Hedwig Pöllöläinen
grrlscientist
Posts by this author
June 17, 2006
This entry is for everyone who thinks that World Cup soccer (futbol) is not popular in the USA, think again: it's danged popular in Manhattan right now! At this moment, I am sitting in a pub, watching the USA-Italy game and there are at least 70 people crowded in here watching along with me,…
June 17, 2006
I am talking about Bill Gates, of course.
Most people have read the recent reports that Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates's personal net worth exceeds 40 billion dollars. Consider that he made this money in the 22 years or so since Microsoft was founded in 1975. If you assume he worked 14 hours a…
June 16, 2006
I woke up this morning, feeling under the weather, so I have not been doing much writing today. Sorry about that. I had planned to put together a few more pieces for you to read today, but analgesics have dulled my writing ambitions along with my pain. I did download three scientific papers this…
June 15, 2006
Okay, my peeps, when you ask questions, I try to hunt down the relevant expert or individual quoted in a news story if I don't know the answer myself and I pass on your questions to that person (or to the webmaster at their site) and then .. I hope for the best.
This time, one of the people cited…
June 15, 2006
Okay, after I finished writing that last piece of breaking science news, I am ready to relax with some thought-free fun and games for a little while. How about going out to a restaurant for something to eat? Oh, living in NYC as I do, I forgot that some people have to drive a car instead of hopping…
June 15, 2006
Artist's rendition of Gansus yumenensis
on a lake in Changma Basin, China approximately 115-110 million years ago.
Illustration: Mark A. Klingler / CMNH.
In 1984, a paper was published in China (in Chinese) that described a new bird species from the early Cretaceous period, based on part of a…
June 15, 2006
Okay, my peeps, my story is coming very soon. I am downloading the pictures now, but this is taking longer than I want it to. Grr! But I can say now that this story is about an amazing paper that came out today in Science, and this paper will change the way we all think about avian evolution.
Even…
June 15, 2006
Amazona auropalliataImage: by BirdZoo
As a parrot breeder, companion and researcher, I can unequivocally say that I have been keeping a secret, a powerful secret that, once revealed, will change the way that humans view themselves and their place in the world, especially in relation to parrots.…
June 14, 2006
I have a very cool surprise for you, dear readers, tomorrow at 2 pm EST. Get ready; it'll knock your socks off.
June 14, 2006
I guess these advertizers haven't heard about avian influenza yet nor about how cats appear to be surprisingly susceptible to it.
Well, big cats, anyway.
Hat tip: Dawn, via Brainstorm #9.
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tags: advertizing
June 14, 2006
I like Stephen Hawking, but someone needs to have a little chat with him because today's comments are simply ridiculous. In fact, his comments make me wonder why humans won't do the right thing for a change, by doing what is necessary now to avert disaster on earth, our only home, instead of…
June 14, 2006
The 195th edition of the Carnival of the Vanities is now available. This carnival highlights the best writing on any topic, so there is a wide variety of essays there for you to read and enjoy.
June 13, 2006
While no one was looking today, congress voted to give itself yet another pay raise, despite record low approval ratings.
So much for the delusion that this country is a meritocracy.
June 13, 2006
Breathtaking: the rainbow over the Washington-Idaho border.Image: AP.
This blanket of fire, covering hundreds of square miles, is the rarest phenomenon of them all. It was spotted in the USA on the Washington-Idaho border around midday last Saturday.
To create a rainbow of fire, clouds must be…
June 13, 2006
Everyone knows that the dinosaurs went extinct after a giant meteorite smashed into earth 65 million years ago, creating a huge dent in the planet's surface just off the Yucatan peninsula, but did you know that there was an earlier, even more dramatic, mass extinction event? That apocalyptic event…
June 13, 2006
Hey everyone, there's another new blog carnival out there, one that I am most pleased to be part of! The 2nd edition of the Philippine Blog Carnival was just published and it does include a piece by moi, along with some others that you will also find quite interesting. Most essays are in English,…
June 12, 2006
Gazelles and other large desert-dwelling ungulates can live on very little food and water for long periods of time. How do they do it? This was an evolutionary mystery until recently, when researchers found that desert-dwelling gazelles survive by reducing their breathing frequency, thereby cutting…
June 12, 2006
The 31st edition of the Carnival of the Green is now available for your reading pleasure at my new blog sibling's place, A Blog Around the Clock. There are lots of good essays listed there to read.
June 12, 2006
The elusive and peculiar Okapi, Okapia johnstoni,
a relative of the giraffe that dwells in dense rainforests.Image: Denver Zoo.
One of my favorite mammals is the little-known relative of the giraffe; the shy and retiring okapi. This peculiar animal, which is approximately the size of a horse, is…
June 12, 2006
Pale Male over Central Park West in NYC, 6 June 2006 (in moult).
Pale male, an unusual light-morph red-tailed hawk, Buteo jamaicensis, has lived in NYC for 14 years.Image: Lincoln Karim. You can purchase your own copy of this image here.
Birds in Science
Researchers found that female songbirds…
June 11, 2006
On this bright, sunny Sunday, the latest edition of the Carnival of the Godless was published for your reading pleasure, hosted by The Atheist Mama. I was especially interested to read the essay about a forbidden five-letter word.
tags: blog carnival
June 11, 2006
What would happen if the starship Enterprise encountered the Death Star? Watch to find out... This video is especially for my pals who enjoy Star Wars and Star Trek: The Next Generation [7:04]
(below the fold)
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tags: streaming video, satire, parody, humor, Star Trek, Star Wars
June 10, 2006
Yes, this is made entirely of legos. Legos have taken on a life of their own, it seems.
Recently, the editors of PC Magazine published their list of the "Top 10 Strangest (or Coolest...) Lego Creations". This particular creation [larger image] was made by Nathan Sawaya and used over 10,000 lego…
June 10, 2006
This week's question from the mothership is a fantasy-type of question.
Question: Assuming that time and money were not obstacles, what area of scientific research, outside of your own discipline, would you most like to explore? Why?
There are several avenues of research that appeal to me, all of…
June 9, 2006
If you are a soccer (football) fan in NYC, the least crowded bar in all of Manhattan will be Bourbon Street on 407 Amsterdam. This pub will open tomorrow at 9am to watch the England - Paraguay game and on Monday noon, you can watch the USA lose to play the Czech Republic.
(I'll probably be here…
June 9, 2006
There are fewer than 100 identical quadruplets in the world.
A 26-year-old Indian woman has given birth to rare identical quadruplets and the girls are healthy after their first six weeks of life, an Indian news agency reported Friday.
Shruthi Vivekanandan, a software programmer from the southern…
June 9, 2006
Okay, my peeps, I have made an amazing discovery! I found a pub with free wifi AND affordable beer! I can sit on a sidewalk in Manhattan (well, until my battery konks out or I run out of money -- it's a race), watching horse racing on the pub TV, watching people and cars on the streets -- all while…
June 9, 2006
Has anyone seen the cover of today's New York Post? Apparently, the NYPost was giving away today's issue on the streets because no one would buy it (and no, I am not posting the cover picture here; it's disgusting. Funny, but disgusting).
June 9, 2006
I just wanted to welcome my new SiBlings to ScienceBlogs -- there are 43 of us now! Some of the truly amazing additions to our stable of superstars include some of my favorites, The Loom, Effect Measure, and Scientific Activist. Hopefully, my regular readers will wander over to say hello to them (…
June 8, 2006
Mother and child, deep in conversation.
Models of newly described miniature sauropod, Europasaurus holgeri, adult with juvenile
(Europasaurus; "reptile from Europe", after "Europe" and the Greek, sauros for "lizard";holgeri after Holger Ludtke, who discovered the first bones).Image courtesy of…