Hedwig Pöllöläinen
grrlscientist
Posts by this author
December 29, 2006
As was earlier noted, the bears in Spain are in on the global warming hoax, and now it appears that even inanimate objects, glaciers, are in on the hoax, too! I wonder what Michael Crichton has to say about this?
A giant ice shelf has snapped free from an island south of the North Pole, scientists…
December 28, 2006
Eastern Dobsonfly, Corydalus cornutus.
Photographed alive after briefly chilling in a refrigerator.
In her warmed-up state, she was more than a little intimidating.
Image: Bev Wigney.
Happy Holidays to everyone.
I am receiving so many gorgeous pictures from you, amigos bonitos, and I am…
December 27, 2006
Northern Ribbon Snake, Thamnophis sauritus septentrionalis,
at Mill Pond Conservation Area, near Portland, Ontario.
Image: Bev Wigney.
Happy Holidays to everyone.
I am receiving so many gorgeous nature pictures from you, amigos bonitos, and I am overwhelmed by the beauty of these images and the…
December 26, 2006
Do you believe in curses? Do you believe that a diamond can be cursed? Well, regardless of your opinion, you will be interested in this book, The Hope Diamond: The Legendary History of a Cursed Gem by Richard Kurin, which reads like part mystery, part historical narrative. This book details the…
December 26, 2006
I received several packages in the mail today. The first was the very well-written book by Barack Obama, Dreams from my Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance (New York: Three Rivers Press, 1995). The other package had two Indian music CDs in it. Thanks! I can hardly wait to learn more about…
December 26, 2006
Fiery Skipper, Hylephila phyleus.
W. 11th St. Park Butterfly Garden, Houston, Texas.
28 October 2006
Image: Biosparite.
I am receiving so many gorgeous pictures from you, dear readers, that I am overwhelmed by the beauty of the images and the creatures and places in them. If you have a high-…
December 26, 2006
A report by the Education Department was just released showing that, as usual, the existing educational inequities are being rewarded and exaggerated with inequities in distribution of education funding;
For example, the report shows Maryland has fewer poor children than Arkansas but gets about 50…
December 25, 2006
White-tailed buck, Odocoileus virginianus,
with velvety antlers photographed through the bedroom
window at the photographer's farm in eastern Ontario.
As you can see, they're not into mowing the lawn around
their house!
Image: Bev Wigney.
Happy Holidays to everyone.
I am receiving so many…
December 25, 2006
Last night, the neighbors were blasting their very loud stereo until the wee hours, and this morning I woke up to the lovely smell of a dead mouse. There's nothing like spending Christmas day searching for dead mouse bodies in your apartment ..
December 24, 2006
The nice thing about email is that, like Owl Post, I can receive mail on weekends and holidays. This is a card I just received this evening. This painting is by a drinking pal of mine, artist Carl Buell, who also keeps a blog.
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tags: christmas, holidays
December 24, 2006
Earth at Night.
This is what the Earth looks like at night. Can you find your favorite country or city? Surprisingly, city lights make this task quite possible. Human-made lights highlight particularly developed or populated areas of the Earth's surface, including the seaboards of Europe, the…
December 24, 2006
I know this joke is in poor taste, but considering recent events, I think I am the right person to tell it to you. But I am putting it below the fold so you have to work for it before you scold me for having bad taste;
Schizophrenia -- Do You Hear What I Hear?
Multiple Personality Disorder -- We…
December 24, 2006
I love playing with this snowglobe .. I especially am amused by the exploding snowman.
December 23, 2006
I wonder how long it takes to plan, set up and test this light show? And what do they do when one light burns out, darkening an entire string of lights?
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tags: christmas light show
December 23, 2006
Common Green Darner, Anax junius,
dragonfly in the Big Thicket of East Texas on a NABA field trip,
4 March 2004.
Image: Biosparite.
I am receiving so many gorgeous images from you, dear readers, that I am overwhelmed by the beauty of the images and the creatures and places in those images. If…
December 23, 2006
Bears have stopped hibernating in the Cantabrian Mountains of Spain, and instead, spend their winters wandering around, expending valuable energy by eating nuts, acorns, berries and chestnuts.
This is interesting because I thought that bear hibernation was a circadian (daylength) event rather than…
December 23, 2006
I have been invited to be a panelist at the Society of Integrative and Comparative Biology (SICB) meeting, which is one of the largest biology meetings in North America. It is being held from 3-7 January 2007 in Phoenix, Arizona. This panel will discuss blogs: how to set them up, how to decide what…
December 22, 2006
I have been watching this video several times before I saw this revision of it. Sheesh, I feel like I am on a subway, watching this video.
December 22, 2006
To continue this conversation about the state of science, here is an article that discusses the breakthroughs of 2006, starting with an award given to a mathematician for solving a 100-year-old mathematical mystery;
The work of a reclusive Russian mathematician who solved a 100-year-old mystery…
December 22, 2006
Gulf Fritillary, Agraulis vanillae incarnata.
A Gulf Fritillary basks in the sun in early afternoon at the West 11th St. Park in Houston on 12 November 2006. It was cool the previous Sunday with temperatures in the 60s, so this butterfly, an ectotherm, was warming its wing muscles in the sun…
December 22, 2006
I think that my 2006 was the worst year of my entire life, and believe me, I've had several poor years prior to this one, but I am not the only one having a bad time: it appears that science in general has been having a rough time as well;
Astronomers feuded about calling Pluto a planet.…
December 22, 2006
How much do you want to bet that the employees won't be getting any of this savings in their Christmas stockings this year?
A federal judge has given petroleum giant ExxonMobil a break on its pay out for the Valdez spill, according to a breaking report from the Associated Press.
The news agency is…
December 22, 2006
I love christmas lights but this is the best christmas light show I've ever seen. The lights in this streaming video are timed to coincide with music from the Trans-Siberian Orchestra;
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tags: Christmas lights, light show, Trans-Siberian Orchestra
December 21, 2006
A giant sauropod, which is estimated to have weighed between 40 and 48 tons, was recently discovered in Spain. This animal, which is named Turiasaurus riodevensis, is estimated to have lived 150 million years ago.
In the past such large dinosaurs have primarily been found in Africa and the New…
December 21, 2006
Ingenuity
Orphaned Image. Please contact me for proper creditation.
I am receiving so many gorgeous pictures from you, dear readers, that I am overwhelmed by the beauty of the images and the creatures and places in them. If you have a high-resolution digitized nature image (I prefer JPG…
December 21, 2006
This streaming video shows a gift idea for those of you who are madly searching for that perfect gift for a loved one ...
December 21, 2006
JK Rowling, author of the popular Harry Potter series, released the name of the seventh and last book in the series today. To learn the name of the book, you must go to her site and play a game of hangman.
Rowling's U.S. publisher, Scholastic Inc., released a brief statement Thursday announcing…
December 21, 2006
Welcome to the second year of Carnival of the Liberals! I managed to gather together a wide array of essays that discuss various aspects of liberalism that you might enjoy reading and commenting on over the upcoming holidays. So, without further ado, let's get started;
The Fifth Column investigates…
December 21, 2006
Image: Dave Rintoul.
Can you identify which owl species this is, dear readers?
December 20, 2006
Poppies.
Orphaned Image. Please contact me for proper creditation.
I am receiving so many gorgeous pictures from you, dear readers, that I am overwhelmed by the beauty of the images and the creatures and places in them. If you have a high-resolution digitized nature image (I prefer JPG format)…