grrlscientist | July 9, 2007tags: pygmy hippo, hippopotamus, Choeropsis liberiensis, endangered species
A rare pygmy hippopotamus,Choeropsis liberiensis, was born in a zoo near Paris on 5 June 2007. Named Aldo, this pygmy hippo is approximately the size of a human baby. He is one of only a few dozen born in Europe, bred by a special program to increase the numbers of the rare species. [larger].
A rare pygmy hippopotamus,Choeropsis liberiensis, was born in a Paris zoo on 5 June 2007 after a 199-day gestation period. Named Aldo, this pygmy hippo is approximately the size of a human baby at 53 centimeters (21 inches)…
grrlscientist | July 9, 2007tags: snow leopard, kitten, Image of the Day
Askai, a 10-week-old snow leopard kitten, Panthera uncia, hisses at photographers during his first public appearance at Berlin Zoo, Germany.
Image: BBC News.
grrlscientist | July 9, 2007tags: books, blog carnival
The Books Blog Carnival is now available for your reading pleasure. If you love books, and I know that most of you do, then this is the blog carnival for you!
grrlscientist | July 9, 2007tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
A forest that is home to nearly one-third of Uganda's bird life, including the great blue turaco, is under threat, says the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. There are plans to change laws protecting the Mabira Forest Reserve to allow huge sugar cane plantations to be grown inside its boundaries.
Image: Nature Uganda.
Birds in Science
New research has found that birds aren't sentimental when it comes to music. Songs from just 30 years ago are received with equanimity, while newer tunes make the males…
grrlscientist | July 9, 2007tags: cat, humor, streaming video
This hilarious video looks like it will become a YouTube classic. I hope you enjoy it [5:44]
grrlscientist | July 8, 2007tags: DNA, genetics, blog carnivals
The 16th edition of Mendel's Garden was published today for you to read and enjoy.
grrlscientist | July 8, 2007tags: recurve-billed bushbird, Clytoctantes alixii, ornithology, birds, avian, endangered species
This male Recurve-billed Bushbird, Clytoctantes alixii, was recently photographed by ProAves staff, Adriana Tovar and Luis Eduardo Uruena. This is the first time this globally endangered species has been captured on film. [larger].
[listen to this species' song]
For the first time ever, an elusive recurve-billed bushbird, Clytoctantes alixii, has been photographed in the wild. The bird, recently rediscovered by scientists in Colombia a Colombian ornithologist named Oscar Laverde after a 40-…
grrlscientist | July 8, 2007
No doubt thinking I'd enjoy it, a reader sent this image to me. [larger]
Worth1000.
grrlscientist | July 6, 2007tags: Keith Olbermann, politics, political opinion, streaming video
By pardoning commuting Lewis "Scooter" Libby's sentence, Bush ignored the rule of law so he could do what is best for his cronies, NOT what is best for this nation. Expressed verbally, the real message Bush was sending to the people of the United States could have been sent with just two words (the first word starts with the letter "F" and the second is "you"); expressed physically, Bush's underlying message could have been conveyed with just one finger -- guess which one? In pardoning commuting Libby's punishment, Bush made…
grrlscientist | July 6, 2007tags: iPhone, humor, streaming video
This hilarious video shows what can happen when you count your chickens before they've hatched, so to say. It also has a nice soundtrack. [3:41]
grrlscientist | July 6, 2007This is for my Australian readers out there, especially those of you who are seeking to improve your resume .. the Australian division of Durex condom makers is seeking 200 men and women to test their condoms and to provide honest feedback regarding the performance of the condoms. To select their researchers, Durex is having a little writing contest; potential research applicants are asked write a short letter as to why they are best suited to the role. Winners will receive free packs of condoms and will be entered into a drawing for A$1,000 ($854; £425).
"With this job on your CV, it…
grrlscientist | July 6, 2007tags: skeptic, online quiz
You Are Very Skeptical
Your personal motto is: "Prove it."
While some ideas, like life after death, may seem nice...
You aren't going to believe them simply because it feels good.
You let science and facts be your guide... Even if it means you don't share the beliefs of those around you.
How Skeptical Are You?
grrlscientist | July 5, 2007tags: chatterbox, talkative, behavior, gender studies
Contrary to the commonly accepted urban myth that claims that women talk more than men, a recently published study has instead found that men talk as much as women do, and both sexes speak about 16,000 words per day.
Originally, the researchers read in "The Female Brain," by Louann Brizendine, that women speak approximately 20,000 words each day, while men speak a mere 7,000. So James Pennebaker, a psychologist at the University of Texas at Austin, who was the senior author of the study, and his colleagues decided to learn the truth.
"This…
grrlscientist | July 5, 2007tags: zorse, zebroid, zebra-horse hybrid, Eclyse
This equid with distinctive markings is a zorse -- the hybrid offspring of a female zebra and a male horse.
Eclyse (Ek LEE za) is the latest addition to the German safari park, Schloss Holte Stukenbrock. Eclyse is also special as zorses, or zebroids as they are also known, are typically the product of a horse mare that has bred with a zebra stallion. Her mother, on the other hand, was a zebra.
Image: Reuters [larger]
The creature pictured above is a one-year-old zorse -- a hybrid between a female Chapmann's zebra and a male horse, and what…
grrlscientist | July 4, 2007
This image was sent to me by an overseas reader.
Image: FreakingNews.com [screensaver size]
Okay, since Gordon Brown has chosen today to announce that he wants to draw up a Bill of Rights for Great Britain (why announce it today?), this has made me wonder about our own Bill of Rights and Constitution. What do you think is the most important feature of the American Bill of Rights? You don't have to be American to answer this question, since we all are people, afterall (and it is likely that you are more aware of what the American Bill of Rights says if you aren't American).
Oh, and one…
grrlscientist | July 3, 2007tags: Dodo, Raphus cucullatus, birds, ornithology, Mauritius
Dodo reconstruction reflecting new research at Oxford University Museum of Natural History.
Image: Ballista. [larger]
The most complete skeleton of an extinct Dodo, Raphus cucullatus, ever found was discovered recently in the highlands of Mauritius, an island located in the Indian Ocean. Because this skeleton was preserved intact and isolated in a cave, it appears that it might provide an excellent DNA source for numerous scientific studies, according to the scientist who recovered it. Dodo remains are rare and precious finds:…
grrlscientist | July 3, 2007tags: writing, monomyth
As you know, I have been doing a tremendous amount of reading these past six months, which is one reason I have not published as many book reviews as usual on my blog. But throughout this intensive crash course in reading, I have noticed that there is truly nothing new under the sun in the world of writing. What I mean is this; in all of your own literary journies, have you ever noticed how all writing, whether it is non-fiction, fiction, poetry, articles and essays, or even blog writing, basically tells the same story, although usually from a different angle?
Okay, I…
grrlscientist | July 3, 2007Wow, the entire library system in Manhattan (where I hang out) was blown off the air for two long, agonizing hours. Our internet service was just restored moments ago, thank goodness, because I was ready to have a nervous breakdown.
Okay, just kidding about that. Sorta.
Anyway, I just had to gloat for a minute, especially since things seem to be looking up for me (well, things were improving yesterday, when I received not one, not two, but three positive emails about my writing, of which this was one -- but who knows what today will bring!).
I guess you're the "girlscientist." If not, pass…
grrlscientist | July 3, 2007tags: blog carnival, health
The 13th edition of the Healthy and Fit Family blog carnival is now available for you to enjoy. Be sure to go there to give them some support!
grrlscientist | July 2, 2007tags: science, religion
You all know that scientists are less religious than the general population, but contrary to most people's assumptions, the reason for this has little to do with either the study of science or with peer pressures to conform.
"Our study data do not strongly support the idea that scientists simply drop their religious identities upon professional training, due to an inherent conflict between science and faith, or to institutional pressure to conform," said Elaine Howard Ecklund, a sociologist at the University at Buffalo and co-author of the study.
Basically, the…