grrlscientist | January 10, 2008tags: Ask a Science Blogger, male birth control pill, contraceptive
The human egg at the moment of fertilization.
Image: National Museum of Health and Medicine.
The newest "Ask a Science Blogger" question is; Why is there no birth control pill for men?
I know that many women say that male birth control pills do not exist solely due to sexual politics, namely, why would a pharmaceutical company devote precious research funding to developing a male birth control pill when they can make so much more money from developing drugs such as Viagra? Because I am limited to 500 words or so, I am not…
grrlscientist | January 10, 2008tags: internet cats, humor, Catz PWN, streaming video
Do you trip over objects, such as toys and cats, as you make your way to the bathroom in the middle of the night? Well, trip no more by making your own LED "headlight slippers" -- this video shows you how! [0:53]
$5 Headlight Slippers ! - video hosted by Metacafe
grrlscientist | January 9, 2008tags: online quiz, American politics
It appears that I am a social liberal-progressive .. that makes more sense than simply branding me as a "liberal" since I have some rather sharp disagreements with liberals who aren't progressives ..
Where do you lie along this political spectrum?
grrlscientist | January 9, 2008tags: carnival of education, blog carnivals
The 153rd edition of the Carnival of Education is now available for you to read.
grrlscientist | January 9, 2008tags: subway art, dusky lory, Pseudeos fuscata, AMNH, American Musuem of Natural History, NYCLife, NYC
A pair of dusky lories, Pseudeos fuscata,
as portrayed in tiles just above the handrail on the walls of the
at the northernmost stairway to the NYC uptown subway stop
(A-B-C) at 81st and Central Park West. (ISO, no zoom, no flash).
Image: GrrlScientist 2008 [wallpaper size].
This is one of the species of parrot that I bred up until a few years ago. This species was also included in my postdoc research into the evolution of parrots of the islands of the South Pacific Ocean. Dusky lories…
grrlscientist | January 9, 2008tags: Deroptyus accipitrinus, hawk-headed parrot, red-fan parrot, pets, birds, avian, parrots, behavior
Okay, my peeps, a regular reader was inspired by the earlier blog entry, Songs About Birds -- Can You Name Some? to write a poem about birds, Dirty Bird! Dirty Bird!, except this reader claims this is actually a song because there is a tune that goes with it .. I would like to challenge this reader, Digital Cuttlefish, to sing this song and post it as an mp3!
grrlscientist | January 9, 2008tags: Deroptyus accipitrinus, hawk-headed parrot, red-fan parrot, pets, birds, avian, parrots, behavior
Orpheus, a very young male red fan (hawk-headed) parrot, Deroptyus a. accipitrinus,
who lives with me (December 2007).
GrrlScientist, 2007 [larger view].
My birds and I have been watching David Attenborough's Attenborough in Paradise on DVD (review coming soon) on my computer. In this situation, Elektra, my female Solomon Islands Eclectus parrot, perches on my left shoulder, thereby preserving her top-dog status in my little flock of parrots, while Orpheus, the very young male hawk-…
grrlscientist | January 9, 2008tags: red-winged blackbird, Agelaius phoeniceus, birds, NYC, Central Park, Image of the Day
My good friend, the published author Bob Levy, has sent me eight images that document the lives of a little family of red-winged blackbirds living in Central Park, NYC. These images will appear as the Image of the Day beginning on the 6th of January and running through the 13th of January.
Female Red-winged Blackbird, Agelaius phoeniceus, Central Park, NYC.
Here, Lady Hernshead holds a bug in her beak. Ok, you can't really see it but its there.
Image: Bob Levy, author of Club George. [wallpaper size…
grrlscientist | January 9, 2008tags: politics, NH primary, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, 2008 Presidential primaries, news coverage
Past Primary campaign buttons from the collections of the NH Historical Society and the NH Political Library.
Image: WBUR, Boston's NPR affiliate.
I was hanging out in my local watering hole last night, watching the primary coverage for New Hampshire on television until the results were announced. While I was there, I overheard a particularly empassioned conversation between the bartender (a musician in his mid-forties) and a "regular" (a medical doctor in his mid-fifties) where they were…
grrlscientist | January 9, 2008tags: music, songs about birds
Some birder pals of mine are discussing an interesting topic that I thought you would also enjoy; can you name any songs (or other musical pieces) that are about birds? If so, do you have any favorites?
Here's my contribution to the conversation; John Denver's The Eagle and the Hawk, which I think captures the feeling one gets when experiencing an eagle or hawk in flight. This piece reminds me of birding on the prairies of central Washington state where I had the opportunity to experience soaring and courting golden eagles, prairie falcons and sometimes, a very…
grrlscientist | January 9, 2008tags: Tangled Bank, blog carnivals
This is it, folks, the blog carnival that you've all been waiting for; Tangled Bank. The 96th edition has just been published, so get on over there for some science-y goodness.
grrlscientist | January 9, 2008tags: internet cats, humor, Catz PWN, streaming video
This is a really funny video that will make you smile, and it has some really nice music, too! [3:17]
grrlscientist | January 8, 2008tags: Times Square, NYCLife, NYC
The Big Apple: The city that never sleeps.
On 7th Avenue, looking south at Times Square, NYC, last night.
(Yes, I was standing in traffic, but it wasn't moving, so this
picture only looks as if I risked my life to get it for you, but
if it makes you feel better to think that I was nearly killed getting
this picture, well, go ahead and think that!)
Image: GrrlScientist 2008 [wallpaper size].
Last night was a good night for walking around Manhattan, as I tend to do when I cannot sleep.
grrlscientist | January 8, 2008tags: Carnival of Homeschooling, education, blog carnivals
The Carnival of Homeschooling is a new blog carnival for me but it is well-established, as you will see in the most recent issue -- it is jam-packed with lots of links to follow and read. If you peek closely, you'll find that they included an entry from me that might seem a little .. unusual .. when you think of the stereotype of what homeschooling is all about.
grrlscientist | January 8, 2008"Bart! Don't make fun of graduate students. They just made a terrible life choice!" [0:19]
No. Fucking. Shit.
grrlscientist | January 8, 2008tags: red-winged blackbird, Agelaius phoeniceus, birds, NYC, Central Park, Image of the Day
My good friend, the published author Bob Levy, has sent me eight images that document the lives of a little family of red-winged blackbirds living in Central Park, NYC. These images will appear as the Image of the Day beginning on the 6th of January and running through the 13th of January.
Red-winged Blackbird, Agelaius phoeniceus, nest in Central Park, NYC.
The Nest Bush. Way out on the left side you should, could, might find a tiny brown area. That is Lady Hernshead on her nest. No, really. [You'…
grrlscientist | January 8, 2008tags: Adélie penguin, Pygoscelis adeliae , ornithology, birds, avian, leucism
A unique leucistic Adélie penguin, Pygoscelis adeliae,
photographed by the Mawson Hut Foundation team in Antarctica.
Image: Brett Jarrett (Mawsons Hut Foundation) [larger]
An individual Adélie penguin, Pygoscelis adeliae, that lacks most of its normal pigment was recently photographed by Australian biologists near Granholm Hut in Antarctica. Penguins and other birds that lack pigmentation are referred to as "leucistic" by ornithologists. According to the Australian biologists, these abnormal white birds…
grrlscientist | January 8, 2008tags: Linnaeus's Legacy, blog carnivals
The 3rd edition of the new blog carnival, Linnaeus's Legacy is now available for you to read and enjoy. Even though I never sent in a submission, they included something I wrote anyway -- hopefully, something you will enjoy.
grrlscientist | January 8, 2008tags: academe, professor on food stamps, academic poverty, streaming video
I thought my employment situation was solely due to some mysterious and horrible flaw that is obvious to everyone except me, but here is a man who has the same complaints and problems, almost word-for-word as I have, except he actually managed to get tenure -- after ten years of living in poverty in the academic system. However, I doubt I will be so lucky as to get a tenure-track position (provided that I manage to survive that long)! [5:17]
Like this guy, I was also told not to take money from the public coffers (in…
grrlscientist | January 7, 2008tags: books, writing, writers from across the blogosphere, blog carnivals
The most recent edition of Writers from Across the Blogosphere Carnival is now available for you to read and enjoy.