behavior
grrlscientist | July 16, 2010tags: psychology, behavior, pedagogy, education, learning, teaching methods, model/rival technique, Avian Learning EXperiment, Avian Language EXperiment, ALEX, researchblogging.org,peer-reviewed research, journal club
ALEX the African Grey Parrot and Dr Irene Pepperberg.
Image: The ALEX Foundation.
Like anyone who has taught science courses, and probably like anyone who has ever taught anything to a classroom in the history of mankind, I've wondered how to motivate my students to really care about the material they are learning, beyond simply "studying for the test." For example, I have…
grrlscientist | July 16, 2010tags: The surprising truth about what motivates us, tasks, simple tasks, complex tasks, commissions, innovation, mastery, economics, financial rewards, purpose motive, blog writing, making the world a better place, RSA, streaming video
This video is really interesting for two reasons: first, it's a hand-drawn animation that evolves in front of your eyes, and second, I think it explains why scientists like to write blogs for the public about science -- for free! Adapted from Dan Pink's talk at the RSA, this fascinating video illustrates the hidden truths behind what really motivates us at home…
grrlscientist | July 15, 2010tags: When Ideas Have Sex, imagination, innovation, group intelligence, exchange of ideas, cumulative ideas, evolution, sexual reproduction, technological specialization, free trade, Matt Ridley, TEDTalks, TED Talks, streaming video
At TEDGlobal 2010, author Matt Ridley shows how, throughout history, the engine of human progress has been the meeting and mating of ideas to make new ideas. It's not important how clever individuals are, he says; what really matters is how smart the collective brain is.
TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference…
grrlscientist | July 12, 2010tags: Happiest DJ On Earth, jobs, employment, humor, funny, comedy, disc jockey, David Guetta, streaming video
Some people have jobs they love, and then there's this guy ... he's burning off more calories doing his job than most people burn at the gym!
grrlscientist | July 11, 2010tags: Pitch Perfect, humor, funny, comedy, satire, sports, baseball, streaming video
Now this video is just sick, SICK, I TELL YOU! So of course, because it made me laugh out loud in an empty apartment, I have to share it with you. This video is a comedic look at a baseball game: a burned out pitcher who seeks advice from his wheelchair-bound coach during the biggest game of his life.
Starring Zach Anner, Chris Demarais & Brad Anner.
grrlscientist | July 10, 2010tags: Stephen Fry on Catholicism, Intelligence Squared Debate, religion, catholicism, Catholic Church, poverty, sexuality,homosexuality, AIDS, HIV, condoms, pedophilia, child rape, culture, Stephen Fry, streaming video
Stephen Fry provides his very articulate and thoughtful opinion on Catholicism and the Catholic Church at the Intelligence Squared Debate.
gregladen | July 10, 2010One of those really cool and useful "evolution stories" gets verified and illuminated by actual research. And blogging!
An oystercatcher is a wading bird of the family Haematopodidae, distributed in one genus, Haematopus. As is the case with many coast loving birds, there has been confusion about the limits of the 11 or so species known to exist worldwide. That itself is an interesting story (Hocke 1996), but one we will not go into now.
Adult coastal oystercatchers (some species are not coastal) eat all sorts of animals found in the intertidal zone, including shellfish of all sorts,…
laelaps | July 6, 2010A normal giant gliding ant (left) and an infested ant (right). The red color of the gaster is not caused by a pigment, but thinning of the exoskeleton combined with the color of the nematode eggs. From Yanoviak et al, 2008.In one of my favorite episodes of the animated TV show Futurama, the chief protagonist - delivery boy Philip J. Fry - becomes infested with worms after eating a dodgy egg-salad sandwich purchased from the restroom of an interstellar truck stop. Lucky for Fry, the parasites are beneficial - they repair his injuries and greatly enhance his cognitive abilities. ("Of all the…
grrlscientist | July 6, 2010tags: Paul the Prognosticating Octopus Oracle Sez, soccer, football, World Cup 2010, fun, offbeat, weird, news
Paul the Prognosticating Octopus Oracle has disappointed his German fans by choosing Spain over Germany in tomorrow's World Cup Football match. Paul is a two-year-old English-born octopus of unknown species who has lived in the aquarium in Oberhausen, Germany since shortly after he was born.
Image: Mark Keppler / DAPD
This is a bummer for all those German fans who believe in tooth fairies and Santa Claus, because Paul the Prognosticating Octopus Oracle of Unknown Species (PPOOUS…
grrlscientist | July 6, 2010tags: Close Encounter with a Whale Shark in the Gulf of Mexico, marine biology, field research, research, technology, whale shark, Rhincodon typus, satellite tags, Gulf of Mexico, BP, Gulf Coast Research Laboratory, University of Southern Mississippi, streaming video
Whale Shark, Rhincodon typus, feeding in the Gulf of Mexico.
Image: Gulf Coast Research Laboratory Whale Shark Research.
Despite being the largest fish species in the world, measuring over 40 feet in length and 35 tons in weight, whale sharks are quite mysterious. We know they are plankton filter feeders, and we recently…
grrlscientist | July 3, 2010tags: Fast Lane -- Shopping Carts, SuperMarkt Shopping Carts, Einkaufszentrum, Berlin, fun, silly, your inner child, entertainment, volkswagen commercial, television, streaming video
Just a quick shopping trip? Here's a great invention: Some shopping carts -- "trolleys" for you Brits -- are pimped with a skateboard in a shopping center in Berlin, Germany. Up for some extra shopping fun?
grrlscientist | July 1, 2010tags: Inside A Birdhouse, television, advertising, humor, funny, satire, cute, silly, canary, streaming video
This cute video shows that there's a lot more inside a birdhouse than is evident from the outside. It's a commercial for squash juice. Squash juice? Yes. Apparently some people drink squash juice.
There's two things that bother me about this video. First, pigeons do not sound like owls. Second, bird rock and roll should not sound like humans singing, but should sound like parrots screeching. or something.
That said, I've watched this video dozens of times and was certain I've shown…
laelaps | June 30, 2010
Out on the grassy plains of Kenya's Masai Mara National Reserve, a group of six female topi antelope (Damaliscus lunatus) walk across the savanna. It is the time of the annual rut - a one and a half month period in which most males control small patches of land and try to attract adult females which, for one day, are in estrus. The small group walks by one of the lone males, but just as they reach the edge of his territory he snorts an alarm. It means that somewhere, out ahead of them, a predator waits to pounce on any topi foolish enough to blunder towards it, and so the females stay close…
grrlscientist | June 30, 2010tags: birds, ornithology, Common Raven, Northern Raven, Corvus corax, animal behavior, animal culture, aggression, dominance hierarchy, social groups, social conflict, post-conflict behavior, consolation, empathy, researchblogging.org,peer-reviewed research, journal club
Common Raven, Corvus corax, showing off at Bryce Canyon National Park, USA.
Image: United States National Park Service (Public Domain) [larger view]
Humans have long tried to distinguish themselves from other animals on the basis of characters that are perceived to be unique, such as tool design and use, planning for the…
grrlscientist | June 27, 2010tags: The Stork Is Real!, religion, sex, sexuality, funny, humor, comedy, satire, fucking hilarious, social commentary, Edward Current, streaming video
Do you really believe that precious life comes from disgusting body fluids? The Truth is, babies are brought into the world by a pure white angel, the Stork.
grrlscientist | June 26, 2010tags: Best Church of God Vs. An Atheist, religion, cults, faith, funny, humor, comedy, social commentary, Greg Epstein, books, streaming video
A silly video about a bunch of wackaloon religious wingnuts and an atheist humanist discussing religion and how god forces people to live moral and decent lives. (The video is silly, but the protest signs are rather amusing).
The Best Church of God takes on heretical "humanist" Greg Epstein, famed author of the controversial book, "Good Without God."-- edited by Aemilia Scott
grrlscientist | June 25, 2010tags: Fast Lane -- The Rocket, shopping center elevator, Einkaufszentrum, Berlin, fun, silly, your inner child, entertainment, volkswagen commercial, television, streaming video
A sound system turns the ride into a rocket take-off. Welcome on-board! This is the fast lane for elevators ...
grrlscientist | June 24, 2010tags: Fast Lane -- The Slide, subway, Rutsche U-Bahn, Berlin, fun, silly, your inner child, entertainment, volkswagen commercial, television, streaming video
A long staircase. Next to it a slide. Which way would you go? This is an ad that was created in a subway station in Berlin. Makes me want to visit.
grrlscientist | June 24, 2010tags: Meet Paul, Germany's Prognosticating Octopus, soccer, football, World Cup 2010, fun, offbeat, weird
Paul -- an octopus at the Sea Life public aquarium in Oberhausen, western Germany -- has so far correctly predicted the outcome of each of Germany's World Cup matches. On Tuesday, Paul contemplates Wednesday's match between Germany and Ghana. [larger view]
The World Cup and all the fanfare that surrounds it is truly amazing to experience. But perhaps strangest thing of all is that several zoos and aquariums in Germany have been asking some of their animals to predict the winners to the…
grrlscientist | June 24, 2010tags: Education Innovation in the Slums, education, technology, poverty, slums, curriculum, philosophy, learning as a productive activity, Charles Leadbeater, TEDTalks, TED Talks, streaming video
Charles Leadbeater went looking for radical new forms of education -- and found them in the slums of Rio and Kibera, where some of the world's poorest kids are finding transformative new ways to learn. And this informal, disruptive new kind of school, he says, is what all schools need to become.
TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the…