Hedwig Pöllöläinen
grrlscientist
Posts by this author
December 24, 2007
tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
Male Broad-billed Hummingbird, Cynanthus latirostris, with a pollen cap.
Image: Greg Scott [wallpaper size].
Birds in Science
A new research paper shows that female blue tits use plumage color to clue in males of the…
December 24, 2007
I was looking through my unread emails and found a list of modern euphemisms, which was sent to me by a reader of mine. Since many of you reading today are at work, but wishing to be elsewhere, and probably won't get much done today as a result, I thought that today would be the perfect day to post…
December 24, 2007
tags: magic milk, surface tension, physics, streaming video
This is a really interesting video that shows a fun science experiment that you can do in your kitchen using all that extra milk that you have hanging around in the refrigerator -- this is especially good entertainment when the conquering…
December 23, 2007
tags: All Women Blogging, blog carnivals
The 24 December edition of All Women Blogging Carnival is now available for your reading pleasure. I admit that I sent them an update on my new roommate, Orpheus, instead of something serious and intellectual, but there's plenty of other things to read there…
December 23, 2007
tags: NYC, holidays, photography
I finally figured out how to use the optical zoom setting on my new camera.
Amsterdam Avenue in NYC at Christmas, as seen from the window of my watering hole. The snowflakes were made by the staff and customers by cutting up paper placemats and taping them to the…
December 23, 2007
tags: Carnival of Political Punditry, blog carnivals
I have written three essays about ScienceDebate2008 and was disappointed to see that none of them was picked up by SlashDot, so I sent them in to a variety of political blog carnivals, hoping to increase the visibility of this important issue:…
December 23, 2007
tags: Carnival of the Cats, blog carnivals
The latest edition of the Carnival of the Cats is now available for you to enjoy. This is a great way to relax after a busy day of drinking eggnog.
Hopefully, I will be drinking some eggnog soon, too. Maybe tomorrow, with any luck.
December 23, 2007
tags: ice storm 2007, ice fingers, photography, nature, Image of the Day
I am running a series of images that my friend and long-time reader, Dave Rintoul, took in the aftermath of the recent ice storm that gripped the midwest of the United States. This series began on 20 December and the last…
December 22, 2007
You may not realize this, but "us SciBlings" do occasionally talk to each other behind the scenes, and one thing that we like to talk about is .. you! One of my commenters on the previous thread wrote something that has made me laugh most of the evening, so I shared this comment with my fellow…
December 22, 2007
tags: researchblogging.org, giraffe species, Giraffa camelopardalis, speciation, evolution, conservation, molecular phylogeny
West African giraffe, currently Giraffa camelopardalis peralta.
Image: Wikipedia (Creative Commons) [larger view]
How many species of giraffes are there? Well, it may…
December 22, 2007
tags: ice storm 2007, curly twig in ice, photography, nature, Image of the Day
I am running a series of images that my friend and long-time reader, Dave Rintoul, took in the aftermath of the recent ice storm that gripped the midwest of the United States. This series began yesterday and the last…
December 22, 2007
tags: Observation on Life, blog carnivals
The newest edition of the blog carnival, Observations on Life, is now available. This is the first time I've contributed to this carnival, so you will find a new group of blogs that are out of your usual internet travels to read.
December 22, 2007
tags: holidays, handbell hero, online game
Ahhh, this online game brings back memories! When I was an undergrad in college, I was a member of the Handbell Choir .. So when a long-time reader of mine sent this online game, HandBell Hero, to me, I had a lot of fun playing with it and so I (of…
December 22, 2007
I'm tempting the fates by putting my words above the fold this time.
death (15x) dangerous (11x) sex (8x) crap (7x) hell (6x) dead (5x) murder (4x) bitch (3x)
It seems that the naughty word sensor on that site gets burned out rather quickly, because it didn't pick up "whore" or "sexy" this time,…
December 22, 2007
Rana was bragging in comments to the previous entry about his blog movie rating. Naturally, being the competitive sort, I had to try to beat his score by using even more naughty words than he did. But did I succeed in my quest? No, I did not.
whore (3x) sexy (2x)
One way to game the system; put…
December 21, 2007
I've done this before, but thought I'd try it again. This time, my blog is rated "PG" for parental guidance. The reason? I used the word "whore" three times, and the word "sexy" once.
December 21, 2007
tags: citation, book reviews
Wow, one of my book reviews was cited on the authors' webpage. It's nice to see that my writing is appreciated outside of the blogosphere, even if it is only a book review. I never would have thought that anything I wrote would be cited alongside Nature, Neuron, New…
December 21, 2007
tags: Just Write, blog carnivals
The fourth edition of the blog carnival, Just Write is now available for you to enjoy. This carnival focuses on all aspects of the writing game.
December 21, 2007
tags: seedhead on ice, plants, photography, nature, Image of the Day
Beginning today, I am running a series of images that my friend and long-time reader, Dave Rintoul, took in the aftermath of the recent ice storm that gripped the midwest of the United States. The last image in this series will…
December 21, 2007
tags: Eclectus parrot, Eclectus roratus, rollerskating, streaming video
This is another one of those "parrot struts his stuff" videos because, in this video, Stewie, a male Eclectus parrot, shows off his rollerskating abilities [1:06]
December 20, 2007
tags: Friday Ark, blog carnivals
This week's edition of the Friday Ark is now available for you to enjoy, and just in time, too, WHEW!
December 20, 2007
This worthless jackass claims to be my president.
George Bush; a hypocrite? Well, I am shocked, simply shocked, I tell you.
Well, okay, all sarcasm aside, I am very surprised to hear that the politically conservative George Bush, who demands mindless and unquestioning loyalty from his minions…
December 20, 2007
tags: The Snoring Bird, Bernd Heinrich, book review, birds, ornithology, biography, science
I remember that I felt very cold when I read Bernd Heinrich's book, Ravens in Winter, even though it was a hot summer day. That was the first of Heinrich's books that I read, but it definitely wasn't the…
December 20, 2007
tags: zebras, Equus quagga burchelli, photography, Image of the Day
Burchell's (plains) zebras, Equus quagga burchelli, create a mirror image in their enclosure at the Zoological Park in Delhi, India.
Image: BBCNews.
Burchell's zebra has distinctive stripes that run diagonally and lengthways on…
December 20, 2007
tags: Deroptyus accipitrinus, hawk-headed parrot, red-fan parrot, pets, birds, avian, parrots
I hope to post an update about my parrots every Friday, complete with pictures.
Orpheus, a very young male red fan (hawk-headed) parrot, Deroptyus a. accipitrinus,
who lives with me (December 2007).…
December 20, 2007
tags: parody, humor, satire, La Marche de l'Empereur, The March of the Penguins movie trailer, streaming video
This is an ad for a French TV channel using a spoof of the trailer for The March of the Penguins movie. This hilarious satire includes subtitles, but seriously, I don't think you need them…
December 19, 2007
tags: christmas tree, holidays, photography
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts Christmas Tree, 2007.
This tree stands in the plaza between the New York State Theatre, the Metropolitan Opera House, and Avery Fischer Hall -- I walk past this tree twice every day on my way to the library where I…
December 19, 2007
tags: Tangled Bank, blog carnivals
The newest edition of Tangled Bank is now available, and they included some stories that I wrote, too, so go there and read, read read!
December 19, 2007
tags: California Gull, Larus californicus, birds, ornithology, Image of the Day
Gull with Reflection.
California Gull, Larus californicus, with reflection -- Great Salt Lake, Antelope Island Causeway, April 2005.
Image: Dave Rintoul, KSU [really large view]
December 19, 2007
tags: white christmas song, holidays, holidaze, music, streaming video
One of my readers sent me this very cute rendition of the classic christmas song, White Christmas, so of course, I had to share it with all of you! It includes the soundtrack along with a goofy cartoon.