New York City

tags: Alex Filippenko, Josh Frieman, FermiLab, astronomy, astrophysics, Science Bulletins, research, American Museum of Natural History, AMNH, New York City, space, nature, universe, The Expanding Universe, streaming video In 1998, astrophysicists discovered a baffling phenomenon: the Universe is expanding at an ever-faster rate. Either an enigmatic force called dark energy is to blame or a reworking of gravitational theory is in order. In this new Science Bulletins video, watch a FermiLab team assemble the Dark Energy Camera, a device that could finally solve this space-stretching mystery…
Cordyceps in glass, by glass artist Wesley Fleming -- a strange depiction of a rather horrid business. For more, do go to the source, the lovely Myrmecos Blog, which is all about bugs. Now, the best of the week's gleanings. I'm going to categorize them from here out, and at least try to keep them from being from completely all over everywhere about everything. Mind, brain, and body (including those gene things) While reading Wolpert's review of Greenberg's book about depression (he didn't much like it), I found that the Guardian has a particularly rich trove of writings and resources on…
tags: education, public outreach, SciCafe, science cafe, AMNH, American Museum of Natural History, NYC, streaming video Who: Director of the Energy Materials Center at Cornell, Héctor Abruña What: free public presentation, "Energy Through Chemistry" When: Tonight, 3 March 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) Our energy future -- from powering cell phones, laptops, and cars to harnessing alternative sources like solar…
tags: education, public outreach, SciCafe, science cafe, AMNH, American Museum of Natural History, NYC, streaming video Who: Director of the Energy Materials Center at Cornell, Héctor Abruña What: free public presentation, "Energy Through Chemistry" When: Wednesday, 3 March 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) Our energy future -- from powering cell phones, laptops, and cars to harnessing alternative sources like solar…
tags: education, public outreach, SciCafe, science cafe, AMNH, American Museum of Natural History, NYC, streaming video Who: Director of the Energy Materials Center at Cornell, Héctor Abruña What: free public presentation, "Energy Through Chemistry" When: Wednesday, 3 March 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) Our energy future -- from powering cell phones, laptops, and cars to harnessing alternative sources like solar…
tags: Center for Inquiry, CFI, NYC Skeptics, Free Inquiry and Secular Humanism, Darwin Day 2010, Ian Tattersall, Massimo Pigliucci, public education, outreach, New York City, NYC, education, streaming video On the day after the anniversary of Charles Darwin's birthday, prominent paleoanthropologist Ian Tattersall gave a public lecture about Darwin and his impact on what we know about human evolution. Tattersall, curator in the anthropology department at the American Museum of Natural History, then sat down for a conversation with Massimo Pigliucci, Chair of the Philosophy Department at…
tags: education, public outreach, SciCafe, science cafe, AMNH, American Museum of Natural History, NYC, streaming video Who: Director of the Energy Materials Center at Cornell, Héctor Abruña What: free public presentation, "Energy Through Chemistry" When: Wednesday, 3 March 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) Our energy future -- from powering cell phones, laptops, and cars to harnessing alternative sources like solar…
tags: Edinburgh, Scotland, big freeze, human behavior, streaming video Sunday, 24 Feb 08, Edinburgh, in front of National Galleries of Scotland. Roughly 150 people froze for five minutes in this fab flash mob (this is a long time to remain motionless!).
tags: Dahlia, Gardening, Horticulture, Botany, nature, image of the day Dahlias. Photographed on Manhattan's Upper West Side on West 81st street at Central Park West. Actor Alec Baldwin lives in this building, by the way. Image: GrrlScientist, 29 June 2009 [larger view].
tags: Ranunculaceae, Gardening, Horticulture, Botany, nature, image of the day Purple Clematis, in the Ranunculaceae family (not sure which species this is). Photographed on Manhattan's Upper West Side on West 81st street at Central Park West. Passersby were curious as to why I was crawling into a shrub, until after I emerged and they saw my camera in-hand. Image: GrrlScientist, 29 June 2009 [larger view].
tags: Hibiscus Tree, Rose of Sharon, Hibiscus rosa-sinensis, Garden, Horticulture, Botany, nature, image of the day Rose of Sharon, also known as the Hibiscus, Hibiscus rosa-sinensis. Photographed on Columbus Avenue, between West 81st and 82nd streets. Image: GrrlScientist, 24 June 2009 [larger view].
tags: Dahlia, flowers, Garden, Horticulture, Botany, nature, image of the day A bunch of flowers for you to enjoy. The big yellow blossom is one of the many thousands of popular Dahlia cultivars. Photographed on Amsterdam Avenue, near West 83rd street. Image: GrrlScientist, 24 June 2009 [larger view].
tags: Rainstorm, weather, nature, Manhattan Hiding from the rain under the eaves. Photographed on Columbus Avenue, between West 81st and 82nd streets. Image: GrrlScientist, 26 June 2009 [larger view]. This rainstorm was so severe that it even drenched people with umbrellas .. and flooded the streets.
tags: Hibiscus Tree, Rose of Sharon, Hibiscus rosa-sinensis, Garden, Horticulture, Botany, nature, image of the day Rose of Sharon, also known as the Hibiscus tree, Hibiscus rosa-sinensis. Photographed on Columbus Avenue, between West 81st and 82nd streets. Image: GrrlScientist, 24 June 2009 [larger view]. Hibiscus rosa-sinensis is one of many plant genera that can exhibit polyploidy, a condition where its number of chromosomes is far greater than the two sets that come from each parent. Polyploid offspring can have very different morphologies from either parent, or indeed any ancestor,…
tags: NYC, Upper West Side, Manhattan, flowers, nature, image of the day Dahlia, Dahlia hybrid. Photographed on Manhattan's Upper West Side on Columbus Avenue between West 81st and West 82nd streets. Image: GrrlScientist, 20 June 2009 [larger view].
tags: NYC, Upper West Side, Manhattan, flowers, nature, image of the day Dahlia, Dahlia hybrid. Photographed on Manhattan's Upper West Side on Columbus Avenue between West 81st and West 82nd streets. Image: GrrlScientist, 20 June 2009 [larger view].
Who: CFI-NYC Executive Director, Michael De Dora, Jr. What: free public presentation, "CFI and the State of Science and Reason" Where: Shetler Studios, 244 West 54th Street between Broadway & 8th Avenue, 12th floor, Penthouse 1. When: 830pm Tuesday, 23 June 2009 What exactly is the Center for Inquiry? What does CFI stand for? How does CFI carry out its mission? What does CFI -- specifically the New York City office -- have to offer to society? And how can you get involved with CFI and the movement? Come hear the new CFI-NYC Executive Director Michael De Dora Jr. address all these…
Who: CFI-NYC Executive Director, Michael De Dora, Jr. What: free public presentation, "CFI and the State of Science and Reason" Where: Shetler Studios, 244 West 54th Street between Broadway & 8th Avenue, 12th floor, Penthouse 1. When: 830pm Tuesday, 23 June 2009 What exactly is the Center for Inquiry? What does CFI stand for? How does CFI carry out its mission? What does CFI -- specifically the New York City office -- have to offer to society? And how can you get involved with CFI and the movement? Come hear the new CFI-NYC Executive Director Michael De Dora Jr. address all these…
tags: NYC, Upper West Side, Manhattan, flowers, nature, image of the day Dahlia, Dahlia hybrid. Photographed on Manhattan's Upper West Side on Columbus Avenue between West 81st and West 82nd streets. Image: GrrlScientist, 20 June 2009 [larger view]. Unfortunately, with the wind and rain, this flower made another moving target for my camera.
tags: NYC, Upper West Side, Manhattan, flowers, nature, image of the day Pink Dahlia, Dahlia hybrid. Photographed on Manhattan's Upper West Side on Columbus Avenue between West 81st and West 82nd streets. Image: GrrlScientist, 20 June 2009 [larger view]. I am feeling a little better, so I am once more photographing the Big Apple so I can share the images with you. It has been raining a lot in June -- it's been one of the coldest and wettest Junes on record -- so the flowers have lots of raindrops on them, and a lot of insects huddled between their petals, too. Unfortunately, the wind is…