Now on ScienceBlogs: A study that oversells massage therapy
The trials, tribulations, and joys of a Neuroscience gradute student writing her thesis in the postmodern, post-Y2K world.
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
Cochlear Hair Cell Regeneration
Interview With Dr. Irene Pepperberg
On Religion and Taking the 'Red Pill'
Neuroscience of Cocaine Addiction
Parrots Have Object Permanance
Retrospectacle is now Of Two Minds!
Category: Birds
I'm already so excited to read and review this! Irene Pepperberg's memoir, tentatively titled "Alex and Me," covers her 30 years with the parrot that could count to six, identify colors and even express frustration with repetitive scientific trials. It...
Posted by Shelley Batts at 12:09 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Birds
Exotic bird smuggling is a pet issue of mine, not only since it decimates wild populations of parrots, but because it creates a demand for cheaper black market birds without a proper 'history of origins.' While it is up...
Posted by Shelley Batts at 8:52 AM • 9 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Birds
I just couldn't resist posting this, silly as it is. Intruders smashed the front window of Pet Palace in Leominster, about 45 miles west of Boston, and as they entered the store the bird began to shout, said store...
Posted by Shelley Batts at 3:30 AM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Birds
Don't parrots dance to any *decent* music?
Posted by Shelley Batts at 10:29 AM • 11 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Birds
According to the Indianapolis News a man and his son were awakened by their pet bird as their home caught fire. Their Amazon parrot, Peanut, began making a smoke detector noise while a real smoke detector was going off....
Posted by Aaron Rowe at 7:06 AM • 8 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Birds
Hybridized parrots will rule the world.
Posted by Shelley Batts at 8:41 AM • 9 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Birds
Rebecca O'Connor, graduate student at the University of California- Riverside, knows why parrots screech and bite and it has a lot more to do with human behavior than the bird's. She's written a book incorporating animal-training techniques, detailing how...
Posted by Shelley Batts at 8:54 AM • 9 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Birds
Beloved parrot sparks knife fight between lovers.
Posted by Shelley Batts at 8:46 AM • 6 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Birds
Mallards are invading the medical campus of U Michigan. Give them nerdy names.
Posted by Shelley Batts at 10:51 AM • 16 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Birds
A friend of mine in the Neuroscience program just got back from Hawaii (nice spot for an academic conference, I'll say) and sent me some entirely amusing parrot pictures. FYI, the title of the email was "You in 40 Years?"...
Posted by Shelley Batts at 8:56 AM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
