teaching
grrlscientist | May 20, 2010tags: Barnacle Goose, Valkoposkihanhi, Branta leucopsis, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Barnacle Goose, known in Finnish as Valkoposkihanhi, Branta leucopsis, photographed on Suomenlinna, Helsinki, Finland. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: GrrlScientist, 16 May 2010 [larger view]
Canon SX100 IS.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
I photographed this lovely mystery bird a couple days ago in stunning Helsinki, Finland, can you ID the species and tell me how it got its peculiar English common name?
This goose was…
grrlscientist | May 19, 2010tags: Richard Feynman Explains Magnets and 'Why?' Questions, science, physics, magnet, forces, offbeat, ice, slippery, physical laws, Richard Feynman, streaming video
Physicist Richard Feynman tries to explain to a non-scientist just how difficult it can be to answer certain questions in lay terms! A classic example of Feynman's clarity of thought, powers of explanation and intellectual honesty - his refusal to 'cheat'.
From the BBC TV series 'Fun to Imagine' (1983).
grrlscientist | May 19, 2010tags: Whimbrel, Numenius phaeopus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Whimbrel, Numenius phaeopus, photographed at Quintana Neotropical Bird Sanctuary, Brazoria County, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 27 April 2010 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/750s 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 | May 19, 2010tags: Why I'm a Weekday Vegetarian, environment, global warming, meat, vegetarianism, ethics, climate change, Graham Hill, TEDTalks, TED Talks, streaming video
We all know the arguments that being vegetarian is better for the environment and for the animals -- but in a carnivorous culture, it can be hard to make the change. Graham Hill has a powerful, pragmatic suggestion ...
The video following the TEDTalk is more interesting than the actual talk itself.
TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and…
grrlscientist | May 18, 2010tags: Richard Feynman Explains Rubber Bands, science, physics, imagination, hot, offbeat, rubber bands, jiggling atoms, physical laws, Richard Feynman, streaming video
Physicist Richard Feynman thinks more about the 'jiggling' of atoms, and about rubber bands and how they 'work'. "The world is a dynamic mess of jiggling things, if you look at it right", says Richard Feynman.
grrlscientist | May 17, 2010tags: Richard Feynman Explains Jiggling Atoms, science, physics, imagination, hot, offbeat, fire, jiggling atoms, physical laws, Richard Feynman, streaming video
Physicist Richard Feynman talks more about jiggling atoms and heat, and about what fire is.
From the BBC TV series 'Fun to Imagine' (1983).
grrlscientist | May 17, 2010tags: Orchard Oriole, Icterus spurius, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Orchard Oriole, Icterus spurius, photographed Wisconsin. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Bardiac, 15 May 2010 [larger view].
Canon Eos, 70x300 zoom + 2x.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
This bird is remarkable among all its family members for one of its special features, can you tell me what that feature is?
The Orchard Oriole, Icterus spurius, is the smallest North American species of icterid blackbird. Due to their small size and…
grrlscientist | May 16, 2010tags: Richard Feynman Explains Jiggling Atoms, science, physics, imagination, hot, offbeat, cold, jiggling atoms, physical laws, Richard Feynman, streaming video
Physicist Richard Feynman thinks aloud about atoms and how they jiggle, and how we perceive that jiggling as 'hot' and 'cold'.
From the BBC TV series 'Fun to Imagine' (1983).
grrlscientist | May 16, 2010tags: Augur Buzzard, African Red-Tailed Hawk, Buteo rufofuscus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Augur Buzzard, also known as the African Red-Tailed Hawk, Buteo rufofuscus, photographed at the Ndutu Safari Lodge, at the south end of the Serengeti ecosystem, just outside Serengeti National Park, Tanzania, Africa. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dan Logen, 15 January 2010 [larger view].
Nikon D300, ISO 400, 1/250, f/6.3, +2 Exp comp.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | May 15, 2010tags: Richard Feynman Talks About Doubt, Uncertainty and Religion, science, imagination, religion, god, doubt, uncertainty, beliefs, Richard Feynman, streaming video
Physicist Richard Feynman talks about the improbability of the existence of a god, and his thoughts about the mythologies that form the basis of religion.
grrlscientist | May 15, 2010tags: Red-billed Buffalo-Weaver, Bubalornis niger, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Red-billed Buffalo-Weaver, Bubalornis niger, photographed at the Ndutu Safari Lodge, at the south end of the Serengeti ecosystem, just outside Serengeti National Park, Tanzania, Africa. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dan Logen, 15 January 2010 [larger view].
Nikon D300, ISO 640, 1/640 sec, f/6.3, Exp Compenstation at -.3.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | May 14, 2010tags: Yellow Warbler, Dendroica petechia, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Yellow Warbler, Dendroica petechia, photographed at Sabine Woods and Sabine Pass area, Port Arthur, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 28 April 2008 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/160s 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 | May 14, 2010tags: Deutsch für Doofe, German for Boneheads, German language, education, SpeedyConKiwi, streaming video
This video is all about how to pronounce the German alphabet -- something I cannot do correctly at this time. Not that knowing how to say this is going to help me when talking to the bankers about depositing my paycheck into my account or anything.
If I don't know how to say the alphabet by the time this video pops up, you have my permission to tie me up and force me to drink German beer until I learn how to say it.
grrlscientist | May 13, 2010tags: Mouse Agility Course, animal training, clicker training, target stick, behavior, behavioral modification, streaming video
Training animals (and people) to do what you wish them to do is a vanishing art. However, there is a training method that is gaining popularity for teaching animals, ranging from rodents to whales, to perform certain behaviors on command. This training method is clicker training. Here is one example of clicker training with a common ordinary pet mouse, where it has been trained to follow an obstacle course that is truly epic in its size.
How the heck did this mouse…
grrlscientist | May 13, 2010tags: Baltimore Oriole, Icterus galbula, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Baltimore Oriole, Icterus galbula, photographed at Quintana Neotropical Bird Sanctuary, Brazoria County, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 27 April 2010 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/250s 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 | May 13, 2010tags: Optical Illusion: Impossible Motion, optical illusion, Koukichi Sugihara, Best Visual Illusion of the Year Contest 2010, vision, brain, streaming video
In this video, wooden balls roll up the slopes just as if they are pulled by a magnet. The behavior of the balls seems impossible, because it is against gravity. The video is not a computer graphic, but a real scene.
What is actually happening is that the orientations of the slopes are perceived oppositely, and hence the descending motion is misinterpreted as ascending motion. This illusion is remarkable in that it is generated by a…
grrlscientist | May 12, 2010tags: Summer Tanager, Piranga rubra, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Summer Tanager, Piranga rubra, photographed at Quintana Neotropical Bird Sanctuary, Brazoria County, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 21 April 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.
For those of you who know exactly what this bird is, I have several questions for you: first, How is this species distinguished from a…
grrlscientist | May 11, 2010tags: Bait Ball Feast, natural history, animal behavior, plankton, herring, seabird, humpback whale, television, BBC, streaming video
In late summer, the plankton bloom is at its height. Vast shoals of herring gather to feed on it, diving birds round the fish up into a bait ball.
grrlscientist | May 11, 2010tags: Swainson's Thrush, Olive-backed Thrush, Catharus ustulatus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Swainson's Thrush, also known as the Olive-backed Thrush, Catharus ustulatus, photographed at Quintana Neotropical Bird Sanctuary, Brazoria County, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 27 April 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 | May 10, 2010tags: Bald Eagle, White-headed Sea Eagle, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Bald Eagle, also known as the White-headed Sea Eagle, Haliaeetus leucocephalus photographed in Lyman County, South Dakota. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Terry Sohl, 17 January 2010 [larger view]. You are encouraged to purchase photographs from this photographer. I am happy to email his contact information to you.
Canon 50D, 400 5.6L lens.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
This is an immature Bald Eagle, as you…