grrlscientist | December 5, 2008tags: storm cell, Hawaii, landscape, nature, image of the day
Storm Cell
Black Rock, Ka'anapali, Maui.
Image: John del Rio [larger view].
grrlscientist | December 5, 2008
Image: BBCNews.
It seems that some geeky Brit who lives in Finland wants to have a commenter comment contest where we ask our readers to think of captions for this image and then we decide whose readers are the funniest (Of course, we all know that my readers are the funniest and wittiest and smartest out there, but I have to give the Finns Brits a sporting chance, right?)
grrlscientist | December 5, 2008tags: birding, bird watching, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Vermilion Flycatcher, Pyrocephalus rubinus, photographed in Arizona. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Rick Wright [larger view].
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Neatly hidden away in the mesquite leaves, this bird's tail isn't going to be of much use to us, beyond ruling out any species that is caudally either extravagantly short or long. Those leaves help us as much as they hinder…
grrlscientist | December 5, 2008tags: periodic table, elements, mnemetic device, streaming video
This streaming video documents the Periodic Table set to music -- especially for everyone who did not score 100% on this test [1:59].
grrlscientist | December 4, 2008tags: Times Square, 42nd street Times Square, 35 Times, subway art, NYC through my eye, photography, NYC
35 Times (2005).
Glazed ceramic panels. Artist: Toby Buonagurio. Photographed at 42nd Street Times Square in the transfer corridor (between the 1, 2, and 3 trains and the Shuttle).
Image: GrrlScientist 5 November 2008 [larger view].
The commission for this work was received in 1992 and the art work was finally installed in 2004 and 2005. The complete work consists of 35 ceramic panels installed in over 800 feet of passages at Times Square.
Toby Buonagurio is a lifetime resident of…
grrlscientist | December 4, 2008
I am sure you've all wondered what happened to ScienceBlogs' Millionth comment contest, you know, like who won and did she get to visit NYC and all that. So I am here to tell you that Peggy, our millionth comment contest winner, arrived in NYC today and is getting ready to spend four days exploring all sorts of science-y things in this wonderful city. Peggy is also writing about her experiences on her blog, so be sure to check it out! Her first blog entry includes some pictures of all the loot she's gotten for being the grand prize winner. Looking at those pictures makes me wish I'd won…
grrlscientist | December 4, 2008Wow, this is a truly unexpected honor: one of my essays was chosen by the "MetaCarnival." This blog carnival seeks to bring together the best of the blogosphere by sampling the diverse topics collected in the carnival format.
grrlscientist | December 4, 2008tags: stormfront, hawaii, landscape, nature, image of the day
Ka'anapali, Maui
Image: John del Rio [larger view].
grrlscientist | December 4, 2008tags: natural history museum, British Museum, Dry Storeroom No. 1, Richard Fortey, book review
Everyone I have ever met has, at some point in our conversations, told me that they wished they could work in a natural history museum. I am one of the rare lucky people in the world because I have worked as a research scientist in a natural history museum, so I can tell you that there is a book out there that brilliantly captures what this experience is like: Richard Fortey's Dry Storeroom No. 1: The Secret Life of the Natural History Museum (NYC: Alfred A. Knopf; 2008).
This is a charming and…
grrlscientist | December 4, 2008tags: NYC events, announcement, evolution, NYC Skeptics, Don Prothero
Great news, my peeps! My friend and "scientific sibling" (courtesy of AMNH), Professor of Geology and author, Don Prothero, will be speaking in NYC for the New York City Skeptics about evolution and his book, Evolution: What The Fossils Say And Why it Matters [my review]. Even though we're email pals, I've never before met him in real life, so I am really looking forward to this. [Note: rumor has it that we shall explore the pubs of the UWS while he is here, too]
Who: Donald Prothero
What: public presentation, "Evolution…
grrlscientist | December 4, 2008tags: peer-reviewed paper, psychology, gift wrapping, wrapping paper, behavior, holidays, holidaze
Besides bright lights, my favorite thing about the holidays is wrapping gifts. I love covering a boxed gift with colored papers (or even with plain brown paper bags), I get tremendous satisfaction from folding the paper so it makes precise corners and then I especially enjoy decorating the wrapped gift with bows, ribbons and toy flowers and birds, christmas ornaments or other decorations. I also enjoy figuring out how to wrap unusually shaped objects. However, my most favorite thing to do is…
grrlscientist | December 4, 2008tags: Female Mountain Bluebird, Sialia currucoides, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Female Mountain Bluebird, Sialia currucoides, photographed on Bainbridge Island in Washington State. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Eva Gerdts, April 2008 [larger view].
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Most of us will have identified this bird at a glance -- the challenge is not in the identifying, but in the unraveling of the intellectual process that…
grrlscientist | December 4, 2008tags: talking parrots, amazon parrots, behavior, Tonight Show, Jay Leno, streaming video
This streaming video is a clip from the Tonight Show, hosted by Jay Leno. This show was guest hosted by several talking parrots, who actually stole the show, if you ask me [8:35].
grrlscientist | December 3, 2008tags: Times Square, 42nd street Times Square, 35 Times, subway art, NYC through my eye, photography, NYC
35 Times (2005).
Glazed ceramic panels. Artist: Toby Buonagurio. Photographed at 42nd Street Times Square in the transfer corridor (between the 1, 2, and 3 trains and the Shuttle).
Image: GrrlScientist 5 November 2008 [larger view].
The commission for this work was received in 1992 and the art work was finally installed in 2004 and 2005. The complete work consists of 35 ceramic panels installed in over 800 feet of passages at Times Square.
Toby Buonagurio is a lifetime resident of…
grrlscientist | December 3, 2008
Richard "Dick" Davisson in the courtyard outside the physics building
at the University of Washington (2000 or 2001).
Image courtesy of Christophe Verlinde.
I have been lucky to know a lot of talented scientists while I was working my way through school. One of my very good friends (and drinking pals), physicist Richard (Dick) Davisson, was the son of Nobelist, Clinton Davisson, who won the Nobel prize in Physics in 1937. Interestingly, his maternal uncle, Sir Owen Willans Richardson, was also a Nobel prize winner in Physics (1928). Sadly for all of us who knew and loved him, Dick died in…
grrlscientist | December 3, 2008Here's the latest carnivalia for you to enjoy!
Carnival of the Blue, issue 19. This blog carnival focuses on the oceans and everything involved with them -- an important topic in today's world, and one that I write about from time to time.
grrlscientist | December 3, 2008tags: sunset, Hawaii, landscape, nature, image of the day
Sunset, Wailea, Maui.
Image: John del Rio [larger view].
grrlscientist | December 3, 2008
Offensive Christmas Ornament created by Seattle artist, Deborah Lawrence.
Image: Deborah Lawrence.
Seattle artist, Deborah Lawrence, was one of 370 artists who were given the honor of creating a Christmas ornament for the White House's official Christmas trees. This was after Laura Bush invited all 435 Congresscritters to choose artists from their congressional district to design ornaments for the White House Christmas trees. Unfortunately, Lawrence's 9-inch ball was the only one that was banned from the White House trees, even though it fulfilled all the requirements set out by the…
grrlscientist | December 3, 2008tags: Crested Mallard, Anas platyrhynchos, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Crested Mallard, Anas platyrhynchos, photographed in Arizona. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Rick Wright [larger view].
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Millennia of selective breeding have produced domestic ducks that are meaty, or manageable, or, as in the case of this quiz bird, just goofy.
Mallards have been domesticated for thousands of years, and virtually all…
grrlscientist | December 3, 2008tags: Indonesian Mimetic Octopus, invertebrates, behavior, streaming video
This fascinating creature was discovered in 1998 off the coast of Sulawesi in Indonesia, the mimic octopus is the first known species to take on the characteristics of multiple species. This octopus is able to copy the physical likeness and movement of more than fifteen different species, including sea snakes, lionfish, flatfish, brittle stars, giant crabs, sea shells, stingrays, jellyfish, sea anemones, and mantis shrimp. This animal is so intelligent that it is able to discern which dangerous sea creature to…