grrlscientist | December 17, 2007tags: researchblogging.org, blue tits, Cyanistes caeruleus, Parus caeruleus, sexual selection, mate choice, ornithology, female coloration, reproduction, maternal quality, evolution, birds, ornithology
In many bird species, the females are brightly colored, just as the males are, but the evolutionary reasons for brightly colored females is unclear. According to one hypothesis, because males and females share the same genome, their traits are similar. However, according to another hypothesis, there may also be selective pressures on females, just as there are on males, to develop brightly…
grrlscientist | December 17, 2007tags: Caracara creightoni, fossils, birds, ornithology, Image of the Day
The fossil skull of an extinct bird of prey, Caracara creightoni, preserved in an ancient sink-hole in the Bahamas. Several thousand years old, the fossils owe their exquisite preservation to immersion in peat. The bird is a relative of the crested caracara of Central and North America.
Image: PNAS [larger view]
grrlscientist | December 17, 2007Since we all had so much fun explaining the video to each other, I thought that all of you might be interested to read physicist Chad Orzel's explanation, along with cool pictures, of the physics underlying the 'two-fork toothpick trick' video.
grrlscientist | December 17, 2007tags: science, public policy, politics, federal funding, research, reality-based government, 2008 American presidential elections, ScienceDebate2008
I was disappointed, but not really surprised, when three Republican presidential candidates -- Mike Huckabee, Tom Tancredo and Sam Brownback (who has since dropped out) -- declared that they do not "believe in" the theory of evolution (in my opinion, the correct phrasing should have been "do you accept the theory of evolution?" rather than using the misleading and incorrect phrase believe in, which implies blind faith rather than scientifically…
grrlscientist | December 17, 2007tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
Male Broad-billed Hummingbird, Cynanthus latirostris.
Image: Greg Scott [MUCH larger view].
Birds in Science
A new study by the University of Exeter, UK has revealed that stressed out birds are more likely to take risks than their relaxed counterparts. The research team selectively bred zebra finches to create "laid-back", "normal", and "stressed" groups of birds. These groups differ by their levels of stress hormone, which in birds is corticosterone. The research team observed the behavioral strategies of birds to…
grrlscientist | December 17, 2007
Image: Philadelphia City Paper
You only have one week left before Christmas eve arrives, so I assume that you might be getting ready to panic and spend your hard-earned money on just anything, so you can say you gave your loved ones gifts. So I thought I'd help you spend your money wisely by compiling a list of holiday gift ideas based on clever and much-appreciated gifts that my readers have given me throughout the year as well as some gift ideas that I've used in the past.
DVDs;
The Life of Birds: A must-have for kids and adults who are interested in birds. I also recommend this series…
grrlscientist | December 17, 2007tags: Susan Powter, humor, poodle exercise video, satire, streaming video
Really weird poodle exercise video for humans. This is a mesmerizing and frightening video that's a word-for-word parody of Susan Powter's first workout video, featuring poodles and a crazy poodle-woman. Absolutely surreal. It was made by Nagi Noda for Panasonic. It was part of 10 films made for the 2004 Athens Olympics. [3:29]
grrlscientist | December 16, 2007tags: christmas tree, online quiz
This is a cute quiz and you have to let me know what your results were!
You Are a Tinsel Tree
For you, Christmas is no different than the rest of the year.
And this means you do things your own way - and continue to surprise people.
What Christmas Tree Are You?
grrlscientist | December 15, 2007tags: movies, online quiz
I think this is a low point in my online quiz taking because I disagree with this prognosis. How about you -- do you agree or disagree with your own results?
Your Christmas is Most Like: How the Grinch Stole Christmas
You can't really get into the Christmas spirit...
But it usually gets to you by the end of the holiday.
What Movie Is Your Christmas Most Like?
grrlscientist | December 14, 2007tags: brain blogging, blog carnivals
The 23rd edition of the Brain Blogging carnival is now available for you to enjoy. And hey, they included one of my pieces!
grrlscientist | December 14, 2007tags: Friday Ark, blog carnivals
The 169th edition of the Friday Ark is now available for you to enjoy. This blog carnival focuses on sharing animal photography, and they included several contributions from me!
grrlscientist | December 14, 2007Everyone is talking about The Golden Compass -- a movie that I had no idea was being made or released or even premiered this past weekend -- a movie that is based on a series of books that I've never read and have only vaguely heard about. But my readers have fixed that literary oversight for me because you have sent the entire "His Dark Materials" trilogy to me, and I plan to start reading it as soon as I get a couple book reviews finished in the next few days. (Oh, I also plan to see the movie as soon as I've finished reading the first book). But a quick look around the internet has yielded…
grrlscientist | December 14, 2007tags: Northern cardinal, Aix sponsa, birds, NYC, Central Park, Image of the Day
Male wood duck, Aix sponsa, in Central Park, NYC.
Image: Bob Levy, author of Club George. [wallpaper size].
The photographer writes: I was so lucky to get this shot that I had to create an entirely new file for it. After sunset, I started on my way home down the path along the Riviera (i.e. a section of the northern shore of Central Park Lake). I noticed a group of Mallards coming out of the water. They began to forage along the shoreline where they were joined by a male Wood Duck. Only a few Wood Ducks -- if…
grrlscientist | December 14, 2007tags: Harry Potter, Tales of Beedle the Bard, books, JK Rowling, auction, Sotheby's, Amazon.com
[larger view]
A Mystery Buyer purchased the only publically-available copy of JK Rowling's latest Harry Potter book, Tales of Beedle the Bard for £1,950,000 (US$3.98 million)! This is far more than the £50,000 ( $100,000) sale price that had been estimated by Sotheby's. The leather-bound and hand-written book was bought by a representative from London fine art dealers, Hazlitt Gooden & Fox. The proceeds generated by the sale of this book will benefit Rowling's new charity, The Children's…
grrlscientist | December 14, 2007tags: Meyer's parrot, Poicephalus meyeri, hatching, streaming video
This isn't the best video, but it's really interesting because it shows a Meyer's parrot, Poicephalus meyeri, chick in the process of hatching [3:20]
grrlscientist | December 13, 2007tags: Huffington Post, OffTheBus project, presidential campaign 2008
I have been working on another story for the Huffington Post as part of their OffTheBus project. This story is about the upcoming presidential elections (Alas, I am simply a volunteer reporter, no money is entering my pockets). Tomorrow's job? I am calling several Iowa state representatives and interviewing them about the Republican presidential hopefuls, because we're interested in learning more about how the Republicans are organizing throughout Iowa and we want to learn more about their position on the candidates. The…
grrlscientist | December 13, 2007tags: I and the Bird, blog carnivals
The 64th edition of I and the Bird blog carnival is now available for you to enjoy. This is the Iowa caucuses edition because the host lives in Iowa and because Iowa is the first state to host a caucus for the presidential candidates. Fortunately, they included a piece that I wrote, so I am happy about that.
grrlscientist | December 13, 2007tags: blood droplet moth, Zygaena carniolica, Lepidoptera, Image of the Day
This red dotted animal was elected Insect of the Year 2007 by scientists at the Federal Biological Research Center for Agriculture and Forestry, Germany. Due to its markings, the moth is commonly known as "blood droplet", although its species name is Zygaena carniolica.
Image: BBC News [larger view].
grrlscientist | December 13, 2007tags: two-fork toothpick trick, physics, streaming video
This streaming video is a variation on a theme that I've posted about before: smoking is BAD BAD BAD for you! In this video, tar is extracted from 400 cigarettes -- in the kitchen, so you too, can do this experiment [4:09]
Still Smoking? Watch This !! - video powered by Metacafe
grrlscientist | December 12, 2007tags: science, public policy, politics, federal funding, research, reality-based government, 2008 American presidential elections, ScienceDebate2008
I have spoken with quite a few people from CraigsList and other places regarding the logistics and goals for ScienceDebate2008, and have found that there are plenty of misperceptions as to what scientists wish to accomplish. In short; ScienceDebate2008 is not a "science pop-quiz" that demands that the presidential candidates regurgitate a bunch of scientific theories and formulae on television.
Instead, ScienceDebate2008 is focused on…