grrlscientist | May 14, 2009tags: NYC, Upper West Side, Manhattan, flowers, nature, image of the day
New Guinea Impatiens, Impatiens hawkeri.
Photographed on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, NYC.
Image: GrrlScientist, 12 May 2009 [larger view].
grrlscientist | May 14, 2009tags: Great-Tailed Grackle, Quiscalus mexicanus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Great-Tailed Grackle, Quiscalus mexicanus, photographed in Arizona. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Richard Ditch, 2 January 2006 [larger view].
Date Time Original: 2006:01:02 15:42:48
Exposure Time: 1/159
F-Number: 10.00
ISO: 200
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, author of Aimophila Adventures and Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Start at the reeeaaarrr--among the blackish birds of North…
grrlscientist | May 14, 2009tags: TEDTalks, Joshua Klein, birds, crows, ornithology, animal behavior, streaming video
In this video, Hacker and writer Joshua Klein talks about his fascination with crows. (Notice the gleam of intelligence in their little black eyes?) After a long amateur study of corvid behavior, he's come up with an elegant machine that may form a new bond between animal and human. (2008) [9:47]
grrlscientist | May 13, 2009tags: NYC, Upper West Side, Manhattan, Lincoln Center, Julliard School
A view of Manhattan from the Julliard School,
located in Lincoln Center on the Upper West Side in Manhattan, NYC.
Image: GrrlScientist, 12 May 2009 [larger view].
I posted this picture of Manhattan, which I snapped yesterday, to let you know that I am thinking of you, but I am working hard on a writing project right now. My deadline is Friday, and I am hopeful that I will deliver a good product. As you know, Friday evening, I will be visiting AMNH's sneak preview of their new mammals exhibit, so I won't be doing much…
grrlscientist | May 13, 2009tags: NYC, Upper West Side, Manhattan, flowers, nature, image of the day
Yellow Hibiscus, Hibiscus rosasinensis.
Photographed on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, NYC.
Image: GrrlScientist, 12 May 2009 [larger view].
grrlscientist | May 13, 2009
Image: wemidji (Jacques Marcoux).
Nam et ipsa scientia potestas est (And thus knowledge itself is power)
-- Sir Francis Bacon.
The host for the upcoming 18 May edition of Scientia Pro Publica is Eric, author of The Primate Diaries. To send your science, nature or medical writing to Scientia Pro Publica, either use this automated submission form or use the cute little widget on the right (keep in mind that widget sometimes disappears when the mother site is sick). Be sure to include the URL or "permalink", the essay title and, to make life easier for the host, please include a 2-3…
grrlscientist | May 13, 2009tags: Northern Parula, Parula americana, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery birds] Northern Parula, Parula americana, photographed at Quintana and Beach, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 20 March 2009 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with tsn-pz camera eyepiece 1/1250s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, author of Aimophila Adventures and Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
It's easy to be distracted by color in a bird as…
grrlscientist | May 13, 2009tags: An Engineer's Guide to Cat Yodeling, pets, humor, funny, streaming video
This amusing video is a special little feature just for my Finnish friend, Juuro. Two professional engineers illustrate how to get your cats to yodel. None of the cats, humans, or engineers were mistreated in the making of this film. They were however, slightly annoyed. [6:31]
grrlscientist | May 12, 2009tags: NYC, Upper West Side, Manhattan, flowers, nature, image of the day
Yellow rosebud.
Photographed on the Upper West Side in Manhattan, NYC.
Image: GrrlScientist, 9 May 2009 [larger view].
grrlscientist | May 12, 2009tags: homelessness, unemployment, poverty, NYC Life, social policy
A homeless woman eats dinner (it looks like "Sheba" brand cat food, doesn't it?)
Image: orphaned.
I awoke this morning at 5am, as usual, and one of the first things I heard on the morning news was Mayor Bloomberg, one of the richest men in the world, saying that the city is charging rent for the homeless to stay in a shelter. Blinking in the darkness, I thought I was listening to the Onion news report instead of NPR. Sure, I heard that Bloomberg was considering this, but never thought he was cruel enough to actually enact…
grrlscientist | May 12, 2009tags: White-Crowned Sparrow, Zonotrichia leucophrys gambelii, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] White-Crowned Sparrow, Zonotrichia leucophrys gambelii, photographed in Arizona. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Richard Ditch, 23 December 2007 [larger view].
Date Time Original: 2007:12:23 09:04:20
Exposure Time: 1/350
F-Number: 10.00
ISO: 400
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, author of Aimophila Adventures and Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Quick: what's the most abundant…
grrlscientist | May 12, 2009tags: film, movies, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, streaming video
This video shows the West Wales site where two Hollywood blockbusters will be filmed this summer. Harry Potter and Robin Hood will both be filmed in Freshwater West in Pembrokeshire. [2:05]
Filming for for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is already underway. Roads will be closed in Pembrokeshire, as building for Shell Cottage begins. Shell Cottage plays a prominent part in JK Rowling's final book. Originally located on a little cliff in Cornwall, Harry, Ron and Hermione take shelter in Shell Cottage whilst on the…
grrlscientist | May 11, 2009
Image: wemidji (Jacques Marcoux).
Nam et ipsa scientia potestas est (And thus knowledge itself is power)
-- Sir Francis Bacon.
The host for the upcoming 18 May edition of Scientia Pro Publica is Eric, author of The Primate Diaries. To send your science, nature or medical writing to Scientia Pro Publica, either use this automated submission form or use the cute little widget on the right (keep in mind that widget sometimes disappears when the mother site is sick). Be sure to include the URL or "permalink", the essay title and, to make life easier for the host, please include a 2-3…
grrlscientist | May 11, 2009tags: Blue House Sparrow, Passer domesticus, birds, blue feather color, plumage color, refraction
Blue-colored Male House Sparrow, Passer domesticus,
photographed in Sydney, Australia, April 2009.
Image: Richard Shears, Daily Mail [larger view].
Some of you might remember the remarkable photographs of the blue-colored male house sparrow, Passer domesticus, that was photographed in a garden in Sydney, Australia a couple weeks ago. I posted the images I had, along with my speculations, but was unable to go further than that. However, I tracked down the photographer and he has very kindly…
grrlscientist | May 11, 2009tags: NYC, Upper West Side, Manhattan, flowers, nature, image of the day
White Ranunculus, Ranunculus asiaticus.
(You can also see some lilac blossoms on the left and more ranunculus on the right). Photographed on the Upper West Side in Manhattan, NYC.
Image: GrrlScientist, 9 May 2009 [larger view].
grrlscientist | May 11, 2009tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
Australia's Superb Parrot, Polytelis swainsonii, is listed as a vulnerable species.
Image: Julian Robinson (Canberra ornithologists group) [larger view].
Birds in Science and Technology
"In the past, people thought birds were stupid," laments the aptly named scientist Christopher Bird. But in fact, some of our feathered friends are far cleverer than we might think. And one group in particular -- the corvids -- has astonished scientists with extraordinary feats of memory, an ability to employ complex social reasoning…
grrlscientist | May 11, 2009
What: A public presentation, "Not Even Wrong: The Failure of String Theory & the Continuing Challenge to Unify the Laws of Physics"
Where: Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture, 53 Prospect Park West (corner of Prospect Park West and 1st Street), Brooklyn, NY [map]
When: Monday, May 18, 7:30 p.m.
Cost: free and open to the public.
Peter Woit is a mathematician and physicist at Columbia University who will discuss string theory and why it is controversial, as well as prospects for new experiments and a better understanding of the mathematical theories used to describe the physical world…
grrlscientist | May 11, 2009tags: Green-winged Teal, Anas carolinensis, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery birds] Green-winged Teal, Anas carolinensis, photographed at San Bernard Refuge, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 8 April 2009 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with tsn-pz camera eyepiece 1/350s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, author of Aimophila Adventures and Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
I can't see the toes to know whether they're webbed…
grrlscientist | May 11, 2009tags: peek-a-boo, cats, humor, streaming video
This amusing video shows a cat hiding in his mistress's suitcase. She had just returned from summer vacation and apparently her faithful kitty, boots, crawled into her suitcase and was entertaining her by attacking a pen that she was scratching along the zipper [1:53]
grrlscientist | May 10, 2009tags: NYC, Upper West Side, Manhattan, flowers, nature, image of the day
Geranium, Geranium manculatum.
Photographed on Manhattan's Upper West Side.
Image: GrrlScientist, 9 May 2009 [larger view].