grrlscientist | April 7, 2010tags: Violett HahnenfuÃ, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, travel, nature, flowers, image of the day
Violett HahnenfuÃ.
Nordwestzentrum, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Image: GrrlScientist, 7 April 2010 [larger view]
As soon as I saw this image through the viewfinder on my camera, I knew it was magic. The camera did not capture the purple color correctly (it was much richer and brighter than you see here -- a rather washed out version of real life) but it did capture the amazing patterns that made this image so beautiful in my eye.
grrlscientist | April 7, 2010tags: education, public outreach, SciCafe, science cafe, AMNH, American Museum of Natural History, NYC, streaming video
Who: Kristin Baldwin, Assistant Professor at Scripps Research's Department of Cell Biology
What: free public presentation, "The Future of Stem Cells"
When: TONIGHT at 700pm
Where: Gottesman Hall of Planet Earth, American Museum of Natural History, Enter at the 81st Street (Rose Center) [directions and maps]
Cost: FREE, and there is a cash bar too! (must be 21+ with ID)
What if your cells could be engineered to grow your own replacement organs? Glimpse the future of…
grrlscientist | April 7, 2010tags: Butcherbird, Loggerhead Shrike, Lanius ludovicianus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Loggerhead Shrike, also known as the Butcherbird, Lanius ludovicianus, photographed on the Katy Prairie, Houston, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 1 January 2010 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/80s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
This mystery bird has a weird common name .. can anyone tell me why it has such an odd name?
Review…
grrlscientist | April 7, 2010tags: Seed Media Group, online media, science news, science writing, public outreach, education, announcement, press release
Yesterday, The Mothership (Scienceblogs.com), released their traffic figures from the launch of the site in January 2006 through the first quarter of 2010. These numbers are quite impressive, regardless of which universe you inhabit [free PDF]:
Visits for the quarter ending March 31 grew by 41% year-over-year to approximately 13 million, and page views topped 25 million. Monthly unique visitors grew to 2.4 million worldwide and in the US surpassed 2 million for the…
grrlscientist | April 7, 2010tags: Sex, Drugs and HIV -- Let's Get Rational, behavior, disease, prostitution, gay men, drug addicts, sex, STD, HIV, AIDS, poverty, medicine, public health, Compassion Conundrum, Elizabeth Pisani, TEDTalks, streaming video
Armed with bracing logic, wit and her "public-health nerd" glasses, Elizabeth Pisani reveals the myriad of inconsistencies in today's political systems that prevent our dollars from effectively fighting the spread of HIV. Her research with at-risk populations -- from junkies in prison to sex workers on the street in Cambodia -- demonstrates the sometimes counter-intuitive…
grrlscientist | April 6, 2010tags: Fur Person, humor, funny, weird, behavior, cat, pets, animals, streaming video
This short video is really amazing: it captures a cat standing on its hind legs to get a better view of what's happening outdoors.
grrlscientist | April 6, 2010tags: Bockenheimer Turm bei Nacht, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, travel, nature, cities, photography
Bockenheimer Turm bei Nacht.
Bockenheimer Warte, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Image: GrrlScientist, 6 April 2010 [larger view]
So why am I in Bockenheim again? I went here because I had an appointment to get a bank account. After complaining mightily about this enormous waste of time (I've never had to make an appointment to set up a bank account before), I was surprised and most pleased to meet a personable banker who visits NYC frequently (he has family there and is returning on 15 May for a…
grrlscientist | April 6, 2010tags: education, public outreach, SciCafe, science cafe, AMNH, American Museum of Natural History, NYC, streaming video
Who: Kristin Baldwin, Assistant Professor at Scripps Research's Department of Cell Biology
What: free public presentation, "The Future of Stem Cells"
When: Wednesday, 7 April at 700pm
Where: Gottesman Hall of Planet Earth, American Museum of Natural History, Enter at the 81st Street (Rose Center) [directions and maps]
Cost: FREE, and there is a cash bar too! (must be 21+ with ID)
What if your cells could be engineered to grow your own replacement organs? Glimpse the…
grrlscientist | April 6, 2010tags: Bockenheimer Turm, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, travel, nature, cities, image of the day
Bockenheimer Turm.
Bockenheimer Warte, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Image: GrrlScientist, 6 April 2010 [larger view]
This is an astonishingly gorgeous day in Frankfurt am Main; warm (but not too warm) and everything is exploding into bloom under an impossibly blue sky. I wish you were here with me because I would bring you to my favorite coffee shop in Bockenheimer Warte; Cafe Extrablatt, where they not only give me FREE wifi, but they also cheerfully provide powerpoints (that's a "plug in" or an "…
grrlscientist | April 6, 2010tags: Razorbill, Alca torda, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery birds] Razorbill, Alca torda, photographed at the Machias Seal Island, Maine. [I will identify these birds for you in 48 hours]
Image: Paul Sweet, 26 May 2008 [larger view].
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
These stunning birds are the only member of their genus -- can you identify it? As a bonus question, can you tell me about one of its famous relatives?
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | April 6, 2010tags: How to Combat Modern Slavery, philosophy, morality, ethics, behavior, poverty, culture, slavery, human rights, human values, Kevin Bales, TEDTalks, streaming video
In this moving yet pragmatic talk, Kevin Bales explains the business of modern slavery, a multibillion-dollar economy that underpins some of the worst industries on earth. He shares stats and personal stories from his on-the-ground research -- and names the price of freeing every slave on earth right now.
Kevin Bales is the co-founder of Free the Slaves, whose mission is to end all forms of human slavery within the next 25…
grrlscientist | April 5, 2010tags: satire, humor, funny, weird, behavior, stereotypes, women, men, Untucked Films, Harvard Sailing Team, streaming video
This video is a satire of how women behave when they get together. However, this is highly stereotyped since I've never acted like this, not have any women whom I know. Who are these mythological women? Do you know them? Or are they sitcom women only?
And of course, what's good for the goose is good for the gander (or is it the other way around?);
Website: Harvard Sailing Team, Produced by Untucked Films, directed by Jonathan Emmerling, director of photography Pat…
grrlscientist | April 5, 2010
Image: wemidji (Jacques Marcoux).
Nam et ipsa scientia potestas est (And thus knowledge itself is power)
-- Sir Francis Bacon.
This week's edition of Scientia Pro Publica (Science for the People) has been published at two separate locations: "Scientia Pro Publica 24: Origins Edition" by Andrew at 360 Degree Skeptic and by Andrew at Southern Fried Science. This twin edition is christened (by me): "The Twin Sons of Different Mothers" edition, or perhaps "The Revenge of the Andrews".
How did this happen? I wonder. Haven't I sent out enough emails about this blog carnival, the host schedule…
grrlscientist | April 5, 2010tags: Lake Gull, Common Gull, Ring-billed Gull, Larus delawarensis, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Ring-billed Gull, also known as the Common Gull or Lake Gull, Larus delawarensis, photographed at Bolivar Peninsula, Galveston County, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, March 2010 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/640s 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 5, 2010tags: gorilla, death, mortality, science, humor, funny, satire, fucking hilarious, Onion News Network, ONN, streaming video
Tulane University researchers have successfully taught a captive gorilla that he will die one day. The gorilla, named Quigley, is now able to experience the crippling fear of impending death previously only accessible to humans.
grrlscientist | April 4, 2010tags: Self Playing Harmonica, music, music video, DIY, computer printer, harmonica, vacuum cleaner, Instructibles, Stupid Inventions, streaming video
There are lots of different types of Self-Playing Instruments, but the folks at Stupid Inventions wanted to create something new so they decided to build the Self Playing Harmonica. Made from an old printer and a vacuum cleaner, the Self-Playing Harmonica will play different songs based on the image you print.
You can learn more about this and find step-by-step instructions for constructing your own self-playing harmonica at Instructibles.
grrlscientist | April 4, 2010tags: Sonnenuntergang, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, travel, nature, sunset, image of the day
Sonnenuntergang.
Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Image: Bob O'Hara, 4 April 2010 [larger view]
Sunset over Frankfurt, as photographed from the bedroom window.
grrlscientist | April 4, 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) publishes tomorrow and as usual, it is seeking submissions and hosts! If you haven't sent your essays in yet, or if you've read other people's science essays that you thought were especially good, please send those URLs to Scientia immediately so they can be included in tomorrow's edition.
Scientia Pro Publica is a traveling blog carnival that celebrates the best science, environment, nature and…
grrlscientist | April 4, 2010tags: Birdbooker Report, bird books, animal books, natural history books, ecology books
Books to the ceiling,
Books to the sky,
My piles 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 4, 2010tags: birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery birds] photographed in mystery world location. [I will identify these birds for you in 48 hours, unless I've eaten them all first]
Image: orphaned [larger view].
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
This flock of birds is easy to ID, so I am "upping the ante" by also asking you to give me these birds' scientific name, traditional geographic range, age and gender! Can you do this?
Review all mystery birds to date.