education
grrlscientist | July 15, 2009tags: Snowy Owl, Bubo scandiacus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Snowy Owl, Bubo scandiacus, photographed on the Fort Pierre National Grasslands in South Dakota. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Terry Sohl, 4 January 2009 [larger view]
Photo taken with a Canon 50D, 400 5.6L.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
As an added bonus, can you tell me if this bird is a juvenile or adult, male or female?
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | July 15, 2009tags: TEDTalks, environment, cities, poverty, crime, underground economy, Stewart Brand, streaming video
The man who helped usher in the environmental movement in the 1960s and '70s has been rethinking his positions on cities, nuclear power, genetic modification and geo-engineering. This talk at the US State Department is a foretaste of his major new book, sure to provoke widespread debate. You've GOT to watch the video of the train going through the poor part of town in Bankok -- it's amazing! [16:42]
TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED…
esiegel | July 14, 2009In the wake of the release of Unscientific America, a lot of discussion has ensued as to how scientifically literate we are, how scientifically literate we need to be, and what to do about science education in America. There are a lot of interesting perspectives out there, and I'd like to synthesize a few of the most important ones for you.
1. Journalists: There are some excellent science writers and journalists out there. (Miles O'Brien was one of my favorites.) There are also some horrendous ones, as Jessica Palmer helped reveal, who I would go as far as to call sensationalistic, lying…
pontiff | July 14, 2009A friend sent me a link to QuantumCamp:
Have you ever wondered how the microscopic Universe works? QuantumCamp is a one week journey through this strange but beautiful world - seeing nothing less than how every atom in our universe is working!
We begin with Dmitri Mendeleev's periodic table of the elements. We move from Albert Einstein's idea of quantization and end up seeing the hydrogen spectrum while contemplating the ideas of Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg.
We witness the explosive beauty and inner order of the elements which begs for deeper investigation. We dive in and immerse…
mikethemadbiologist | July 14, 2009I'm currently working my way through Unscientific America, and I have the sneaking suspicion that I'm going to wind up agreeing with ScienceBlogling Janet's assessment (actually, it will probably be harsher). But speaking of Janet, I want to take exception with one thing in her review: her emphasis on academic science. From her review (italics mine):
In addition to the research, the grant writing, the manuscript drafting, the student training, the classroom teaching, the paper and grant refereeing, and the always rewarding committee work, academic scientists should be working hard to…
grrlscientist | July 14, 2009tags: Eastern Screech-Owl, Megascops asio, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Fledgling Eastern Screech-Owl, Megascops asio, photographed in a backyard birdbath in Manhattan, Kansas (Riley County). [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dave Rintoul, 1 July 2009 [larger view].
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
drorzel | July 14, 2009Inspired by one of yesterday's easy questions, a pop quiz for you. The figure below shows a Michelson Interferometer:
A laser falls on a beamsplitter, which allows half of the light to pass straight through, and reflects the other half downward. Each of those beams then hits a mirror that reflects it directly back where it come from. The beams are recombined at the beamsplitter, and then fall on the viewing screen at the top of the figure.
When we add together the light from the two paths, we find that if the lengths of the two arms (that is, the distance from beamsplitter to mirror) are…
grrlscientist | July 13, 2009tags: mystery bird, identify this bird, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird, I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours] Passenger Pigeon, Ectopistes migratorius.
Image: Dan Tallman.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
ID Keys: Wine-red breast, slate blue head and rump, slate grey back.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | July 12, 2009tags: Alpine Chat, Hill Chat, Moorland Chat, Cercomela sordida, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Alpine Chat (also known as the Hill Chat or Moorland Chat), Cercomela sordida, photographed at 14000 feet elevation on Mt Kilimanjaro, Africa. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dan Logen, 22 August 2007 [larger view].
Nikon D2X, Nikon 70-200 lens at 200. ISO 400, 1/250, f/3.5.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | July 11, 2009tags: mystery bird, identify this bird, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Brown Thrasher, Toxostoma rufum, photographed at Paul Rushing Park, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 28 March 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 | July 11, 2009tags: technology, neurobiology, brain, Three ways the Brain Creates Meaning, Tom Wujec, streaming video
Information designer Tom Wujec talks through three areas of the brain that help us understand words, images, feelings, connections. In this short talk from TEDU, he asks: How can we best engage our brains to help us better understand big ideas? [6:26]
Take Home message: Creating technology that works intuitively with the way our brains function enhances our ability to solve really complex problems more efficiently.
TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances…
grrlscientist | July 10, 2009tags: Grey-Backed Sparrow-Lark, Eremopterix verticalis, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Grey-Backed Sparrow-Lark, Eremopterix verticalis, 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.
The photographer, Dr. Dennis Paulson, Director Emeritus of the Slater Museum of Natural History, writes;
Sparrow-larks are bona fide larks, but their bills are modified for seed-eating, so they are very sparrow-like. They are…
gregladen | July 9, 2009... In which I narrow the gulf between two allied factions enough that with a running start you can jump across ... maybe.
It has been suggested that Accommodationism is "a more moderate atheist perspective on the nature of religion and science."1 In this view, religion and science are not antithetical, and can exist side by side.
I think this is a fair description of accommodationism, and it is what bothers me about accommodationism itself or the description of accommodationism, depending on who's doing the talking, but I also don't think that this is what certain people who have been…
drorzel | July 9, 2009I got a weirdly hostile comment to my popularization post last night:
You have some chutzpah. You are being paid, probably quite well, to do research! Journalists are paid, not nearly so well, to popularize research. It takes some nerve to take an extra year's salary, and to take time away from your real job---and then to complain about not being well-enough rewarded. If you want something to complain about, become a science journalist and see how well you are rewarded then. I'm sure you think that is beneath you, and that you do so much better a job---but the general audience you aim to…
grrlscientist | July 9, 2009tags: House Finch, Carpodacus mexicanus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] House Finch, Carpodacus mexicanus, photographed in Arizona. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Richard Ditch, 7 August 2006 [larger view].
Date Time Original: 2006:07:08 08:30:57
Exposure Time: 1/249
F-Number: 8.00
ISO: 200
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
gregladen | July 8, 2009Whatever you may think about the Military Industrial Complex, you've got to admit that Raytheon does like to give money to edumication and stuff. Or at least, those of you who live in the Greater Boston Area have seen their name on a bunch of projects.
I've just received notice of a new modeling tool that allows education researchers to play out proposed education scenarios and policies in simulated form to test for those programs with favorable/positive outcomes.
Here's the press release:
WALTHAM, Mass., and WASHINGTON, (July 8, 2009) - Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) and Business-Higher…
bioephemera | July 8, 2009Opened the July 09 issue of The Scientist to find an article by Steven Wiley on why, contrary to popular belief, you aren't necessarily a failure if it turns out you're not suited for academic research:
There is no disgrace in failing to achieve a career as a scientist. Truly. Some of my students achieved distinction in their graduate work only to walk away from a scientific career with no regrets and with much ensuing success. Life is full of opportunities. The more attuned we are to how we realistically match those opportunities, the more likely we are to find real satisfaction in our…
grrlscientist | July 8, 2009tags: Red-shouldered Hawk, Buteo lineatus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery birds] Red-shouldered Hawk, Buteo lineatus, photographed at Brazos Bend State Park, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 30 April 2009 [larger view].
Nikon D200 ,Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/200s 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 | July 7, 2009tags: Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater, Merops oreobates, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater, Merops oreobates, photographed at Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania, Africa. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dan Logen, 8 August 2006 [larger view].
Nikon D2X, 200-400 mm VR lens at 400. ISO 320, 1/400, f/5.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | July 7, 2009tags: mystery bird, identify this bird, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz, streaming video
A reader asked me to ask you to identify these [Mystery Birds], filmed in Wasilla, Alaska, USA, on 4 July 2009. Hint: Turn the sound off while viewing this video to prevent stimulating your gag reflex.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.