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Tuesday, September 22, 2009

EWWWWW!!!! Whats that next to my bag?!?!


So after a pleasant walk home from campus, I opened up my front door and turned on the light. In my hallway there was this hideous creature crawling out of the wall next to my bag. After screaming and allowing the hives to melt away I decided to take this picture:

So I found out that this creature is called the House Centipede. Disgusted out of my mind, I searched a couple of sites looking for the fuzzy multi-legged visitor. It's scientific name is Scutigera coleoptrata.

Its identifying colors are yellow, black and white. It size is approximately 34 to 35mm. They have 15 pairs of legs and males usually have longer antennae in the back. I found out that they are attracted to damp moist areas, porches, and may sometimes arrive in a bathtub drain (I thought the last one was kind of rude).
As someone who is afraid of insects (or anything else that crawls or slithers) I was not happy to see this creature lurking in my hallway. However, I did find out something rather interesting about them. Centipedes often keep away other nasty pests such as cockroaches, and moths away. Perhaps these visitors may be helpful after all, still, I would not appreciate the peaking creature while in the tub!

My Favorite Lede

The Science Times consists of some interesting ledes grabbing New York Times' readers attention into the science world. The science journalist must capture the reader's attention, while creating a sense of urgency and concern for the new science discovery.


So what makes a good lede?

My Journalism professors have instilled certain values a good lede should contain. Here are some common elements that most have agreed upon:

  • The lede should be exciting and capture the reader's attention
  • It should explain what the story is about, and why we should care.
  • The five W's, and/or How if it is applicable, but also not to wordy
  • Should not start off with a quote, or question.


One particular lede in the Science Times, by John Tierney captured my attention:



"If you’re not rich and you get sick, in which industrialized country are you likely to get the best treatment?"



To read the complete article click here



This lede breaks most rules, but does so in a way that intrigues the reader to keep reading. The lede does not tell any of the five W's, but simply asks a question that the reader must ask themselves.