education
drorzel | October 12, 2009It's Adopt-a-Physicist time again, and I've been "adopted" by three classes: Susan Kelly's class at Blind Brook High School in Rye, NY; Lisa Edwards's class at Hickory High School in Hickory, NC (insert your own Hoosiers joke); and Suprit Dharmi's class at Terrill Middle School in Scotch Plains, NJ. So here's a shout-out to all of them, and their students.
Amusingly, my fellow adoptees include at least one occasional commenter on this blog, and somebody I know from NIST. Small world.
grrlscientist | October 12, 2009tags: DonorsChoose, science education, teaching, fund-raising, poverty
Nobel Prize week has ended wonderfully: four projects that I included in my "Biology is Life" Challenge have been fully funded! The teachers for each project have posted thank you letters that you can read here: The Viking Shark Project, the Cow Eye Dissection project, the Please Pass Me the Scalpel, Nurse project, and the A Room Without A View project.
There are more proposals that need your help, so be sure to check them out by clicking on the above widget.
Remember: YOU can choose projects to fund as well. Just look…
grrlscientist | October 12, 2009tags: Brewer's Blackbird, Euphagus cyanocephalus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Female Brewer's Blackbird, Euphagus cyanocephalus, photographed at Bodega Bay, California. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 23 December 2007 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/90s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
drorzel | October 12, 2009The Digital Cuttlefish looks at the Archie comics, and waxes poetic:
Two paths play out in a comic book,
When Archie walks down memory lane
"The road not taken" is the hook;
So now, the writers take a look
And re-write Archie's life again,
This time with Betty as his bride;
Veronica the woman spurned,
Who once upon a time, with pride,
Was wed to Archie. Thus allied,
They lived while many seasons turned.
Why am I commenting on this, given that what little I know about Archie I learned from The Comics Curmudgeon and Chasing Amy? Because he goes on to talk about the Many-Worlds Interpretation…
grrlscientist | October 11, 2009tags: garbage patch, Pacific Ocean, environment, science, Scripps Institute, streaming video
Scripps scientist Miriam Goldstein talks about the SEAPLEX expedition to the North Pacific Gyre and how shocked she was to find the amount of plastic on the ocean's surface when floating around in a skiff.
grrlscientist | October 11, 2009tags: Tractrac Chat, Layard's Chat, Cercomela tractrac, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Tractrac Chat, also known as the Layard's Chat, Cercomela tractrac, photographed in Swakopmund, Namibia, Africa [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dennis Paulson, April 2007 [larger view].
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Those of you who are unfamiliar with African birds should still be able to identify this bird to family.
Dennis Paulson with a Tractrac Chat, also known as the Layard's Chat, Cercomela tractrac,…
grrlscientist | October 10, 2009tags: Cape Raven, African White-necked Raven, White-naped Raven, Corvus albicollis, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] A pair of White-naped Ravens, also known as the Cape Raven or the African White-necked Raven, Corvus albicollis, photographed while playing at just under 15000 feet on Mt Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, Africa. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dan Logen, 24 July 2006 [larger view].
Nikon D2X, 70-200 VR lens, at 200. ISO 320, 1/6000, f 3.2.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
The photographer writes;
These…
drorzel | October 10, 2009In the last couple of weeks, I have suddenly acquired a rather full travel schedule for the coming months. The odd thing is that none of these trips are book-publicity junkets-- they're all basically professional-type appearances, several of them taking place before How to Teach Physics to Your Dog hits stores on December 22. My schedule so far:
October 24, Waterloo, Ontario: I'm a late addition the Quantum to Cosmos Festival, as a panelist for a discussion on "Communicating Science in the 21st Century." This will also be webcast and recorded for television (my itinerary includes a "Speaker…
grrlscientist | October 9, 2009tags: Macleay's Kingfisher, Blue Kingfisher, Bush Kingfisher, Forest Kingfisher, Todiramphus macleayii, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Forest Kingfisher, also known as Macleay's Kingfisher, Blue Kingfisher or Bush Kingfisher, Todiramphus macleayii, photographed at Mossman, Queensland, Australia. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Steve Duncan, 18 August 2009 [larger view].
Nikon D200 w/ Nikkor 300mm 1/1600 sec, f/4 iso 200.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
The Forest Kingfisher is classified in the genus…
esiegel | October 8, 2009Earlier this week, I wrote about an article that appeared in Nature, New Scientist and other places. The article -- and especially the popular writeups -- talked about a problem with dark matter and how MOND (MOdified Newtonian Dynamics) solves those problems.
And I'm livid about it. Another physicist/scienceblogger thinks my anger is misplaced, and left me the following in my comments section:
Ethan - this is not a creationism debate.
Hong Sheng is a top dynamicist and he knows perfectly well what the issues are.
The whole point of science at this level is to test models and propose…
gregladen | October 8, 2009This just in: Eugenie Scott, Executive Director of the NCSE, has won the California Academy of Sciences Fellows Medal.
This is somewhere between an Oscar and a Nobel. Congratulations Genie!!!
Details...
DARWIN DEFENDER TAKES TOP PRIZE
California Academy of Sciences honors Dr. Eugenie C. Scott
OAKLAND, CA October 8, 2009
It's better than an Oscar. The NCSE's Dr. Eugenie Scott has received the California Academy of Sciences' highest honor: the Fellows Medal. The Medal recognizes Dr. Scott's "...many important contributions to science, education, and evolution, and for her tireless efforts…
grrlscientist | October 8, 2009tags: Western Willet, Tringa semipalmata, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Western Willet, Tringa semipalmata, photographed at Galveston East Beach, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 25 August 2009 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/1000s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
Okay, I know this mystery bird is only intermediate in difficulty since the two subspecies are not visually…
grrlscientist | October 7, 2009tags: birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Common Nighthawk, also commonly known as the Bullbat, Chordeiles minor, photographed at Smith Point Hawk Watch, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 23 August 2009 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/1000s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
clock | October 6, 2009As you are likely aware, the DonorsChoose campaign is in full swing here on Scienceblogs.com.
What you may not be aware is that Seed Media Group is in, with some nice prizes to the donors:
You can forward the donation receipt to scienceblogs@gmail.com for a chance to win some Swag Bags from ScienceBlogs, complete with Seed moleskin notebooks and tote bags, ScienceBlogs mugs and USB drives, and books from Yale University Press and Oxford University Press - we'll draw a winner or winners every week in October.
Check out all the Sciblings' challenges and pick some to give - a little bit by many…
grrlscientist | October 6, 2009tags: DonorsChoose, science education, teaching, fund-raising, poverty
I am focusing on this project, The Viking Shark Project, because there are only four days left to fund this proposal before the deadline passes and 70 students from an impoverished high-crime magnet classroom are left wanting -- AGAIN!
The teacher is asking for 35 dogfish for his 70 students to dissect and this proposal has already raised half of the required funds, but it still needs to raise the remaining $248.50 so these kids can enhance their educational experience.
Given the fact that sharks are so misunderstood…
grrlscientist | October 6, 2009tags: DonorsChoose, science education, teaching, fund-raising, poverty
What better way is there to celebrate the Nobel Prizes than by helping kids in impoverished classrooms throughout the nation begin their own pursuit of their dreams? By helping kids improve their science education, you will be helping them focus on the positive aspects of their lives and give them an outlet for their energy so they realize that they do have a future! To learn about the proposals that I've chosen to be funded (I do add proposals to my Challenge every few days), click on the above widget (if you use…
grrlscientist | October 6, 2009tags: Greater White-fronted Goose, Anser albifrons, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Greater White-fronted Goose, Anser albifrons, photographed at Tom Bass Park, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 11 August 2009 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/500s 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 | October 5, 2009tags: DonorsChoose, science education, teaching, fund-raising, poverty
The first day of Nobel Prize week has started off wonderfully: Diana from Omaha, Nebraska donated enough money to complete one DonorsChoose project that I included in my DonorsChallenge! Appropriately enough, in this project, Please Pass Me the Scalpel, Nurse, the teacher was asking for funds to help her students in a high-poverty classroom in Washington state gain more knowledge of medicine through the purchase of dissecting kits.
There are more proposals that need your help, so be sure to check them out by clicking on…
ejohnson | October 5, 2009This week kicked off the 2009 Donors Choose Social Media Challenge--a program ScienceBloggers take part in annually to help public school teachers build scientific literacy, engagement, and excitement among their students. DonorsChoose.org is an online charity where public school teachers from across the country submit requests for specific needs or special projects in their classrooms, such as microscopes for biology lessons or notebooks for a writing workshop. Readers can browse these requests online, and choose any classroom they'd like to donate to. The program has been an important event…
ddobbs | October 5, 2009Never know what'll top the charts. Top post was a post I put up in January, "Pfizer takes $2.3 billion offl-label marketing fine." That post reported the news (via FiercePharma) that Pfizer had tucked away in its financial disclosure forms a $2.3 billion charge to end the federal investigation into allegations of off-label promotions of its Cox-2 painkillers, including Bextra. (Lot of money ... but it didn't quite wipe out the company's 2008 net income.) The company had set aside the money as part of a deal it was negotiating Justiice. Finalizing the deal, however, took until September. At…