clock | May 2, 2009We all try to be alike in our youth, and individual in our middle age ... although we sometimes mistake eccentricity for individuality.
- Mrs. Alec-Tweedie
clock | May 2, 2009Carel Brest van Kempen just posted a new one - even more ambitious than all the previous cases:
I've given the time-lapse treatment to a new painting. Feeling more confident with the process, I tackled a major painting this time: A pair of courting Crowned Flying Lizards (Draco cornutus) in the foreground compete for our attention with a big old male Orang-utan (Pongo pygmaeus) calling from his sleeping nest in the background.
clock | May 2, 2009The movie Fresh, about the way we produce (and should produce) food is out. Here is the trailer:
Does anyone know when it will be in wider circulation?
Via
clock | May 2, 2009Introducing The Clade. It has now been launched and you can read all about it and see the first contributions (and perhaps decide to join in and contribute yourself):
The Clade will bring together environmentally concerned writers, artists, photographers, videographers and podcasters who want to go beyond "environmentalism as usual." Environmentalism encompasses wilderness protection and human social justice, women's rights and artistic freedom, online organizing and solitary contemplation. We intend to reclaim environmental journalism from the Hearsts and Knight-Ridders of the world, to open…
clock | May 2, 2009Check them out here (unfortunately, no embed codes, so you'll have to click and watch there, or download on iTunes):
Know Your Rights: Who Really Owns Your Scholarly Works?:
In this panel discussion, experts on copyright law and scholarly publishing discuss how scholars and researchers can take full advantage of opportunities afforded by digital technology in today's legal environment, and suggest ways to advocate for positive change. The panelists are Heather Joseph, who has been Executive Director of the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC); Michael Carroll,…
clock | May 2, 2009Some Vocal-mimicking Animals, Particularly Parrots, Can Move To A Musical Beat:
Researchers at Harvard University have found that humans aren't the only ones who can groove to a beat -- some other species can dance, too. The capability was previously believed to be specific to humans. The research team found that only species that can mimic sound seem to be able to keep a beat, implying an evolutionary link between the two capacities.
Dinosaur-Bird Link: Ancient Proteins Preserved In Soft Tissue From 80 Million-Year-Old Hadrosaur:
Ancient protein dating back 80 million years to the Cretaceous…
clock | May 1, 2009Thousands of years ago, cats were worshipped as gods. Cats have never forgotten this.
- Anonymous
clock | May 1, 2009April was a busy month, so I posted only 145 times. Also, posts that would have been just simple links and one-liners are now more likely to be found on Twitter (from which I import the feeds into FriendFeed and Facebook).
Go through the April archives - lots of news and several excellent (or very funny) videos to be found there - but here are the "more serious" posts of the past month:
First, there were several interesting events in April, often populated by friendly bloggers, e.g., Seder, Triangle Blogger Bash at DPAC and Triangle Tweetup Tonight.
Probably the most thoughtful (and perhaps…
clock | May 1, 2009Berry Go Round #16 is up on Quiche Moraine
May Festival Of The Trees is up on Orchards Forever
May Scientiae Carnival - A Snapshot! Part 1 is up on Endless Possibilities v2.0
Friday Ark #241 is up on Modulator
clock | April 30, 2009"One can't believe impossible things." "I daresay you haven't had much practice," said the Queen. "When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."
- Lewis Carroll
clock | April 30, 2009There is a Triangle Tweetup tonight and I'll be there, along with about 250 people from the Triangle, as well as from Greensboro and Greenville. You can follow the proceedings on Twitter, of course - @triangletweetup. You will also be able to watch it live!
Looking at the list of attendees, I see several names that are familiar, including my SciBling Abel PharmBoy who has blogged about the event in much greater detail. Then, there will of course be people like Ginny Skalsky, Wayne Sutton, Lenore Ramm and the amazing Rachel of @DPAC. I am assuming that Bob Etheridge on the list is really the…
clock | April 30, 2009I and the Bird #99 is up on Migrations
Change of Shift Vol. 3 Number 22 is up on codeblog
clock | April 30, 2009Remembrance Of Things Past Influences How Female Field Crickets Select Mates:
UC Riverside biologists researching the behavior of field crickets have found for the first time that female crickets remember attractive males based on the latter's song, and use this information when choosing mates. The researchers found that female crickets compare the information about the attractiveness of available males around them with other incoming signals when selecting attractive males for mating.
Evolution In A Test Tube: Scientists Make Molecules That Evolve And Compete, Mimicking Behavior Of Darwin's…
clock | April 29, 2009Acquit me, or do not acquit me, but be sure that I shall not alter my way of life, no, not if I have to die for it many times.
- Socrates
clock | April 29, 2009There are 24 new articles in PLoS ONE today. As always, you should rate the articles, post notes and comments and send trackbacks when you blog about the papers. You can now also easily place articles on various social services (CiteULike, Connotea, Stumbleupon, Facebook and Digg) with just one click. Here are my own picks for the week - you go and look for your own favourites:
Can Ethograms Be Automatically Generated Using Body Acceleration Data from Free-Ranging Birds?:
An ethogram is a catalogue of discrete behaviors typically employed by a species. Traditionally animal behavior has been…
clock | April 28, 2009The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one's time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all.
- Henry Louis Mencken
clock | April 28, 2009There are 27 new articles in PLoS ONE today. As always, you should rate the articles, post notes and comments and send trackbacks when you blog about the papers. You can now also easily place articles on various social services (CiteULike, Connotea, Stumbleupon, Facebook and Digg) with just one click. Here are my own picks for the week - you go and look for your own favourites:
Pure Ultrasonic Communication in an Endemic Bornean Frog:
Huia cavitympanum, an endemic Bornean frog, is the first amphibian species known to emit exclusively ultrasonic (i.e., >20 kHz) vocal signals. To test the…
clock | April 28, 2009Five years ago, PLoS Medicine, the second journal in the PLoS stable, sent its first call for submissions. It has quickly gained reputation as one of the top medical journals.
In the editorial published last night, the Editors look back at the five years so far, and also look forward into the future:
In the age of the Internet, five years can seem like an eternity. PLoS Medicine issued its first call for papers five years ago and the inaugural issue went live online five years ago this October--for those of you who are nostalgic, check out the original call for papers [1]. Anniversaries often…
clock | April 28, 2009Grand Rounds Vol. 5 No. 32 are up on Six Until Me
Friday Ark #240 is up on Modulator
The 174th Carnival of Homeschooling is up on Corn and Oil