Hedwig Pöllöläinen
grrlscientist
Posts by this author
After watching this video, I am not sure if I should shake my head or just drink excessively.
Take the quiz: What kind of cat are you?Alcoholic CatYou like beer and bars. Maybe you should calm it down before you get a beer belly, if you don't already have one.
Hey, this quiz is rigged, methinks! Quite honestly, I cannot afford an alcohol habit (my so-called "rent habit" leaves little for…
Last night, instead of writing some blog entries for you to read today, I went to the movies and saw An Inconvenient Truth.
An Inconvenient Truth is the companion film to the book with the same name by former-Vice President Al Gore. This film chronicles Gore's life as he discusses some of the…
This is a humble blog, as you know. I certainly do not talk about politics here as much as I do in real life, and everyone knows that writing about politics is the best way to gain a large and devoted readership. But I am most amazed and astonished to report that as of this moment, Living the…
I've awaited this book of poems for years, and now it's finally published! Shannon Borg's first published book of poetry, Corset (Cincinnati: Cherry Grove, 2006), is now available and as soon as I learned it had been published, I eagerly requested a review copy from the publisher.
This book…
Since the world ended today, I am guessing that all of us (and our blogs) have been collectively elevated to a higher plane of being without our knowledge, unless we experienced The Rapture during our sleep. That might explain this morning's king-sized headache. Anyway, whatever happened, it was a…
Ghost owl.
Dustprint on glass of an Eastern screech-owl, Megascops asio.
Photograph appears here with the kind permission of the photographer, Dave Rintoul.
Click image for larger view in its own window.
Dave writes;
The image is a dustprint that an Eastern Screech-owl left on a sliding glass…
The Tangled Bank, issue 54, is now available. As usual, this carnival has a lot of essays for you to read, including a contribution from me.
The Carnival of the Vanities, issue 192 is now available. This carnival is focused on the meaty goodness of the blogosphere, as suggested by the name "…
Before I name the winner of the "Nickname That Bird" contest, let me share Pete Dunne's favorite bird nicknames with you;
Solitary sandpiper: Puddlepiper
American woodcock: Meatloaf on a stick
Rock pigeon: Bronx petrel
Belted kingfisher: Aquakestrel
Red-headed woodpecker: Tri-colored woodpecker…
After paging through a typical field guide to the birds of North America, most people become intimidated by the many hundreds of bird species that are pictured. When one considers the myriad different plumages for juvenile, immature and adult birds, males versus females, and seasonal plumage…
This is the list of all entries received so far, in reverse chronological order, that I will use to choose the winner of Pete Dunne's book. If I don't have you listed here, please email your entry or post it to comments here;
Natalie
Kathy
Rolan
Entries submitted in the comments section
And yet another entry ... this is fun! I wish I could host such a fun contest every week! Below the fold is another entry that you'll enjoy;
Crows/Ravens - General Nuisance
Starlings - Major Disaster
Hawks/Owls - Rat Patrol
Swallows - Roof Rats
Natalie
Hello [GrrlScientist]
The book would be nice but seeing people's original and not-so-original names is fun! Here are mine, some original, most not;
Common Loonie (Common Loon)
Peanut Butter Grebe (I abbreviate as PB Grebe, hence the translation)
Canoodle Goose (Canada Goose)
Necklace Goose (Brant)…
Yes, a few blog carnivals were recently published that you should check out. First, the Carnival of Children's Literature, 4th edition, has a mountain of contributions, ranging from commentary to book reviews, and at least a few of those should appeal to you.
The Literature carnival, 12th edition…
tags: dinosaur, fossil, Children's Museum of Indianapolis, pachycephalosaur, Dracorex hogwartsia, Harry Potter
.
Dracorex hogwartsia,
a newly discovered member of the pachycephalosaur family of dinosaurs.
Image: Drawing by paleontologist Robert Bakker, provided by the Children's Museum of…
Bob Levy, whose book, Club George, I recently reviewed here, very kindly agreed to participate in an email interview with me that I could publish here. It took me a little while to follow up on it, but thanks to the magic of email, and to Bob's quick response, the interview is below, for you to…
Nesting Pacific loon, Gavia pacifica.
Photograph by PicsMan.
Birds in Science
Two carefully planned sets of experiments to be published on Friday in the top-tier peer-reviewed journal, Science, show intelligent birds and great apes can plan into the future in a way that transcends simple food…
Many suggestions for the "Nickname that Bird" contest have been submitted via reader comments where everyone can read them. However, I have also received some entries via email, so I am posting them here (below the fold, last names and contact info removed) so everyone can enjoy them. Don't forget…
Honestly, how can the current administration ignore evidence such as this??
This amusing photograph has been recently making the rounds in email, so of course, I am happy to share it with you here. Although, if I had made this image, I would not have used the word "proof" in the caption since…
Your Observation Skills Get An A-
Hardly anything gets by you...
You have a great memory and eagle eyes
How Observant Are You?
This quiz is kinda fun .. what was your score? Which questions did you miss?
I missed one question; How many channels on a VHF TV dial? Since I have never owned a…
Every week, Seed asks us a question, Ask a ScienceBlogger, and they will link to our responses in a "blog carnival" on the following Wednesday. Our responses are limited to 300 words or less.
Question: If you could shake the public and make them understand one scientific idea, what would it be?
I…
A vaccine that triggers immunity against those viruses that cause most cervical cancers was found to be safe and effective and should be approved soon, a federal panel recommended today. The pharmaceutical company that developed this vaccine, Merck, said the vaccine could reduce global deaths from…
The second installment of Ask a Science Blogger has been published. Surprisingly, this week's question seems to have generated a fair amount of discussion, even though I had thought the response was a foregone conclusion.
This is a hilarious parody of the movie, The Ten Commandments. I wish this was a real film, I'd be certain to attend the pre-release screening! [1:18]
Thanks, Dawn!
tags: parody, humor, Ten Commandments, film
tags: human genome project, chromosome 1, medicine, molecular biology
Scientists have reached a landmark point in one of the world's most important scientific projects by sequencing the last chromosome in the human genome, the so-called "book of life". [Image: False-color photograph showing human…
Here is yet another story of utter ridiculousness, this time from a St. Louis (Missouri) suburb; an unmarried couple with three children are being threatened with eviction due to a dumbass ordinance that prohibits more than three people from living together unless they are related by "blood,…
The Carnival of Job Hunting, issue 1, is now available for your reading pleasure. Please go there to cheer on the pre-homeless!
(sorry; that comment was inspired by the WaPo pre-pregnancy article that I linked to earlier).
I just learned that new federal guidelines recommend that all human female Americans between their first menstrual period and menopause should be treated as pre-pregnant, regardless of their future reproductive plans.
Does this sound rather like .. er, The Handmaid's Tale to you?
It certainly…
When confronted with job ads like this, is it any wonder that people give up on their job searches?
Highly competitive postdoctoral position available in the Department of Evolutionary Biology at [name elided]. Applicant must hold a PhD in molecular biology or evolutionary biology with a cumulative…