body, and Soul/Impact.

Enter this week’s BN Photo Competition. Our theme this week is Beautiful Spring Things. Deadline is 03.23.14.

Photo Credits: 

1. Photo: Courtesy of Clearskies Bluewater. Flowers.
2. Photo: by Scott Schliebe. Polar Bear mother and cub.
3. Photo: by Manyman. Common Blackbird Eggs.
4. Photo: Courtesy of On the Road Again. Moon Jellyfish.
5. Photo: Courtesy of Nature on the Edge of New York City. Moon Jellyfish.
6. Photo: Courtesy of Huertos Compartidos. Seedlings.
7. Photo: Courtesy of Horizon Herbs. Madagascar Periwinkle Seedling.
8. Photo: by ryanleeorg. Fawn.
9. Photo: by Goff63. Baby hedgehog.
10. Photo: by Lynda. Monarch Caterpillar.
11. Photo: Sid Mosdell. Monarch Butterfly emerging.
12. Photo: by Max Westby. Baby Honey Bee emerging in spring.
13. Photo: http://www.co-operative.coop/plan-bee/ways-to-get-involved/
14. Photo: Courtesy of Stahlbush. Strawberries.
15. Photo: Courtesy of Nature.com. Eggs.