grrlscientist | December 10, 2006Here is a quiz that will tell you if you are a nerd, a geek or a dork -- by the way, it also tells you the definitions of those words, too.
Pure Nerd
91 % Nerd, 43% Geek, 21% Dork
For The Record:
A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia.
A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one.
A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions.
You scored better than half in Nerd, earning you the title of: Pure Nerd.
The times, they are a-…
grrlscientist | December 10, 2006
White pairie aster, Symphyotrichum ericoides var. ericoides
W. 11th St. Park Butterfly Garden, Houston, Texas.
28 October 2006
Biosparite writes; This tiny aster, about 8 mm or so, was driving a lot of the bee and butterfly nectaring activity this past summer at the W. 11th st. Park. People with grass lawns consider it a weedy nuisance as it will run along the ground when it is mown a lot. The plants I was monitoring stood around four feet high and had hundreds of flowers open, yielding a mild scent detectable several inches away from the flower masses.
Image: Biosparite.
I am receiving…
grrlscientist | December 10, 2006This article is so good that I just had to quote a few choice bits here for you to read, but there's more of this if you follow the link below.
If the blue states are sinkholes of moral decay, as right-wing pundits insist, how come red states lead the nation in violent crime, divorce, illegitimacy, and incarceration, among other evils? To a bus-riding innocent on Manhattan's stroller-filled Upper West Side, it looks like a case of hypocrisy meets stupidity.
In contemporary lore, the good people of the red states walk in Jesus's sandals while the rest of us are following Satan into the…
grrlscientist | December 10, 2006
Image source.
Environmentalists want to use corn to produce ethanol as an alternative fuel, especially as we run out of fossil fuels. However, there is a growing conflict between the 800 million automobile owners who want to continue driving their vehicles and the poorest 2 billion people in the world who simply wish to stay alive.
"The grain required to fill an SUV tank could feed one person for one year," says Lester R. Brown, a MacArthur "genius grant" winner with impeccable environmental credentials.
As it is, farmers currently do not grow enough food to feed the world's population…
grrlscientist | December 9, 2006
Texan crescents, Phyciodes texana, mating.
W. 11th St. Park Butterfly Garden, Houston, Texas.
28 October 2006
Biosparite writes; The Texan Crescents pictured here are also multivoltine. This species is the mascot of BEST-NABA (North American Butterfy Association).
Image: Biosparite.
I am receiving so many gorgeous pictures from you, dear readers, that I am overwhelmed by the beauty of the images and the creatures and places in them. If you have a high-resolution digitized nature image (I prefer JPG format) that you'd like to share with your fellow readers, feel free to email it to me,…
grrlscientist | December 9, 2006Like, DUH!
Paul Taylor at the Pew Research Center writes that in the six years since President Bush was first elected, two unprecedented things have happened to America's optimists. They've become much more Republican. And there are fewer of them.
These trends are revealed by Election Day exit polls taken in 2000 and 2006 as well as longer-term patterns found by the "ladder of life" battery of questions that is administered by the Pew Research Center and the Gallup Poll every few years since 1964.
The nationwide Election Day exit poll question asks voters: "Do you expect life for the next…
grrlscientist | December 8, 2006I am piggybacking from home on my beloved mac laptop (I wish I could afford my own wifi connection). I am just going to free-associate here for a few minutes for those of you who are interested to read such random things. One random thing I wanted to mention is that it has been 115 days ago when I was first hospitalized, for those of you who keep track of such things -- just to put some perspective on things.
I have discovered one typographical error on a label for my medications that could cause me some real problems by triggering a manic episode, but I am smart enough to figure things out…
grrlscientist | December 8, 2006
Green Tree Frogs, Hyla cinerea.
Nelson Farms Preserve, KPC, NABA Butterfly Count, 4 September 2006.
Biosparite writes; For the sake of completeness, here is the entire frog photo from an earlier image. The male is supposed to be smaller than the females. Color is variable, but the paler specimen may be a female.
Image: Biosparite.
I am receiving so many gorgeous pictures from you, dear readers, that I am overwhelmed by the beauty of the images and the creatures and places in them. If you have a high-resolution digitized nature image (I prefer JPG format) that you'd like to share with your…
grrlscientist | December 8, 2006
Ebola Virus, one of the most deadly of all viral diseases, has killed more than 5,000 gorillas in the Republic of Congo and Gabon, located in central Africa. In addition to commercial hunting of gorillas, this outbreak of ebola could be sufficient to push gorillas into extinction.
The study, published in the US journal Science, looked at gorilla colonies in Republic of Congo and Gabon. Ebola is also blamed for many chimpanzee deaths.
Ebola is one of the most deadly viruses known to primates, killing more than 1,000 people since it burst upon the medical scene in 1976. Ebola causes a viral…
grrlscientist | December 8, 2006How do you say goodbye to a group of people whom you've lived with during the past 115 days? How do you say goodbye to a group of people who have suffered from their personal demons alongside you for such a long period of time? How do you say goodbye to people -- the patients, staff and doctors -- who were really there for you and whom you wish to keep in your life as friends and allies, but cannot?
I guess I am going to find the answer to these questions today.
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And then what happened?
How the heck did this nuthouse story get started in the first place?
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tags: psychiatric hospital,…
grrlscientist | December 8, 2006
I unpacked "frustrating" first.
Reached in and found the word "worst".
Then I picked "soggy" and
Next I picked "foggy" and
Then I was ready to tell them my tale.
'Cause I'd unpacked my adjectives.
Adjectives are words you use to really describe things,
Handy words to carry around.
Days are sunny or they're rainy
Boys are dumb or else they're brainy
Adjectives can show you which way.
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tags: schoolhouse rock, education, teaching, streaming video
grrlscientist | December 8, 2006
Llama, Llama glama.
Image: source
Researchers at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory in Washington have discovered that llamas, a member of the camel family, have unusual antibodies in their blood that do not break down at high temperatures, unlike those of humans and most other animals. As a result, llama antibodies could be developed for use as biosensors against potential biological warfare agents in the field.
"We're interested in the development of biosensors for biothreats in the field, and hopefully these antibodies will help lead to more rugged antibodies that have longer shelf…
grrlscientist | December 7, 2006I have not yet been released because the fearless leader for the hospital was unable to speak with me today (she makes the ultimate decision), but it looks as though tomorrow will probably be my discharge day.
The social worker found three potential programs for me to attend on the outside -- programs that are either support groups or a program with a psychiatrist/psychopharmacologist -- which I prefer. But both of which will cost a fair amount of money, even though they are on a sliding scale. Unfortunately, attending one of these programs will be the only way I can maintain my…
grrlscientist | December 7, 2006
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Most lipstick contains fish scales.
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Image source.
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tags: lipstick, fish scales. weird facts
grrlscientist | December 7, 2006
Unknown moth species.
Houston Heights, Texas. 27 October 2006,
The photographer writes; This green moth visits my breezeway at night in
response to the lights. To get this flash shot I had to stand back and use the
macro-zoom feature on the Fuji Finepix 5200. Presumably the green wing color
allows the moth to safely roost on green tree leaves in the daytime with the
white markings likely helping to blend with leaf veination. The moth is about
3/4 inch wide along the rear wing margins. This species shows up with some
frequency. I think it is beautiful and mysterious.
Image: Biosparite.
Can…
grrlscientist | December 7, 2006
Six people were injured and up to 150 houses were damaged when a tornado swept through several London streets leaving a trail of destruction.
Rooftops were ripped off homes and cars were badly damaged as the twister hit the Kensal Rise area that is in north-west London. One man suffered a serious head injury and five more people were treated for minor injuries and shock.
Fire services closed six roads in a zone covering a quarter of a square mile and searched 100 properties. Fire crews were called at about 1100 GMT on Thursday to Chamberlayne Road and surrounding streets, amid reports of…
grrlscientist | December 7, 2006Former President, Jimmy Carter, wrote a book, Palestine: Peace, Not Apartheid, that was recently released. Unfortunately, a long-time aid of Carter's, Kenneth Stein, resigned because of the publication of this book, claiming it was one-sided and filled with factual errors, material copied from other sources and "simply invented segments," according to an excerpt of the letter published by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Deanna Congileo, Carter's spokeswoman, said the former president stands by the book.
Carter issued a brief statement saying that Stein had not been actively involved with…
grrlscientist | December 7, 2006I don't know if this is true but it makes a for a clever story nonetheless ...
Soldiers in Iraq are using Silly String to detect bombs. The string is sprayed into the air, and if it falls to the ground, all is well. If it hangs in the air, it's caught on a trip wire, that is otherwise mostly invisible to the naked eye.
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Order your own silly string bomb detection kit today. [no, I don't get anything for saying these things, but I am happy to receive any extra unused silly string bomb-detection kits that you might have laying around so I too, can help out with the war effort at home and…
grrlscientist | December 6, 2006Are you ready for me to be freed tomorrow from the nuthouse? Well, according to rumor, tomorrow will be my release date. The reason has nothing at all to do with my own sanity, since I am still certifiably insane, but rather, the reason is that the person caring for my birds is demanding that I pay her $2500 for the priviledge (nevermind that one of my expensive and rare parrots died while under her care) and she is demanding that I pay her immediately so she can use it to pay college tuition.
What's the problem with this picture? When I first met my bird care taker, mere minutes before I…
grrlscientist | December 6, 2006
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Ketchup was sold in the 1830's as medicine.
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tags: ketchup, medicine. weird facts