grrlscientist | April 18, 2010tags: Kalahari Persistence Hunt, film making, marathon, kudu, Africa, BBC One, David Attenborough, streaming video
During a persistence hunt, an antelope, such as a kudu, is not shot or speared from a distance, but simply run down in the midday heat. Depending on the specific conditions, hunters of the central Kalahari will chase a kudu for about two to five hours over 25 to 35 km in temperatures of about 40 to 42°C (104 to 107°F). The hunter chases the kudu, which then runs away out of sight. By tracking it down at a fast running pace the hunter catches up with it before it has had enough…
grrlscientist | April 18, 2010tags: Sonnenuntergang, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, travel, nature, sunset, photography
Sonnenuntergang.
Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Image: Bob O'Hara, 18 April 2010 [larger view]
Sunset over Frankfurt, as photographed from the bedroom window. This sunset was influenced by the Icelandic volcano, Eyjafjallajökull.
This is probably the last sunset photograph you'll see from Frankfurt that doesn't have a dozen or more (disgustingly ugly!!) contrails messing it up because the latest news is that the eruptions from the Icelandic volcano are slowing down .. and there are some EU flights…
grrlscientist | April 18, 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 TOMORROW 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 18, 2010tags: Trilobiten Abdruck, Senckenberg Naturmuseum, museums, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, travel, fossils, paleontology, image of the day, photography
Trilobiten Abdruck.
Senckenberg Naturmuseum, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Image: GrrlScientist, 13 April 2010 [larger view]
Impressions
by Ryan Jennings
A lifetime can be likened to a lonely beach of sand.
a stranger makes a mark one day, an imprint of a hand.
As time goes by the beach once clear is now a cluttered field
of memories and keep-sakes of the ones that we hold dear.
Time does its best to wash away remembrances of those -
the ones…
grrlscientist | April 18, 2010tags: Birdbooker Report, bird books, animal books, natural history books, ecology books
Books to the ceiling,
Books to the sky,
My pile of books is a mile high.
How I love them! How I need them!
I'll have a long beard by the time I read them.
~ Arnold Lobel [1933-1987] author of many popular children's books.
The Birdbooker Report is a special weekly report of a wide variety of science, nature and behavior books that currently are, or soon will be available for purchase. This report is written by one of my Seattle birding pals and book collector, Ian "Birdbooker" Paulsen, and is edited…
grrlscientist | April 18, 2010tags: African Spoonbill, Platalea alba, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] African Spoonbill, Platalea alba, photographed in the Serengeti National Park, Tanzania, Africa. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dan Logen, 22 January 2010 [larger view].
Nikon D300, 600 x 1.4, ISO 1000, 1/4000, f/9 Exp comp -1.3
As an added bonus, can you tell me about this bird's feeding habits, just from looking at it?
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | April 18, 2010tags: The Un-Funny TRUTH about Scientology, scientology, religion, cults, beliefs, L Ron Hubbard, television, Smoothmedia, streaming video
This astonishingly disturbing video is by Smooth media and is about cult of Scientology.
grrlscientist | April 17, 2010tags: What Is Scientology?, scientology, religion, cults, mind control, Thetan, silly, offbeat, beliefs, Xenu, L Ron Hubbard, television, Boston Legal, streaming video
James Spader explains Scientology in an episode of of the television program, Boston Legal.
grrlscientist | April 17, 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 17, 2010tags: Lituites lituus, Senckenberg Naturmuseum, museums, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, travel, fossils, paleontology, image of the day, photography
Lituites lituus.
Senckenberg Naturmuseum, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Image: GrrlScientist, 13 April 2010 [larger view]
If you were here today, I would show you this lovely Ordovician fossil shell. The Ordovician Period began with a series of major extinction events that ended the Cambrian Period roughly 488.3 ± 1.7 million years ago, and lasted for about 44.6 million years. Despite a world filled with destruction, death and mass extinctions,…
grrlscientist | April 17, 2010tags: King Penguin, Aptenodytes patagonicus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Immature King Penguin, Aptenodytes patagonicus, photographed in unknown sub-Antarctic island location. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: creative commons.
NOTE: PLEASE name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
NOTE: Opus the Penguin, a fictional character in the comic strips Bloom County, Outland, and Opus, is a king penguin and the most famous character of the comic strips.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | April 17, 2010tags: Hevisaurus, Viimeinen Mammutti, Finnish Dinosaur Rock, Tavastia Klubi, Helsinki Finland, music video, humor, funny, silly, streaming video
Finnish Dinosaur Rock aimed specifically at the under 5 crowd -- now why don't they do fun stuff like this in Germany??
Hevisaurus played live at the Tavastia Klubi in Helsinki, Finland. Guess where I wasn't in November 2009??
grrlscientist | April 16, 2010tags: 5th Annual Book Cart Drill Team World Championship, Wagner, Ride of the Valkyries, 2009 American Library Association Annual Conference, Oak Park Public Library Warrior Librarians, Chicago, Illinois, library science, humor, funny, silly, streaming video
This is a very special video that is well suited to Silly Saturday. In fact, if this video doesn't convince you that you want to be a librarian when you grow up, well, you're beyond all hope and probably are a nascent alcoholic.
h/t: Faculty of 1000.
grrlscientist | April 16, 2010tags: Fels, Senckenberg Naturmuseum, museums, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, travel, nature, cities, image of the day, photography
Fels.
Senckenberg Naturmuseum, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Image: GrrlScientist, 13 April 2010 [larger view]
This is a close look at a large rock standing on the grassy traffic island in front of the Senckenberg Naturmuseum. The grain shows how tortured this rock was when it was still soft.
grrlscientist | April 16, 2010tags: Versteinerung Muschelschale, Senckenberg Naturmuseum, museums, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, travel, nature, cities, image of the day, photography
Versteinerung Muschelschale.
Senckenberg Naturmuseum, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Image: GrrlScientist, 13 April 2010 [larger view]
This is a gorgeous fossil shell photographed at the Senckenberg Naturmuseum .. how old is this? What species is this? I don't know .. but I will return and collect more detailed information to share with you (this first visit was a quick pass through the museum to see what they have on display).
grrlscientist | April 16, 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 16, 2010tags: Brown Noddy, Common Noddy, Anous stolidus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Brown Noddy, also known as the Common Noddy, Anous stolidus, photographed on Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, Midway Island, Hawai'i. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joe Fuhrman, March 2010. I encourage you to purchase images from this professional photographer.
NOTE: PLEASE name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | April 16, 2010tags: Hooked by an Octopus, animals, zoology, invertebrates, octopus, marine biology, film maker, animal behavior, Mike deGruy, TEDTalks, streaming video
Underwater filmmaker Mike deGruy has spent decades looking intimately at the ocean. A consummate storyteller, he takes the stage at Mission Blue to share his awe and excitement -- and his fears -- about the blue heart of our planet.
TEDTalks is 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. Featured speakers have…
grrlscientist | April 15, 2010tags: Rick Rolling NYC's A Train, music, a cappella, NYC Life, New York City, A Train, travel, cultural observation, cities, University of Oregon, On The Rocks, The Green Room, Never Going to Give You Up, streaming video
Watching this video of a group of West Coast guys singing a cappella on the A train made me want to cry because I miss NYC, its subways and all the fun people I experienced while riding the A train. I would like to suggest to these guys to try rick rolling the A train between 59th and 125th street instead so they aren't interrupted by the conductor and people having to climb…
grrlscientist | April 15, 2010tags: Wolkenkratzer, skyscraper, Zeil, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, travel, photography, cities
Wolkenkratzer.
Skyscraper, photographed at Zeil, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Image: GrrlScientist, 14 April 2010 [larger view].
Yesterday, I stood underneath a skyscraper! No, I was not inside the skyscraper, I was underneath it! I took this picture because I was sure you would never believe me.