grrlscientist | October 12, 2009tags: soap bubble science, physics, science, surface tension, Keith Johnson, streaming video
This is a really interesting video about soap bubbles -- how they work and what we can do with them. The slow motion footage of a bursting bubble is especially interesting to watch.
grrlscientist | October 12, 2009After experiencing astonishing frustration levels, I decided that relocating overseas is just like finishing the PhD, except it's far more confusing and there's no clear authority figure (like an adviser, a departmental chair or a dean) to appeal to when everything goes to hell. But I have to do what I did in grad school: I have to (somehow) control the USFWS and the USDA instead of allowing them to control me.
In this situation, this requires that I spend a lot of time researching every possible angle involved with the export and import process and become as expert as all the agents and…
grrlscientist | October 12, 2009
Image: wemidji (Jacques Marcoux).
Nam et ipsa scientia potestas est (And thus knowledge itself is power)
-- Sir Francis Bacon.
Would you like to share your excellent writing about science, nature or medicine with the world? Now you can! There is a blog carnival that celebrates the best writing in the blogosphere about these topics and we are seeking submissions from you, the reading and writing public that you think are suitable for this blog carnival.
Scientia Pro Publica (Science for the People) is a traveling blog carnival that celebrates the best science, nature and medical writing…
grrlscientist | October 12, 2009tags: chocolate-covered licorice, Seurasaari, Helsinki, Finland, image of the day
Photographed in Helsinki, Finland, after walking to Seurasaari and back.
Image: GrrlScientist, 4 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image)
I finished writing a book review on deadline that I am proud of for Nature and now I am relaxing whilst I think about a warm sunny day not too long ago, when the man whom I would later marry, fed me this delectable bar of chocolate-covered licorice for dinner. How can a grrl resist?
grrlscientist | October 12, 2009tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
Zebra Finch, Poephila guttata.
Image: orphaned [larger view].
Birds in Science
Low-quality females prefer low-quality males, at least in the avian world. This is according to research published in the Royal Society journal Proceedings B, testing female zebra finches' taste in males. As adults, the low-quality females showed a preference for the songs of males of the same quality, and for the male birds themselves. Evolutionary biologists previously thought that females would always opt for the best male available.
A…
grrlscientist | October 12, 2009tags: DonorsChoose, science education, teaching, fund-raising, poverty
Nobel Prize week has ended wonderfully: four projects that I included in my "Biology is Life" Challenge have been fully funded! The teachers for each project have posted thank you letters that you can read here: The Viking Shark Project, the Cow Eye Dissection project, the Please Pass Me the Scalpel, Nurse project, and the A Room Without A View project.
There are more proposals that need your help, so be sure to check them out by clicking on the above widget.
Remember: YOU can choose projects to fund as well. Just look…
grrlscientist | October 12, 2009tags: Brewer's Blackbird, Euphagus cyanocephalus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Female Brewer's Blackbird, Euphagus cyanocephalus, photographed at Bodega Bay, California. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 23 December 2007 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/90s 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 | October 12, 2009tags: marriage, love, relationships, sex, commitment, Chris Brickler, How Will We Love?, Chris Brickler, streaming video
Chris Brickler made a documentary about love and marriage. In this video, How Will We Love?, he starts by interviewing his grandparents who have been married for 68 years and builds on that interview and finds that more than 50% of marriages end in divorce even though many of us still cling to the hope of a happily-ever-after, life-long romance.
Brickler also interviews experts in the field of marriage, relationships, sexuality, and communication, as well as sharing…
grrlscientist | October 11, 2009tags: garbage patch, Pacific Ocean, environment, science, Scripps Institute, streaming video
Scripps scientist Miriam Goldstein talks about the SEAPLEX expedition to the North Pacific Gyre and how shocked she was to find the amount of plastic on the ocean's surface when floating around in a skiff.
grrlscientist | October 11, 2009
Image: wemidji (Jacques Marcoux).
Nam et ipsa scientia potestas est (And thus knowledge itself is power)
-- Sir Francis Bacon.
When you go hiking or sailing or stargazing, why not consider writing about your experience of nature and sharing it with the world? Or maybe you are watching an ant's nest in the crack of a sidewalk, walking down the beach, flipping rocks to see what's underneath, or sitting in your kitchen, watching birds eating seeds at your birdfeeders? Your experiences could be interesting to others if these activities provide you with questions that you decide to investigate…
grrlscientist | October 11, 2009tags: 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 | October 11, 2009tags: Tractrac Chat, Layard's Chat, Cercomela tractrac, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Tractrac Chat, also known as the Layard's Chat, Cercomela tractrac, photographed in Swakopmund, Namibia, Africa [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dennis Paulson, April 2007 [larger view].
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Those of you who are unfamiliar with African birds should still be able to identify this bird to family.
Dennis Paulson with a Tractrac Chat, also known as the Layard's Chat, Cercomela tractrac,…
grrlscientist | October 11, 2009tags: atheist life, godlessness, Imagine, streaming video
This video is a list of famous people who are atheists, put together for a school project and using John Lennon's song "Imagine" as the background music.
grrlscientist | October 10, 2009tags: atheist life, godlessness, streaming video
Being an atheist, you believe that this is the only life, and live it to the fullest. Atheists and skeptics lack proof and evidence of certain deities and spiritual beliefs. So there is no intent for us to harshly bash other religions and forms, for we humbly have our own perspectives in life.
If you however think that atheists are a threat to the general community, first take a look at the mirror. Millions of people have died just because of religion, "religious" wars, and rejection due to contradictory beliefs.
"Skeptic does not mean him who…
grrlscientist | October 10, 2009
Image: wemidji (Jacques Marcoux).
Nam et ipsa scientia potestas est (And thus knowledge itself is power)
-- Sir Francis Bacon.
Instead of passively watching football games this weekend, why not write about the physics of football so everyone can enjoy the games alongside you? The Blog Carnival, Scientia Pro Publica (Science for the People) is seeking blog essays about physics, biophysics and kinematics, too, so we would love to include clearly written submissions that are targeted to the public explaining the science that underlies sports.
Scientia Pro Publica (Science for the People) is…
grrlscientist | October 10, 2009tags: Cape Raven, African White-necked Raven, White-naped Raven, Corvus albicollis, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] A pair of White-naped Ravens, also known as the Cape Raven or the African White-necked Raven, Corvus albicollis, photographed while playing at just under 15000 feet on Mt Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, Africa. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dan Logen, 24 July 2006 [larger view].
Nikon D2X, 70-200 VR lens, at 200. ISO 320, 1/6000, f 3.2.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
The photographer writes;
These…
grrlscientist | October 10, 2009tags: art, humor, satire, The Big Snit, Canadian cartoon, streaming video
Here's another peculiar yet amusing Canadian cartoon that I only just saw for the first time: The Big Snit by Richard Conde.
grrlscientist | October 9, 2009tags: Obama family, miserable Americans, comedy, humor, satire, funny, ONN, Onion News Network, streaming video
This daring news interview with the nations' top thinkers comes right out and says what we've all mumbled under our breath to ourselves in the privacy of the unemployment line: the Obamas are too damned happy! They're so happy that it's downright unAmerican!
grrlscientist | October 9, 2009I was so upset about the likelihood that I would spend the next six months (or probably longer) trapped in a bureaucratic cesspool of confusion and conflicting information whilst spending thousands of dollars on rent, penalties and veterinary bills, that I was ready to do something drastic. So I called USFWS.
The USFWS computerized telephone voice warned me that they are experiencing "significant delays" in processing CITES permit applications for birds, so I expected I'd only be able to talk to a real person after appealing to my congresscritter, Charlie Rangell, who is under investigation…
grrlscientist | October 9, 2009tags: Macleay's Kingfisher, Blue Kingfisher, Bush Kingfisher, Forest Kingfisher, Todiramphus macleayii, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Forest Kingfisher, also known as Macleay's Kingfisher, Blue Kingfisher or Bush Kingfisher, Todiramphus macleayii, photographed at Mossman, Queensland, Australia. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Steve Duncan, 18 August 2009 [larger view].
Nikon D200 w/ Nikkor 300mm 1/1600 sec, f/4 iso 200.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
The Forest Kingfisher is classified in the genus…