Hedwig Pöllöläinen
grrlscientist
Posts by this author
April 9, 2006
Female hummingbird, asleep.
Photo by Dylan Maldonado.
A flash of scarlet and emerald zooms past me as I poke my sleepy head out of the kitchen door, a vibrant splash of summer color against the sullen winter sky. Suddenly, an indignant Anna's Hummingbird, Calypte anna, confronts me, beak-to-nose…
April 8, 2006
It's been two of those weeks in a row, and what works best to fix that? Iscream, that's what!
You Are Chunky Monkey Ice Cream
Truthfully, you're too spazzy to be chunky - you cheeky monkey!
What Flavor Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream Are You?
Don't forget that 25 April is Ben and Jerry's annual "Free…
April 8, 2006
You Belong in Dublin
Friendly and down to earth, you want to enjoy Europe without snobbery or pretensions.
You're the perfect person to go wild on a pub crawl... or enjoy a quiet bike ride through the old part of town.
What European City Do You Belong In?
What's your city?
My other city (…
April 8, 2006
Okay, everyone, I just wanted to let you know that Birds in the News will be back this Friday, as usual. I just hit a rough patch this past two weeks, and have been struggling with absolutely everything, and BitN is, as I've said, a fairly big commitment, so it was easiest to get frustrated with it…
April 8, 2006
In an effort to help us learn more about our common ancestor with the fishes, I found a quiz that tests your knowledge of modern fish.
(Pictured above: Coelacanth. Image linked to source)
My score - 100%
That was rather easy, wasn't it?
tags: fish, online quiz
April 8, 2006
More commentary on Tiktaalik roseae, this time from the Wichita Eagle (click image and you will be magically transported there). Do be sure to read the little sign on the lower left side, too.
Update: this morning on National Public Radio's show, Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me! they asked this;…
April 7, 2006
JK Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series, recently wrote on her website that she worries about her daughters growing up in a "skinny-obsessed world", stating that she doesn't want them to grow up to become "empty-headed, self-obsessed, emaciated clones."
"Let my girls be Hermiones," she…
April 7, 2006
By Tony Auth. Click image to be magically transported to the Washington Post, where it is linked from.
Thanks, Ian!
tags: evolution, Tiktaalik rosea, fish, cartoon, humor
April 7, 2006
This quiz is really low-tech, so I have the questions here, and the questions with their answers below the fold. This is, of course, a self-graded, self-reported quiz.
1) How long did the Hundred Years War last?
2) Which country makes Panama hats?
3) From which animal do we get catgut?
4) In…
April 6, 2006
Due to a lack of interest, Birds in the News is postponed, possibly indefinitely. Thanks to my bird pals for sending bird news story links to me throughout the lifetime of Birds in the News.
tags: Birds in the News, ornithology, birds, avian
April 6, 2006
April 5, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
written by Shelley Bluejay Pierce
freelance writer from Bozeman, Montana
ORANGE COUNTY, FLORIDA- A peaceful day golfing in Florida brought humans face to face with two Red Shouldered Hawks defending their nesting area. In Orange County Florida, this past week…
April 6, 2006
tags: birds, South Pacific Islands, Philippines, ornithology, new species, conservation, Camiguin, parrot
.
Camiguin Hanging-parrot, or Colasisi, Loriculus camiguinensis,
is newly described and is found only found on the Philippine Island of Camiguin.
This tiny island is especially rich in…
April 5, 2006
Another new blog carnival (for me) has been published. The 39th edition of the Carnival of the Clueless is now available. This blog carnival celebrates blog writing about clueless idiots everywhere. Needless to say, with the current administration in place, there is plenty of material out there to…
April 5, 2006
One of three newly-discovered specimens of the 383 million-year-oldTiktaalik roseae.
These specimens fill a gap in the fossil record between aquatic and terrestrial animals.
Image: Ted Daeschler.
Making that transition from aquatic life to living on land was very important for vertebrates. However…
April 5, 2006
Every wicked fan of the Harry Potter series can appreciate this bumper sticker! They also sell t-shirts (I want one!!).
Thanks, Peter!
tags: humor
April 5, 2006
The 185th edition of the Carnival of the Vanities is now available for your reading pleasure. The Carnival of the Vanities is the first blog carnival that was ever instituted, and it focuses on the best writing recently published on a blog on any topic. This week's host, Iowa Voice, accepted no…
April 4, 2006
Do you have opinions about the future of science in the USA? What does that future look like? What should the role of science be in America and how is your vision different from today's reality? What should America do to preserve its role as a leader in scientific innovation?
I know that many of…
April 4, 2006
Birding Babylon -- does the title of this book sound familiar to you? If so, then you, like me, are one of thousands of people who have been reading the author's blog with the same name. Birding Babylon: A Soldier's Journal from Iraq by Jonathan Trouern-Trend (2006, Sierra Club Books), is one of…
April 3, 2006
The Carnival of the Green is a new blog carnival for me, and probably for you, too. It is a weekly blog festival that discusses Green Politics and sustainability issues, and shares ideas for living in a more earth-friendly way. The 21st edition was published today with 14 interesting essays,…
April 3, 2006
Let's face it, most of my weeks begin the same way that they end; with a whimper. However, today was different. As some of you know, I love reading and recently, I have been publishing book reviews on my blog. Considering all the limitation$ on my life during these past few years, requesting review…
April 3, 2006
According to an opinion poll from late 2004, only 13% of all Americans think that humans evolved without any guidance from an all-powerful divine being. In view of this surprising lack of knowledge, I think it is essential that the public is presented with more details about evolution, and this is…
April 2, 2006
The 37 issue of the Carnival of the Godless is now available. It is crammed with lots of essays that you will enjoy, including one of mine. As an added bonus, this issue also includes a video of J. Huger's comedy sketch, Kissing Hank's Ass.
tags: blog carnival
April 2, 2006
Oxygen-starved patches found within the world's oceans and coastal regions apparently trigger the development of more male than female fishes, reveals a recently released study by Rudolf Wu and colleagues at the City University of Hong Kong. This study not only has dire implications for the future…
April 1, 2006
I have been sitting on this particular entry for so long that I almost forgot that it was languishing in my "unpublished" category. But due to the shenanigans today, I thought I would be different by publishing something that is true. Annoying? Yes (depending upon who you are), but true,…
April 1, 2006
So one of my blog siblings and fellow evil genius, Janet, poses a simple question; what are you going to do with your idiocy/genius? She then proposed this test as a means of quantifying this. Considering that I am unemployable, and therefore, doing nothing worthwhile whatsoever with my energy,…
April 1, 2006
While we are on the topic of intelligence, or lack thereof, I thought you might enjoy this test (I certainly did). The DENSA test is a response to MENSA, I suspect. Unfortunately, this test doesn't give you a cute graphic to add to your blog, but it is a rather fun test, so I stole the site logo…
April 1, 2006
I am 13% Idiot.
I am not annoying at all. In fact most people come to me for advice. Of course they annoy the hell out of me. But what can I do? I am smarter than most people.Take theIdiot Test@ FualiDotCom
What was your score? And I want to know how I managed to score 13%? Was it because I…
March 31, 2006
It has just come to my attention, dear readers, that two days ago, on Wednesday, federal agents from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) in Orange County, Florida, shot and killed a pair of nesting red-shouldered hawks, Buteo lineatus (pictured, photo by Bob Gress), after they had previously…
March 31, 2006
WARNING: NOT SAFE FOR WORK.
Sound, flash, gratuitous use of vulgar language, including the dreaded c-word.
Pretty funny, though. Seeks to answer all your questions about public transit.
Original source: London Underground.