Now believed to enjoy artificial sweeteners

Red pandas are fond of sugary drinks:

Researchers from the Monell Center report that the red panda is the first non-primate mammal to display a liking for the artificial sweetener aspartame. This unexpected affinity for an artificial sweetener may reflect structural variation in the red panda’s sweet taste receptor.

I’m not at all surprised. These guys seem like they’d love aspartame. Give them sweet wine and they’d be out cold. They don’t eat meat, so the next best thing really is sugar. Lions (and the cat family in general) do not have an affinity for sweet. A genetic defect prevents necessary taste receptors from functioning properly.

A new lichen, ‘Caloplaca obamae’, is named after President Obama:

A researcher at UC Riverside has discovered a new species of lichen – a plant-like growth that looks like moss or a dry leaf – and named it after President Barack Obama.

“I discovered the new species in 2007 while doing a survey for lichen diversity on Santa Rosa Island in California,” said Kerry Knudsen, the lichen curator in the UCR Herbarium. “I named it Caloplaca obamae to show my appreciation for the president’s support of science and science education.”

Very nice indeed. I guess lichens enjoy a fairly long life, but they do succumb to the teeth of elk and deer. Call me crazy, but I’d rather have a red panda named in my honor.