grrlscientist | January 24, 2010tags: We Like War, social commentary, cultural observation, George Carlin, humor, comedy, fucking hilarious, streaming video
George Carlin, a comedic genius, makes a few priceless (and disturbing) observations about America's fondness for war.
grrlscientist | January 24, 2010Overnight (well, overnight for my time zone), I received an email, beseeching me to submit a story or two to the carnival of evolution. I did that, but then decided to go one step further, to ask you to also submit a story of your own, or stories you've read, to this carnival -- afterall, there's no law that says you can't submit other people's writing if it's published on a blog. If you'd like to read the complete archives, you can access them from the Carnival of Evolution website (which looks much nicer than the Scientia Pro Publica website, sigh!) Oh, and while you're at it, keep in mind…
grrlscientist | January 24, 2010tags: Oviaukko Suomenlinnassa, Helsinki, Finland, nature, image of the day
Oviaukko Suomenlinnassa (Suomenlinna doorway).
Soumenlinna, Helsinki, Finland.
Image: GrrlScientist, 19 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image)
grrlscientist | January 24, 2010tags: Birdbooker Report, bird books, animal books, natural history books, ecology books
"How does one distinguish a truly civilized nation from an aggregation of
barbarians? That is easy. A civilized country produces much good bird
literature."
--Edgar Kincaid
The Birdbooker Report is a special weekly report of a wide variety of science, nature and behavior books 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 "Birdbooker" Paulsen, and is edited by me and published here for your information and…
grrlscientist | January 24, 2010tags: Hadada Ibis, Bostrychia hagedash, Hagedashia hagedash, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Hadada Ibis, Bostrychia (Hagedashia) hagedash, photographed at Arusha National Park, Tanzania, Africa. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dan Logen [larger view].
Nikon D2X and Nikon 200-400 VR lens at 240 mm. ISO 200 f/9 1/125.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | January 24, 2010tags: Mormonism, religion, cults, mind control, social phenomenon, moron, offbeat, beliefs, cartoon, education, streaming video
Just in case you think I think that christians comprise the only wingnut cult in the world, think again. Thanks to the aggressive policing policy of the mormon cult, it's not so easy to find videos that describe what they are about, but I finally managed to get to one video before the mormon thought police did, so you should watch this before it disappears (as its predecessors have);
If that cult doesn't read like badly written science fiction fanfic by pimply-faced…
grrlscientist | January 23, 2010tags: The Ten Commandments, religion, social commentary, cultural observation, George Carlin, humor, comedy, fucking hilarious, satire, parody, streaming video
There's no LOGICAL argument against anything George Carlin says in this routine. Obviously Christians will argue but then as George says LOGIC is something religion has a big problem with.
George Carlin (1937-2008) was a champion of free speech. Some (like me) think he was the greatest comedian who had ever lived. Here's one of his classic skits where he comments about the ten commandments.
grrlscientist | January 23, 2010tags: Suomenlinnan Taivas, Helsinki, Finland, nature, image of the day
Suomenlinnan Taivas (Suomenlinna sky).
Soumenlinna, Helsinki, Finland.
Image: GrrlScientist, 19 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image)
grrlscientist | January 23, 2010tags: White-eared Barbet, Stactolaema leucotis, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] White-eared Barbet, Stactolaema leucotis, photographed at Amani Preserve, Tanzania, Africa. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dan Logen, 6 September 2007 [larger view].
Nikon D2X, 200-400 mm lens, at 400. ISO 200, 1/250, f/6.3.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | January 23, 2010tags: Galactic Center of Milky Way Rises over Texas Star Party, astronomy, science, stars, Milky Way, streaming video
This fascinating video is a time lapse video of night sky as it passes over the 2009 Texas Star Party in Fort Davis, Texas. In this video, you will see the bright galactic core of the Milky Way crossing the Texas sky. Images taken with 15mm fisheye lens.
grrlscientist | January 22, 2010tags: How It's Made: Toothpicks, material science, engineering, technology, streaming video
This video follows a majestic birch log as it goes through the process of being made into millions of itty bitty toothpicks.
grrlscientist | January 22, 2010tags: Kivinen Kumpu, Suomenlinnassa, Helsinki, Finland, nature, image of the day
Suomelninnan kasa lika kiviä ja puita on (mound of dirt with rocks and trees on it on Suomenlinna).
Soumenlinna, Helsinki, Finland.
Image: GrrlScientist, 19 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image)
Yes, this is a silly title, but I was told that "hillside" (rinnemailla? mäenrinne?) was not correct, but no proper word was provided to me. Instead, I was told to describe the picture more precisely, so .. I did that. The result is the title you see above, which makes me laugh until tears come out of my eyes, and I…
grrlscientist | January 22, 2010tags: evolution, evolutionary biology, evolutionary ecology, plumage color,carotenoid-based colour, carotenoids, lipid peroxidation, oxidative stress, sperm motility, sperm quality, sperm velocity, birds, ornithology, Great Tit, Parus major, researchblogging.org,peer-reviewed research, peer-reviewed paper
Great Tit, Parus major.
Image: Luc Viatour, Creative Commons/Wikipedia [larger view]
In some species of birds, males are more brightly colored than females. This phenomenon is due to female choice: females choose to mate with males that have the brightest plumage colors and most…
grrlscientist | January 22, 2010
Image: wemidji (Jacques Marcoux).
Nam et ipsa scientia potestas est (And thus knowledge itself is power)
-- Sir Francis Bacon.
Have you read an especially good essay about science, nature or medicine lately? If so, why not share it with the world by submitting the URL for this essay to a blog carnival designed to share excellent writing with others? You don't need to be the author of an essay to submit it for consideration, and this is one way that blog carnivals grow in size and influence: by sharing with others.
Scientia Pro Publica (Science for the People) is a traveling blog…
grrlscientist | January 22, 2010tags: Araripe Manakin, Antilophia bokermanni, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Araripe Manakin, Antilophia bokermanni, photographed at Chapada do Araripe, south Ceará, Brazil. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Ciro Albano.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Learn more about this endangered South American bird.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | January 22, 2010tags: Growing Organs, medicine, TEDMED,regeneration, stem cells, organ, tissue, Anthony Atala, TEDTalks, streaming video
Anthony Atala's state-of-the-art lab grows human organs -- from muscles to blood vessels to bladders, and more. At TEDMED, he shows footage of his bio-engineers working with some of its sci-fi gizmos, including an oven-like bioreactor (preheat to 98.6 F) and a machine that "prints" human tissue.
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 talk of their lives in 18…
grrlscientist | January 21, 2010tags: How it's Made: Chocolate, chocolate, food science, technology, streaming video
After watching Charlie and the Chocolate Factory as a kid, I thought chocolate was made by oompa loompas who were employed by a fuzzy-haired man wearing a delightful purple velvet suit. I guess I was wrong.
grrlscientist | January 21, 2010tags: Oviaukko Suomenlinnassa, Helsinki, Finland, nature, image of the day
Oviaukko Suomenlinnassa (Suomenlinna doorway).
Soumenlinna, Helsinki, Finland.
Image: GrrlScientist, 19 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image)
grrlscientist | January 21, 2010tags: Neotropical Cormorant, Phalacrocorax brasilianus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Neotropical Cormorant, also known as the Olivaceous Cormorant, Phalacrocorax brasilianus, 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 1/500s 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 | January 21, 2010tags: synthetic biology, molecular biology, genetics,Bacteria make Mexican Waves, A synchronized quorum of genetic clocks, bacteria, fluorescence,biological clock, NPG, peer-reviewed research, NATURE, 10.1038/nature08753, streaming video
By synchronizing our clocks, we can coordinate our activities with people around the world. Now, scientists have genetically engineered bacteria to synchronize their molecular timekeepers, creating the stunning fluorescent waves that you see in this video (this video shows new research published today in NATURE).
Read the original research here: http://dx.…