NYC life
grrlscientist | December 30, 2009tags: education, public outreach, SciCafe, science cafe, AMNH, American Museum of Natural History, NYC, streaming video
Who: Ichthyologist Melanie StiassnyWhat: free public presentation, "Mysteries of the Congo: Exploring the World's Deepest River"When: 700pm, Wednesday, 6 January 2010Where: 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 featured…
grrlscientist | December 23, 2009tags: education, public outreach, SciCafe, science cafe, AMNH, American Museum of Natural History, NYC, streaming video
Who: Ichthyologist Melanie StiassnyWhat: free public presentation, "Mysteries of the Congo: Exploring the World's Deepest River"When: 700pm, Wednesday, 6 January 2010Where: 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 featured…
grrlscientist | December 23, 2009tags: The Known Universe, education, AMNH, American Museum of Natural History, NYC, streaming video
The Known Universe is an educational video about the new exhibit at AMNH that takes viewers from the Himalayas through our atmosphere and the inky black of space to the afterglow of the Big Bang. Every star, planet, and quasar seen in the film is possible because of the world's most complete four-dimensional map of the universe, the Digital Universe Atlas that is maintained and updated by astrophysicists at the American Museum of Natural History. The new film, created by the Museum, is part of…
grrlscientist | December 17, 2009tags: education, public outreach, SciCafe, science cafe, AMNH, American Museum of Natural History, NYC, streaming video
Since the holidays are a busy time, I am notifying you of NYC's upcoming SciCafe a little early so you can be sure to add it to your calenders!
Who: Ichthyologist Melanie StiassnyWhat: free public presentation, "Mysteries of the Congo: Exploring the World's Deepest River"When: 700pm, Wednesday, 6 January 2010Where: 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…
grrlscientist | November 19, 2009By the time this publishes, I will be on the plane with my parrots somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean (hopefully not in it!), flying to Frankfurt! So while I am preoccupied with doing that, I thought I would write this list to amuse you (and to remind you that I am thinking about all of you, even while relocating);
Why I WILL miss living in NYC:
NYC's vibrant cash economy, which made it possible (barely) for me to pay my rent without having a "real job." As much as I love Seattle (my home), I am well aware that I could not have survived in Seattle if I had to rely on their cash economy.…
grrlscientist | October 25, 2009tags: Invisible dogs, NYC Life, prank, humor, funny, fucking hilarious, WTF, streaming video
As a NYCer, I can tell you that NYC is filled with weird people, but on some days, the populace is weirder than others. For example, more than 2,000 people walked "invisible dogs" down the streets of Brooklyn on a Sunday afternoon recently. The leashes were on loan from the current owner of 51 Bergen Street, the factory space where the invisible dog toy was invented in the 1970s. Participants of all ages spread out from Red Hook to Brooklyn Heights, very seriously walking their very silly dogs.…
grrlscientist | September 25, 2009tags: spider silk, Madagascar, tapestry, textile art, AMNH, American Museum of Natural History, NYC, streaming video
A spectacular and extremely rare textile, woven from golden-colored silk thread produced by more than one million spiders in Madagascar is now on display at the American Museum of Natural History in the Grand Gallery.
Drawing on the legacy of a French missionary, Jacob Paul Camboué, this contemporary textile measures 11 feet by 4 feet and took four years to make using a painstaking technique.
Hear from Dr. Ian Tattersall, Curator, Division of Anthropology at AMNH, as well as…
grrlscientist | September 17, 2009
Who: Eric Maisel, PhDWhat: free public presentation, "Living Well Without Gods"Where: University Settlement, 184 Eldridge Street (and Rivington St.) [map] 273 Bowery (Bowery & Houston) [map]When: 730pm, Thursday, 17 September
Eric Maisel, PhD, is the author of more than thirty works of fiction and nonfiction. His latest book is The Atheist's Way: Living Well Without Gods, in which he discusses how to find rich personal meaning in life despite the absence of beneficent gods and the indifference of the universe to human concerns.
In his book, Maisel addresses atheists who don't always…
grrlscientist | September 16, 2009
Who: Eric Maisel, PhDWhat: free public presentation, "Living Well Without Gods"Where: University Settlement, 184 Eldridge Street (and Rivington St.) [map] 273 Bowery (Bowery & Houston) [map]When: 730pm, Thursday, 17 September
Eric Maisel, PhD, is the author of more than thirty works of fiction and nonfiction. His latest book is The Atheist's Way: Living Well Without Gods, in which he discusses how to find rich personal meaning in life despite the absence of beneficent gods and the indifference of the universe to human concerns.
In his book, Maisel addresses atheists who don't always…
grrlscientist | September 14, 2009tags: NYC Life, NYPL, public services, public education, public libraries
I just learned that ten branches of the New York Public Library (NYPL) are significantly lengthening their hours of public access -- a move that is being greeted with joy by students, unemployed job seekers and others who rely upon the NYPL for a safe, quiet and clean place to do research, study, and read, as well as to access to the internet, computers and printers for free, and of course, to borrow books, magazines, film and recordings, and to do who-knows-what-else.
Starting TODAY, 14 September, ten NYPL branches…
grrlscientist | September 13, 2009tags: conservation, environmentalism, global warming, ocean acidification, AMNH, American Museum of Natural History, New York City, A Sea Change, film premier
Image: A Sea Change [larger view].
Can you imagine oceans that have been emptied of all fish? What would life be like for other life forms on this planet if there really were no more fish in the sea? This is not science fiction: human-caused ocean acidification is already making its effects known. Sometimes known as the "wet underbelly" or "evil twin" of climate change, ocean acidification is caused by excess carbon dioxide from…
grrlscientist | September 12, 2009tags: conservation, environmentalism, global warming, ocean acidification, AMNH, American Museum of Natural History, New York City, A Sea Change, film premier
Image: A Sea Change [larger view].
Can you imagine oceans that have been emptied of all fish? What would life be like for other life forms on this planet if there really were no more fish in the sea? This is not science fiction: human-caused ocean acidification is already making its effects known. Sometimes known as the "wet underbelly" or "evil twin" of climate change, ocean acidification is caused by excess carbon dioxide from…
grrlscientist | September 12, 2009tags: birds, parrots, Quaker Parrot, Monk ParakeetGrey-Breasted parakeet, Myiopsitta monachus, NYC events, NYC Life, Brooklyn, Wild Parrot Safari
Monk Parakeet (Myiopsitta monachus) Old San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Image: Magnus Manske, 10 May 2008, Wikipedia [larger view]
Even though NYC is located in the armpit of hell where, during the summers, the air is a humid miasma of fetid human sweat and decomposing dog shit, and the winters possess the cold and wind of Antarctica with none of its natural charms, there is a brave group of illegal aliens who not only live here, but are actually thriving…
grrlscientist | September 11, 2009
Eight years ago today, I watched 7 WTC (7 World Trade Center) collapse at 17:20 after its structural integrity had been compromised by fires and by the collapse of the nearby north tower due to a terrorist attack by a group of religious wingnuts. These attacks killed 2,603 people in New York City in the towers and on the ground.
grrlscientist | September 11, 2009The cricket sang,
And set the sun,
And workmen finished, one by one,
Their seam the day upon.
The low grass loaded with the dew,
The twilight stood as strangers do
With hat in hand, polite and new,
To stay as if, or go.
A vastness, as a neighbor, came,--
A wisdom without face or name,
A peace, as hemispheres at home,--
And so the night became.
~ Emily Dickinson
This is the cutest event I've heard of for NYC: a night spent counting crickets and katydids.
What: NYC Cricket Crawl (counting 7 species of crickets and katydids in NYC)Where: New York City areaWhen: Friday, 11 September 2009 at 7:…
grrlscientist | September 11, 2009tags: birds, parrots, Quaker Parrot, Monk ParakeetGrey-Breasted parakeet, Myiopsitta monachus, NYC events, NYC Life, Brooklyn, Wild Parrot Safari
Monk Parakeet (Myiopsitta monachus) Old San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Image: Magnus Manske, 10 May 2008, Wikipedia [larger view]
Even though NYC is located in the armpit of hell where, during the summers, the air is a humid miasma of fetid human sweat and decomposing dog shit, and the winters possess the cold and wind of Antarctica with none of its natural charms, there is a brave group of illegal aliens who not only live here, but are actually thriving…
grrlscientist | September 11, 2009
[larger view]
Eight years ago today, I watched WTC 1 (the north tower) collapse at 10:28, after it burned for approximately 102 minutes in a fire caused by the impact of United Airlines Flight 11. These attacks killed 2,603 people in New York City in the towers and on the ground.
grrlscientist | September 11, 2009
[larger view]
Eight years ago today, I watched WTC 2 (The south tower) collapse at 09:59, after burning for 56 minutes in a fire caused by the impact of United Airlines Flight 175. These attacks killed 2,603 people in New York City in the towers and on the ground.
grrlscientist | September 10, 2009The cricket sang,
And set the sun,
And workmen finished, one by one,
Their seam the day upon.
The low grass loaded with the dew,
The twilight stood as strangers do
With hat in hand, polite and new,
To stay as if, or go.
A vastness, as a neighbor, came,--
A wisdom without face or name,
A peace, as hemispheres at home,--
And so the night became.
~ Emily Dickinson
This is the cutest event I've heard of for NYC: a night spent counting crickets and katydids.
What: NYC Cricket Crawl (counting 7 species of crickets and katydids in NYC)Where: New York City areaWhen: Friday, 11 September 2009 at 7:…
grrlscientist | September 10, 2009
Who: Toni Van Pelt, director of the Center for Inquiry's Office of Public Policy in Washington, D.C.What: free public presentation, "Lobbying for Science and Reason on Capitol Hill"Where: University Settlement, 184 Eldridge Street (and Rivington St.) [map] 273 Bowery site (that's at Bowery/Houston, just next door to an excellent Whole Foods branch [map])When: 730pm, Thursday, 10 September
Toni Van Pelt is the director of the Center for Inquiry's Office of Public Policy in Washington, D.C. She will talk about her work as a lobbyist, promoting and advancing science and secularism. In her…