grrlscientist | August 25, 2009Since I have recently developed quite a history of visiting cold and snowy places, often during the winter, I wish to preserve that tradition. I am competing for the opportunity to go to Antarctica in February 2010 -- a dream adventure that I've always wanted to pursue (and almost did pursue when I was an undergraduate researching Fin Whales and Crabeater Seals at the University of Washington). To enter, all candidates must publish a picture of themselves and write an essay explaining why we think we are the best choice, and solicit votes from the public. Whomever receives the most votes wins…
grrlscientist | August 25, 2009tags: Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Archilochus colubris, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Moulting adult female Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Archilochus colubris, photographed in Brandon, South Dakota. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Terry Sohl, 12 August 2009 [larger view]
Photo taken with Canon 50D, 400 5.6L.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | August 25, 2009tags: cultural observations, Sam Harris, atheism, human behavior, humor, funny, streaming video
This video is an interesting interview with Sam Harris, author of The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason and Letter to a Christian Nation.
grrlscientist | August 24, 2009tags: cultural observations, Bill Maher, atheism, human behavior, humor, funny, streaming video
Yet another brilliant series of cultural observations from Bill Maher. Why doesn't this guy run for president?
grrlscientist | August 24, 2009
Image: wemidji (Jacques Marcoux).
Nam et ipsa scientia potestas est (And thus knowledge itself is power)
-- Sir Francis Bacon.
Scientia Pro Publica (Science for the People) is a blog carnival that celebrates the best science, nature and medical writing targeted specifically to the public that has been published in the blogosphere within the past 60 days. To send your submissions to Scientia Pro Publica, either use this automated submission form or use the cute little widget on the right (sometimes that widget doesn't upload when the mother site is sick). Be sure to include the URL or "…
grrlscientist | August 24, 2009The current Antarctic Trip Vote count is as follows; 4623 - 1791 - 1498 - 1198 - 1115 out of 518 candidates registered. I am in third place and sloooowly creeping up on second place. With less than 6 weeks remaining (especially if the Quark site crashes), voting is changing rapidly as previous voters reassign their votes and new voters cast theirs for the first time. Many tens of thousands of votes have already been cast in this competition, so if the people who have cast their votes already decide to change them, they can significantly affect the outcome of this competition. The top four…
grrlscientist | August 24, 2009tags: Old Town, Tallinn, Estonia, cities
Looking towards the next tower along the wall around Old Town.
Photographed in Old Town, Tallinn, Estonia.
Image: GrrlScientist, 22 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image)
This is, in my opinion, one of the most spectacular views I've ever had the pleasure to see. I hope my photographs from atop the wall around Old Town can capture this for you well enough that you understand what I saw and experienced while I was in Tallinn.
Looking towards the next tower along the inner portion of wall around Old Town.
Photographed in Old Town, Tallinn, Estonia.…
grrlscientist | August 24, 2009tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
Black-crowned Night-Heron, Nycticorax nycticorax, photographed at Brazos Bend State Park, Texas.
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 7 August 2009 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/180s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Birds in Science
Brainy male birds are more sexually attractive to female birds, scientists have discovered. Researchers gave male bowerbirds a set of cognitive tests to evaluate their problem solving ability. Bowerbirds that performed well in the tests also mated with the most…
grrlscientist | August 24, 2009
Image: wemidji (Jacques Marcoux).
Nam et ipsa scientia potestas est (And thus knowledge itself is power)
-- Sir Francis Bacon.
Scientia Pro Publica (Science for the People) is a blog carnival that celebrates the best science, nature and medical writing targeted specifically to the public that has been published in the blogosphere within the past 60 days. To send your submissions to Scientia Pro Publica, either use this automated submission form or use the cute little widget on the right (sometimes that widget doesn't upload when the mother site is sick). Be sure to include the URL or "…
grrlscientist | August 24, 2009tags: White-eyed Slaty Flycatcher,, Melaenornis fischeri, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] White-eyed Slaty Flycatcher, Melaenornis fischeri, photographed in Nakuru National Park, Kenya, Africa. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dan Logen, 29 August 2006 [larger view].
Nikon D2X, 200-400 VR lens at 310 mm ISO 160, f/4.5, 1/160 sec.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | August 24, 2009The cricket sang,
And set the sun,
And workmen finished, one by one,
Their seam the day upon.
The low grass loaded with the dew,
The twilight stood as strangers do
With hat in hand, polite and new,
To stay as if, or go.
A vastness, as a neighbor, came,--
A wisdom without face or name,
A peace, as hemispheres at home,--
And so the night became.
~ Emily Dickinson
This is the cutest event I've heard of for NYC: a night spent counting crickets and katydids.
What: NYC Cricket Crawl (counting 7 species of crickets and katydids in NYC)
Where: New York City area
When: Friday, 11 September 2009 at 7:…
grrlscientist | August 24, 2009tags: cultural observations, Lewis Black, travel, health insurance, humor, funny, fucking hilarious, streaming video
Lewis Black has a bunch of colorful opinions on a bunch of topics, from world travel to health insurance and the different sorts of milk in the average supermarket. May not be safe for work (language).
grrlscientist | August 24, 2009tags: cultural observations, email, pets, humor, funny, fucking hilarious, streaming video
This short video gives you a fly-on-the-wall view of why email was invented: pets!
grrlscientist | August 23, 2009The current Antarctic Trip Vote count is as follows; 4570 - 1785 - 1491 - 1193 - 1114 out of 512 candidates registered. I am in third place and sloooowly creeping up on second place. With less than 6 weeks remaining (especially if the Quark site crashes), voting is changing rapidly as previous voters reassign their votes and new voters cast theirs for the first time. Many tens of thousands of votes have already been cast in this competition, so if the people who have cast their votes already decide to change them, they can significantly affect the outcome of this competition. The top four…
grrlscientist | August 23, 2009tags: Old Town, Tallinn, Estonia, cities
A room inside the wall around Old Town.
Photographed in Old Town, Tallinn, Estonia.
Image: GrrlScientist, 22 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image)
This is a room inside the wall that surrounds the Old Town portion of Tallinn, Estonia. As you can see, this room is in remarkably pristine condition, despite being older than god. Sorry that the pic is so bad, but the ambient lighting was impossible to deal with.
Another look at the room inside the wall around Old Town.
Photographed in Old Town, Tallinn, Estonia.
Image: GrrlScientist, 22 July 2009 […
grrlscientist | August 23, 2009tags: Old Town, Tallinn, Estonia, cities
The wall around Old Town.
Photographed in Old Town, Tallinn, Estonia.
Image: GrrlScientist, 22 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image)
The Historic Center of Tallinn, known as "Old Town", was one of the best fortified cities in Europe, with 66 towers adorning the city wall. Today, only 20 or so of these cannon towers remain. The history of Talinn as a trading town is still evident in the beauty of its buildings (for example, refer to the lovely dragons that I photographed on this building, which is now an art gallery).
Entrance to the Castle…
grrlscientist | August 23, 2009tags: Birdbooker Report, bird books, animal books, natural history books, ecology books
"How does one distinguish a truly civilized nation from an aggregation of
barbarians? That is easy. A civilized country produces much good bird
literature."
--Edgar Kincaid
The Birdbooker Report is a special weekly report of a wide variety of science, nature and behavior books that currently are, or soon will be available for purchase. This report is written by one of my Seattle birding pals and book collector, Ian "Birdbooker" Paulsen, and is edited by me and published here for your information and…
grrlscientist | August 23, 2009tags: Black Tern, Chlidonias niger, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Black Tern, Chlidonias niger, photographed at Galveston's East Beach, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 14 July 2009 [larger view].
Nikon D200 ,Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/800s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
[Mystery bird] Black Tern, Chlidonias niger, photographed at Galveston's East Beach, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48…
grrlscientist | August 23, 2009tags: Why Do People Laugh at Creationists? , atheism, religion, water, streaming video
The only people who are so stupid as to not understand the answer to that question are the creationists themselves.
grrlscientist | August 23, 2009tags: cultural observations, Lewis Black, travel, health insurance, humor, funny, fucking hilarious, streaming video
Bill Maher talks about the relationship between religion and political office, noting that most Americans would not vote for a political candidate who does not believe in a god of some sort.