grrlscientist | November 28, 2006Here's a cute little quiz that predicts what you will see in your Christmas stocking this year. Considering that I am unemployed and broke, I am most eager for this prediction to come true for me! We will be meeting here on 26 December to discuss the quiz results further, so be ready to share your results now, and your opinions regarding this quiz later.
You Christmas Stocking Will Be Filled with Money
You've either been really really good this year...
Or Santa is trying to pay you off!
What Will Be In Your Christmas Stocking?
grrlscientist | November 28, 2006
Blue-spotted Salamander Ambystoma laterale
Photographed on the same day as the one shown previously.
Image: Bev Wigney.
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I am receiving so many gorgeous images from you, dear readers, that I am overwhelmed by the beauty of the images and the creatures and places in those images. 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, along with information about the image and how you'd like it to be credited.
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tags: salamander, blue-spotted salamander, amphibian, zoology
grrlscientist | November 28, 2006
A view of the Earth from the space shuttle Endeavour
shows sunshine reflected off an ocean. Rising global
temperatures are increasingly melting icecaps, causing
storm havoc and flooding large areas.
Image: Corbis.
The Guardian has listed the top 100 people of all time who have done the most to save the planet.
Rachel Carson, Author of Silent Spring
EF Schumacher, Green economist
Jonathan Porritt, Government adviser
David Attenborough, TV naturalist
James Lovelock, Biologist
Wangari Maathai, Conservationist
Prince of Wales, Green royal
William Morris, Craftsman and writer…
grrlscientist | November 28, 2006This afternoon on MSNBC news, Congressional Quarterly political analyst Craig Crawford speculated that Dick Cheney may be the next to leave the administration as "neocons are heading for the hills" like rats abandoning a sinking ship. Crawford claimed the Vice President's "authority is waning, if not gone." Crawford then went on to ask; "And my point is why would he want to stick around in this environment? All I'm seeing is a man getting isolated more and more."
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tags: politics, cheney, resign
grrlscientist | November 28, 2006A friend and fellow inmate here at the nuthouse learned that I am in search of special words, so she donated this special word for me from her readings. Even though she could not find the precise sentence it came from, the word was so spectacular that I have to share it with you despite the fact that it did not come from my own reading. Afteryou see this under-used but underused word, you will agree that it is a very very worthy word for the day, desite the fact that it is breaking my rules.
This word came from Swann's Way: In Search of Lost Time, Volume I by Marcel Proust (Moncrieff &…
grrlscientist | November 27, 2006
Orphaned image. Please contact me for proper attribution.
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tags: escher, politics, humor, sarcasm, satire, administration
grrlscientist | November 27, 2006Wow, you guys, there is an interview with me posted on Seed Magazine's main blog that you have to check out! Additionally, there is a surprise with that interview -- something that nearly none of you readers are aware of.
grrlscientist | November 27, 2006
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Money isn't made out of paper, it's made out of cotton.
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How to make your own money shirt.
tags: paper money, weird facts
grrlscientist | November 27, 2006
False Crocus Geometer Moth, Xanthotype urticaria.
Photographed at my farm in eastern Ontario
Image: Bev Wigney.
I am receiving so many gorgeous images from you, dear readers, that I am overwhelmed by the beauty of the images and the creatures and places in those images. 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, along with information about the image and how you'd like it to be credited.
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tags: moth, False Crocus Geometer moth, insect, Lepidoptera, zoology
grrlscientist | November 27, 2006
U.S. Marine Lt. Jeffrey Goodman and Lcpl. Jorge Sanchez drag a wounded civilian away from his burning vehicle after he was caught in the middle of an ambush in Al Aziziyah.
Image: source.
This morning on NBC's Today Show, Matt Lauer started his coverage with "Good Morning. Civil War. A bloody morning of sectarian clashes in Iraq and no sign that it's letting up."
The mainstream media (MSM) has made premature predictions before, but does the Iraq situation present a stronger case for civil war than some of the other MSM bungles? Lauer interviewed retired General Barry McCaffrey who also…
grrlscientist | November 27, 2006This cute word was used in The Republican War on Science, by my friend and fellow SciBling, Chris Mooney. This book was recently released in the more affordable trade paperback. If you haven't read this book yet, now is the time (I've read it once already in hard-cover, but never reviewed it, so I am going to rectify that oversight in the near future by reviewing this updated paperback).
Peccadillo (pek-uh-DIL-oh) [Origin: 1585-95; < Spanish pecadillo, dim. of pecado sin < Latin peccÄtum transgression, n. use of neutral of ptp. of peccÄre to err, offend]
noun
a very minor or…
grrlscientist | November 27, 2006
A picture of protester Malachi Ritscher from 2003.
Near a Chicago off-ramp, a mentally-gifted man who suffered from bouts of depression made himself into a living torch as a protest against the war in Iraq. It took one week for officials to identify his body and to piece together the man's motive. Was this man a martyr or a suicide?
According to Malachi Ritscher, the victim, he was a martyr.
"Here is the statement I want to make: if I am required to pay for your barbaric war, I choose not to live in your world. I refuse to finance the mass murder of innocent civilians, who did nothing…
grrlscientist | November 27, 2006
This is a really interesting video that I found more than a month ago but never published it here because I could not view it on the hospital's crappy Dell computer. However, I can't resist the suspense any longer since I have shared it with other people, all of whom tell me to post it anyway! So you, amigos bonitos, will have to be my eyes and ears on this one, just until I get out of here (fingers crossed) and back to my own computer.
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tags: streaming video, Nobel Prize, RNAi
grrlscientist | November 26, 2006
Spotted Salamander, Ambystoma maculatum.
Photographed when a friend and I were out looking for
herps and spiders in south of Ottawa, Ontario in Sept. 2005.
Image: Bev Wigney.
I am receiving so many gorgeous images from you, dear readers, that I am overwhelmed by the beauty of the images and the creatures and places in those images. 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, along with information about the image and how you'd like it to be credited.
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tags: salamander, spotted…
grrlscientist | November 26, 2006Even though I know what this word means and I know something of its etymology (I knew its origin was Greek, for example), I chose to share it with you anyway because I like how it looks on the page and how it sounds when spoken. Besides, this word is not used often enough -- perhaps you can help change this, amigos bonitos? After looking this word up in the dictionary, I have a much clearer understanding for its special etymology so I hope you also enjoy it!
This lovely word was used in The Republican War on Science, by my friend and fellow SciBling, Chris Mooney. This book was recently…
grrlscientist | November 26, 2006There is a nifty new online test that allows you to determine your evilness. A friend of mine earned the score of "twisted" which is quite evil, overall. Hoever, you have to go below the fold to find my score and to learn what yours is, too.
How evil are you?
Well, no, I don't work for AOL, but I do live in a nuthouse, does that increase my evilness?
How the heck did this nuthouse story get started in the first place?
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tags: online quiz, evilness
grrlscientist | November 25, 2006
Good spelling skills are more important than you realize.
Orphaned image. Please contact me for proper attribution.
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tags: politics, Bush, Iraq war, humor
grrlscientist | November 25, 2006
In an outrageous and arrogant move, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has banished the use of the word "hunger" from its documents that describe, umm, you know, hungry people. Instead, the USDA prefers to camoflage reality with a new government double-speak phrase, "very low food security".
Just a week before most of America sits down for that excessive meal we call the Thanksgiving feast (second- and third-day snacking while watching football is optional) came a new definition for the millions among us who are more likely to turn up at a food pantry than at a well-set dining table.…
grrlscientist | November 25, 2006
Pallid Bat, Antrozous pallidous,
Big Bend National Park, summer 2006.
The photographer writes that she is a research assistant in the mammalogy department at Auburn University and that she took this picture while carrying out biodiversity studies at Big Bend National Park. In the photographer's opinion, the pallid bat is among the most beautiful of all bat species.
Image: Anne-Marie.
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 (…
grrlscientist | November 25, 2006
elephant embryo at six months after conception (above)
elephant embryo at 12 months of development.
Using an array of technologies, a series of images reveal the secret of animal development in the wormb. Using a combination of three-dimensional ultrasound scans, computer graphics and tiny cameras, the research team followed the entire developmental process from conception to birth for a variety of animals, including an elephant (pictured). The team found some interesting behaviors along the way; a dolphin swimming in the womb, and an unborn dog (right) panting.
"The images in the film…