grrlscientist | March 28, 2007According to the creationists, the mighty and fearsome T. rex started out as a coconut eater until humans ruined it all -- after the fall, innocent T. rex suddenly found it had to make a living by eating meat instead of coconuts.
In the middle of the lobby of the 50,000-square-foot Creation Museum in Petersburg, Ky., a 20-foot waterfall tumbles. Two life-size figures of children with long black hair and in buckskin clothes play in the stream a few feet from two towering Tyrannosaurus Rex models that can move and roar. The museum, which cost $25 million to build and has a sea of black asphalt…
grrlscientist | March 28, 2007Kyle Sampson, Alberto Gonzales' chief of staff, says in remarks prepared for delivery to Congress tomorrow that eight federal prosecutors were fired last year because they did not sufficiently support President Bush's priorities.
"The distinction between 'political' and 'performance-related' reasons for removing a United States attorney is, in my view, largely artificial," Sampson said. "A U.S. attorney who is unsuccessful from a political perspective ... is unsuccessful."
Separately, the Justice Department admitted Wednesday it gave senators inaccurate information about the firings and…
grrlscientist | March 28, 2007
I just took this in my garden when the first ducklings I have seen this year arrived to take a bath in the bird bath!
Photographer: Diana Barker, UK.
As long as you send images to me (and I hope it will be for forever), I shall continue to share them with my readership. My purpose for posting these images is to remind all of us of the grandeur of the natural world and that there is a world out there that is populated by millions of unique species. We are a part of this world whether we like it or not: we have a choice to either preserve these species or to destroy them in search of short-…
grrlscientist | March 27, 2007The governing board of the Smithsonian Institution announced that it accepted the resignation of its top official, Lawrence M. Small, after an internal audit showed that the museum had paid for his routine use of lavish perks like chauffeured cars, private jets, top-rated hotels and catered meals.
The appropriately named Mr. Small, 66, is a former executive at Citibank and the mortgage financier Fannie Mae. He had headed the 161-year-old Smithsonian since January 2000. He submitted his resignation as secretary over the weekend, and the governing board unanimously accepted it, effective…
grrlscientist | March 27, 2007
Scientists have uncovered a fossil lizard in the Liaoning Province of north-eastern China, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reports. Its most striking feature is a wing-like membrane, supported by the animal's elongated ribs, that the lizard would have used for gliding.
Photographer: Z Chuang/X. Lida.
As long as you send images to me (and I hope it will be for forever), I shall continue to share them with my readership. My purpose for posting these images is to remind all of us of the grandeur of the natural world and that there is a world out there that is populated by…
grrlscientist | March 27, 2007When twins are born, they are either the product of separate eggs that are fertilized by separate sperm (fraternal twins) or they are the result of one egg plus one sperm that divided to produce two babies (identical twins). However, a set of twins has been discovered that is very likely unique: they are the result of one egg and two sperm that gave rise to two babies.
In short; these twins have identical maternal genes and different fraternal genes.
Already toddlers, the twins were discovered because one of the twins was discovered to have sexually ambiguous genitalia, with both ovarian and…
grrlscientist | March 26, 2007
Some mites are known to live exclusively in moist grasslands and pastures, where they break down vegetable matter (including livestock excrement) to provide a rich food source.
Studying ancient civilizations can be difficult when they have left no detailed written records behind. But researchers say they now have a new tool for examining the fortunes of animal-based populations.
Scientists are now able to follow the progress of ancient civilizations by studying fossil mites that were found in the dung of their livestock. A group of scientists from America, France and Britain have been…
grrlscientist | March 26, 2007It's not viagra, which doesn't work for females, but like viagra for men, it promises to increase a woman's low sex drive nonetheless. Intrinsa is a clear patch that delivers a low dose of testosterone and is worn on the woman's abdomen. Intrinsa, manufactured by Procter and Gamble, will only be available to women who have had their ovaries removed as part of a hysterectomy due to conditions such as heavy bleeding or pelvic pain.
Trials involving more than 500 women who had had hysterectomies found the patch led to a 74% increase in satisfying sex.
"There are a variety reasons for low sex…
grrlscientist | March 26, 2007Monica Goodling worked for the Justice Department and is rumored to be invoking the fifth amendment rather than testify in front of congress regarding Alberto Gonzales's misbehavior. In my opinion, it should be inexcusable for people in the Justice Department to invoke the fifth amendment to avoid testifying to Congress. People there must testify. But astonishingly, they are beginning to "plead the fifth", rather than tell the American people that Bush's appointees are really a bunch of lying fraudulent hucksters.
Monica Goodling, a senior Justice Department official involved in the firings…
grrlscientist | March 26, 2007Amazing! They finally noticed that Bush is an arrogant bully!
In the April edition of Esquire magazine, GOP Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska described Bush as someone who doesn't believe he's accountable to anyone. "He's not accountable anymore, which isn't totally true. You can impeach him, and before this is over, you might see calls for his impeachment. I don't know. It depends on how this goes," said Hagel [story]
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tags: Bush, impeachment
grrlscientist | March 26, 2007
Female Eris militaris.
Image: Bev Wigney.
As long as you send images to me (and I hope it will be for forever), I shall continue to share them with my readership. My purpose for posting these images is to remind all of us of the grandeur of the natural world and that there is a world out there that is populated by millions of unique species. We are a part of this world whether we like it or not: we have a choice to either preserve these species or to destroy them in search of short-term monetary gains. But if we decide to destroy these other life forms, the least we can do is to know what…
grrlscientist | March 26, 2007
A male Superb Bird of Paradise, Lophorina superba (seen from front)
performing a courtship display for a female (brown) in Papua New Guinea,
from "Jungles," in the "Planet Earth" series.
Image: Fred Olivier/Discovery Channel and BBC.
Birds in Science
Red-breasted nuthatches, Sitta canadensis, appear to have learned the language of black-capped chickadees, Poecile atricapillus. Nuthatches interpret the type of chickadee alarm and can identify what sort of predator poses a threat. Nuthatches have learned to tell if the chickadees are threatened by pygmy owls, which pose a serious threat to…
grrlscientist | March 25, 2007John McKay, one of the eight former U.S. attorneys fired by the Bush administration, said on NBC's "Meet the Press" that White House officials had questioned his performance in highly partisan political terms at a key meeting in Washington last September, three months before his dismissal.
John McKay of Washington state, who had decided two years earlier not to bring voter fraud charges that could undermine a Democratic victory in a closely fought gubernatorial race, said that White House counsel Harriet Miers and her deputy William Kelley "actually asked me why Republicans in the state of…
grrlscientist | March 25, 2007
Spring Azure butterfly, Celastrina ladon.
The photographer writes; I've attached a picture of a spring azure I took several years ago. I'm particularly taken with the patterning on its antenna stalks. :) It's sitting on a red osier dogwood leaf.
Photographer: RBH (of Pandasthumb and Infidels).
As long as you send images to me (and I hope it will be for forever), I shall continue to share them with my readership. My purpose for posting these images is to remind all of us of the grandeur of the natural world and that there is a world out there that is populated by millions of unique…
grrlscientist | March 25, 2007This quote comes to me from a pal who saw it on TV (there are days when I wish I had a TV, and today is one of those days, because this quote is priceless) ...
Diane Sawyer: "Why not let Karl Rove go up there and show he has nothing to hide? Testify, under oath, and with a transcript? Let everyone see it?"
Tony Snow: "This is what I love, this Karl Rove obsession. Let's back off. First, the question is: Do you want Karl Rove on TV, or do you want the truth?"
Diane Sawyer: "Why can't you have both?"
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tags: Karl Rove, Alberto Gonzales, US Attorney General, politics
grrlscientist | March 25, 2007More senators are openly expressing their concern regarding Alberto Gonzales' lack of integrity and his fitness to serve as this nation's Attorney General. The clock is ticking until the fine day when we finally shed this scumbag Attorney General ...
"We have to have an attorney general who is candid and truthful. And if we find out he's not been candid and truthful, that's a very compelling reason for him not to stay on," said Sen. Arlen Specter, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which oversees the Justice Department.
Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., said Gonzales "does have a…
grrlscientist | March 24, 2007
White-throated sparrow, Zonotrichia albicollis, white morph.
The photographer writes; I like little brown birds. Seemingly frail, they shrug off drought and blizzard and remain resolute to greet the spring with their songs. While others flash extravagant colors and plumes, the LBBs simply endure. Here is the picture of a white-throated sparrow from my back yard in Eastern North Dakota.
This lovely fellow is a close relative of my dissertation research bird, the white-crowned sparrow, Zonotrichia leucophrys.
Photographer: Justawriter.
As long as you send images to me (and I hope it will…
grrlscientist | March 24, 2007The purple milkweed butterfly winters on the south end of Taiwan and flies over 600 meters of open roadways to reach its breeding ground in the north. Unfortunately, many of the 11,500 butterflies that attempt the journey each hour do not reach their breeding grounds because turbulence generated by fast-moving cars drags them into traffic or under the wheels of oncoming vehicles. As a result, Taiwan will close one lane of a major highway to protect more than a million of these butterflies, which cross the road on their seasonal migration.
Ecologists are using the lane closure, protective nets…