Hedwig Pöllöläinen
grrlscientist
Posts by this author
March 30, 2009
tags: books, memoir, religion, godlessness, losing faith, William Lobdell
Unlike most people who were raised in a religious household and grew up surrounded by religious people, I never experienced a "crisis of faith" since I never believed there was a god any more than I believed there was a Santa…
March 30, 2009
tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
American Avocet chick, Recurvirostra americana.
Image: Richard Ditch, 2007 [larger view].
Birds in Science and Technology
Researchers have discovered the first direct evidence that exposure to stress in young birds affects…
March 30, 2009
tags: Gray Jay, Perisoreus canadensis, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Gray Jay, Perisoreus canadensis, photographed during a snowstorm on Hurricane Ridge, Olympic National Park, Olympic Peninsula, Washington [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Lee Rentz, March…
March 30, 2009
tags: politics, good citizenship, humor, America, streaming video
This streaming video provides essential educational advice to Americans on how to be good citizens -- I was especially impressed with Mary's frugal meals, but seriously, she'd spend le$$ if she stopped eating meat altogether! [10:39…
March 29, 2009
tags: Chambers Street, Park Place, World Trade Center, Oculus, Andrew Ginzel, Kristin Jones, subway art, NYC through my eye, photography, NYC
Oculus #23, 1998.
Stone mosaic on walls throughout Chambers Street station complex (A & C trains); also, there is a stone and glass floor mosaic at…
March 29, 2009
tags: Suomenlinna, Helsinki, Finland, image of the day
Photographed on Suomenlinna on Kalevalapaäivä (Kalevala Day).
This is one of my favorite places to visit in Helsinki, Finland.
Image: GrrlScientist, 28 February 2009 [larger view].
March 29, 2009
tags: Birdbooker Report, bird books, animal books, natural history books, ecology books
"One cannot have too many good bird books"
--Ralph Hoffmann, Birds of the Pacific States (1927).
The Birdbooker Report is a special weekly report of a wide variety of science, nature and behavior books that…
March 29, 2009
tags: Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Tyrannus forficatus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Tyrannus forficatus, photographed near Brookings, South Dakota. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Terry Sohl, 18 October 2008 [larger view].
Photo…
March 29, 2009
Do you remember how I've been campaigning to save several science-y blog carnivals from oblivion? Well, since one blog carnival is currently being revived, partially due to my noisemaking, I am taking my support one step further: I am hosting the upcoming issue of the Circus of the Spineless on 6…
March 29, 2009
tags: religion, atheism, humor, streaming video
Eternal purity requires eternal vigilance against the devil's hand. Here are some practical tips to keep you from "playing with your Genesis" [5:02]
March 28, 2009
tags: Chambers Street, Park Place, World Trade Center, Oculus, Andrew Ginzel, Kristin Jones, subway art, NYC through my eye, photography, NYC
Oculus, #22 (1998).
Stone mosaic on walls throughout Chambers Street station complex (A, C & E trains); also, there is a stone and glass floor mosaic…
March 28, 2009
tags: wall of ice, Suomenlinna, Helsinki, Finland, image of the day
Jäinen seinä (Wall of ice).
Photographed on Suomenlinna on Kalevalapaäivä (Kalevala Day).
This is one of my favorite places to visit in Helsinki, Finland.
Image: GrrlScientist, 28 February 2009 [larger view].
March 28, 2009
tags: Blue-winged Teal, Anas dicors, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Blue-winged Teal, Anas discors, photographed in Brazos Bend State Park, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 10 March 2009 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope…
March 28, 2009
tags: sesame street explains madoff scandal, politics, satire, , humorstreaming video
In this video, Ernie and Cookie Monster explain the Bernie Madoff scandal .. so even kids can understand it [1:18]
March 27, 2009
tags: Chambers Street, Park Place, World Trade Center, Oculus, Andrew Ginzel, Kristin Jones, subway art, NYC through my eye, photography, NYC
Oculus, #21 (1998).
Stone mosaic on walls throughout Chambers Street station complex (A, C & E trains); also, there is a stone and glass floor mosaic…
March 27, 2009
tags: NYC, New York City, NYCLife, NYC through my eye
My beloved NYC.
Image: GrrlScientist, 12 January 2009 [larger view].
March 27, 2009
Here's the latest carnivalia that has been published in the blogosphere;
Carnival of the Vanities, A Touch of Spring. This blog carnival links to the best writing in the blogopshere, regardless of topic.
Carnival of the Cities. This blog carnival focuses on writing about and photography of cities…
March 27, 2009
tags: Suomenlinna, Helsinki, Finland, image of the day
Footprints in the snow.
Photographed on Suomenlinna on Kalevalapaäivä (Kalevala Day).
This is one of my favorite places to visit in Helsinki, Finland.
Image: GrrlScientist, 28 February 2009 [larger view].
March 27, 2009
tags: Evil Genes, borderline personality disorder, machiavellian behavior, successfully sinister, Barbara Oakley, book review
I have lived and worked with people whom I have decided, in retrospect, were more than merely hateful and mean-spirited, they were just plain evil. So when Barbara Oakley…
March 27, 2009
Gambel's Quail, Callipepla gambelii, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Gambel's Quail, Callipepla gambelii, photographed in Arizona. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Richard Ditch, 2005 [larger view].
Date Time Original: 2005:11:25 09:28:46
Exposure Time: 1/249…
March 27, 2009
tags: extreme sheep LED art, humor, funny, streaming video
This video is an example of what happens when men spend too much time in the company of dogs, sheep, LEDs and a camera while in the hills of Wales: they create a huge amazing LED display. Erm, of sorts [2:44]
March 26, 2009
tags: Chambers Street, Park Place, World Trade Center, Oculus, Andrew Ginzel, Kristin Jones, subway art, NYC through my eye, photography, NYC
Oculus, #20 (1998).
Stone mosaic on walls throughout Chambers Street station complex (A, C & E trains); also, there is a stone and glass floor mosaic…
March 26, 2009
tags: Fortress Wall, Suomenlinna, Helsinki, Finland, image of the day
Linnan Muuri (Fortress Wall).
Photographed on Suomenlinna on Kalevalapaäivä (Kalevala Day).
This is one of my favorite places to visit in Helsinki, Finland.
Image: GrrlScientist, 28 February 2009 [larger view].
March 26, 2009
Image: wemidji (Jacques Marcoux).
Nam et ipsa scientia potestas est (And thus knowledge itself is power)
-- Sir Francis Bacon.
Since Tangled Bank has gone the way of the Dodo (Passenger Pigeon, Carolina Parakeet, Ivory-Billed Woodpecker -- name your favorite extinct species here) and will…
March 26, 2009
I know you are sitting there at your computer, cross-eyed, wondering what you are going to do this weekend. Let me make a suggestion: since I am hosting the upcoming issue of the Circus of the Spineless on 6 April, I need your help. If you can write a "translation" of a scientific paper, or an…
March 26, 2009
tags: Townsend's Warbler, Dendroica townsendi, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Townsend's Warbler, Dendroica townsendi, photographed in San Francisco, California. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Terry Sohl, 18 December 2008 [larger view].
Photo taken with…
March 26, 2009
tags: Where the Wild Things Are, fantasy, movie trailer, film, streaming video
I always loved attending Seattle's Nutcracker ballet, which features gorgeous sets created by Maurice Sendak, and I grew up reading Sendak's legendary Where the Wild Things Are but I had no idea that his book was made…
March 25, 2009
tags: Chambers Street, Park Place, World Trade Center, Oculus, Andrew Ginzel, Kristin Jones, subway art, NYC through my eye, photography, NYC
Oculus, #19 (1998).
Stone mosaic on walls throughout Chambers Street station complex (A, C & E trains); also, there is a stone and glass floor mosaic…
March 25, 2009
tags: new species, Papua New Guinea, Zoology, Biodiversity
A large brilliant green tree frog, Nyctimystes species, with enormous eyes, was discovered by scientists next to a clear-running mountain river.
Image: Steve Richards/Conservation International.
A brilliant green tree tree frog with…
March 25, 2009
tags: winter wonderland, Suomenlinna, Helsinki, Finland, image of the day
Talvinen satumaa (winter wonderland).
Photographed on Suomenlinna on Kalevalapaäivä (Kalevala Day).
This is one of my favorite places to visit in Helsinki, Finland.
Image: GrrlScientist, 28 February 2009 [larger view].