Hedwig Pöllöläinen
grrlscientist
Posts by this author
March 20, 2007
A transgenic mosquito carrying a gene that confers resistance to the malaria parasite. These mosquitoes had another gene inserted into them to make their eyes fluoresce, to distinguish them from unmodified insects. (Image: PNAS)
A genetically modified (GM) strain of malaria-resistant mosquito…
March 20, 2007
Okay, smartypants birders will enjoy this: can you name the species?
Last Sunday, the photographer took this image using his new Nikon took this image in a reader's backyard in rural central Kentucky. This new Nikon had a big ol' lens that he has started calling his BOLLYlens, for Big Ol Lens…
March 20, 2007
A massive mudflow that has displaced 15,000 Indonesians on the island of Java stopped flowing for approximately 30 minutes recently. The mud has covered entire villages since it began erupting at the end of last May near the city of Surabaya in east Java.
A team has been dropping concrete balls…
March 20, 2007
Liverpool, which will be celebrated as the European Capital of Culture in 2008, is apparently disgusted with the flocks of oversized pigeons that live throughout the city and has opted to use a robotic peregrine falcon to scare them away.
Peregrine falcons are the natural predator of pigeons. The…
March 19, 2007
A flock of birds in the snow in Brooklyn NYC.
Okay, this might be easy for most of you, but I like asking you anyway; can any of you guess the species of birds in this picture?
Sent to me by a reader -- Orphaned image. Please contact me for proper credit and linkage.
March 19, 2007
The masked tityra, Tityra semifasciata, is one of the species which has just sprung a scientific surprise. Researchers found animals and birds in temperate zones evolve faster than those in the tropics. Their suggestion is that extinctions happen more often in temperate regions where there is…
March 18, 2007
Adult Peromyscus eremicus, one of the animals that Matt studies.
The photo was taken near Palm Desert, California in 2006. Aside from being cute, these are interesting because they are one of the few monogamous mammals.
Image: Matthew D. MacManes
As long as you send images to me (and I hope it…
March 18, 2007
The island clouded leopard, Neofelis diardi on the prowl.
Image: WWF.
According to genetic research, clouded leopards found on Sumatra and Borneo are a new species. Until now it had been thought they belonged to the same species that is found on mainland southeast Asia. But genetic data indicate…
March 18, 2007
This is your streaming dose of Sunday morning lies by satan -- enjoy!
March 17, 2007
The third edition of Oekologie is now available for your reading pleasure.
March 17, 2007
Over the course of the previous 20 years, Scottish Soay sheep have been studied on the island of Hirta in the Outer Hebrides. This study revealed that weather patterns were driving changes in body shape and population size. Harsh winters led to larger sheep, which brought about changes in…
March 17, 2007
Mount Baker, Washington State.
Image: Sylvain Duford.
As long as you send images to me (and I hope it will be for forever), I shall continue to share them with my readership. My purpose for posting these images is to remind all of us of the grandeur of the natural world and that there is a world…
March 17, 2007
Let's say what we really mean .. Courtesy of the Al Jazeera News station.
March 17, 2007
Today, I had to take care of some cats for a vacationing NYCer, so this meant that I had to brave the snow, slush and Lake Erie-sized mud-puddles in the process. Because today is the Saint Patrick's Day parade, I had to get out early, before all the streets were blocked off on the east side of town…
March 16, 2007
The surface areas of Mars are colored blue to show lots of subsurface hydrogen, indicating the presence of water.
A spacecraft orbiting Mars has discovered deposits of ice at its south pole so thick that they would cover the planet in 36 feet of water if they were melted, said scientists. The…
March 16, 2007
For those of you who don't know, I am being sued by a person who took care of my birds while I was hospitalized. She had told me that the hospital Social Work department would cover her per diem costs (while I would cover the food costs), only later to discover that she was mistaken, so now she is…
March 16, 2007
This Sunday, Pluto's shadow will be visible in Texas and California as it passes in front of a faint star. This is the first time such an occultation has been seen from North America. Naturally, astronomers are ready for this and will study how the star's light disappears and reappears to gain…
March 16, 2007
You might remember that last week, I wrote about the colossal squid, Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni, that had been captured in Antarctica's Ross Sea in early February. This squid, which is three times the length of the average bus (see graphic, left; courtesy of BBC News), was frozen and transported to…
March 16, 2007
As many of you undoubtedly know, a short video of what might be an ivory-billed woodpecker was captured in 2004 in an Arkansas swamp. However, further analysis casts more doubt as to the identity of the bird in the footage: the videoed bird appears to flap its wings at 8.6 times per second -- the…
March 16, 2007
Leafy Sea Dragon, Phycodurus eques.
The photographer writes; Though close relatives of sea horses, sea dragons have larger bodies and leaf-like appendages that enable them to hide among floating seaweed or kelp beds. Sea dragons feed on larval fishes and amphipods, such as and small shrimp-like…
March 16, 2007
This streaming video is amusing, but also very disturbing at the same time.
.
tags: religion, cult
March 15, 2007
A circle of carrots.
Image is compliments of USDA Agricultural Research Service, where researchers have selectively bred carrots with pigments that reflect almost all colors of the rainbow. More importantly, though, they're very good for your health.
Image: source.
As long as you send images to…
March 14, 2007
A handful of baby crocodiles.
Image: source.
As long as you send images to me (and I hope it will be for forever), I shall continue to share them with my readership. My purpose for posting these images is to remind all of us of the grandeur of the natural world and that there is a world out…
March 14, 2007
It's wise to think about those petitions that you are signing before you put your name on the dotted line!
March 14, 2007
Welcome everyone to the 75th edition of Tangled Bank! There is plenty of material here to read so I think that you all will find something to interest you in this collection of the most recent stories about science, nature and medicine. So without further ado, I will let you jump right in.
Science…
March 13, 2007
There is one word in English that can have many different uses and meanings. Watch this streaming video to see which word I am referring to. Also notice all the misspelled words -- it's a good thing that this flexible word has only four letters, otherwise, it might also have been misspelled!
March 13, 2007
The photo was taken years ago, in the pre-digital era, and was originally a slide. This was taken at Squaw Rock, just inside the eastern boundary of Glacier National Park, very near and slightly above an outcropping of the Lewis Overthrust Fault.
Image:
Martin Richard.
As long as you send…
March 13, 2007
Well, well, well, it looks like Bush's Attorney General, Alberto R. Gonzales, is scared: he accepted his top aide's resignation in an attempt to divert attention from his firings of eight federal prosecutors. These dismissals appeared to be politically motivated since these prosecutors said they…
March 13, 2007
At first glance, I thought this book was too slim to accomplish its stated goal, but I was wrong. In God: The Failed Hypothesis (Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 2007), Victor J. Stenger critically examines both empirical data and scientific models for the existence of a supreme, transcendant being…