Hedwig Pöllöläinen
grrlscientist
Posts by this author
March 18, 2006
Does this picture remind you of anything? This clip came from a video that I have been enjoying this morning. The linked video by Texmachina depicts the opening credits for the The Simpsons television program using real life characters [runtime: 59 seconds] . There are other videos available on…
March 18, 2006
In a few days, I will be speaking to a graduate student journalism class at NYU about science blogs and blogging and, because you are the experts, dear readers, I would like to ask you a few questions. I have already asked you what you do, where you live and your age (but please do tell me these…
March 17, 2006
Well, it's day two of jury duty. I have been sitting here in the juror lounge, trying not to freeze to death even though they are running the air conditioning on a 35-degree day, and I am spending more money than I am paid each day to access the internet so I can answer email and post little…
March 16, 2006
Carolina Parakeets, Conuropsis carolinensis, (also known as Carolina Conures)
Click image for much larger version in its own window.
Painting by John James Audubon (1785-1851).
Birds in Science
What is responsible for the brilliant coloring in birds? Kevin McGraw heads a group of researchers…
March 16, 2006
Okay, are you ready to feel like you really do deserve that drinking bout you've been contemplating recently? Well, let me help you make that decision with this little article.
If I wasn't cranking away at Birds in the News right now, I'd be joining you at the local watering hole five minutes ago.
March 16, 2006
Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof.
-- Carl SaganA trio of Ivory-billed Woodpeckers, Campephilus principalis.
Adult male (left) and female (lower right).
Painting by John James Audubon (1785-1851).
With every day that passes, the elusive ivory-billed woodpecker looks more like an…
March 16, 2006
Peeps noun (sing.; peep): (1) short, soft, high pitched sounds or utterances, like those of a baby bird; chirps. (2) A shortened colloquial term for "people", referring to those people who live in one's neighborhood, now often denotes people with whom one is familiar and fond of; friends. (3) A…
March 16, 2006
I managed to get wireless access from the courthouse, yippee! So I am checking in to let you know that the blog carnival, I and the Bird, issue #19, is now available. It is hosted by my blog pal, Bora, author of Science and Politics. This carnival focuses on the best writing about birds and bird…
March 16, 2006
Thanks to the IT peeps at Seed Media for this nifty "scheduled post" feature because I have been playing with it all week long (I have used it only rarely since February after my initial disappointment when several scheduled messages didn't show up as scheduled. But I later learned that this…
March 15, 2006
One thing I try to do really well is promote any issue of a blog carnival that I host. I am certain that everyone does this, but because I did win a "biggest blog whore" award recently, I like to believe that I am somehow special in this respect (one disclaimer: the "Best of Blogs", or BoB, awards…
March 14, 2006
Welcome to the 49th issue of Tangled Bank. Honestly, I was blown away by the large number of contributions that I received (if I counted correctly, there are 34 essays in this issue). This response was unexpected, and I was awake almost all night preparing this for you, so I hope you are ready to…
March 14, 2006
The Extreme Survival Quiz is very nicely formatted, so I thought you might enjoy playing with it while I work on Tangled Bank. My score? 15/17. According to this quiz, this means I have what it takes to be an extreme survivor, and I am allowed to wear an "I Will Survive" Gloria Gaynor t-shirt in…
March 14, 2006
Welcome to everyone who came here via Daily Kos! Please indulge me by looking around for a few minutes.
Daily Kos just linked to a photo and story about NASA that I posted yesterday. According to my statmeter (which I expect will crash any second now), I am receiving approximately 100 hits every…
March 14, 2006
As some of you might suspect, employment -- especially those shit jobs to keep me alive until I find a position in academics -- receives far more attention and energy from me than it deserves. But I thought I had seen everything in the realm of employment possibilities, ranging from being a…
March 14, 2006
Unfortunately, I am not one of them!
Can water be transformed into beer? Wouldn't it be some sort of modern-day biblical-style miracle if one evening, you discovered that beer flowed from your kitchen tap instead of water? Well, that's what happened for one lucky couple in Norway.
Unfortunately,…
March 14, 2006
My friend, Sara, sent me two Yellow Ibis t-shirts so I could postpone, by a couple more days, that long and lonely trudge through ten foot high snowdrifts to the laundromat. Yellow Ibis is a small company that sells science-based products such as mugs, engravings, prints and t-shirts. The shirt…
March 13, 2006
"It is interesting to contemplate an entangled bank, clothed with many plants of many kinds, with birds singing on the bushes, with various insects flitting about, and with worms crawling through the damp earth, and to reflect that these elaborately constructed forms, so different from each other,…
March 13, 2006
The short story: it's melting!!Meltwater stream flowing into a large moulin in the ablation zone
(area below the equilibrium line) of the Greenland ice sheet.
Photo by Roger J. Braithwaite, The University of Manchester, UK.
Well, despite the fact that the George Bush Gang has been shushing…
March 13, 2006
The apparent rediscovery of the ivory-billed woodpecker, Campephilus principalis (pictured), in 2005, which thrilled birdwatchers around the globe and was hailed as one of the great conservation triumphs of recent times, causing the US government to commit more than $10 million to rescue the…
March 13, 2006
I have been writing my class syllabus (conservation genetics) for awhile today and as a reward, I thought I'd peek in on you all to see what you are doing. I just learned that, for reasons that escape me, the Koufax Awards voting deadline has been extended until tonight. I think this is great!
So,…
March 13, 2006
As some of you might recall, I am an ant farmer. But did you know that today is the 50th anniversary of the ant farm? Fifty years ago today, Milton Levine began selling the first of more than 20 million of his Uncle Milton's Ant Farms (pictured), which is still reasonably priced at $12-20 each. As…
March 11, 2006
Okay, you have to guess which Simpson's character I am before you can read below the fold. Then, after you take the test, you must tell me which Simpson's character you are.
You Are Lisa Simpson
A total child prodigy and super genius, you have the mind for world domination.But you prefer world…
March 11, 2006
NYC pair of Red-tailed hawks, Buteo jamaicensis. Pale Male (left) and Lola (right).
Photo Courtesy of Lincoln Karim.
Click image for a much larger view in its own window,
or go to PaleMale.com to purchase it.
Spring is in the air and, as of 8 March 2006, Pale Male and Lola are incubating eggs on…
March 11, 2006
The Ultimate Cure for Bird Flu!
Striving always to keep the public informed as to our current state of knowledge (and lack thereof) regarding bird flu!
tags: bird flu, Influenza, humor
Thanks, Ian!
March 11, 2006
I have 14 submissions right now. Where are your words of wisdom?
Tangled Bank: Only four days away!
Article Submissions: email links to your submission(s) to PZ Myers, or to the Tangled Bank host [at] tangledbank [dot] net by 14 March 2006. Please write "Tangled Bank" in the subject line. All…
March 10, 2006
If you live in Illinois, a heart attack could be in your future.
A friend sent me an article that describes Baseball's Best Burger that you can get only at an Illinois ballpark. This gut-busting artery-clogger is comprised of a hamburger patty topped with sharp cheddar cheese and two slices of…
March 10, 2006
I have been collecting links to all the birthday wishes that were posted for PZ so everyone can enjoy them (yes, things are a little crazy at the moment because I have a job interview today, too).
If I have missed the link to your birthday wish, please do send it to me so I can add it to the list…
March 9, 2006
Barred Owl, Strix varia, with mouse.
Photo by AJ Hand.
Click on image for a larger view in its own window.
Voting has commenced for the 2005 Koufax Awards and Birds in the News was nominated for the Best Series award. Voting is occurring RIGHT NOW to identify the 6-10 top finalists for this…
March 9, 2006
Like something ripped bleeding from headline news, Intuition (2006, Dial Press) by Allegra Goodman is a timely story about scientific fraud. Even though the pivotal point of the story is one event, it is Goodman's careful and empathetic exploration of the relationships between the researchers and…
March 9, 2006
Salon has a fascinating article on their site about nanobiobots. Nanobiobots are the fusion of nanotechnology and biotechnology, which presumably will eliminate of the barrier between living and nonliving materials. As the result of this new technology, we will produce not mere cyborgs, but true…