grrlscientist | April 30, 2008tags: global warming, humor, behavior, streaming video
Do you want to save the earth while reducing your bills? Use energy-saving light bulbs! [0:49].
H/t to Mike.
grrlscientist | April 29, 2008tags: chambers street subway art, subway art, NYC through my eye, photography, NYC
Chambers Street Subway Art #12
as seen at NYC's Chambers Street stop for the A and C trains.
Image: GrrlScientist 2008 [larger view].
grrlscientist | April 29, 2008tags: eclectus, Solomon Islands Eclectus parrot, Eclectus roratus solomonensis, parrots, birds, photograph
I took this picture this morning to share with you;
Elektra.
Female Solomon Islands Eclectus parrot, Eclectus roratus solomonensis, April 2008.
Image: GrrlScientist 2008 [larger view].
Not only did I not handfeed this bird, but this is the one bird I live with who is a "used parrot": she spent her formative years with someone else before she came home with me. She unfortunately has a bad wing so she cannot fly as well as I wish she could, even though I leave her fully flighted (I do…
grrlscientist | April 29, 2008tags: Melba Waxbill, Pytilia melba, birds, Image of the Day
This is the second image in a series of passerine images by this photographer.
Melba Finch, Pytilia melba, also known as the Melba Waxbill or the Green-winged Pytilia.
Image: John Del Rio. [larger view].
grrlscientist | April 29, 2008tags: Dreamers, Siegfried Sassoon, poetry, National Poetry Month
April is National Poetry Month, and I plan to post one poem per day every day this month (If you have a favorite poem that you'd like me to share, feel free to email it to me).
I found today's poem after a reader on Reddit, Jack, suggested that I read some of Siegfried Sassoon's works. I have never read anything by Sassoon before, so I'd like to thank Jack for his recommendation. Below the fold is a poem by Sassoon that I thought you might appreciate.
Dreamers
Soldiers are citizens of death's grey land,
Drawing no dividend…
grrlscientist | April 29, 2008tags: John McCain, testicles, humor, satire, politics, streaming video
This amusing streaming video is an interview with John McCain's urologist, who shows us a really nice graph revealing the size of his testicles. But his urologist refuses to confirm whether McCain is a real badass, saying that we have to interview his proctologist to learn if that's true [2:10].
grrlscientist | April 28, 2008tags: lories, loriinae, yellow-bibbed lory, Lorius chlorocercus, parrots, birds, photograph
Odysseus.
Male yellow-bibbed lory, Lorius chlorocercus, April 2008.
Image: GrrlScientist 2008 [larger view].
This parrot is a lory. Lories are a group of nectar-feeding parrots that are from islands in the south Pacific Ocean. This particular species originates on the Solomon Islands. When I lived in Seattle, I had a flock of 8 species (30 individuals) of lories that I bred, raised and trained for most of my life, and I studied the evolution of the lories for my postdoctoral work. When I left…
grrlscientist | April 28, 2008tags: chambers street subway art, subway art, NYC through my eye, photography, NYC
Chambers Street Subway Art #11
as seen at NYC's Chambers Street stop for the A and C trains.
A vandal with yellow chalk beat me to this artwork, but fortunately,
the chalk marks can be easily removed.
Image: GrrlScientist 2008 [larger view].
grrlscientist | April 28, 2008tags: Turquoise Tanager, Tangara mexicana, birds, Image of the Day
This is the first in a series of passerine images by this photographer.
Turquoise Tanager, Tangara mexicana.
Image: John Del Rio. [larger view].
grrlscientist | April 28, 2008tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
"Abstract"
Male Wood Duck, Aix sponsa.
Image: John Del Rio. [larger view].
Birds in Science
It wasn't too long ago that paleontologists thought that fossilization was a process where all biological material was replaced with inert stone. However, in 2005, Mary Higby Schweitzer of North Carolina State University rocked the paleontological world when she recovered a still-elastic blood vessel from inside a fractured thigh bone fossil of a Tyrannosaurus rex that lived 68 million years ago. Recent phylogenetic analyses of…
grrlscientist | April 28, 2008tags: Dulce et Decorum Est, Wilfred Owen, poetry, National Poetry Month
April is National Poetry Month, and I plan to post one poem per day every day this month (If you have a favorite poem that you'd like me to share, feel free to email it to me).
Today's poem was suggested by a reader, Mike, who writes "This has been one of my favorites for a long time. It reminds me that poetry need not be beautiful, nor speak of beautiful things to be meaningful. Indeed it is the very ugliness of this poem and the situation that sticks with me and makes it all the more poignant."
Dulce et Decorum Est…
grrlscientist | April 28, 2008tags: Richard Dawkins, Beware the Believers, religious fundamentalism, evolution, streaming video
This amusing streaming video is a rockin' version of Richard Dawkins' expertise [3:57].
grrlscientist | April 27, 2008tags: chambers street subway art, subway art, NYC through my eye, photography, NYC
Chambers Street Subway Art #10
as seen at NYC's Chambers Street stop for the A and C trains.
Image: GrrlScientist 2008 [larger view].
grrlscientist | April 27, 2008tags: spring, nature, Image of the Day
Spring, 2.
This is the Canada goose family (slightly increased in size) in College Park that you saw earlier.
Image: Karen Davis [larger].
grrlscientist | April 27, 2008tags: Birdbooker Report, bird books, natural history 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 bird and natural history books that are (or will soon be) available for purchase.
FEATURED TITLE:
Chiappe, Luis M. Glorified Dinosaurs: The Origin and Early Evolution of Birds. 2007. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Hardbound: 263 pages. Price: $74.50 U.S. [Amazon: $60.40]. SUMMARY: An up-to-date review of Mesozoic bird evolution.
New and Recent…
grrlscientist | April 27, 2008tags: Survival Skills, Kay Ryan, poetry, National Poetry Month
April is National Poetry Month, and I plan to post one poem per day every day this month (If you have a favorite poem that you'd like me to share, feel free to email it to me). My poetry suggestions are starting to run dry, which means I can start posting my own favorites (but you've seen many of those already) or you can send me your favorite poems, which I probably haven't read before!
Today's poem was suggested by a reader, Nan, who writes "I lurk around ScienceBlogs and always enjoy your column. Geese are my passion and I…
grrlscientist | April 26, 2008tags: chambers street subway art, subway art, NYC through my eye, photography, NYC
Chambers Street Subway Art #9
as seen at NYC's Chambers Street stop for the A and C trains.
Image: GrrlScientist 2008 [larger view].
grrlscientist | April 26, 2008tags: Northern cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis, birds, Central Park, Image of the Day
Female Central Park cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis.
Image: Bob Levy, author of Club George [larger].
Bob Levy writes;
I caught Mama Castle deep into her Yoga session. Here she beautifully demonstrates perfect form in her flawless performance of the Blowing Palm pose. I wish I could do it as well. Sigh.
grrlscientist | April 26, 2008tags: Thank you, My Fate, Anna Swir, poetry, National Poetry Month
April is National Poetry Month, and I plan to post one poem per day every day this month (If you have a favorite poem that you'd like me to share, feel free to email it to me). My poetry suggestions are starting to run dry, which means I can start posting my own favorites (but you've seen many of those already) or you can send me your favorite poems, which I probably haven't read before!
Today's poem was suggested by a reader, Suzanne;
Thank you, My Fate
Great humility fills me,
great purity fills me,
I make love with my…
grrlscientist | April 25, 2008tags: chambers street subway art, subway art, NYC through my eye, photography, NYC
Chambers Street Subway Art #8
as seen at NYC's Chambers Street stop for the A and C trains.
Image: GrrlScientist 2008 [larger view].