education
worldsfair | January 12, 2010If so, you should join this facebook group. Or to discuss further, please go to http://friendfeed.com/phylomon.
Here's part of what started this group and project: a friend of mine passed on this "letter to Santa:"
It quite nicely demonstrates an issue with advocates of biodiversity - that is, what can we do to get kids engaged with the wonderful creatures that are all around them? They obviously have the ability and the passion to care about such things, but it appears misplaced - they'll spend a ton of resources and time tracking down fictional things, when they could easily do the same…
grrlscientist | January 12, 2010tags: Laysan Albatross, Phoebastria (Diomedea) immutabilis, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Laysan Albatross, Phoebastria (Diomedea) immutabilis, photographed at the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge on the Midway Islands in the Hawaiian archipelago -- an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the northern Pacific Ocean. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Michael Lusk, USFWS, December 2004 [larger view].
I posted this image specifically in honor of one of my readers and very good friend who is hospitalized but expected to recover…
grrlscientist | January 11, 2010tags: King Bird of Paradise, Cicinnurus regius, Red-Capped Manakin, Yellow-Thighed Manakin, Pipra mentalis, courtship displays, behaviors, birds, ornithology, Kim Bostwick, streaming video
I recently showed you the oddly shaped iridescent tail plume from a King Bird of Paradise as the daily mystery bird, now watch this video to see how the birds use these plumes in courtship displays.
cagapakis | January 11, 2010My first exposure to programming was as a nerdy elementary schooler playing with Logo, a simple computer language written for educational use as a way to teach basic concepts in programming and computer science. The language controls the behavior of the "turtle," a triangular cursor in the middle of the screen that can be programmed to move around and draw lines.
In one of the kid's versions I remember that the cursor even looked like a little turtle on the screen, not just a triangle. As you probably could tell, I'm fascinated by how computer scientists use language from living things and…
rallain | January 11, 2010I am totally ready to get back to blogging. In fact, I have a post that is 3/4th complete that I have been working on since before Christmas. Anyway, in order to procrastinate a little bit more I would like to share two learning observations (maybe they are not really about learning).
Kids these day
First, I was in the airport. When I am sitting around starring at the walls, I can't help but accidentally overhear someone that is 4 feet away. So this guy was talking about how impressed he was with kids these day in school. They are learning all sorts of stuff that he had already forgotten…
grrlscientist | January 11, 2010tags: birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] photographed in Pagosa Springs, Colorado. Wingspan estimated to be about 50 ± 5 cm. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: FinchWench, 2 January 2010 [larger view].
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
bioephemera | January 10, 2010
The Endangered Species Print Project has a clever approach to conservation: a series of limited-edition prints depicting endangered species, with the number of prints correlating with the number of individuals left in the wild. For this sunlight-saturated Panamanian Golden Frog by Jenny Kendler, that's a wild population/print run of only 100. All the proceeds from print sales go to Project Golden Frog. (For other species, proceeds go to a conservation group helping that particular species).
Artists Jenny Kendler and Molly Schafer created the project, and maintain a detailed blog on…
grrlscientist | January 10, 2010tags: Great Argus Pheasant, Great Argus, Phoenix, Argusianus argus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Great Argus Pheasant, also known as the Great Argus or the Phoenix, Argusianus argus, endemic to Malaya, Sumatra, and Borneo. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: John del Rio, 2009 [larger view].
More images by this photographer can be seen on the front page and in the gallery.
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.
The scientific…
grrlscientist | January 9, 2010tags: King Bird of Paradise, Cicinnurus regius, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] King Bird of Paradise, Cicinnurus regius, photographed in the Mount Bosavi volcano, a collapsed cone of an extinct volcano on the Kikori River Basin/Great Papuan Plateau, Southern Highlands province, Papua New Guinea. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Ulla Lohmann [larger view].
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
What is the picture showing? What part of the bird is this? Once you've figured out the answer to those questions, you are…
grrlscientist | January 8, 2010tags: How it's Made: Snowboards, snowboards, sports, engineering, material science, technology, streaming video
This video describes in detail something that winter sports enthusiasts care about during this time of year!
drorzel | January 8, 2010Picking on stupid things that sports commentators say is the ultimate "Fish. Barrel. BLAM!" sort of activity, but this morning on the way to drop SteelyKid at day care, Mike and Mike kept repeating one of the absolute dumbest things that football commentators say. They were talking about Larry Fitzgerald of the Arizona Cardinals, and praising his ability as a receiver. In particular, they heaped praise on his ability to "go up and get the ball at its highest point."
That would be a pretty neat trick, if he could manage it. A football pass spends a second or two in the air-- let's call it two…
grrlscientist | January 8, 2010tags: Olive Sparrow, Arremonops rufivirgatus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Olive Sparrow, Arremonops rufivirgatus, photographed in the Hazel Bazemore County Park, Corpus Christi, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Amy Shutt, 23 November 2009 [larger view].
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | January 7, 2010tags: politics, terrorism, economics, social psychology, Red Brigades, Italy, TEDTalks, TED Talks, Loretta Napoleoni, streaming video
Loretta Napoleoni details her rare opportunity to talk to the secretive Italian Red Brigades -- an experience that sparked a lifelong interest in terrorism. She gives a behind-the-scenes look at its complex economics, revealing a surprising connection between money laundering and the US Patriot Act.
TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their…
grrlscientist | January 7, 2010tags: Ladder-Backed Woodpecker, Picoides scalaris , birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Ladder-Backed Woodpecker, Picoides scalaris , photographed on the Katy Prairie, Houston, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 1 January 2010 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/400s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | January 6, 2010tags: Trumpeter Swan, Cygnus buccinator, Trumpeter Swan Restoration Project, conservation, endangered species, Harry Lumsden, Beverly Kingdon, Ray Kingdon, streaming video
Thanks to the efforts of volunteers with the Trumpeter Swan Restoration project, the endangered Trumpeter Swan, Cygnus buccinator, population in Ontario, Canada now numbers over 1,000. This video shows the three species of swan on Swan Lake, and shows how the birds are tagged so they can be individually tracked. Long time volunteers Harry Lumsden, Beverly and Ray Kingdon feed the swans at Lasalle Park in Burlington.
grrlscientist | January 6, 2010tags: education, public outreach, SciCafe, science cafe, AMNH, American Museum of Natural History, NYC, streaming video
Who: Ichthyologist Melanie Stiassny
What: free public presentation, "Mysteries of the Congo: Exploring the World's Deepest River"
When: TONIGHT at 700pm
Where: Gottesman Hall of Planet Earth, American Museum of Natural History, Enter at the 81st Street (Rose Center) [directions and maps]
Cost: FREE, and there is a cash bar too! (must be 21+ with ID)
What strange new species lurk beneath? Join Museum Curator Melanie Stiassny, an ichthyologist who has been featured on The…
grrlscientist | January 6, 2010tags: Chipping Sparrow, Spizella passerina, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Chipping Sparrow, Spizella passerina, photographed at Illinois Beach State Park, Lake County, Illinois. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Janice Sweet, 20 October 2009 [larger view].
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | January 5, 2010tags: biology, zoology, insects, Dragonfly, Wandering Glider, Globe Skimmer, Pantala flavescens, migration, Maldives, India, TEDTalks, TED Talks, Charles Anderson, streaming video
While living and working as a marine biologist in Maldives, Charles Anderson noticed sudden explosions of dragonflies at certain times of year. He explains how he carefully tracked the path of a plain, little dragonfly called the Globe Skimmer, Pantala flavescens, only to discover that it had the longest migratory journey of any insect in the world.
TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and…
grrlscientist | January 5, 2010tags: education, public outreach, SciCafe, science cafe, AMNH, American Museum of Natural History, NYC, streaming video
Who: Ichthyologist Melanie Stiassny
What: free public presentation, "Mysteries of the Congo: Exploring the World's Deepest River"
When: 700pm, Wednesday, 6 January 2010
Where: Gottesman Hall of Planet Earth, American Museum of Natural History, Enter at the 81st Street (Rose Center) [directions and maps]
Cost: free, and there is a cash bar (must be 21+ with ID)
What strange new species lurk beneath? Join Museum Curator Melanie Stiassny, an ichthyologist who has been…
grrlscientist | January 5, 2010
Who: Richard Wiseman
What: free public presentation, "Investigating the Impossible"
Where: University Settlement, 184 Eldridge Street (and Rivington St.) [map]
When: Tonight at 730pm (Tuesday, 5 January 2010)
Cost: FREE and open to the public!
Join the New York City Skeptics as they kick off their 2010 Public Lecture Series with noted skeptic, psychologist, and magician Richard Wiseman.
For over 20 years, Professor Richard Wiseman has investigated a variety of strange psychological phenomena. In this talk, he describes some of his more colorful adventures, including his work into why…