grrlscientist | January 24, 2007The 41st edition of I and the Bird is now available. I and the Bird is a blog carnival that focuses on wild birds in the blogosphere; ornithology, birding and bird photography.
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tags: birds, blog carnival
grrlscientist | January 24, 2007
Titanis Walleri, Terror bird.
artist's rendering.
Image: University of Florida.
University of Florida paleontologist Bruce MacFadden said his team has determined that a prehistoric 7 foot tall flightless "terror bird," Titanis walleri, arrived in North America from South America long before a land bridge connected the two continents. The bird apparently island hopped to North America on islands that make up the mountains that now form mountains on the isthmus of Panama.
"It was previously thought that Titanis immigrated to Texas across the Panamanian land bridge that formed about 3 million…
grrlscientist | January 24, 2007A paleontological treasure trove of fossils was discovered recently in a cave in the Nullarbor Plain in southern Australia. This discovery includes mammals, birds, reptiles and a marsupial lion, Thylacoleo carnifex (pictured), and 23 species of kangaroo, including eight of which are new to science. These fossils date back to between 400,000-800,000 years ago.
The creatures apparently fell to their deaths through openings in the dusty surface of the plain that periodically opened and closed over millennia.
"Sitting in the darkness next to this skeleton, you really got the sense of the animal…
grrlscientist | January 24, 2007tags: Y chromosome, genetics, Britain, African
A study of the human Y chromosome found that seven men with a rare Yorkshire surname carry a rare genetic signature found only in people of African origin. Researchers Turi King and Mark Jobling from Leicester University found that the men appear to have shared a common ancestor in the 18th Century, but the African DNA lineage they carry could have reached Britain centuries earlier.
This discovery was the result of genetic research that analyzed the relationship between the Y chromosome and surnames. The Y chromosome is normally found only in…
grrlscientist | January 24, 2007
Bacteria species.
Image: burningmonk.
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 we…
grrlscientist | January 23, 2007
Rogue MTA notice.
Image: David Harmon.
The text reads;
All trains will be running at the normal unsatisfactory rate, along with track diversions and problems with closing the doors, which will make you late for any appointment or job you have. We sincerely do not apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you.
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3AM until 9 PM
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MTA Transit
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This service notice has been brought to you by none other than Peet Skeet. Please enjoy the over priced, over populated, shit ass ride on the train.
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tags: NYCLife, MTA, notice, rogue MTA notice
grrlscientist | January 23, 2007
The lava lizard, hitching a ride on the marine iguana was on Isabela Island in the Galapagos.
The photographer says, "I think the iguana is saying 'scratch a little to the right, little more, YES! Perfect.' "
Image: Annie.
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…
grrlscientist | January 23, 2007tags: Microraptor gui, microraptor, biplane, bird flight, evolution
The ancestors of modern birds are thought to have been small, feathered, dinosaurs, the theropods. One of these small feathered dinosaurs is Microraptor gui, a feathered dromaosaur that lived 125 million years ago in what is now China. According to the evidence, Microraptor gui was one of the earliest gliders. But unlike modern birds, it appears to have utilized four wings, like a biplane, because it had long and asymmetric flight feathers on both its hands and feet.
According to initial interpretations, Microraptor flew…
grrlscientist | January 22, 2007
Normally, I receive somewhere between 900-2500 hits per day (green on above graph) with slightly more than like twice as many page views (purple on above graph), but last week, one of my articles from nearly a year ago about global warming was Dugg, producing nearly 50,000 hits in the span of a single day! This graph shows you what those stats look like when compared to my normal traffic -- which I thought was respectable (well, sorta). Now, if only I could keep my traffic at such enormous levels, I'd be so happy!
grrlscientist | January 22, 2007
The humping tortoises were spotted in the highlands of Santa Cruz, Galapagos Islands.
The male didn't seem at all put off by having half a dozen voyeurs taking photos. The
female was totally unimpressed by everyone, including the male, and wanted to go
back to sleep.
Image: Annie.
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…
grrlscientist | January 22, 2007
Sleeping flamingos, Phoenicopterus ruber.
Orphaned image, please contact me for proper credit.
People Hurting Birds
Avian pathologists have determined that the deaths of 63 birds in downtown Austin, Texas, this month were the result of natural causes. Texas A&M University pathologists examined nine of the birds found dead on 8 January and determined they died because of parasites and a drop in temperature, the Austin American-Statesman reported Friday. "These birds were heavily parasitized by multiple species of parasites," said Lelve Gayle, the executive director of the Texas…
grrlscientist | January 22, 2007If you are like most people, you wonder about the existence of god, if there is an afterlife and whether there is any meaning to life. Certainly, our thoughts regarding these matters profoundly influence our behavior and our lives. But when there are so many conflicting faiths, how can any person know which one is the best? To work through these questions, you will be interested to read The Path of Reason: A Philosophy of Nonbelief by Bruce Smith (Lincoln, NE: iUniverse 2006), which tells the personal story of the author's intellectual journey from the Bible Belt to atheism.
In this well-…
grrlscientist | January 21, 2007
This finger-tip sized Cyphochilus beetle, found in south-east Asia, has a shell whiter than most materials found in nature.
Image: Pete Vukusic.
Researchers found that the Cyphochilus beetle, endemic to south-east Asia, was much brighter and whiter than either milk or the average human tooth.
"You do see the odd bit of whiteness here and there, mainly in butterflies, but the whiteness is really incomparable with this little beetle," observed lead scientist, Pete Vukusic of Exeter University.
Close inspection of the beetle reveals a unique surface structure covered with scales that are 10…
grrlscientist | January 21, 2007
Unknown beetle species on wild prickly rose
at the photographer's house in Eagle River, Alaska 25 June 2006
using a Canon 5D, with a 100mm macro lens.
Image: David Lee.
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…
grrlscientist | January 20, 2007The 10th Carnival of Children's Literature has been posted for your (and your kids') reading pleasure. Be sure to check it out for good book recommendations for your kids!
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tags: children's literature, blog carnival, books
grrlscientist | January 20, 2007
Juvenile green sea turtle, Chelonia mydas, rescued from a shallow bay off South Padre Bay, Texas.
At least three dozen juvenile sea turtles were rescued from an arctic blast that caused the water temperature in a part of the Gulf of Mexico off South Padre Bay, Texas, to fall 18 degrees in 48 hours.
Turtles are air-breathing cold-blooded animals, meaning that they cannot generate their own body heat, so they were rendered comatose by the rapid temperature drop this week in the shallow bay where they were feeding. Animal rescuers feared that the cold would kill the turtles or make them so…
grrlscientist | January 20, 2007The previous story about global warming has an interesting background story regarding how the data were obtained. Basically, these data (pictured, right) were the result of the 250,000 people around the world helping the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change scientists by downloading their software onto their home computers so they could compute a single simulation of the future.
The resulting data predict that temperatures in Britain will be about 1.2 degrees Celsius warmer by 2020 than in the 1970s, chosen as the baseline for this project. Since temperatures are already nearly 1 degree…
grrlscientist | January 20, 2007
Well, I finally have something to look forward to; the movie, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix will be released on 13 July, 2007.
In the film, Harry returns for his fifth year of study at Hogwarts and discovers that much of the wizarding community has been denied the truth about the teenager's recent encounter with the evil Lord Voldemort. Fearing that Hogwarts' venerable Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, is lying about Voldemort's return in order to undermine his power and take his job, the Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge, appoints a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher to…
grrlscientist | January 20, 2007
Canadian Tiger Swallowtail, Papilio canadensis,
on rhubarb at the photographer's house in Eagle River, Alaska 22 June 2002.
Photo was taken using a Kodak DC-4800, some images with a lens adapter and a 7x or 10x (or both) lens, at full camera resolution (2160x1440).
Image: David Lee.
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…
grrlscientist | January 20, 2007
Image: Union of Concerned Scientists.
In its last report, published in 2001, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concluded that there was a 66 to 90 percent chance that human activities were driving the most recent climate warming. But in its most recent report, which will be released on 2 February, the panel revised its claim and said that it is more than 90 percent likely that global warming since 1950 has been driven mainly by the buildup of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping greenhouse gases, and that more warming and rising sea levels are on the way.
Drafts of the…