gregladen | March 21, 2008Well, it is migration season for many birds. The other day as we drove north to the cabin, we came across a flock of what I'm pretty sure were tundra swans resting on their long journey north. We are lucky to spend a lot of time in a major flyway for migratory birds, and we get to see lots of them.
Audubon and National Geographic have installed a web cam on Nebradka's Platte River in the Audubon Rowe Sanctuary, through which you can observe sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis). Look in the early morning and evening, at this URL.
I'm looking right now and can see that it is a bit windy, and…
gregladen | March 21, 2008A new study out of Cornell measures gender balance, or lack thereof, across the 100 largest publicly held companies in New York State. The findings indicate that while about half the workers in these companies are women, less than 15 percent of the board and executive officer positions are held by women.
Figure Caption: Women still comprise less than 15 percent of the total board director and executive officer positions in the 100 largest public companies headquartered in New York state, according to a new study on women leaders in New York published by the Women's Executive Circle of New…
gregladen | March 21, 2008This is unbelievable!!!! I am outraged yet not surprised. I am incensed yet entertained. I am frightened yet ever determined to cast off the yoke of oppression. And so on.
You MUST GO HERE NOW and READ THIS. You will laugh, you will cry, you will punch a fist through the wall, and you will never look at a police officer, a movie theater, or a creationist in the same way again. Ever.
gregladen | March 20, 2008The Carnival of Education # 163: Spring Break Edition is up at So, You Want to Teach?
gregladen | March 20, 2008According to witnesses, a loud black man approached a crowd of some 4,000 strangers in downtown Chicago Tuesday and made repeated demands for change.
"The time for change is now," said the black guy, yelling at everyone within earshot for 20 straight minutes, practically begging America for change. "The need for change is stronger and more urgent than ever before. And only you--the people standing here today, and indeed all the people of this great nation--only you can deliver this change."
Read the rest of this compelling story here.
gregladen | March 20, 2008Tangled bank number 101 is now up at Tangled Up in Bank Guy (that's not really the name of the blog, but I thought I'd try a little play on words there...
gregladen | March 19, 2008A man got into the Minnesota Homeland Security and Emergency Management office in downtown St. Paul last week and defecated in several rooms, police said Monday.
The incident happened about 1:30 p.m. Friday in a basement office area of 444 Cedar St., according to a police report. The man went in through an emergency exit door that hadn't been secured properly, said Tom Walsh, St. Paul police spokesman.
A contractor working for building management walked out and didn't properly secure the door behind him, said Susan Lasley, Minnesota Department of Public Safety spokeswoman.
[source]
gregladen | March 19, 2008Indeed, the evolutionary history of the mammalian way of providing nutrients for young is difficult to ascertain on the basis of the usual techniques: Fossils and comparative anatomy. The soft parts involved don't fossilize well, and there are not enough "intermediates" living today to develop a plausible story of the evolutionary transitions linking egg-laying to live birth and lactation.
A new study recently published in PLoS Biology brings us a long way towards understanding this set of evolutionary events.
PLoS provides an "Author Summary" for published papers, which are sometimes,…
gregladen | March 19, 2008The fight continues in Texas; Homophobia is a punishable offense, yet legislators march on in opposition to the already underway 21st century; Some guy named Stephen on homeschooling.
Mary Helen Berlanga is the senior member of the Texas Board of Education. She is warning Texas citizens of impending fights on the board regarding a number of issues, including evolution.
She asked her constituents to travel to Austin next week to speak out against proposed amendments outside consultants are pushing for that she says exclude Hispanics and other minorities from classroom instruction.…
gregladen | March 19, 2008During Earth Hour, you switch off the lights and other non-essential electronic devices. At 8:00 PM March 29th. You'll save electricity, but more importantly, you'll be making a point.
Created to take a stand against the greatest threat our planet has ever faced, Earth Hour uses the simple action of turning off the lights for one hour to deliver a powerful message about the need for action on global warming.
This simple act has captured the hearts and minds of people all over the world. As a result, at 8pm March 29, 2008 millions of people in some of the world's major capital cities,…
gregladen | March 18, 2008
Stay tuned, more coming.
This episode 8 of the PBS series in six bite sized parts
gregladen | March 18, 2008Arthur Clarke, author of a number of important science fiction books, member of the British Interplanetary Society, co-inventor of marvelous technologies, and accomplished scuba diver, has died at the age of 90, in his long time home of Sri Lanka.
My favorite book of his was Childhood's End, which I read when I was about 12. I remember almost nothing about it, but somehow it impressed me. Ha. I just read Dave Bacon's post on Clarke, at The Quantum Pontiff ... Yes, Dave, I have exactly the same feeling:
Although I learned to cringe at some of Clarke's writing as I grew older, I have very…
gregladen | March 18, 2008The Gene Genie Blog Carnival is up and running at DNADirect Talk. Please go check it out.
The next Gene Genie Carnival will be hosted here, at this blog (the one you are reading right now, this one). Please send me your entries! You can use the blog submission form or email them directly to me (with something like "Gene Genie Submission" in the subject line).