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gregladen | December 16, 2011Why is the Robin's breast red? Why are any of the parts of any birds colorful? To make it easier for birders to identify them, of course!
But seriously, Science has a more interesting set of answers, and some recently published research on European Robins helps to examine this question in some detail.
There are several reasons that scientists have postulated for any kind of signaling seen in animals, and bird's colors are clearly some kind of signal. Here's a short list of them:
Read On
gregladen | December 16, 2011More of my unused shortlist of presents.
For music, consider the latest Florence + The Machine , something by my nephew, XFactor contestant LeRoy Bell, or one of my latest fav's, Holly MIranda.
I'm actually giving someone the The Robert Downy Sherlock Holmes Movie, because I think it is important to own the canon. Speaking of canon, a gift of Most of the harry potter movies is always nice (I just got mine a while back) the latest and last movie, which just came out., or the Star Wars Collection, or The Lord of the Rings. Anyway, something canonical.
Or, if documentary is more your style or…
gregladen | December 16, 2011One of the authors of Ice Ages: Solving the Mystery (John) himself, Shackleton himself, and Emiliani himself were ushered into the building past the graduate students, the guards, and the members of the public who wandered the halls of the museum blissfully unaware that the powerhouses of paleoclimate research were brushing past them. They were Glynn Isaac's guests (and friends and colleagues) and were meeting with Glynn in preparation for an impromptu public conference that would be held the next day in the Geology Lecture Hall downstairs. These were the people who had put the climatic…
gregladen | December 15, 2011The Washington Post reports:
Christopher Hitchens, a sharp-witted provocateur who used his formidable learning, biting wit and muscular prose style to skewer what he considered high-placed hypocrites, craven lackeys of the right and left, "Islamic fascists" and religious faith of any kind, died Thursday "from pneumonia, a complication of esophageal cancer," according to Vanity Fair, the magazine for which Mr. Hitchens worked. He was 62.
gregladen | December 15, 2011If you know a Dr. Who fan and you plan to buy that person a present, consider the following:
Doctor Who: The Complete Specials. This will be a much appreciated addition to anyone's library.
A Sonic Screwdriver. Don't leave the Tardis without it!
A Dalek Alarm Clock, which wakes you up to "Exterminate! Exterminate!!!"
These were all on my short list of items to get Julia ... I ended up getting her something else, but perhaps for her birthday...
gregladen | December 14, 2011With a brief filed (PDF) in Ohio's Fifth District Court of Appeals, John Freshwater is appealing a court's ruling to uphold his termination as a middle school science teacher in Mount Vernon, Ohio. It is the latest twist in a long saga that began in 2008, when a local family accused Freshwater of engaging in inappropriate religious activity -- including teaching creationism -- and sued Freshwater and the district. The Mount Vernon City School Board then voted to begin proceedings to terminate his employment. After administrative hearings that proceeded sporadically over two years, the referee…
gregladen | December 14, 2011Do Christmas Songs give you nightmares? They give me nightmares.
I'm writing something about Gender and where we get it, but that project is delayed (I know some of you are waiting eagerly). So, to #occupy your time, check out these two items:
Gender Transitioning and Gender Stereotypes
and
Transsexualism and You!
gregladen | December 14, 2011First, let's just quickly say what it is. The Higgs boson may or may not exist. If it does exist, it is a boson.
Matter is made up of smaller and smaller things, down to a point. A chair may be made of pieces of wood, which in turn are made up of plant cells, etc. etc., until we get down to the atom. Atoms are made up of "subatomic particles" and at this point it becomes 100% spooky and weird.
Below the level of the atom there are fermions, vector bosons and a scalar boson. These things combine to make up many and varied subatomic particles, some of which the average reasonably well…
gregladen | December 14, 2011Nominations for The Skeptic Awards 2011.
The Skeptic Magazine is delighted, for the first time, to be giving awards celebrating skeptical activity in several categories during 2011. As well as an 'Editors' Choice' award for lifetime achievement, we have five other categories - and for those we're going to need your help.
GO HERE to learn more and to vote.
Here's my choice for best skeptical video clip:
gregladen | December 14, 2011The holidays are upon us, and as part of the War on Christmas, we must EAT ALL THE COOKIES!!!11!
But first we must bake them. I will be farming Julia out to help in The Kitchens in Plymouth this weekend while I go to the gym for nine hours. Over at the Zvans the ovens will be stoked and there will be much rending of butter.
And, of course, Bug Girl is trying to make us turn green!
gregladen | December 13, 2011Gene Marks writing for Forbes has laid out a plan for how Poor Black Kids of the Inner City can end up going to an Ivy League College. It is simple and elegant: They merely need to prioritize.
But there are some problems with this idea, only a few of which I touch on here.
gregladen | December 10, 2011Follow the adventures of Klaus the Forklift Operator. May not be work safe, depending on where you work:
Bonus video:
gregladen | December 9, 2011This is actually outrageous. Some of your messages, perhaps many, have been hidden in a place you probably never thought to look. I just found out about it, and looked there, and in fact there were messages I needed to see. Facebook has majorly let me down with this cute little move of theirs.
The story about how bad this can get and how to find your hidden missives is HERE. Hat tip, Ana.
gregladen | December 8, 2011Air France Flight 447 crashed into the Atlantic Ocean (near here) some time ago. In the absence of much physical evidence, experts figured out that the crash involved a misunderstanding of air speed due in part to faulty air speed data from iced over sensors. Then, last April, the cockpit data and voice recorders were fished out of the sea, which is rather incredible. Since then, further analysis has confirmed the initial finding but added a twist: Yes, there was a problem with air speed, but the proximate reason for the crash is because the individuals piloting the plane (especially one…
gregladen | December 8, 2011That's a large number of grants.
As of today, the National Geographic Society has issued 10,000 grants funding research and exploration since 1890--including ten National Geographic grant projects that, according to an internal panel, "have made the greatest difference in understanding the Earth."
Barbara Moffet interviews Krithi Karanth, a 32-year-old conservation biologist based in Bangalore, India, the recipient of National Geographic's 10,000th grant (since the first in 1890). Dr. Karanth, who grew up around the wild animals of India's national parks, will use the funds to examine the…
gregladen | December 7, 2011Opening Our Oceans With Data.Gov
Today, we are pleased to announce the release of ocean.data.gov, the newest community on Data.gov. This effort is the result of two important initiatives of the Obama Administration: the development and implementation of the National Policy for the Stewardship of the Ocean, our Coasts, and the Great Lakes and the creation of Data.gov to make Federal data more accessible to the American people.
Since President Obama signed the Executive Order establishing a National Ocean Policy, the Administration has been working steadily to implement this policy. One…