grrlscientist | April 16, 2009tags: bacteria, microbiology, TEDTalks, science, streaming video
This interesting video is a TEDTalk. TED -- for Technology, Entertainment, Design -- talks cover these topics as well as science, business, development and the arts. They are a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give "the talk of their lives" in 18 minutes. In this TEDTalk, Bonnie Bassler discovered that bacteria "talk" to each other, using a chemical language that lets them coordinate defense and mount attacks. The find has stunning…
grrlscientist | April 15, 2009
Image: wemidji (Jacques Marcoux).
Nam et ipsa scientia potestas est (And thus knowledge itself is power)
-- Sir Francis Bacon.
Scientia Pro Publica (Science for the People) blog carnival is seeking your recently published blog entries about science, nature and medicine for its upcoming edition on Monday, 20 April 2009. To send submissions to Scientia Pro Publica, either use this automated submission form or send it directly to ScientiaBlogCarnival at gmail. Be sure to include the URL or "permalink", the essay title and a brief summary.
If you are interested in hosting an issue of this…
grrlscientist | April 15, 2009tags: performance horses, polo, racing, tendon injury, stem cell research
Horses clear a jump during the Challenge Cup Handicap Steeplechase
on the second day of the Cheltenham Festival in the UK.
Image: BBC News.
Those of you who follow my writings about racehorses and other high-performance horses will be interested to learn that several companies that I've been following have been redirecting their stem-cell research that they originally developed to help injured horses to help people recover from Achilles tendon injuries.
After a tendon or ligament tear, both horses and people…
grrlscientist | April 15, 2009tags: taxes, pet taxes, humor, satire
Image: Orphaned. Please contact me for proper attribution [larger view].
This form should be familiar to those of you who live in the USA, but if you click on the "larger view" link, you'll realize this is yet another change that President Obama has made to our existing tax code.
Once again, I ended up owing a huge amount of taxes (considering my laughable income). This year, I owe $500, but since I managed to qualify for the $300 "economic stimulus package," I only have to come up with another $200 instead of having to survive the trauma of scraping…
grrlscientist | April 15, 2009tags: shadow and light, nature, Helsinki, Finland, image of the day
Shadows and Light
on the brick walkway in downtown Helsinki, Finland.
Image: GrrlScientist, 28 February 2009 [larger view].
grrlscientist | April 15, 2009tags: mystery bird, identify this bird, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Scarlet Tanager, Piranga olivacea, photographed in Newton Hills State Park in South Dakota. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Terry Sohl, 16 May 2007 [larger view].
Photo taken with a Canon 20D, 400 5.6L.
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:
Blur your eyes a little and step back from the monitor: what do you see? I see a smallish bird but not…
grrlscientist | April 15, 2009
I receive a fair number of books to review each month, so I thought I should do what several magazines and other publications do; list those books that have arrived in my mailbox so you know that this is the pool of books from which I will be reading and reviewing on my blog.
Life List: A Woman's Quest for the World's Most Amazing Birds by Olivia Gentile (Bloomsbury USA; 2009). Review copy.
Animals Make Us Human: Creating the Best Life for Animals by Temple Grandin and Catherine Johnson (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; 2009). Review copy.
Shark by Dean Crawford (Reaktion Books; 2008). Review…
grrlscientist | April 15, 2009tags: taxes, online tax filing, humor, satire, streaming video
This amusing video tells us how to rely on a "green" solution to powering our laptops while figuring and filing our taxes [1:29]
grrlscientist | April 14, 2009tags: restaurant, nature, Helsinki, Finland, image of the day
This ship is actually a restaurant in downtown Helsinki, Finland.
Image: GrrlScientist, 28 February 2009 [larger view].
grrlscientist | April 14, 2009tags: Abert's Towhee, Pipilo aberti, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Abert's Towhee, Pipilo aberti, photographed in Arizona. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Richard Ditch, 22 February 2009 [larger view].
Date Time Original: 2009:02:22 16:36:34
Exposure Time: 1/400
F-Number: 5.60
ISO: 250
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:
A big, long-tailed, pot-bellied, heavy-billed sparrow -- aka, a towhee.
The only towhee…
grrlscientist | April 14, 2009tags: animal porn, Apple computer, iPod, humor, funny, prank, streaming video
This hilarious streaming video is a prank phone call to iPod Customer Support regarding "Animal Pornography" on the complainant's 4-year-old son's iPod [18:53]
If you have a crank/prank idea, post it to Friday Night Cranks.
grrlscientist | April 13, 2009tags: House Resolution 669, HR 669, The Nonnative Wildlife Invasion Prevention Act, legislation, pets, politics
A proposed new law, House Resolution #669 (HR 669), The Nonnative Wildlife Invasion Prevention Act, is working its way through the United States Congress. This resolution was introduced by Delegate Madeleine Bordallo [D, Guam] on 26 January 2009, was referred to Referred to the Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife on 4 February 2009 and is scheduled to be heard by the House of Representatives on 23 April 2009. The stated purpose of this resolution is to prevent the…
grrlscientist | April 13, 2009Here are the latest blog carnivals that have been published for you to read and enjoy;
Humanist Symposium, #35. This blog carnival focuses on writings that deal with living a reality-based life, particularly one that is free from religion and other forms of fantasy life.
Creative Carnival, April issue. This is about creativity .. specifically as it pertains to writing.
Academy of Science and Technology Blog Carnival #3. This is a blog carnival that focuses on science and technology writing aimed mostly to kids.
grrlscientist | April 13, 2009tags: Lantinen Pukkisaari, nature, Helsinki, Finland, image of the day
Lantinen Pukkisaari.
Walking on the Water on Lantinen Pukkisaari near Helsinki, Finland.
Image: GrrlScientist, 22 February 2009 [larger view].
grrlscientist | April 13, 2009tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
The only egg known to be collected by Charles Darwin, recently rediscovered.
Image: University of Cambridge.
Birds and American Law
The American Federation of Aviculture Inc. (AFA), the Avicultural Society of America (ASA) and the National Animal Interest Alliance (NAIA) issued an action alert together that opposes H.R. 669, a bill banning most nonnative animals in the United States. "H.R. 669 is an 'anti-animal bill'. There is no amendment that can fix this bill," states the action alert. H.R. 669 is a bill that…
grrlscientist | April 13, 2009tags: Lesser Black-backed Gull, Larus fuscus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Lesser Black-backed Gull, Larus fuscus, photographed in Quintana, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 2 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:
Yes, it's a gull -- but don't panic. I think you'll agree…
grrlscientist | April 13, 2009tags: film, trailer, Everyone Poops, humor, satire, streaming video
If you saw the trailer for Where the Wild Things Are, then you will recognize that this streaming video is a satire of that, providing us with a humorous look at the children's book, Everyone Poops [1:18]
grrlscientist | April 12, 2009tags: book review, memoir, homelessness, unemployment, Cadillac Man, Thomas Wagner
The homeless are everywhere in New York City. I run across them every day while riding public transit, while walking around the city and while using wireless in the public libraries. After a few conversations with homeless people, I've learned that most of them avoid shelters because of the risk of violent crime there. So where do they sleep? Where do they go to get a shower and clean clothes? Are all homeless people either crazy or crackheads? How did these people end up living on the streets in the first…
grrlscientist | April 12, 2009tags: NYC, Upper West Side, Manhattan, flowers, nature, image of the day
Blossoms, UWS, Manhattan, NYC.
Image: GrrlScientist, 10 April 2009 [larger view].
grrlscientist | April 12, 2009tags: Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Archilochus colubris, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Archilochus colubris, photographed in Brandon, South Dakota. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Terry Sohl, 1 September 2008 [larger view].
Photo taken with a Canon 20D, 400 5.6L lens.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.