grrlscientist | June 7, 2007tags: researchblogging.org, archaeopteryx, dinosaurs, mammals, fossils
Archaeopteryx fossil showing the distinctive head-back death pose of many articulated fossilized birds, dinosaurs and early mammals. Archaeopteryx is an ancient feathered dinosaur. This specimen is at the Humboldt Museum, Berlin. The skull is approximately two inches long.
If you've looked at the articulated 150-million-year-old Archaeopteryx fossils, you probably have noticed that they all have a weirdly similar pose; their heads are thrown over their backs, mouths open and tail curved upwards. Scientists have been…
grrlscientist | June 7, 2007tags: king penguin, Image of the Day
Hundreds of thousands of penguins, including one of the world's most northerly colonies of King Penguins, Aptenodytes patagonicus, live on the Falkand Islands archipelago.
Image: BBC News [larger]
grrlscientist | June 7, 2007tags: wii, wiiitis, repetive-motion injuries, medicine
I spend between one and two afternoons at my local watering hole each week (when the library is closed), using their free wifi connection to post entries onto my blog. This watering hole is somewhat ahead of the curve as far as modern entertainment goes, since in addition to wifi, it also has wii (pronounced "wee").
What is wii, you ask? Wii is a new video game where people can use a small hand-held "wand" that allows them to simulate real body movements by hitting tennis balls or tossing bowling balls while playing competitively against…
grrlscientist | June 7, 2007tags: health, blog carnival
The second issue of the new Health Blog Carnival was just published today for you to enjoy and, yes, they included a submission from me, too. Be sure to drop in and give them support!
grrlscientist | June 7, 2007tags: global warming, LabLit, science fiction, book review
A friend of mine who is an editor at Random House Publishers sent me a fascinating book about global warming that I think qualifies as "LabLit." LabLit is short for "Laboratory Literature"; a new genre of fictional science literature that realistically portrays scientists working and living during contemporary times.
This book, Forty Signs of Rain by Kim Stanley Robinson (NYC, Bantam Books: 2004), is a peek into the lives of scientist, Anna Quibler, who works for the National Science Foundation (NSF), and her stay-at-home husband,…
grrlscientist | June 7, 2007tags: Big Talk, humor, streaming video
This streaming video is actually a fake ad, showing a humorous situation where a father goes to his son for advice .. because the father is used to "doing things the old fashioned way" [1:10].
grrlscientist | June 6, 2007tags: satire, humor, politics, streaming video
This humorous streaming video written and directed by Andy Cobb examines the value of subpoenas, immunity, and aggressive congressional police work. [1:37]
grrlscientist | June 6, 2007tags: ancient mushroom, amber, parasites, fossils
A 100-million-year-old piece of amber was recently found with an ancient mushroom embedded inside. The amber specimen was collected approximately one year ago in Burma by Ron Buckley, a registered nurse, photographer and collector of amber fossils who lives in Florence, Kentucky.
"I knew right away what it was when I looked at it under the microscope," said Buckley, who has been collecting amber fossils for the past eight years.
Amber is fossilized tree resin, a sticky substance that seeps from certain pine and legume trees. Because of its…
grrlscientist | June 6, 2007tags: blue butterfly, Image of the Day
The large blue butterfly, Maculinea arion, made its earliest recorded appearance at Collard Hill, Somerset, UK, on 2 June. The National Trust-owned site is the only place in the UK where the public have access to see the nation's rarest butterfly.
Image: Butterfly Conservation [larger]
grrlscientist | June 6, 2007tags: purple frog, Suriname, amphibians, Atelopus
A purple fluorescent frog of the genus Atelopus was discovered during a follow-up survey of the Nassau plateau in mid 2006 by Surinamese scientists Paul Ouboter and Jan Mol. The frog is one of 24 new species found in the South American highlands of Suriname, conservationists reported on June 4, 2007, warning that these creatures are threatened by illegal gold mining.
Image: Paul Ouboter
When scientists investigate new areas of the wilderness, they often discover insect species that are new to science, but last year, a group of researchers…
grrlscientist | June 6, 2007tags: health, fitness, blog carnival
The 12th issue of the Healthy and Fit Family blog carnival was published yesterday for you to enjoy, and they included one of my submissions in their list.
grrlscientist | June 6, 2007tags: Komodo Dragons, Indonesia, streaming video
This streaming video shows the "small miracles" that are hatching out at the Denver Zoo: the rare and difficult-to-breed Komodo Dragons. Komodo dragons are large lizards native to several small islands in Indonesia [2:25].
grrlscientist | June 5, 2007tags: south Pacific Islands, Polynesians, South American indians
When I was a kid, I was intrigued by Thor Heyerdahl's fascinating book, Kon-Tiki. This book details Heyerdahl's voyage from Peru across the Pacific Ocean to the Tuamoto Islands where his crude raft eventually beached. By carrying out this voyage, he was trying to show that his hypothesis was possible, that South American Indians could have rafted across the ocean, settling islands along the way.
"Scientists have not been willing to fully accept the idea" of prehistoric contact between Polynesia and South America, said said…
grrlscientist | June 5, 2007tags: leopards, cell phones, ringtones, India
A leopard plays with a rubber tire inside its cage at a leopard rescue center in Madharihut, India, May 3, 2007. Forest guards in western India are using cell phones with ringtones of cows mooing, goats bleating and roosters crowing to capture leopards that have wandered into human settlements, officials said.
Image: Rupak De Chowdhuri.
Just image this: you live in a remote village in India and late one night, you awaken to find that a hungry leopard has wandered into town, and could attack people. What do you do? If you are one of the forest…
grrlscientist | June 5, 2007tags: Dick Cheney, Roy Zimmerman, politics, streaming video
This streaming video is a song by Roy Zimmerman, who is a musician and political humorist. In this video, he chose to sing about Dick Cheney, who is supposedly the sexiest man alive [3:00].
grrlscientist | June 4, 2007tags: lobster, two-toned lobster
Two-toned lobster.
Image: National Geographic.
Last week, an unusual two-toned lobster was captured off Newport, RI. This lobster is so rare that a person only has between a 1 in 50 million to 100 million chance of capturing one. By comparison, the odds of finding a blue lobster are about 1 in four million. However, despite these incredibly long odds, one just like it was captured in Maine in 2006 -- an indication of the number of lobsters that are taken every year?
Basically, the color of a lobster's shell is a mix of yellow, red, and blue, a combination…
grrlscientist | June 4, 2007tags: northern spotted owl, barred owl, old growth forests, logging
Nothern Spotted Owl, Strix occidentalis caurina.
Image: HRF [larger]
Despite the fact that President Clinton set aside 7 million acres of forest for owl habitat, the northern spotted owl population is still peril. So the government is using another, very controversial, approach to save this icon of the Pacific Northwest: shooting its cousins, the larger and more aggressive barred owls.
Basically, barred owls push the mild-mannered spotted owls from their habitat and they also eat them -- or, very rarely, according to…
grrlscientist | June 4, 2007tags: No One Dies Alone, death, hospice care, medicine
One of the jobs I held as I worked my way through school was a nurse's aide in nursing homes and convalescent centers. Even though it was never explicitly part of my job, I sat with people who were dying because I just couldn't bear to know that someone was dying in their room, alone, while the aides were chatting merrily in the breakroom.
But in fact, there are many people who are dying in hospitals, nursing homes and convelescent centers have neither family or friends who are available to sit with them at this crucial time. Some are…
grrlscientist | June 4, 2007tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
Yellow-eyed Junco, Junco phaeonotus: Resident in the mountains of southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico. Preferred habitats include coniferous forests and pine-oak woods.
Image: Dave Rintoul, KSU [larger]
Birds in Science
Wild ducks have been fitted with global positioning system (GPS) devices in an effort to track migratory patterns in China. The Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine (BAPHIQ) under the Council of Agriculture (COA), in collaboration with the wild bird societies of…
grrlscientist | June 4, 2007tags: shrimp, pistol shrimp, ocean, streaming video
This streaming video shows how a pistol shrimp hunts; by laying in wait for its prey to wander nearby, then using its claw to blow a stunning blast of water at a speed of 100km/h with temperature 5000C [1:33].