education
grrlscientist | September 29, 2009tags: Hooded Crow, Corvus cornix, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Hooded Crow, Corvus cornix, photographed on Seurasaari, Helsinki, Finland. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: GrrlScientist, 4 July 2009 [larger view]
Photographed with Canon SX100 IS.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
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grrlscientist | September 29, 2009tags: light spectrum, ROY G BIV, music video, entertainment, Here Comes Science, They Might be Giants, streaming video
Here is another song from They Might be Giants' new album, Here Comes Science!
ddobbs | September 29, 2009At Gene Expression, Razib casts a skeptical eye on a study of the neuroanatomical variability of religiosity.
The brain areas identified in this and the parallel fMRI studies are
not unique to processing religion [the study states], but play major roles in social
cognition. This implies that religious beliefs and behavior emerged not as sui generis evolutionary adaptations, but as an extension (some would say "by product") of social cognition and behavior.
May
be something to that, Razib says -- but it would be nice "get in on the
game of normal human variation in religious orientation
(as…
grrlscientist | September 28, 2009tags: sun, music video, entertainment, Here Comes Science, They Might be Giants, streaming video
Here is another song from They Might be Giants' new album, Here Comes Science!
grrlscientist | September 28, 2009tags: Willow Flycatcher, Empidonax traillii, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Willow Flycatcher, Empidonax traillii, photographed near Park City, Utah. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Terry Sohl, 29 July 2009 [larger view]
Canon 50D, 400 5.6L lens.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
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grrlscientist | September 28, 2009tags: nature, mammals, Antarctica, blue whale, Balaenoptera musculus, National Geographic, streaming video
Researchers on a National Geographic expedition seek answer some mysteries surrounding Blue Whales, Balaenoptera musculus, and find tantalizing clues, but big questions remain unanswered.
grrlscientist | September 27, 2009tags: nature, birds, New Guinea, Black Sickle Bill Bird of Paradise, Epimachus fastuosus, Bruce Beehler, streaming video
This streaming video is a clip from 60 Minutes where Bob Simon and Bruce Beehler, a scientist from Conservation International, head off into the New Guinea wilderness in search of the Black Sickle Bill Bird of Paradise, Epimachus fastuosus, and -- amazingly -- the cameramen capture video of this species's rarely seen courtship dance.
My life-long dream has been to explore untouched parts of the world. Ever since I read Alfred Wallace's Malay Archipelago, as a child, I've…
grrlscientist | September 27, 2009tags: Scarlet-tufted Malachite Sunbird, Nectarinia johnstoni, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Scarlet-tufted Malachite Sunbird, Nectarinia johnstoni, photographed on Mt Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, Africa. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dan Logen, 27 August 2007 [larger view].
Nikon D2X, 70-200 VR Nikon lens, at 200 mm. ISO 200, f/5.6 1/320 sec.
Note the size of the heather that grows on Mt. Kilimanjaro!
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
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grrlscientist | September 27, 2009tags: atheists, atheism, famous atheists, satire, zakiechan, streaming video
This video is NOT an argument for atheism... It's a defense of atheists from right-wing religious -- christian, muslim, jewish and other fundamentalist -- hate-mongers. This video received the award for "Excellence in Humanist Communications" from the Harvard University Humanist Chaplaincy.
grrlscientist | September 26, 2009tags: religion, Bible, humor, satire, Dara O'Briain, streaming video
Comedian Dara O'Briain provides a few comedic insights on on God and the Bible. Video clip taken from Live at the Theatre Royal 2006.
grrlscientist | September 26, 2009tags: Yellow-bellied Sunbird, Nectarinia jugularis, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Yellow-bellied Sunbird, Nectarinia jugularis, photographed at Mossman, Queensland, Australia. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Steve Duncan, 25 August 2009 [larger view].
Nikon D200 w/ Nikkor 300mm f/4 1/640 sec, f/4 iso 400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
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gregladen | September 25, 2009"At least once a week, if not once a day, we might each ponder what cosmic truths lie undiscovered before us, perhaps awaiting the arrival of a clever thinker, an ingenious experiment, or an innovative space mission to reveal them. We might further ponder how those discoveries may one day transform life on Earth."
~Neil Tyson
grrlscientist | September 25, 2009tags: Earth Overshoot Day, environment, education
[larger view]
Today is Earth Overshoot Day. This is the day when humanity will begin placing more demands on the planet's resources -- from filtering CO2 to producing food, fiber and timber -- than the planet can provide in this year. From this day forward until the end of the year, people will meet our demand for ecological services by depleting resource stocks and accumulating carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
The global economic crash has one positive thing to recommend it: according to the Global Footprint Network, our use of world…
grrlscientist | September 25, 2009tags: Ring-necked Pheasant, Phasianus colchicus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Ring-necked Pheasant, Phasianus colchicus, photographed in Lyman County, South Dakota. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Terry Sohl, 1 February 2005 [larger view]
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
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grrlscientist | September 24, 2009tags: Least Sandpiper, Calidris minutilla, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Least Sandpiper, Calidris minutilla, 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 1/500s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
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grrlscientist | September 24, 2009tags: nature, birds, Antarctica, Emperor Penguin, Aptenodytes forsteri, Leopard Seal, Hydrurga leptonyx, David Attenborough, streaming video
Emperor Penguins, Aptenodytes forsteri, return from the seas to feed their young. Dramatic scenes unfold as they hesitate at the edge of the Antarctic sea ice after spotting a Leopard Seal, Hydrurga leptonyx, on the prowl under the Antarctic ice. Narrated by the incomparable David Attenborough.
grrlscientist | September 23, 2009tags: Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, Empidonax flaviventris, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, Empidonax flaviventris, photographed at Smith Point, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 15 August 2009 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/125s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
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grrlscientist | September 23, 2009tags: healthcare, medical insurance, politics, satire, Will Ferrell, streaming video
It's a rotten job, but someone has got to do it: in this video ad, Will Ferrell stands up for the real victims in this health care debate: health insurance providers themselves!
Protect Insurance Companies PSA from Will Ferrell
grrlscientist | September 22, 2009tags: Cattle Egret, Bubulcus ibis, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Cattle Egret, Bubulcus ibis, photographed at Anahuac Wildlife Refuge, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 4 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.
grrlscientist | September 21, 2009tags: Barn Swallow, Hirundo rustica, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Barn Swallow, Hirundo rustica, photographed at Bob Road, Bolivar Peninsula, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 4 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.