grrlscientist | May 1, 2010
Image: wemidji (Jacques Marcoux).
Nam et ipsa scientia potestas est (And thus knowledge itself is power)
-- Sir Francis Bacon.
The next edition of Scientia Pro Publica (Science for the People) will publish this Monday and as usual, it is seeking submissions and hosts! Can you help by sending URLs for your own or others' well-written science, medicine, and nature blog essays to me or by volunteering to host this carnival on your blog?
Scientia Pro Publica is a traveling blog carnival that celebrates the best science, environment, nature and medical writing that has been published in the…
grrlscientist | May 1, 2010tags: Bird House, humor, funny, satire, fucking hilarious, Robinson's Be Natural, advertizing, television, streaming video
This hilarious video shows up a glimpse of life from a canary's point of view. The skill of the animal trainer is apparent, and I am astonished at the attention to detail in this commercial.
grrlscientist | April 30, 2010tags: Jockey Liam Hollins The Favorite To Brutally Whip Horse to Kentucky Derby Win, horse racing, horses, whipping, humor, funny, satire, fucking hilarious, Onion News Network, ONN, streaming video
Fresh from his Blue Grass Stakes win, jockey Liam Hollins moves on to today's Kentucky Derby where he hopes to be the first to mercilessly beat the winning horse across the finish line.
grrlscientist | April 30, 2010tags: Dom Sankt Bartholomäus, St Bartholomew's Cathedral, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, photography
Dom Sankt Bartholomäus (St Bartholomew's Cathedral), Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Image: GrrlScientist, 14 April 2010 [larger view].
grrlscientist | April 30, 2010tags: Rod-breasted Grosbeak, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Pheucticus ludovicianus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Pheucticus ludovicianus, photographed in a Houston backyard in Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 21 April 2010 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/250s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Based on this bird's beak shape, what sort of diet would you expect it to have?
This bird primarily eats seeds, as indicated by the heavy beak and the angulated commissure (that…
grrlscientist | April 30, 2010tags: Deutsch für Doofe, German for Boneheads, German language, education, Speedyconkiwi, streaming video
German for Boneheads: lesson one. How to ask for six fish at the pet store without inadvertently ending up with 60 fish.
I still love Sulkasiipi.
grrlscientist | April 29, 2010tags: Life in the Aphotic Zone, animals, marine life, marine biology, bioluminescence, benthic zone, abyssal zone, streaming video
This fascinating video captures a glimpse of the weird and wonderful animals that live in the aphotic zone. The aphotic zone (aphotic from Greek prefix á¼- + Ïá¿¶Ï "without light") is the portion of a lake or ocean where there is little or no sunlight. It is formally defined as the depths beyond which less than 1% of sunlight penetrates. Consequently, bioluminescence is essentially the only light found in this zone. Most food comes from dead organisms sinking to…
grrlscientist | April 29, 2010
Image: wemidji (Jacques Marcoux).
Nam et ipsa scientia potestas est (And thus knowledge itself is power)
-- Sir Francis Bacon.
The next edition of Scientia Pro Publica (Science for the People) will publish this Monday and as usual, it is seeking submissions and hosts! Can you help by sending URLs for your own or others' well-written science, medicine, and nature blog essays to me or by volunteering to host this carnival on your blog?
Scientia Pro Publica is a traveling blog carnival that celebrates the best science, environment, nature and medical writing that has been published in the…
grrlscientist | April 29, 2010tags: Dom Sankt Bartholomäus, St Bartholomew's Cathedral, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, photography
Dom Sankt Bartholomäus (St Bartholomew's Cathedral), Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Image: GrrlScientist, 14 April 2010 [larger view].
This is one of the back doors to the church, and it is a rather aesthetically pleasing one at that. Unfortunately, it was surrounded by a herd of parked cars, so it was impossible to get the photograph I could see in my head, unless I resorted to photoshop. This image is as close as I could get to what I was seeking, and I think of this as a "project…
grrlscientist | April 29, 2010tags: Orange Blüte, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, travel, nature, cities, image of the day, photography
Image: GrrlScientist, 14 April 2010 [larger view]
grrlscientist | April 29, 2010tags: Brown Pelican, Pelecanus occidentalis, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Brown Pelican, Pelecanus occidentalis, photographed at Bolivar Peninsula, Galveston County, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 8 April 2010 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/500s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | April 29, 2010
I am sick.
I have been working on a bunch of writing projects, but everything has come to a screeching halt because I've been quite ill for the past week. I've been trying to lay low so this doesn't turn into pneumonia (which I've had thrice) or bronchitis (which I've had twice) -- which is the typical outcome of illnesses that I can't shake after a few days. However, just in case I do end up sicker (and thus, visiting a doctor), I've already started a list of terms I might need to describe my symptoms:
English: Respiratory illness German: Atemwegserkrankung
English: Pneumonia German:…
grrlscientist | April 28, 2010tags: Prometheus and Bob, Breakfast, behavior, space alien, caveman, humor, funny, comedy, animation, art, streaming video
This hilarious video shows the space alien trying eat breakfast with Bob, who is more interested in grabbing an eagle egg from a tree-top nest. Unfortunately, the birds are not cooperating.
grrlscientist | April 28, 2010tags: EU Airspace Reboot, Iceland Volcano Eruption, flightradar24, openstreetmap.org, itoworld.com, ideasintransit.org, streaming video
This video is a visualization of the northern European airspace returning to full air traffic use after being closed due to volcanic ash. Due to varying ash density across Europe, the first flights can be seen in some areas on the 18th and by the 20th everywhere is open. There are a few gaps (erm, France) and no coverage over the Atlantic, but the picture is still clear.
The flight data is courtesy of flightradar24.com and covers a large fraction of Europe.…
grrlscientist | April 28, 2010tags: Dom Sankt Bartholomäus, St Bartholomew's Cathedral, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, photography
Dom Sankt Bartholomäus (St Bartholomew's Cathedral), Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Image: GrrlScientist, 14 April 2010 [larger view].
The Gothic-style St Bartholomew's Cathedral in Frankfurt am Main is constructed of red sandstone and was originally built in the 13th-15th centuries (restored after suffering heavy damage in 1944). Its 95 m/312ft high tower is a city landmark.
grrlscientist | April 28, 2010tags: Gilded Flicker, Colaptes chrysoides, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Female Gilded Flicker, Colaptes chrysoides, photographed sitting on top of a blooming Saguaro cactus on the outskirts of Tucson, Arizona. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Terry Sohl, 8 May 2008 [larger view]. You are encouraged to purchase photographs from this photographer. I am happy to email his contact information to you.
Canon 20D, 400 5.6L.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | April 28, 2010tags: British vs American Slang, Ellen Degeneres, Hugh Laurie, television, humor, comedy, streaming video
The fantastically talented Hugh Laurie paid a house call to Ellen, and they played an exciting game of American slang versus English slang -- and the game was bloody brilliant!
The slang that Ellen chose as "American" baffled me, too (was it actually "Ellen slang" instead of American slang?), although I did understand the British slang .. hrm.
grrlscientist | April 27, 2010tags: The Truth About HSUS, pets, animals, animal rights, wingnuts, cults, Wayne Pacelle, Humane Society of the United States, HSUS, streaming video
The real agenda of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is to remove money from your wallet and put it into their CEOs' retirement funds, to ignore animal shelters, and to forever destroy your ability to live with animals.
grrlscientist | April 27, 2010tags: Dom Sankt Bartholomäus, St Bartholomew's Cathedral, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, photography
Dom Sankt Bartholomäus (St Bartholomew's Cathedral), Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Image: GrrlScientist, 14 April 2010 [larger view].
This gothic-style cathedral was constructed in the 14th and 15th centuries on the foundation of an earlier church from the Merovingian time. Some of these ruins are still visible. Dom Sankt Bartholomäus is the main church of Frankfurt and it has some historical significance. From 1356 onwards, kings of the Holy Roman Empire were elected in this church, and…
grrlscientist | April 27, 2010tags: Political Change with Pen and Paper, politics, letter-writing campaign, Omar Ahmad, TEDTalks, streaming video
Politicians are strange creatures, says politician Omar Ahmad. And the best way to engage them on your pet issue is a monthly handwritten letter. Ahmad shows why old-fashioned correspondence is more effective than email, phone or even writing a check -- and shares the four simple steps to writing a letter that works.
After years of volunteering for grassroots political groups, I have used my experience to teach and help people write letters to politicians over the years, but…