grrlscientist | August 22, 2009tags: The Evolution of God, atheism, religion, DNA, streaming video
This video below the jump is an interview with Robert Wright, the author of the book, The Evolution of God. Amazingly, the author is NOT an atheist!
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grrlscientist | August 22, 2009The current Antarctic Trip Vote count is as follows; 4520 - 1770 - 1483 - 1190 - 1114 out of 511 candidates registered. I am in third place and sloooowly creeping up on second place. With less than 6 weeks remaining (especially if the Quark site crashes), voting is changing rapidly as previous voters reassign their votes and new voters cast theirs for the first time. Many tens of thousands of votes have already been cast in this competition, so if the people who have cast their votes already decide to change them, they can significantly affect the outcome of this competition. The top four…
grrlscientist | August 22, 2009tags: Old Town, Tallinn, Estonia, cities
Amber Mall.
Photographed in Old Town, Tallinn, Estonia.
Image: GrrlScientist, 22 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image)
This lovely building reminded me of NYC's Flatiron Building in Manhattan, a triangular-shaped building that once was the tallest building in the world. This building in the Old Town portion of Tallinn, Estonia, is where Baltic amber -- fossilized pine tree resin -- is sold. Baltic amber is the oldest amber in the world, but it is not as likely to have insect "inclusions" as the much younger ambers found in the Dominican Republic (the…
grrlscientist | August 22, 2009The cricket sang,
And set the sun,
And workmen finished, one by one,
Their seam the day upon.
The low grass loaded with the dew,
The twilight stood as strangers do
With hat in hand, polite and new,
To stay as if, or go.
A vastness, as a neighbor, came,--
A wisdom without face or name,
A peace, as hemispheres at home,--
And so the night became.
~ Emily Dickinson
This is the cutest event I've heard of for NYC: a night spent counting crickets and katydids.
What: NYC Cricket Crawl (counting 7 species of crickets and katydids in NYC)
Where: New York City area
When: Friday, 11 September 2009 at 7:…
grrlscientist | August 22, 2009I've struggled with being introverted all of my life. I am not exactly shy (although I tend to be in many circumstances), but I am reserved. Many people find this intimidating, and I have been told many many times that I need to change my personality so other people will like me. Of course, this advice made me feel more uncomfortable rather than less, since I was constantly trying to ascertain what other people's expectations were and then attempting to fit in while simultaneously feeling like a complete fraud. So I avoided social situations whenever possible, spending most of my life by…
grrlscientist | August 22, 2009tags: Old Town, Tallinn, Estonia, cities
Sightseeing Train.
Photographed in Old Town, Tallinn, Estonia.
Image: GrrlScientist, 22 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image)
grrlscientist | August 22, 2009tags: Crowned Plover, Crowned Lapwing, Vanellus coronatus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Crowned Plover, also known as the Crowned Lapwing, Vanellus coronatus, photographed in Tarangire National Park, Tanzania, Africa. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dan Logen, 29 August 2007 [larger view].
Nikon D2X, 200-400 Nikon Lens at 400.
So of course, before you give me an ID, I have to ask you how many legs you see in this picture.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | August 22, 2009tags: animal behavior, hamster on a leash, Syrian golden hamster, Mesocricetus auratus, humor, funny, streaming video
When I was a kid, I had hamsters, too, and I walked them on leashes. But I didn't have a video camera.
grrlscientist | August 22, 2009tags: animal behavior, hamster on a piano eating popcorn, siberian dwarf hamster, Phodopus sungorus, humor, funny, streaming video
It is Saturday morning afterall, so I am just going to have fun sharing silly videos of the cutest little mammal known to humanity; Siberian dwarf hamsters. This video features a couple Siberian dwarf hamsters, one of which is a speed demon, revealed by the speedometer attached to its wheel. As an added bonus, this hamster teaches us a little math;
To get the hamster's speed, divide the speed written by ten, then you will have it in km/h.
grrlscientist | August 22, 2009tags: animal behavior, hamster on a piano eating popcorn, siberian dwarf hamster, Phodopus sungorus, humor, funny, streaming video
I've linked to this video before, but I love dwarf hamsters (kept them as pets most of my life, in fact, but don't tell this to the guy I just married), so I had to share this with you again;
grrlscientist | August 21, 2009tags: animal behavior, hamster wheel, siberian dwarf hamster, Phodopus sungorus, humor, funny, streaming video
I dunno about you, but sometimes, I feel like I am running my life away on a hamster wheel -- getting nowhere fast. Except for those days when the hamster wheel of life stops working properly, that is! Below the jump, a sweet little Siberian dwarf hamster, Phodopus sungorus, demonstrates what I mean;
grrlscientist | August 21, 2009The current Antarctic Trip Vote count is as follows; 4435 - 1759 - 1473 - 1176 - 1114 out of 511 candidates registered. I am in third place and sloooowly creeping up on second place. With less than 6 weeks remaining (especially if the Quark site crashes), voting is changing rapidly as previous voters reassign their votes and new voters cast theirs for the first time. Many tens of thousands of votes have already been cast in this competition, so if the people who have cast their votes already decide to change them, they can significantly affect the outcome of this competition. The top four…
grrlscientist | August 21, 2009tags: Old Town, Tallinn, Estonia, cities
Phallus.
Photographed in Old Town, Tallinn, Estonia.
Image: GrrlScientist, 22 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image)
grrlscientist | August 21, 2009tags: Personas, Online Personality, Online Information, technology, art
GrrlScientist Personas [larger view]
Personas is an interesting program that searches for online references to you and uses it to create a piece of art that describes you. To do this, it analyzes these references for repeated words and phrases and builds a graphic (like the one you see above) that "describes" you. It's really interesting because you can watch the process as it builds this picture and gives you some food for thought regarding the sorts of information that is "out there" about you. It's almost as…
grrlscientist | August 21, 2009The cricket sang,
And set the sun,
And workmen finished, one by one,
Their seam the day upon.
The low grass loaded with the dew,
The twilight stood as strangers do
With hat in hand, polite and new,
To stay as if, or go.
A vastness, as a neighbor, came,--
A wisdom without face or name,
A peace, as hemispheres at home,--
And so the night became.
~ Emily Dickinson
This is the cutest event I've heard of for NYC: a night spent counting crickets and katydids.
What: NYC Cricket Crawl (counting 7 species of crickets and katydids in NYC)
Where: New York City area
When: Friday, 11 September 2009 at 7:…
grrlscientist | August 21, 2009ScienceBlogs has indulged in a variety of online experiments to help make science and scientists more accessible to the public. On one hand, many scientific fields are complex and difficult to explain to the public, but on the other hand, scientists possess a lot of practical knowledge and skills that are useful to the public and, if asked, they can help the public think creatively and proactively about the many problems that face modern society. In my opinion, one of the best of these online experiments is the fledgling blog, Revolutionary Minds Think Tank. Besides having lots of fun blog…
grrlscientist | August 21, 2009tags: Old Town, Tallinn, Estonia, cities
Phallus.
Photographed in Old Town, Tallinn, Estonia.
Image: GrrlScientist, 22 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image)
It has been observed that I tend to photograph tall, pointy objects that reach to the sky. In my defense, such objects are plentiful in architecture, and are noticeable and often are iconic on any particular skyline.
Dragons on a church.
Photographed in Old Town, Tallinn, Estonia.
Image: GrrlScientist, 22 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image)
Unlike most phalluses, this particular phallus is attached to a church. In this case, the…
grrlscientist | August 21, 2009tags: Old Town, Tallinn, Estonia, cities
Spices.
Photographed in Old Town, Tallinn, Estonia.
Image: GrrlScientist, 22 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image)
One of the many items sold in the Old Town Square of Tallinn, Estonia were a variety of spices. They smelled so delicious that I almost purchased some just so I could carry them with me to sniff whenever I wished to.
Handmade Blank Books.
Photographed in Old Town, Tallinn, Estonia.
Image: GrrlScientist, 22 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image)
Another item that I am partial to are handmade blank books. I wanted to get one or two, but…
grrlscientist | August 21, 2009tags: Wilson's Plover, Charadrius wilsonia, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Adult Wilson's Plover, Charadrius wilsonia, with chick, photographed at Brazoria Wildlife Refuge, Texas. [I will identify this bird species for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 31 July 2009 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/160s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Before you ID this bird species, tell me: how many legs do you see?
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | August 21, 2009tags: health care crisis, American Health Care, Jonathan Cohn, social commentary, streaming video
In this video, Jonathan Cohn, Senior Editor of The New Republic and author of Sick: The Untold Story of America's Health Care Crisis -- and the People Who Pay the Price, discusses the history of America's health care crisis.
In his book, the author convincingly argues that Medicare and universal health care in such countries as France, though not perfect, are far superior to the system most Americans face. And, as you are well aware, Americans are provided health care by for-profit insurance…