grrlscientist | January 5, 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: 700pm, Wednesday, 6 January 2010
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 (must be 21+ with ID)
What strange new species lurk beneath? Join Museum Curator Melanie Stiassny, an ichthyologist who has been…
grrlscientist | January 5, 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. I already have planned a few images I wish to capture of the outside of this building during specific weather conditions.
grrlscientist | January 5, 2010
Who: Richard Wiseman
What: free public presentation, "Investigating the Impossible"
Where: University Settlement, 184 Eldridge Street (and Rivington St.) [map]
When: Tonight at 730pm (Tuesday, 5 January 2010)
Cost: FREE and open to the public!
Join the New York City Skeptics as they kick off their 2010 Public Lecture Series with noted skeptic, psychologist, and magician Richard Wiseman.
For over 20 years, Professor Richard Wiseman has investigated a variety of strange psychological phenomena. In this talk, he describes some of his more colorful adventures, including his work into why…
grrlscientist | January 5, 2010tags: Least Grebe, Least Dabchick, American Dabchick, Tachybaptus dominicus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Least Grebe, also known as the Least Dabchick and the American Dabchick, Tachybaptus dominicus, photographed at Brazos Bend State Park, Needville, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 27 December 2009 [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 | January 5, 2010tags: art, wildlife art, stop-motion painting, Northern Casque-headed Treefrog, entertainment, Carel Brest van Kempen, streaming video
This is another fascinating stop-motion video by artist Carel Brest van Kempen. This video documents the creation of an acrylic painting of an unusual Panamanian frog, the Northern Casque-headed Treefrog.
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 4, 2010tags: Polishing a Turd to a High Gloss, silly, funny, mythbusters, poo, technology, streaming video
Is it possible to polish a turd to a high gloss? Well, it depends upon how you define "high gloss" but these two men had an unambiguous standard for measuring "high gloss units" and they set out to find out if it is possible to accomplish this.
grrlscientist | January 4, 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].
Here's a closer look at the completed chalk art on the floor of the Frankfurt subway station in Hauptwache.
grrlscientist | January 4, 2010tags: DonorsChoose, science education, teaching, fund-raising, poverty
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Do you remember our fund-raising effort for impoverished American science classrooms through Donors Choose? Well, here's a really lovely thank you to one of my readers from one of our classrooms!
grrlscientist | January 4, 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 photographing this shopping center because it is so architecturally interesting. This is the first of another series of images snapped shortly after Christmas.
grrlscientist | January 4, 2010
Who: Richard Wiseman
What: free public presentation, "Investigating the Impossible"
Where: University Settlement, 184 Eldridge Street (and Rivington St.) [map]
When: tomorrow at 730pm (Tuesday, 5 January 2010)
Cost: FREE and open to the public!
Join the New York City Skeptics as they kick off their 2010 Public Lecture Series with noted skeptic, psychologist, and magician Richard Wiseman.
For over 20 years, Professor Richard Wiseman has investigated a variety of strange psychological phenomena. In this talk, he describes some of his more colorful adventures, including his work into why…
grrlscientist | January 4, 2010tags: Common Moorhen, Gallinula chloropus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Common Moorhen, Gallinula chloropus, photographed at Brazos Bend State Park, Needville, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 27 December 2009 [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 4, 2010tags: researchblogging.org, new species, insects, American cockroach, Periplaneta americana, DNA barcoding, Brenda Tan, Matt Cost, Mark Stoeckle, Rockefeller University, American Museum of Natural History, AMNH
Mystery cockroach found in NYC apartment.
Image: Brenda Tan and Matt Cost.
Moving overseas has been a challenge, but worst of all for me has been the fact that my writing has suffered. I still read scientific papers and science news stories, but have been unable to find the time necessary to write these stories for you. Hopefully, my life is returning to some semblance of…
grrlscientist | January 4, 2010tags: art, wildlife art, stop-motion painting, Stargazing, Peregrine Falcon, birds, entertainment, Carel Brest van Kempen, streaming video
This is a fascinating stop-motion video of the creation of artist Carel Brest van Kempen's painting, Stargazing. This painting tells a cautionary tale about a Peregrine Falcon that has been poisoned by pesticides sprayed in a person's yard.
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 3, 2010tags: Cotton: Building a Better Plant, cotton, agriculture, genomics, fabrics, technology, streaming video
This is another beautifully written and produced video about plant research. The lucky plant? This time, it's cotton -- what jeans and t-shirts are made of! This video explores how modern cotton plants came to be, the 50 species of cotton, and how cotton genomic research can improve our lives.
Plant genome research is already revolutionizing the field of biology. Currently, scientists are unlocking the secrets of some of the most important plants in our lives, including corn, cotton…
grrlscientist | January 3, 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].
You can see the pencil sketch on the artwork on the right side. I wish I could have returned later to photograph the finished piece.
More artworks, drawn in chalk on the floor of the Frankfurt subway station in Hauptwache (more photographs of these works in the days to follow, same time, same place).
grrlscientist | January 3, 2010On the first day of 2010, the first bird species I saw was a beautiful, very pale, Peregrine Falcon, Falco peregrinus, that was soaring past the window of my new home in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. My spouse's first bird of 2010 was a European (Common) Magpie, Pica pica. What was the first bird that you saw in the new year? Do you attach any significance or predictive value to the species that you see as your first bird of the year? If so, what is it?
grrlscientist | January 3, 2010tags: Tractor Track in Mud, Traktorweg im Schlamm, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, Expat Life, Frankfurt through my eye, photography, image of the day
Traktorweg im Schlamm (Tractor track in mud).
Reidberg, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Image: GrrlScientist, 31 December 2009 [larger view].
New Year's Eve day was so misty that I could barely see out of the window of my flat, so I grabbed my cameras and went to a nearby farmer's field to photograph trees. Unfortunately, the fog was thicker 40 meters above the ground, so the trees did not appear to be as magical as I had hoped. In this image, I…
grrlscientist | January 3, 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 3, 2010tags: Ashy Starling, Cosmopsarus (Spreo) unicolor, Yellow-collared Lovebird, Black-Masked Lovebird, Agapornis personatus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery birds] Ashy Starling, Cosmopsarus (Spreo) unicolor (L), and Yellow-collared Lovebird, also known as the Black-Masked Lovebird, Agapornis personatus (R), photographed at Tarangire National Park, Tanzania, Africa. [I will identify these birds for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dan Logen, 31 August 2007 [larger view].
Nikon D2X, 200-400 mm lens at 400. ISO 400, 1/250, f/5.6.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your…
grrlscientist | January 3, 2010tags: bible, religion, comedy, humor, fucking hilarious, Ricky Gervais, streaming video
This funny video is from atheist comedian Ricky Gervais's live stand-up show, Fame. In this clip, he discusses the Bible and religion.