grrlscientist | February 4, 2010tags: health, medicine, TEDMED,health care, ALS, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, technology, internet, Jamie Heywood, TEDTalks, streaming video
When Jamie Heywood's brother was diagnosed with ALS, he devoted his life to fighting the disease as well. The Heywood brothers built an ingenious website where people share and track data on their illnesses -- and they discovered that the collective data had enormous power to comfort, explain and predict.
TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the…
grrlscientist | February 4, 2010tags: Suomenlinnan Suvi, Helsinki, Finland, nature, image of the day
Suomenlinnan Suvi (Suomenlinna summer).
Soumenlinna, Helsinki, Finland.
Image: GrrlScientist, 19 July 2009 [larger view].
grrlscientist | February 4, 2010tags: Carolina Chickadee, Poecile carolinensis, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Carolina Chickadee, Poecile carolinensis, photographed in the photographer's back yard in Houston, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 18 January 2010 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/320s 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 | February 4, 2010tags: Science Online 2010, Scio10, Ms Baker's Biology Class,Staten Island Academy, NYC, education, technology, internet, streaming video
This is a video collage by Stacy "Ms Bakeriffic" Baker's high school biology students from Staten Island Academy in Staten Island, NY. In this video, they take part in Science Online '10 in North Carolina. They also went to the lemur farm, which makes me SO JEALOUS! I love lemurs!
I am so pleased to see this video of SciO10 -- an event I wish I had attended. On one hand, I am pleased these kids got to experience this and on the other hand, I am jealous,…
grrlscientist | February 3, 2010tags: health, medicine, health care, diagnostics, poverty, technology, George Whitesides, TEDTalks, streaming video
Traditional lab tests for disease diagnosis can be too expensive and cumbersome for regions that are most in need. George Whitesides' ingenious answer, at TEDxBoston, is a foolproof tool that can be manufactured at virtually zero cost.
In his legendary career in chemistry, George Whitesides has been a pioneer in microfabrication and nanoscale self-assembly. Now, he's fabbing a diagnostic lab on a chip.
TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from…
grrlscientist | February 3, 2010tags: meme, blogging, Why Blog?, navel gazing, lint picking
Steffi Suhr, who writes Science Behind the Scenes at Nature Network, is (re)asking this popular meme in the wake of the internecine explosion that ensued after a misunderstanding at the recent Science Online 2010 conference expanded to encompass the two best and biggest English-speaking science blog sites in the world: Nature Network and ScienceBlogs. The questions;
What made you start blogging?
Is a sense of community an important part of blogging for you, or do you prefer blogging 'solo'?
Are there blogs you never look at? If…
grrlscientist | February 3, 2010TheTimes Online had a poll on one of their blogs last month, asking their readers if science in their free time is a 'guy-thing'? Who is reading their blog? So I thought I'd also write a poll asking something similar. The poll (below the jump) was written quickly, but with the intention of gathering as much data as possible from answers to that one question (If you check their poll and mine, you'll find the data I am collecting is somewhat different from theirs). I am going to let the poll run for one month and will summarize the answers at the end. I admit that I am as curious as you are…
grrlscientist | February 3, 2010tags: Suomenlinnan Muuri, Helsinki, Finland, nature, image of the day
Suomenlinnan Muuri (Suomenlinna wall).
Soumenlinna, Helsinki, Finland.
Image: GrrlScientist, 19 July 2009 [larger view].
I like the contrast between the cool blue tones of the stones in the wall and the warmer yellow tones of the grass growing up around the walls ..
grrlscientist | February 3, 2010Better late than never, the 20th Carnival of Evolution has been published at Skeptic Wonder. The author, Psi, has actually reconstructed a phylogenetic analysis using the URLs as protein sequences, converting the letters into amino acids. This then resulted in a cladogram that show that most blog-posts form monophyletic clades. Although, oddly, there is one instance of paraphyly .. hrm.
grrlscientist | February 3, 2010tags: Least Flycatcher, Empidonax minimus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Least Flycatcher, Empidonax minimus, photographed on the San Bernard Wildlife Refuge, Houston, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 5 January 2010 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/400s 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 | February 3, 2010tags: education, public outreach, SciCafe, science cafe, AMNH, American Museum of Natural History, NYC, streaming video
Who: Evolutionary Psychologist, David M. Buss
What: free public presentation, "Valentine's Day 101: Why Humans Have Sex"
When: TONIGHT at 700pm
Where: 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 too! (must be 21+ with ID)
Mix science with romance and join evolutionary psychologist David M. Buss, author of Why Women Have Sex, for a special Valentine's…
grrlscientist | February 3, 2010tags: Kitchen Science: An Offbeat Look at Water, water, documentary, science, BBC, satire, parody, humor, comedy, fucking hilarious, streaming video
A peculiar (scientific?) look at the three phases of water and how it affects living things ...
grrlscientist | February 2, 2010tags: science, iPhone Apps, technology, education, dinosaurs, American Museum of Natural History, AMNH, streaming video
Introducing the first official iPhone app from the American Museum of Natural History, DINOSAURS: American Museum of Natural History Collections. This app lets paleontologists of all ages explore the Museum's famous fossil halls in depth.
DINOSAURS: American Museum of Natural History Collections contains more than 800 images from the Museum's archive, woven together to create a striking image of the world's most famous dinosaur, the Tyrannosaurus rex.
Double-tap or pinch to…
grrlscientist | February 2, 2010
Image: wemidji (Jacques Marcoux).
Nam et ipsa scientia potestas est (And thus knowledge itself is power)
-- Sir Francis Bacon.
The next edition of Scientia Pro Publica (Science for the People) is less than two weeks away and it is seeking submissions! Can you help by sending URLs for well-written science, medicine, and nature blog essays to me?
Scientia Pro Publica (Science for the People) is a traveling blog carnival that celebrates the best science, nature and medical writing targeted specifically to the public that has been published in the blogosphere within the past 60 days.
The…
grrlscientist | February 2, 2010
Image: wemidji (Jacques Marcoux).
Nam et ipsa scientia potestas est (And thus knowledge itself is power)
-- Sir Francis Bacon.
Scientia Pro Publica (Science for the People) was published late last night and can be read here: Scientia Pro Publica -- 20th edition. This is the first blog carnival that John has ever hosted, so be sure to go there and leave encouraging comments and other forms of praise.
Scientia Pro Publica (Science for the People) is a traveling blog carnival that celebrates the best science, nature and medical writing targeted specifically to the public that has been…
grrlscientist | February 2, 2010tags: Suomenlinnan Telakalta, Helsinki, Finland, nature, image of the day
Suomenlinnan Telakalta (Suomenlinna shipyard).
Soumenlinna, Helsinki, Finland.
Image: GrrlScientist, 19 July 2009 [larger view].
grrlscientist | February 2, 2010tags: Lesser Goldfinch, Dark-backed Goldfinch, Spinus psaltria, Carduelis psaltria, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Lesser Goldfinch, also known as the Dark-backed Goldfinch, Spinus (Carduelis) psaltria, photographed in San Rafael, California. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 25 December 2007 [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.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | February 2, 2010tags: Alone in the Shed, documentary, cultural observation, men, satire, parody, humor, comedy, fucking hilarious, streaming video
This video documentary captures a modern-day everyman's adventure: one man's extraordinary attempt to survive completely alone in his shed.
grrlscientist | February 1, 2010tags: People are Boring, social commentary, cultural observation, George Carlin, humor, comedy, fucking hilarious, streaming video
George Carlin was the perfect crotchety old man. In this video, he reveals that he actually likes people -- in short doses lasting roughly a minute or less. Why? George, it seems, has a low tolerance for stupid bullshit.
grrlscientist | February 1, 2010tags: Suomenlinnan Telakalta, Helsinki, Finland, nature, image of the day
Suomenlinnan Telakalta (Suomenlinna shipyard).
Soumenlinna, Helsinki, Finland.
Image: GrrlScientist, 19 July 2009 [larger view].