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cwilcox | April 6, 2009Hey there folks! There's a great new carnival out there...
Be sure to check out Scientia Pro Publica 1, The Science, Nature and Medicine Blog Carnival up at GrrlScientist!
And don't miss Carnival of the Blue #23, now up at Deep Sea News!
gregladen | April 6, 2009The latest comprehensive survey of Black-faced Spoonbill Platalea minor has revealed a decrease in the number of wintering birds, with 2,041 individuals counted compared to 2,065 in 2008. Coordinated by the Hong Kong Bird Watching Society (BirdLife in Hong Kong) and supported by Wild Bird Society of Japan (BirdLife in Japan), Chinese wild Bird Federation (BirdLife in Taiwan), and the Indochina Programme Office, plus input from Chinese and Korean birdwatchers. This census is one of the best examples of single-species population monitoring in Asia.
In the late 1980s, only a few hundred birds…
gregladen | April 6, 2009A new blog carnival, called Scientia Pro Publica, has been launched at Living the Scientific Life. Have a look at edition numero uno.
gregladen | April 6, 2009Or, "Botany ... can't live with it, can't live without it ...."
... I was out there on the nature trail, both high on life and high on a rolled up and smoked version of Mother Nature. I started talking to Jeff and the other classmates who had gathered around the growing pile of deadwood. Everybody agreed that life was pretty good and were especially happy for me that I had a date for Homecoming.
... For some strange reason, which I can't for the life of me explain right now, I picked up a leaf from the ground and ...
No, no! Don't do it! Don't do it!
Continue reading ....
grrlscientist | April 6, 2009Here's the latest blog carnivals for you to read and enjoy;
Carnival of the Godless, issue 114. This blog carnival focuses on writings about a world without religious wingnuttery polluting it.
Just Write blog carnival, 3 April 2008 edition. This is filled with writing goodness for you to enjoy.
Academy of Science and Technology blog carnival, 30 March edition. I was unaware that this blog carnival had been published until yesterday, so I am late notifying you of its existence. So please support the host by going there and reading through it!
All Things Eco, #43. This blog carnival…
pontiff | April 6, 2009Over at Xconomy Ed Lazowska writes about the proposed cuts in higher education here in the state of Washington. There I find that the Washington higher eduction is number one! Number one in terms of the percentage being cut by the (proposed) state budget: 23 to 31 percent among global challenge peer states. But are we really number one or are there other non-global challenge peer states that are getting cut worse? Inquiring minds want to know: which university system is going to win the prestigious "the Tax Man axeth" contest?
jwilbanks | April 6, 2009I don't like getting into blog back and forths, but this post from the Information Research folks really deserves a reply of its own. I believe this is an honest piece of confusion, and it's likely the result of FUD from the traditional publishing community. I invite the Information Research folks to contact me if they have questions about how Open Access works from a legal perspective so that we can counter any unwarranted fears about how to make the sharing involved easy and legal - we're here to help.
From the post:
If the author retains copyright, as Information Research authors do, it is…
cwilcox | April 5, 2009If you've ever been interested in a guy and tried to subtly hint that you like him, you know exactly how dense men can be. The fresh research from Bucknell University doesn't tell you anything new.
The study, in press in the journal Personality and Individual Differences, has found that men are a bit thick when it comes to opening lines. If you want to flirt, it's best to be direct with them - go figure.
The researchers noted that previous research had looked into what pick-up lines or conversation starters worked best for men trying to date women. Women preferred lines that displayed…
gregladen | April 5, 2009Carnival of Space 98 is here.
Carnival of the Blue 22 is here
Down Under Feminist Carnival is Here.
The BoBo Carnival of Politics - April 5, 2009 Edition
gregladen | April 5, 2009An ice bridge holding a vast Antarctic ice shelf in place has shattered and may herald a wider collapse caused by global warming, a scientist said Saturday.
"It's amazing how the ice has ruptured," said David Vaughan, a glaciologist with the British Antarctic Survey. "Two days ago it was intact," he said, referring to a satellite image of the Wilkins ice shelf.
The satellite picture, by the European Space Agency, showed that a strip of ice about 25 miles long that is believed to pin the ice shelf in place had snapped.
details
gregladen | April 5, 2009 The federal government has opened a criminal investigation into the capture and death of the last known jaguar in the United States, amid accusations that a biologist working for the state illegally baited a trap to attract the cat.
The 118-pound male jaguar, known as Macho B, was captured on Feb. 18 in a leg-hold snare placed by the Arizona Game and Fish Department in a rugged mountainous area southwest of Tucson. The animal, which was described in field reports as healthy and robust, was tranquilized, equipped with a radio-tracking collar and released from the trap.
The jaguar, which was…
grrlscientist | April 5, 2009
Image: wemidji (Jacques Marcoux).
Nam et ipsa scientia potestas est (And thus knowledge itself is power)
-- Sir Francis Bacon.
Since Tangled Bank has gone the way of the Dodo (Passenger Pigeon, Carolina Parakeet, Ivory-Billed Woodpecker -- insert the name of your favorite extinct species here) and will probably never be seen again, despite promises to the contrary, there is a huge hole in the science writing blogosphere. A hole that must be filled. So I am proposing to do just that: I am starting a new science blog carnival, Scientia, which will be be THE science blog writing carnival.…
gregladen | April 5, 2009And now, for today's ROFLMAO moment, I give you Michel Bachmann on Homosexuals!
Hat Tip: Dump MB Web Site, where you will find much more.
gregladen | April 4, 2009Now that THIS is available.
Shall we start with a Below the Knee Amputation?
pharyngula | April 4, 2009First Iowa, and now North Dakota — North Dakota has rejected a bill that would have given "personhood" to every fertilized egg. The senate voted by a large majority, but not unanimity, to squash that very silly bill.
OK, Wisconsin and South Dakota — your turn. Do something to impress me tomorrow.
grrlscientist | April 4, 2009Okay my peeps, due to my own inept planning abilities, it seems I am helping to rejuvenate one blog carnival (Circus of the Spineless) while I am also launching another carnival, Scientia, on precisely the same day. Was this really dumb of me? Of course it was. However, I am going to make this happen for you because I said I would. So I need your help! So if you have written a "translation" of a scientific paper, or an essay, a photoessay or if you have a stunning image of a squishy (or crusty) living entity that lacks a backbone -- not including American politicians -- to share with the…