Shelley Batts is a Neuroscience PhD candidate at the University of Michigan. She studies hair cell regeneration in the cochlea, and is just embarking on that quixotic quest called 'thesis.' She lies awake at night pondering how science intersects with politics, culture, policy, money, medicine, and religion in an attempt to be more than just a niche scientist sitting in the oh-so-lovely ivory tower. Follow me and my parrot on the quest to get funded, get a PhD, and stay sane.
Those who dwell, as scientists or laymen, among the beauties and mysteries of the earth, are never alone or weary of life. ~Rachel Carson
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Cochlear Hair Cell Regeneration
Interview With Dr. Irene Pepperberg
On Religion and Taking the 'Red Pill'
Neuroscience of Cocaine Addiction
Parrots Have Object Permanance
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Category: LOLStuff
Posted on: January 11, 2008 5:10 PM, by Shelley Batts
Just when I thought I had the LOLParrot market cornered, someone at I Can Has Cheezburger posts this awesome (and atheist) budgie giving the Great Big Kitteh in the Sky the proverbial smackdown (or wing-down?). Happiness chirp goes to Jake, who sent me this!
Check it out under the fold.
(thanks for the heads up on the budgie!)
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Comments
Shouldn't it be "peck down?"
Hmm... That's a toughie.
Still, it's nice to see people breaking out of the constrictive fetters of feline faith worship.
Posted by: Dan | January 11, 2008 5:35 PM
Shouldn't it be "peck down?" \
Yes, a peck-down or beak-down would hurt far more than a wing-down. :) Good call.
Posted by: Shelley Batts | January 11, 2008 5:40 PM
Thank you. My first smile of the day.
Posted by: Ken Shabby | January 11, 2008 5:48 PM
Parakeet? That's a Budgie.
Posted by: Brian English | January 11, 2008 6:43 PM
Hmm my budgie is also an atheist, my parrotlet is a pantheist.
Posted by: Sarah | January 11, 2008 6:59 PM
It looks like ceiling cat fell through the lampshade.
Posted by: Milo Johnson | January 11, 2008 7:00 PM
plenty of fun stuff here:
http://loltheist.com/
my para...budgies would be interested in this news...
Posted by: garth | January 11, 2008 7:07 PM
here's one i did:
http://loltheist.com/2007/12/14/i-bet-there-are-some-lizards-with-pretty-good-ideas/
Posted by: garth | January 11, 2008 7:09 PM
Thats frick'n Brill!
HAHAHA
Posted by: The Stone | January 11, 2008 7:19 PM
Ceiling cat installed the eco-friendly light bulb/swirly-thingy and hit the road/sky to go haunt other ceilings.
Posted by: ceiling cat's keeper | January 11, 2008 8:23 PM
My bird died and went to heaven, and now we don't hear a chirp from him.
Posted by: Kimpatsu | January 11, 2008 8:41 PM
Your parrot is wrong. There is no God, but there is a Ceiling Cat!
How do I know? The same way every empty chair has an invisible cat!
Posted by: ansuzmannaz | January 11, 2008 8:56 PM
That's too funny. or "Why I always kept my budgies off the lampshades.''
And garth, one of the common names for that lizard is "Jesus Christ Lizard." Don't know if it's just because it IS running on the water surface or because the first person who saw it went, "Jesus Christ, that lizard is running on top of the water!"
Posted by: Paula Helm Murray | January 11, 2008 9:48 PM
So, wait...
This being Plague Week (tm), is this a clue that the real cause of Teh Plagez is psittachosis?
Posted by: Anon | January 11, 2008 10:07 PM
Wow great blog, just found it. I'm really keen on human bio evo, trying to figure the senses including hearing, how they developed, why ours differ from other primates, diving equalization, etc.
three cheers/chirps!
Posted by: DDeden | January 12, 2008 1:48 AM
But there is a Windowsill Cat! It's on my windowsill right now, having abandoned her previous avatar as Shedding Black Fur On Mostly White Sofa And Demanding Attention Cat.
Seriously, that bird looks like it's going to nibble just a bit too far one day and receive a big surprise, then wonder where the perch went.
Posted by: Engineer-Poet | January 12, 2008 2:17 AM
Very cute picture. I miss my budgies (all of whom were atheists, I'm ure). :(
Posted by: Felicia Gilljam | January 12, 2008 5:12 AM
"parakeet" is even woozier a term than that; the usual definition is "any slender, long-tailed, zygodactylous, hookbilled bird". (zygodactylous means two claws forward, two back, for non-bird heads.) i think you could technically call macaws parakeets, although i haven't seen it done very often.
it's tricky to tell from the LOLphoto, but i guess the atheist budgie is female; they're the gnawers, out of nesting instinct. (adult budgies are sexed by the color of the cere, which is the bit where the nostrils are. juvenile budgies can't easily be sexed.)
Posted by: Nomen Nescio | January 12, 2008 11:14 AM
Funny...Santa is still alive and well howeever.
Posted by: Ole Blue | January 12, 2008 12:36 PM
My 'tiels* have some thoughts on all this
They say, "Wait, God doesn't exist?"
And then they both say
(while the cat is away)
"Feed me or we'll bite off your wrist."
I wonder if they'd feel the same
(or would I just be changing the game)
Would they call me a sinner,
if, when the cat needed dinner
I'd forgotten to secure their cage?
God's where you want him to be.
In a book, in the air, on TV.
One thing I don't get:
Am I God to my pets?
I hope not; that thought terrifies me.
*Cockatiels, for all you non-avian types.
Posted by: Rich Stage | January 12, 2008 6:28 PM
Every parrot I have known believes itself to be THE god!
Posted by: Tziporah | January 22, 2008 4:24 PM