grrlscientist | January 9, 2010tags: Suomenlinna, Helsinki, Finland, nature, image of the day
Suomenlinna, Helsinki, Finland.
Image: GrrlScientist, 19 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image)
Suomenlinna is one of my two favorite haunts in Helsinki. Suomenlinna is an island fortress was built from stone by the Swedes to protect Finland (which was a part of Sweden in the 1700s) from invasion by sea.
grrlscientist | January 9, 2010tags: King Bird of Paradise, Cicinnurus regius, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] King Bird of Paradise, Cicinnurus regius, photographed in the Mount Bosavi volcano, a collapsed cone of an extinct volcano on the Kikori River Basin/Great Papuan Plateau, Southern Highlands province, Papua New Guinea. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Ulla Lohmann [larger view].
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
What is the picture showing? What part of the bird is this? Once you've figured out the answer to those questions, you are…
grrlscientist | January 9, 2010tags: How to Wrap a Cat for Christmas, holidays, christmas, funny, weird, silly, cats, pets, streaming video
This silly and amusing video is a little late for christmas, but it's still the holiday season, more or less (especially considering the mountains of snow that people in much of the Northern Hemisphere are dealing with right now), so it's appropriate.
grrlscientist | January 8, 2010tags: How it's Made: Snowboards, snowboards, sports, engineering, material science, technology, streaming video
This video describes in detail something that winter sports enthusiasts care about during this time of year!
grrlscientist | January 8, 2010tags: Olive Sparrow, Arremonops rufivirgatus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Olive Sparrow, Arremonops rufivirgatus, photographed in the Hazel Bazemore County Park, Corpus Christi, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Amy Shutt, 23 November 2009 [larger view].
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | January 8, 2010tags: art, wildlife art, stop-motion painting, Wilson's Bird of Paradise, Cicinnurus respublica, entertainment, Carel Brest van Kempen, streaming video
This is a fascinating stop-motion video of artist Carel Brest van Kempen's painting of a Wilson's Bird of Paradise, Cicinnurus respublica. Wilson's Bird of Paradise is a small forest species endemic to Waigeo and Batanta, two islands just NW of New Guinea's Vogelkop peninsula. In my opinion, Carel Brest van Kempen is the finest wildlife artist alive today.
Carel Brest van Kempen published a stunning book, Rigor Vitae: Life Unyielding [my…
grrlscientist | January 7, 2010tags: politics, terrorism, economics, social psychology, Red Brigades, Italy, TEDTalks, TED Talks, Loretta Napoleoni, streaming video
Loretta Napoleoni details her rare opportunity to talk to the secretive Italian Red Brigades -- an experience that sparked a lifelong interest in terrorism. She gives a behind-the-scenes look at its complex economics, revealing a surprising connection between money laundering and the US Patriot Act.
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…
grrlscientist | January 7, 2010From the North, with the cold and the ice,
To the South, where the beaches are nice,
To the East, to the West,
If your country's the best
Then it's you whom I ask for advice!
-- Digital Cuttlefish
My friend and fellow blog writer, Digital Cuttlefish, is asking us to help his nature-loving son with suggestions for where in Europe to visit while he attends university in Denmark for one semester. I provided a few suggestions of my own, but I haven't lived in Europe for long, so I am hardly a good source of information for where to visit. Many of you, on the other hand, are the real experts…
grrlscientist | January 7, 2010tags: MyZeil Einkaufszentrum, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, Expat Life, Frankfurt through my eye, photography, image of the day
Weihnachten in MyZeil Einkaufszentrum.
MyZeil Einkaufszentrum, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Image: GrrlScientist, 29 December 2009 [larger view].
I love this photographing shopping center because it is so architecturally interesting. I plan to return often to snap more photographs to share with you.
grrlscientist | January 7, 2010tags: Ladder-Backed Woodpecker, Picoides scalaris , birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Ladder-Backed Woodpecker, Picoides scalaris , photographed on the Katy Prairie, Houston, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 1 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 | January 7, 2010
Image: wemidji (Jacques Marcoux).
Nam et ipsa scientia potestas est (And thus knowledge itself is power)
-- Sir Francis Bacon.
The writing-about-science-for-the-people blog carnival, Scientia Pro Publica, should have been published this past Monday, 4 January 2010. So what happened to it? Like you, I am curious to know the answer to this question. Despite excellent support from its regular contributors, this carnival has been struggling to survive mostly due to my own life situation.
You might recall, I started this blog carnival in March 2009 to replace the defunct Tangled Bank. You…
grrlscientist | January 7, 2010tags: evolutionary biology, immunology, immune response, antibodies, parasite, avian pox virus, Poxvirus avium, nest fly, Philornis downsi, birds, ornithology, Darwin's Finches, Medium Ground Finch, Geospiza fortis, Ecuador, Galapagos Islands, researchblogging.org,peer-reviewed research, peer-reviewed paper
A male Medium Ground Finch, Geospiza fortis, sits on a tree branch in Ecuador's Galapagos Islands.
Image: Jen Koop.
People often view the Hawaiian islands as a tropical paradise, the ideal vacation site, but you wouldn't agree with this assessment if you happen to be a bird. According…
grrlscientist | January 7, 2010tags: art, wildlife art, stop-motion painting, Call of the Flood, Poison Rock Frog, entertainment, Carel Brest van Kempen, streaming video
This is another fascinating stop-motion video documenting the creation of artist Carel Brest van Kempen's painting, Call of the Flood. Here, a male Poison Rock Frog, a common Southeast Asian species, calls from a flooded spiny bamboo.
Carel Brest van Kempen published a stunning book, Rigor Vitae: Life Unyielding [my review] and writes the art blog that goes by the same name, that might be of interest to you.
grrlscientist | January 6, 2010tags: Trumpeter Swan, Cygnus buccinator, Trumpeter Swan Restoration Project, conservation, endangered species, Harry Lumsden, Beverly Kingdon, Ray Kingdon, streaming video
Thanks to the efforts of volunteers with the Trumpeter Swan Restoration project, the endangered Trumpeter Swan, Cygnus buccinator, population in Ontario, Canada now numbers over 1,000. This video shows the three species of swan on Swan Lake, and shows how the birds are tagged so they can be individually tracked. Long time volunteers Harry Lumsden, Beverly and Ray Kingdon feed the swans at Lasalle Park in Burlington.
grrlscientist | January 6, 2010tags: MyZeil Einkaufszentrum, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, Expat Life, Frankfurt through my eye, photography, image of the day
Weihnachten in MyZeil Einkaufszentrum.
MyZeil Einkaufszentrum, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Image: GrrlScientist, 29 December 2009 [larger view].
I love this photographing shopping center because it is so architecturally interesting. I plan to return often to snap more photographs to share with you.
grrlscientist | January 6, 2010tags: education, public outreach, SciCafe, science cafe, AMNH, American Museum of Natural History, NYC, streaming video
Who: Ichthyologist Melanie Stiassny
What: free public presentation, "Mysteries of the Congo: Exploring the World's Deepest River"
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)
What strange new species lurk beneath? Join Museum Curator Melanie Stiassny, an ichthyologist who has been featured on The…
grrlscientist | January 6, 2010tags: Chipping Sparrow, Spizella passerina, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Chipping Sparrow, Spizella passerina, photographed at Illinois Beach State Park, Lake County, Illinois. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Janice Sweet, 20 October 2009 [larger view].
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | January 6, 2010tags: art, wildlife art, stop-motion painting, Spectacled Owl, entertainment, Carel Brest van Kempen, streaming video
This is yet another fascinating stop-motion video depicting the creation of another of artist Carel Brest van Kempen's paintings. This time, it's a Spectacled Owl, a widespread bird of the American tropics that favors heavy woods near water and feeds heavily on crabs.
Carel Brest van Kempen published a stunning book, Rigor Vitae: Life Unyielding [my review] and writes the art blog that goes by the same name, that might be of interest to you.
grrlscientist | January 5, 2010tags: biology, zoology, insects, Dragonfly, Wandering Glider, Globe Skimmer, Pantala flavescens, migration, Maldives, India, TEDTalks, TED Talks, Charles Anderson, streaming video
While living and working as a marine biologist in Maldives, Charles Anderson noticed sudden explosions of dragonflies at certain times of year. He explains how he carefully tracked the path of a plain, little dragonfly called the Globe Skimmer, Pantala flavescens, only to discover that it had the longest migratory journey of any insect in the world.
TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and…
grrlscientist | January 5, 2010tags: Frankfurt am Main U-Bahn-Kunst, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, Expat Life, Frankfurt Subway Art, photography
Frankfurt am Main U-Bahn-Kunst.
Hauptwache, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Image: GrrlScientist, 29 December 2009 [larger view].
One last look at the completed work.