As one of the initial recruits to Scienceblogs, my years and effort invested into Scienceblogs have been worthwhile. Since I relocated my original blog, Living the Scientific Life, to Scienceblogs in early January 2006, it received more than 6 million visits and nearly 30,000 comments, it helped me build a vibrant and supportive community of readers to whom I owe so much, and it also introduced me to my spouse. But alas, the time has arrived for me to move on. The above image is the new banner for my blog that I renamed as Punctuated Equilibrium. This blog has officially relocated to The…

Unless you've been living under a rock, or you are the CEO of Seed Media Group (SMG), you are well aware that Bora Zivkovic left ScienceBlogs 24 hours ago. Shockingly, despite this important loss, Adam Bly, CEO of SMG, has not communicated with any of us who remain at ScienceBlogs about this loss either by telephone, email, text, twitter, carrier pigeon or even with smoke signals. As far as I am concerned, ScienceBlogs is now ZombieBlogs, the undead, a heartless and soulless brain-eating monster that once was a beautiful living ideal. A significant number of us have been planning a strike,…

tags: Magnificent Frigatebird, Man O'War, Fregata magnificens, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz [Mystery bird] Magnificent Frigatebird, sometimes known as the Man O'War, Fregata magnificens, photographed at Quintana Neotropical Bird Sanctuary, Brazoria County, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours] Image: Joseph Kennedy, 15 July 2010 [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. This bird is built for speed and agility in the air and is…

Nam et ipsa scientia potestas est (And thus knowledge itself is power) -- Sir Francis Bacon. The most recent edition of Scientia Pro Publica (Science for the People) -- "Scientia Pro Publica 35" -- was just published at the buttcrack of dawn today by John at Kind of Curious. To share yours, or others', writing, either use this automated submission form or use the cute little widget on the right (be aware that widget doesn't upload when the mother site is nonfunctional, and ALWAYS check your email/spam filter for your submission receipt to be sure it was sent properly). Alternatively,…

tags: The Secret Powers of Time, time, hedonism, future orientation, education, personality type, popular psychology, society, culture, lucifer effect, teenage pregnancy, Philip Zimbardo, Royal Society of Art, RSA, streaming video In this video animation, Professor Philip Zimbardo conveys how our individual perspectives of time affect our work, health and well-being. Time influences who we are as a person, how we view relationships and how we act in the world. Learn more about RSA Animate.

tags: A Rocket of His Own, TIME magazine, astronomy, AMNH, American Museum of Natural History, space travel, Saturn V rocket, The Seven Wonders of America, Marshall Space Flight Center, Neil deGrasse Tyson, streaming video TIME magazine recently went to interview astronomer Neil deGrasse Tyson and noticed a huge crate had been delivered to his office at the American Museum of Natural History. He was kind enough to open it on-camera. The back story of this gift is that Neil was adamant that ABC News include the Saturn V Rocket on its list of The 7 Wonders of America. The folks at the Marshall…

tags: Rosa Blume, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, travel, nature, flowers, image of the day, photography Rosa Blume unter Goldenen Blumen Image: GrrlScientist, 14 July 2010, Frankfurt am Main, Germany [larger view] This pink rose was the only one in a sea of gold roses.

tags: ethics, journalistic ethics, PepsiCo Food Frontiers blog, advertorial, ScienceBlogs, Seed Media Group, Adam Bly I am greatly saddened to be able to tell you finally that my friend and colleague -- no, former colleague -- Bora Zivkovic, is leaving ScienceBlogs for good. I suspected and then knew for the past week and a half that this was coming, but I'd be lying if I didn't say that I am deeply, deeply upset. So upset that I am really not able to talk about it. But in short, Bora is like a brother to me and since I've no family to speak of (until a few short months ago, when my real-…

tags: Reddish Egret, Egretta rufescens, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz [Mystery bird] Reddish Egret, Egretta rufescens, photographed at Quintana Neotropical Bird Sanctuary, Brazoria County, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours] Image: Joseph Kennedy, 15 July 2010 [larger view]. Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/1250s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400. Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification. This lovely species was nearly exterminated in the US by hunters who killed the birds for their plumes. The population is small…

tags: Zircons: Time Capsules from the Early Earth, science bulletins, geology, AMNH, American Museum of Natural History, hadean eon, zircon, rocks, age of the earth, history of planet earth, streaming video Zircons are tiny crystals with a big story to tell. Some of these minerals are the oldest Earth materials ever discovered, and therefore yield clues about what the planet was like after it formed 4.5 billion years ago. In this new Science Bulletins video, travel to a remote island off Greenland's coast and a zircon-making lab in New York State to learn how geologists are using these time…

tags: Late For Work, jobs, employment, humor, funny, comedy, fucking hilarious, social observation, streaming video It's hot, you were up late drinking with your friends and now it's Monday morning -- again! Unlike some videos that I share with you, this one gets straight to the point -- a point that we've all achieved at some time during our lives.

tags: Purpur Clematis, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, travel, nature, flowers, image of the day, photography Purpur Clematis (Clematis species) Image: GrrlScientist, 14 July 2010 [larger view] Some of the lovely purple clematis that are growing at the Vietnamese Restaurant near where I live in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.

My commenters really make my day. Because I am such a crappy commenter, I really appreciate that about you. There have been many times in my life when my commenters have been the only reason I've continued writing this blog, and there has been an indecent number of times when one or more of my commenters said something that made me decide that it was worthwhile to just stay alive at all. Every morning, the first thing I do (even before making coffee!) is read your comments. But my fondness for you and your comments is more than just idle words from me: for example, as a measure of how much I…

tags: Birdbooker Report, bird books, animal books, natural history books, ecology books Books to the ceiling, Books to the sky, My pile of books is a mile high. How I love them! How I need them! I'll have a long beard by the time I read them. ~ Arnold Lobel [1933-1987] author of many popular children's books. The Birdbooker Report is a special weekly report of a wide variety of science, nature, environment and behavior books and field guides that currently are, or soon will be available for purchase. This report is written by one of my Seattle birding pals and book collector, Ian "…

tags: Black Kite, Milvus migrans, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz [Mystery bird] Black Kite, Milvus migrans, photographed at Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania, Africa. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours] Image: Dan Logen, 23 January 2010 [larger view]. Nikon D2X, with 600 mm lens with 1.4 extender, ISO 320, 1/350 sec f/5.6. Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification. You've seen this African species before, but may not remember, but there are plenty of family members in North America that you are familiar with, so if you cannot identify this…

tags: Mormonism, religion, cults, mind control, Magic Mormon Underwear, moron, offbeat, humor, funny, comedy, silly, beliefs, insanity, education, streaming video I've lived among mormons for more years than I care to think about, and yes, the magic underwear was one of those mysteries that us kids speculated on when the adults weren't around. As if they were flies upon the walls of my childhood, the Thinking Atheist has made this video that discusses the the Mormon church's most famous "secret."

tags: Brother Sam Singleton Atheist Evangelist, Atheists at Prayer, prayer, atheism, agnosticism, humor, funny, comedy, fucking hilarious, satire, streaming video This video features the colorful language and thoughts of my new boyfriend, Sam Singleton Atheist Evangelist as he discusses prayer-time etiquette for atheists.

tags: Gray Wren-warbler, Zambia Wren-warbler, Western Wren-warbler, Calamonastes simplex, Lesser Striped Swallow, Striped Swallow, Hirundo abyssinica, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz [Mystery bird]Gray Wren-warbler (perched), also known as a Zambia Wren-warbler or Western Wren-warbler, Calamonastes simplex, and a Lesser Striped Swallow (flying), also known as a Striped Swallow, Hirundo abyssinica, photographed near the Pangani River Camp, Tanzania, Africa. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours] Image: Dan Logen, 14 January 2010 [larger view]. Nikon D300s, 600 mm VR lens. ISO…

tags: Candid Camera, Hidden Camera, Bloody Arm, prank, humor, funny, silly, streaming video This cute video captures people's reactions when they are pranked by twins.

Image: wemidji (Jacques Marcoux). Nam et ipsa scientia potestas est (And thus knowledge itself is power) -- Sir Francis Bacon. Since I've been preoccupied with the PepsiCo fiasco, I've not been promoting Scientia Pro Publica as I should be doing. So here's the most recent edition; "Scientia Pro Publica 34", published by Denis at This View of Earth. Let's all head out to Denis's blog to read the carnival and leave some warm fuzzies in the comments thread, then read the linked essays and leave your comments on at least one of those essays, either telling those authors what they did well, or…