grrlscientist | August 5, 2007tags: birds, ornithology, swallows
A proud swallow parent and her nestlings.
Image: Barry Gomer.
Every spring, a group of swallows complete a 6,000-mile migratory journey from South Africa, where they spend the winter, so they can nest in Vivien Reynolds' barn, located in South Hams, Devon, UK. Shortly after arriving each April, the birds build their nests from mud and twigs, just as you see above. However, what makes the above nest remarkable is where the swallows chose to build it.
It turns out that this determined pair of swallows actually built their nest on top of a plastic eagle owl…
grrlscientist | August 5, 2007tags: cats, carnival of the cats, blog carnivals
The 176th edition of the Carnival of the Cats is now available for your reading pleasure. They included a couple stories from me, too. Meow, meow!
grrlscientist | August 5, 2007tags: dinosaurs, fossils,The Boneyard,blog carnivals
The second edition of The Boneyard is now available for all you fossil hunters and dinosaurophiles out there. Be sure to pop in and give them some support!
grrlscientist | August 4, 2007tags: house cat, black bear, cat chases bear up a tree
Jack, el gato con corazón de león
Notice the tiny orange dot at the base of the tree. That's Jack, the house cat. Now, notice the large black bear at the top of the tree, peering down fearfully at the tiny orange dot.
On June 4, a black bear wandered into a West Milford, New Jersey, back yard, was confronted by a 15 pound (7 kilogram) declawed house cat ... and the bear promptly fled up a neighbor's tree.
Image: Suzanne Giovanetti (AP Photo).
I have been chuckling over this story for more than a month now because it proves that…
grrlscientist | August 4, 2007tags: Northern cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis, birds, Image of the Day
Male Northern cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis, feeds his chick in Central Park, NYC. [song link]
I found this pair about twenty feet away from the nest site. I have been observing the progress of the nest and was delighted to find at least two of the three nestlings had fledged successfully. Should you find this inspirational I would hope you will demonstrate some restraint and not try it yourself at home with a significant other. I would strongly recommend you leave it to the professionals.
Image: Bob Levy [much larger…
grrlscientist | August 3, 2007tags: Widow Skimmer, Libella luctuosa, dragonfly, Image of the Day
A male Widow Skimmer, Libella luctuosa, photographed in July on Konza Prairie.
This is one of the "King Skimmers", and is found across much of the USA except for Florida, the Rockies, and the intermountain West. Dragonflies are territorial and return to the same perch quite often, which made photographing this one relatively easy. I have a friend, Mark Chappell, who is up to the challenge of photographing dragonflies in flight.
Image: Dave Rintoul, KSU [larger]
grrlscientist | August 3, 2007Finally, a study will be published that documents what we all have known ever since women entered the workforce: men are admired and are financially rewarded for getting angry at work, whereas women who get angry at work are financially penalized and generally viewed as incompetent.
This research, conducted by Victoria Brescoll, who is a post-doctoral scholar at Yale University, will be presented at this weekend's annual meeting of the research and teaching organization, Academy of Management.
To do this research, Brescoll had her study participants watch videos of men and women job…
grrlscientist | August 3, 2007tags: animals, friday ark,blog carnivals
Those of you who enjoy looking at animal pictures will enjoy the 150th edition of the Friday Ark. This blog carnival is a collection of animal pictures of all sorts, some of which are accompanied by information as well! Go there and enjoy while you sip your coffee today.
grrlscientist | August 3, 2007
Your Power Bird is an Owl
You are beyond wise. You are so smart, you're almost prophetic.
Your inner voice always speaks the truth, and you take the time to listen to it.
You are good at seeing who people are... including the darkness of others.
As a result, you tend to have a rather dark - yet realistic - outlook on life.
What's Your Power Bird?
When I change one answer, I end up with the Northern cardinal as my power bird, or, if I change a different answer, my power bird is the vulture, but when I change yet one other answer, my power bird becomes the dove. How about you?
grrlscientist | August 3, 2007tags: lemon battery, streaming video
Creating a battery from a lemon is a common project in many science text books. Successfully creating one of these devices is not easy. This video demonstrates how to construct and use a lemon battery to light an LED and operate a calculator. Of course, I just want to know if I can use this battery to power my cell phone. [6:47]
grrlscientist | August 2, 2007Career. Family. Relationship.
Are you pretty much where you thought you'd be five years ago? Ten years ago? Would the person you were ten years ago recognize the person you are now?
As for myself, I can say without reservation that I am nowhere close to where I thought I'd be five years ago. Ditto for ten years ago.
Basically, I thought I'd be a respected professional scientist who was pursuing tenure right now, doing research on the evolution and phylogeny of parrots in the South Pacific, and teaching at a respectable university. I thought I'd be a contributing member of my community, as I…
grrlscientist | August 2, 2007tags: leafcutter bee, Megachile wheeleri, Gaillardia pulchra, Image of the Day
Leafcutter Bee, Megachile wheeleri, pollinating Gaillardia pulchra, White Oak Bayou along E. T.C. Jester Blvd.
Contrast the leafcutter bee that visits the wild sunflowers. Native bees are specialists, while European honeybees will whore for any flower that offers a reward.
Image: Biosparite [larger]
grrlscientist | August 2, 2007tags: singing Tesla coil, streaming video
This video shows a solid-state Tesla coil that is "singing". The high voltage sparks are making the noises. Every cycle of the music is a burst of sparks at 41 KHz, triggered by digital circuitry at the end of a "long" piece of fiber optics. The primary run that you see in the video are at its resonant frequency in the 41 KHz range, and is modulated by a control unit in order to generate the tones you hear.
What's not immediately obvious in this video is how loud this is. Many people were covering their ears and dogs were barking. In the sections of…
grrlscientist | August 1, 2007Thanks to a SciBling, I took this quiz and found out that I do not have Asperger's Syndrome (even though I've had my suspicions), so I guess that's one good thing to know. Whew, what a relief! I was so worried!
If you are interested, my score was 29, whereas scores over 32 are indicative of Asperger's Syndrome. The average woman, and average male or female biologist had scores of 15. So I guess I am er, normal, sorta, although we all know that I am not normal at all!
How did you score? What did you think of the questions they asked?
grrlscientist | August 1, 2007tags: cats, blog carnivals
The new Cat Blogging Carnival, 1001 Cats, which is entitled Friday's Deepest Secret And Other Kitty Stories, is now available for your reading enjoyment. Be sure to go there and give them some support!
grrlscientist | August 1, 2007The results of last week's reader poll, along with a few thoughts from me, are available below the fold. Thanks for participating! I will say that I was somewhat surprised by the results, so maybe you can contribute your own thoughts to these poll results.
I have a new poll for you to answer this week on the left sideboard, so be sure to add your data point to the collection.
I am somewhat surprised by this poll, so I am curious to know what your reactions are.
Even though most of my readers enjoy reading science nonfiction (not surprising, since that's mostly why you are here), I was…
grrlscientist | August 1, 2007tags: researchblogging.org, white-crowned sparrow, Zonotrichia leucophrys, steroids, brain growth
White-crowned sparrow, Zonotrichia leucophrys [song and other information].
Image: Birds of Oklahoma.
The first thing that most people think of when they hear the word "steroids" is baseball players who rely on these chemicals to increase their muscle mass and thereby improve their athletic performance. But recently, a small songbird that I studied for my dissertation work, Gambel's white-crowned sparrow, Zonotrichia leucophrys gambelii, has shown scientists that steroids trigger the growth…
grrlscientist | August 1, 2007tags: Gray Tree Frog, Hyla versicolor, Hyla chrysocelis, Image of the Day
Here is today's pic, a Gray Tree Frog, from Konza Prairie in eastern Kansas. There are two species of Gray Tree Frog, Hyla versicolor and Hyla chrysocelis, which look identical and can only be distinguished by their call. This one wasn't calling... It is also not grey; these frogs have the ability to change color, from gray to brown to green, depending on their surroundings and ambient temperature, humidity, etc.
This one was sitting quietly on a milkweed leaf, trying to look as green as possible.
Image: David A.…
grrlscientist | July 31, 2007Now, now, now, say you, why would I go off on Google in such an unseemly manner? Well, it's really very simple. Google no longer lists any scienceblog sites in their news feed, but they still list other blogs written by liars such as Stop the ACLU, WorldNet Daily and the Discovery Institute. WTF?? I find this to be incredibly irresponsible and disingenuous for internet users everywhere. On one hand, if Google doesn't want to index ANY blogs, that's their business, but to selectively list LIAR BLOGS that peddle fact-free shit while delisting scienceblogs, which rely on news sources and…
grrlscientist | July 31, 2007tags: marijuana, pot, cannabis, medicine, health problems
According to a group of experts from the Medical Research Institute of New Zealand (who did not receive any funding from the NIH or any other American Health agencies), smoking one cannabis (marijuana) cigarette ("joint") is as harmful to a person's lungs as smoking up to five cigarettes.
Up to.
To do this study, the researchers tested 339 people, which they divided into four groups; those who smoked only cannabis, those who smoked only tobacco, those who smoked both, and non-smokers. Cannabis ("pot") smokers were included if they…