bushwells
Posts by this author
September 29, 2007
One of my spawn attempted to take a photo of our household araneidid. He eschewed the flash because he didn't want to frighten the spider, so the photo is blurred. However, the colors and patterns of the charlotte can be discerned and are kinda striking.
September 28, 2007
Gene Expression's Razib used a catchy little title for the article in which he referenced DNA Unraveled by Colin Nickerson for the Boston Globe. How overarching the role of RNA will be for the regulation of gene expression throughout the genome is still up for grabs, but one can't deny that there'…
September 28, 2007
Er, make that just pumpkin. This little critter was caught crimson fisted packing her saddle bags with pumpkin pollen recently. I wonder if they fly around looking for some nutmeg and cinnamon, too?
In any case, in spite of the numerous pumpkin blossoms that have been produced in the garden over…
September 27, 2007
I mentioned in my previous entry the sense of transcendence I feel when I observe the green light passing through a tree's leaves. My neighborhood woods on Princeton Ridge is full of tall trees, including beeches which are my favorite arboreal species. Part of that sense of wonder stems (har)…
September 27, 2007
Richard Dawkin's Unweaving the Rainbow: Science Delusion and the Appetite for Wonder is on my active reading docket. The book has been around for a while (published in 1998), but it's proving to be a most enjoyable discovery as I continue to read it. So far, I concur with complete reviews' take…
September 25, 2007
I previously confessed that I subscribe to that glossy hardcopy glut of advertising called Vanity Fair. Invariably, the mag contains photo spreads of ripple-ab'ed dudes hawking various men's cologne. All this to mask delicious or stinky or neutral 5alpha-androst-16-en-3-one (androstenone); based…
September 24, 2007
Found scuttling around in my docbushwell at gmail inbox:
Needless to say, I was slightly disturbed when greeted with those images. My learned correspondent wrote the accompanying letter:
Dr. Bushwell:
My research has confirmed existence of several genera of the wolf spider Pardosa (Araneae,…
September 21, 2007
I didn't shuffle through the digital shoe box of photos for flower porn today, so I'm offering something else.
A few posts back, LOLTHULHU made an appearance. It's a parody of LOLCATS. With regard to the latter and the former, here's what the blog formerly known as the Table of Malcontents (now…
September 20, 2007
Speaking as a mother who breastfed both of my kids and was a card-carrying member of LaLeche League (an uneasy relationship since I worked outside the home but valuable all the same for many other reasons), I figured I'd weigh in on this, but not from the Facebook angle. There are plenty of other…
September 20, 2007
When I find myself in times of trouble
Ben and Jerry's comes to me
Snarfing Chunky Monkey so sweetly, so sweetly.
When stressed, some folks barely eat and consequently lose weight. Others, including myself, reach for high-fat-high-sugar (HFS) foods in an attempt to ameliorate the angst. Although…
September 19, 2007
Steinn (Dynamics of Cats) reports that Mars Invades Peru.
This must be smack-dab in the middle of physical-type scientists' radar screen since my Rocket Scientist(tm) friend sent a similar blurb from Yahoo News.
I expect Scully and Mulder have been called in to investigate. Rocket Scientist(tm…
September 19, 2007
Once again, my brothers and sisters, it is that grazhny Talk Like a Pirate Day. What hound-and-horny chepooka is this, I ask you? That PZ chelloveck and other SciBling lewdies Corpus Callosum, Grrl Scientist, and Dr. Free-Ride guff away when they slooshy Pirate. I say "Yarbles!" to that. There…
September 19, 2007
Via Technovelgy - Where Science Meets Fiction, here's an article on a wild display surface upon which small panels move with precision and "ripple," creating strange, almost biologically protoplasmic motion:
HypoSurface Walls Are Full of Life.
Bill Christensen, the author of the Technovelgy article…
September 15, 2007
I concede. As self-deprecatory as I can be, I am left in the dust, gasping and quivering, by the mighty Christopher Hitchens who aptly displays the gloriously superior sense of humor that is characteristic of the human male. I am humbled, Mr. Hitchens. My hat's off to you.
In the latest Vanity…
September 14, 2007
The deck plantings looked innocent enough. Trite flowers and greenery were stuffed into cheap plastic containers, crammed together like so many commuters in a suburban horticultural subway car. Those frilly purple dames though. If he could only get a closer gander at them. They were so coy.…
September 13, 2007
...to reassure the Kevin-o-philes and the Kevin-o-phobes, for that matter, that the raucous young bonobo will be back on the blog in the future. Exactly when that will be is to be determined at this point, but he will be back!
In the meantime, I am sure that Jim "I-am-the-god-of-drums-and-circuits…
September 12, 2007
James Lileks maintains one of my favorite high-kitsch entertainment time-sinks, namely The Institute of Official Cheer. Lileks has scanned all sorts of advertisements, comics, and cookbooks (sp. The Gallery of Regrettable Food) from the 30, 40s, 50s and 60s, and then has commented on them. Some…
September 11, 2007
Or when Maidenform just isn't enough.
LiveScience reports that Bras Don't Support Bouncing Breasts.
The science of brassiere design in this study refers to the biomechanics of breasts bouncing during exercise. For women with larger endowment, e.g., a pair of D-cup breasts weighing 15-23 pounds…
September 10, 2007
In anticipation of forking over multiple dead presidents, a healthy kidney and sacrificing a pair of white doves to enter the local googolplex cinema to see 3:10 to Yuma, I indulged in a Christian Bale-o-thon this weekend. Well, OK, two DVDs don't make a "-thon" but it's a little more focused than…
September 4, 2007
This deserves to be highlighted. Hat tip to Lorri Talley (see comments in Orb Weaver entry).
I give you...
The Mating Dance of the Jumping Spider!
"I have the best pedipalps of them all! The very best. With my little dance, I will hypnotize you into wanting them. Yes, my darling, wanting them!"
September 4, 2007
Since Labor Day weekend has passed, it's time to put away those white shoes and to take note of the late summer orb weaver spiders.
Orb Weaver spiders are members of the Araneidae family. These include the ubiquitous yellow and black garden spider and familiar genera such as Mangora spp. and…
September 1, 2007
A new addition can be found in the sidebar. Yes, the Chimp Refuge has joined the OUT Campaign bandwagon. Click on the Scarlet Letter of Atheism, and you will be taken to the site for the campaign which includes a link to Richard Dawkins' introduction to the initiative.
Since it's a Saturday, and…
August 31, 2007
...Why Bathroom Sex is So Hot.
The Salon newsletter popped up in my gmail files within the past hour with the aforementioned article by James Hannaham. It's a pretty interesting essay on the allure of public restroom schwinging and whether or not such acts make a guy Teh Gay or Not Teh Gay, as…
August 24, 2007
So you've got your Harry Potter fandom, your Buffy the Vampire Slayer fandom, your Pirates of the Caribbean fandom and your Star Trek fandom.* Isn't it about time for an Evolutionist/Rationalist fandom? Well, isn't it? Check out my answers to the meme** that's sweeping the fan-i-verse!
Note…
August 14, 2007
The Teh finally hit the conservative pages of Scrip World Pharmaceutical News.
Wyeth's new antipsychotic receives FDA non-approvable letter after fatality
August 13, 2007
Scrip
The US FDA has issued a non-approvable letter for Wyeth/Solvay's new-generation atypical antipsychotic bifeprunox, which…
July 13, 2007
This spicy babe doesn't need a thong to look good. The plant is colloquially known as Brazilian Jasmine and more formally as Mandevilla sanderi. Its original habitat was in the hills above Rio de Janeiro, but it no longer grows in a native state there. Here it struts its stuff to a bossa nova…
July 12, 2007
When one thinks of a house mouse, a meek cheese-nibbling furry little critter is most often visualized Don't be fooled. These are nasty beasts. Just ask the chicks of the stormy petrel, Tristan albatross and Atlantic petrel.
The vast majority of avian extinctions have occurred on islands.…
July 11, 2007
As a belated follow-on to my rant on ol' Hissy Chrissy Hitchies' contention that women aren't funny, I offer this film clip via LiveScience: Humor and the Sexes. Be forewarned that you must suffer through a Yahoo ad in the beginning which pokes gentle fun at Incompetent Men and Their Tools, a…
July 7, 2007
So last year we had the dreaded 06/06/06, and lo! No apocalyptic beasts appeared in the heavens. This year, it's our lucky day: 07/07/07!
Seven is considered a "lucky number," a prime of a magical, mysterious signficance. So where does the source of this luck derive? Why, from the Bible, of…
July 6, 2007
Speaking, or rather screeching, as a menopausally-crazed, cognitively-impaired winged harpy, I feel it is my duty to swoop in and squawk about the recent hormone replacement therapy free-for-all that's goin' down at Science Blogs.
Links are hardly necessary given that this is front page news but…