grrlscientist | March 9, 2006
I broke all the etiquette rules, PZ, because I did not ask your wife or daughter before I got a virtual pet for you for your hatchday. However, this pet is a little different than most because it does not use a litter box, it doesn't have to be walked three or five times per day, nor can it starve to death!
I know that you like animals and technological wizbangery, so my virtual gift to you, PZ, is the delightful roboraptor. The roboraptor stands 32 inches tall, has built-in touch and motion sensors that allow it to react to its environment and, best of all, it can either roam freely or it…
grrlscientist | March 9, 2006
Klamath River, Oregon.
Photo by Dave Menke, USFWS.
Click on image for a MUCH larger view in its own window.
Do you wonder what happened with that online letter to the US Senate that I posted to my blog awhile ago, soliciting scientists' signatures regarding the upcoming rewrite of the 1973 Endangered Species Act (ESA)?
I finally have some good news to share with you.
As some of you might remember, the 1973 ESA is currently being considered for reauthorization by congress, and a rewrite by California Congressman Richard Pombo, a Republican who chairs the House Natural Resources Committee,…
grrlscientist | March 9, 2006After a delay, the 181st issue of the Carnival of the Vanities was just posted by Daniel at The Global Perspective. Daniel was kind enough to include one of my pieces with all the other fabulous writing that is linked there.
The Carnival of the Vanities is the grand dame of all blog carnivals, it was the one that inspired all the others on the web, including the Tangled Bank, which I will be hosting here in six days.
grrlscientist | March 8, 2006Yes, it's me again, my peeps. I am once more reminding you to send me something for my issue of Tangled Bank, which will be published here on 15 March! I have already received half a dozen articles, but of course, I want more because the public is hungry to read and learn more about science!
Article Submissions: email links to your submission(s) to PZ Myers, or to the Tangled Bank host [at] tangledbank [dot] net by 14 March 2006. Please write "Tangled Bank" in the subject line. All submissions will be acknowledged by email within 24 hours, so if you do not receive a response from me in that…
grrlscientist | March 7, 2006With one picture, a friend reminded me of my barely concealed longing for a horse when he sent this to me. Oh, cruel, wicked friend!
Oddly, that kid looks a lot like I did when I was young and cute (yes, I had freckles when I was a wee one).
But this picture makes me wonder what is it about girls and horses? about boys and dogs? Is this nearly universal, or do we only see this in America? Is this a recent phenomenon (within the previous 50 years or so)?
I do have my hypotheses regarding the girl-horse/boy-dog topics, but I was wondering what you all think.
grrlscientist | March 7, 2006Kim, an emergency room and critical care nurse and the author of Emergiblog, has published the latest edition of Grand Rounds, vol. 2, no. 24 (week 76), for all to enjoy. Grand Rounds is a weekly blog carnival that compiles the best medical writing in the blogosphere. This issue is fabulous. It is packed with lots of great material, including a piece written by me.
grrlscientist | March 7, 2006A colleague apparently read the essay about avian influenza that I wrote this past weekend and was inspired to send me a portion of an email written by Ted Cable, Assistant Chairman for the Department of Horticulture, Forestry and Recreational Resources at Kansas State University. Cable is currently on a sabbatical leave in France. In his message, Cable is very concerned about the "bird flu" misinformation presented to the public and the effect that this is, and will, have on wild birds. He writes;
On another note, here in France there is tremendous panic about the bird flu and it is causing…
grrlscientist | March 7, 2006A word cloud is a visual depiction of content (words) used in a body of text. The words in this cloud, are arranged alphabetically and depict more frequently used words in progressively larger fonts. This word cloud (pictured) was generated from my blog. You can generate your own word cloud, from your blog or website, or from a favorite passage of text, and print it on a t-shirt, either for yourself or for your favorite friend blogger. I am almost tempted, myself.
[your results will vary]
grrlscientist | March 6, 2006What should you study in college? I think I gave this on-line quiz a run for its money, as you will see from my scores (below the fold).
Did you earn a different major than the one the quiz diagnosed for you? If so, what was the major you did get and the major the quiz says you should get? What did you think of the questions they used to determine your major?
I think this is a fairly decent quiz, all things considered.
You scored as Biology. You should be a Biology major! You are passionate about the sciences, and you enjoy studying cell growth and evolutionary concepts which enable…
grrlscientist | March 6, 2006
A friend sent me this poem (below the fold), which is written entirely from actual quotations from George W. Bush. These quotes were arranged for poetic purposes by Washington Post writer, Richard Thompson. Of course, I had to share this with you, especially since it is such a powerful testament to the lasting damage resulting from habitual overconsumption of drugs and alcohol.
Make The Pie Higher!
by George W. Bush
and arranged by Richard Thompson
Washington Post
I think we all agree, the past is over.
This is still a dangerous world.
It's a world of madmen and uncertainty
And potential…
grrlscientist | March 6, 2006Over the weekend, I found this new report [PDF] by GRAIN that shows that the global poultry farming industry is, as I suspected, the primary cause of H5N1 avian influenza, NOT wild birds and backyard free-range poultry farmers as is so widely reported by the media. Further, this report claims that the probable cause for the increased lethality of the avian influenza virus is a direct result of the horrible conditions perpetuated by poultry industry (as I have stated).
This linked report is quite long, but it is important because it claims that the primary source for avian influenza is, and…
grrlscientist | March 6, 2006
Hey everyone, Carnival of the Godless, issue 35, is now available and, amongst all the great links they published, they also included a piece written by moi.
tags: blog carnival
grrlscientist | March 6, 2006I already have two articles for my issue of Tangled bank, which will be published on 15 March, but I need more!
Tangled Bank is a Blog Carnival that is actively seeking submissions of your blogged essays, opinion pieces, poetry, and cartoons that present or discuss topics that affect the natural (biological) world. As such, the guidelines describing what is appropriate subject material are very broad: basically; your submission must be about science, nature or medicine, and it must have been published within the past two or three months on a blog.
I am pleased to announce that I will be…
grrlscientist | March 4, 2006Sent by a friend for your enjoyment.
Okay, this astonishing series of four photographs also falls into my new "Wow!" category and will appeal to those of you who like to feed birds on your back porch and other places. [I am not showing you ANY pictures from this particular link because seriously, it'd ruin the surprise for you]
grrlscientist | March 4, 2006Cashing in a few of its nine lives, this cat was lucky to be alive when it was rescued from its predicament.
"The cat was just hanging under there," said Bristol Police Lt. Nick Guercia, who was one of the feline's rescuers. "How this cat didn't get killed is just amazing."
Which leads me to ask .. how the heck did it get there in the first place??
This lucky kitty is currently under a veterinarian's care in Bristol, Rhode Island.
grrlscientist | March 4, 2006FINALLY! The polls are open to vote for the 2005 Koufax Awards. The purpose of this round of voting is to identify the top 6-10 semifinalists for each category. Voting is done either through email or by posting your choice in each category's comments. As you might recall, Living the Scientific Life was nominated for a few of these award categories, as follows;
Best Blog (non-professional)
Best Expert Blog
Best Writing
Most Deserving of Wider Recognition
Best Individual Post for Tsunamis and Mangroves: The Shrimp Connection
Most Humorous Post for My Living Will
Best Series for Birds in the…
grrlscientist | March 3, 2006Josh Hosler has catalogued all of Billboard Magazine's number one songs since 1940.
So what was the number one song on the day you were conceived? The day you were born? The day you lost your virginity? The day you graduated? The day you were married? Or whatever other day that has some sort of special significance to you?
I'm game; the number one song on the day I defended (18 September 2002) was "Dilemma" by Nelly featuring Kelly Rowland. Honestly, I've never heard it and the lyrics are really stupid. Perhaps that is why things have not gone very well for me? I defended when the wrong song…
grrlscientist | March 3, 2006
I was recently reminiscing about my winter vacation spent in Minnesota, so a friend sympathetically sent me this story (below).
Note: For those of you who don't know, I am blonde (Obviously! Who else other than a blonde who hates the cold would spend her winter vacation in Minnesota??), but this story is not about me because you all know that I do not believe there is a dog.
THE BLONDE AND THE LORD
A blonde wanted to go ice fishing. She'd read many books on the subject, and finally, after she collected all the necessary tools, she left for the ice. After carefully positioning her comfy…
grrlscientist | March 2, 2006
Condor in the Torres del Paine.
Photo courtesy of Ron Cook.
Click image for MUCH larger view in its own window.
Special Bird Note
Tomorrow, 4 March, is the anniversary of the first issue of Birds in the News. As of tomorrow, I have been digging up, linking to and commenting on news stories about birds for one calendar year. Originally, I began this link harvest because I wanted to demonstrate the value of birds in our every day lives using real life examples .. and what was better to accomplish this goal than to gather together links for international news stories about birds? I also…
grrlscientist | March 2, 2006I and the Bird, issue #18, is now available. It is hosted by Rob, author of The Bird Chaser.
This issue is a wake-up call to the blogosphere because it takes the form of a news story that was published on this very day, but 30 years in the future. This story reviews bird-related blog posts (all of us!), thus providing a window into birding and human-bird relationships at the dawning of the 21st Century. Fortunately, I do have a contribution in this carnival (I overcompensated for my recent Tangled Bank faux pas by sending them two submissions, only one of which -- the first -- was accepted).