grrlscientist | July 2, 2008tags: researchblogging.org, global warming, climate variation, climate change, penguins, El Nino, marine zoning, P. Dee Boersma
Adélie penguins, Pygoscelis adeliae, and chicks.
(a) Adélie penguin chicks may get covered in snow during storms, but beneath the snow their down is warm and dry. (b) When rain falls, downy Adélie chicks can get wet and, when soaked, can become hypothermic and die.
Images: P. Dee Boersma.
According to an article that was just published in the journal BioScience, penguin populations are declining sharply due to the combined effects of overfishing and pollution…
grrlscientist | July 2, 2008tags: Just say Yes, humor, telemarketers, streaming video
Just a little fun for all those people who are tired of being tortured by telemarketers [1:20]
grrlscientist | July 1, 2008tags: West 34th street Penn Station subway art, Circus of Garden Delights, subway art, NYC through my eye, photography, NYC
Circus of Garden Delights.
West 34th Street/Penn Station Subway tile mosaic art #3 [Detail #2]
as seen at NYC's West 34th Street stop at 8th for the A, C and E trains.
Artist: Eric Fischl, 2001.
Image: GrrlScientist 2008 [larger view].
According to the artist, this subway station artwork "depicts a commuter being drawn into the bizarre and surprising world of the circus, meeting animals, clowns, acrobats and fire-breathers on his way to work."
I have photographed…
grrlscientist | July 1, 2008
I just had to let you know a few details about my London visit. First, my renewed passport arrived in snailmail, with no problems at all! The new passport is quite fancy, by the way, with all sorts of aphorisms about democracy and how wonderful it is printed at the top of each page. Too bad they didn't include anything about the lack of health insurance, the housing crisis and the absolutely crappy employment situation for people with "too much education".
So here's the plan so far: I arrive at Heathrow at 730 am on the 28th of August and depart in the afternoon on the 7th of September.…
grrlscientist | July 1, 2008tags: natural selection, evolution, Alfred Russel Wallace, Charles Darwin, Darwin Year, Linnean Society of London
Image: Gary Larson.
This morning, I was pleased to hear National Public Radio was celebrating the 150th birthday of Natural Selection, the mechanism whereby evolution occurs.
One hundred and fifty years ago today, two papers were read in front of the Linnean Society of London. One of those papers was written by Alfred Russel Wallace and the other consisted of two excerpts from Charles Darwin's unpublished writings about the origin of species. It turns out that while Wallace…
grrlscientist | July 1, 2008tags: Green-naped Rainbow lory, Trichoglossus haematodus haematodus, birds, Image of the Day
Last in a series of ten images of lories by this photographer.
A playful group of green-naped subspecies of the Rainbow lory, Trichoglossus haematodus haematodus. There are 15 subspecies of rainbow lories occurring throughout the islands of the south Pacific Ocean. This subspecies is primarily found along the east coast of Australia.
Image: John Del Rio [larger view].
grrlscientist | July 1, 2008tags: Underwater Astonishments, marine biology, evolution, streaming video
David Gallo shows jaw-dropping footage of amazing sea creatures, including a shape-shifting cuttlefish, a pair of fighting squid, and a mesmerizing gallery of bioluminescent fish that light up the blackest depths of the ocean. He focuses on the work of two scientists: Edith Widder at the Ocean Research & Conservation Association, and Roger Hanlon at the Marine Biological Lab. [6:01]
grrlscientist | June 30, 2008tags: Seed Media Group, ScienceBlogs, ScienceBlogs.de
I have been made privy to a special 1 July 2008 press release from Seed Media Group, the parent organization for ScienceBlogs, which hosts my blog. The news is good.
In short, Seed Media Group announced that ScienceBlogs, the internet's largest science community, has experienced a phenomenal growth in readership: total visits for the first six months of 2008 has topped 14 million, an all-time high.
ScienceBlogs was launched in mid-January 2006 after inviting 14 science blogs [including my blog, Living the Scientific Life (Scientist,…
grrlscientist | June 30, 2008tags: West 34th street Penn Station subway art, Circus of Garden Delights, subway art, NYC through my eye, photography, NYC
Circus of Garden Delights.
West 34th Street/Penn Station Subway tile mosaic art #3 [Detail #1]
as seen at NYC's West 34th Street stop at 8th for the A, C and E trains.
Artist: Eric Fischl, 2001.
Image: GrrlScientist 2008 [larger view].
According to the artist, this subway station artwork "depicts a commuter being drawn into the bizarre and surprising world of the circus, meeting animals, clowns, acrobats and fire-breathers on his way to work."
I have photographed…
grrlscientist | June 30, 2008tags: smuggling parrots, poaching parrots, ProFauna Indonesia, endangered species, conservation, politics
Indonesians protest the illegal wildlife trade.
Image: ProFauna Indonesia.
You know that I am passionate about the parrots of the south Pacific Ocean -- I devoted my life to researching them, in fact. So it is my responsibility to bring a very important and tragic issue to your attention. Indonesia, home to many of the birds that I love so much, is killing its endemic parrots through poaching and smuggling.
There are 85 parrot species in Indonesia, 14 of which are globally threatened…
grrlscientist | June 30, 2008I called the landlord's office (again) last Friday to find out what this "rent increase" is about, and the people in the landlord's office had no ideas. As most of you know, I have been trying to find out about this "rent increase" for the past three months, by writing and calling my landlord, but he refuses to explain. Since I live in a rent stabilized apartment, all rent increases must be approved by the city before they are enacted, according to my sources.
One of the office workers suggested this "rent increase" was for fixing up my apartment, not knowing that my apartment bathroom had…
grrlscientist | June 30, 2008tags: Blue Mountain Rainbow Lory, Swainson's Rainbow Lory, Trichoglossus haematodus moluccanus, birds, Image of the Day
Eighth in a series of lory images by this photographer.
Rainbow Lory, Trichoglossus haematodus moluccanus. This subspecies of rainbow lory is also found in Australia, along the east coast.
Image: John Del Rio. [larger view].
grrlscientist | June 30, 2008My friend and colleague, Carl Zimmer, has some news that he is going to tell us about today at 5pm ET, so be sure to pop in to his blog at that time to see what's happening.
grrlscientist | June 30, 2008tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Regulus calendula, with insect egg or pupa in its beak.
Image: Dave Rintoul, KSU [larger view].
News of Birds in Science
A fascinating paper was just published by some of my colleagues in the top-tier journal, Science, that analyzes the largest collection of DNA data ever assembled for birds. This analysis effectively redraws avian phylogeny, or family tree, thus shaking up our current understanding of the early, or "deep", evolutionary relationships of birds. For example, one of the most…
grrlscientist | June 30, 2008tags: Ovulation, medicine, technology, streaming video
Recently, human ovulation was captured on video for the first time ever. Two researchers, Stephan Gordts and Ivo Brosens of the Leuven Institute for Fertility & Embryology in Belgium, performed transvaginal laparoscopy, which involves making a small cut in the vaginal wall and observing the ovary with an endoscope. "This allows us direct access to and observation of the tubo-ovarian structures without manipulation using forceps," reports Gordts. Below the fold is part of their video. [0:55]
Read more about it.
grrlscientist | June 29, 2008tags: West 34th street Penn Station subway art, Circus of Garden Delights, subway art, NYC through my eye, photography, NYC
Circus of Garden Delights.
West 34th Street/Penn Station Subway tile mosaic art #3
as seen at NYC's West 34th Street stop at 8th for the A, C and E trains.
Artist: Eric Fischl, 2001.
Image: GrrlScientist 2008 [larger view].
According to the artist, this subway station artwork "depicts a commuter being drawn into the bizarre and surprising world of the circus, meeting animals, clowns, acrobats and fire-breathers on his way to work."
I have photographed tile…
grrlscientist | June 29, 2008One of the world's largest intact forest ecosystems -- the breeding grounds for many of the world's warblers, ducks and other migratory birds -- is in big trouble. Oil and gas, timber, mining, and other industries are destroying vital habitat for birds and other wildlife in Canada's boreal forest. Canada's boreal forest spans more than 1.4 billion acres and provides vital breeding habitat for many of the world's birds -- including nearly 40% of North America's ducks, geese, and swans. Lynx, grizzlies and wolves also make their home in the boreal forest. And it is one of the world's largest "…
grrlscientist | June 29, 2008tags: Moluccan Lory, Red Lory, Eos bornea, birds, Image of the Day
Seventh in a series of images of lories by this photographer.
Red Lory, also known as the Moluccan Lory, Eos bornea.
There are two subspecies on several closely clustered islands in Indonesia's Moluccas.
Image: John Del Rio [larger view].
grrlscientist | June 29, 2008tags: Birdbooker Report, bird books, natural history books, ecology books
"One cannot have too many good bird books"
--Ralph Hoffmann, Birds of the Pacific States (1927).
Here's this week's issue of the Birdbooker Report by Ian "Birdbooker" Paulsen, which lists ecology, environment, natural history and bird books that are (or will soon be) available for purchase.
FEATURED TITLE:
Tennyson, Alan and Paul Martinson. Extinct Birds of New Zealand. 2006. Te Papa Press. Hardbound: 180 pages. Price: $54.95 U.S. (available in the USA from Pacific Island Books and Buteo Books or for $63.95 and up…
grrlscientist | June 29, 2008tags: Return To Warden's Grove, ornithology, birds, field research, biology dissertation, Christopher Norment, book review
Throughout my life, certain people have had the audacity to lecture me about how a scientific education and a scientific life forever destroys a person's ability to appreciate nature. I always tell them how science enhances my appreciation and .. dare I say it? .. my love of the natural world, but I sometimes think no one hears me. But thanks to the wonderful book, Return To Warden's Grove: Science, Desire, and the Lives of Sparrows by Chris Norment (Iowa City: University…