. Even though I try not to obsess about the polls, I do check them several times per day and I am sad to report that, after yesterday afternoon's peak support level of 16%, I have fallen to a mere 13% of the popular support in the "Biggest Blog Whore" poll. Out of 651 votes cast, I have received only 87 votes! HORRORS! I hope you know this is practice for the REAL polls that will be initiated at the end of the month .. if I can't convince you to vote for Scientific Life in this poll, how can I convince you to vote for me (or for Birds in the News) in those other polls?? . tags: blog awards…
PZ posted a lovely picture of a giant Hyacinth Macaw, Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus, eating the Washington Monument. I had to share the silliness by posting a picture of a giant Bald Eagle, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, nesting atop the space needle, especially for my Seattle pals. (Also be sure to notice Seattle's sleeping volcano in the distance, Mt. Rainier). If you click on the image, you will be directed to the pages that are crammed with yet more images of giant monsters. . tags: silly images
When thinking about the move to ScienceBlogs, I worried about my old material becoming lost in the shuffle, many of which brought a lot of new links and visits to my site when I first published them. I actually happen to like some of this material, so I decided to use Janet's idea of publishing her blog bio. Now that I have a few minutes, I am doing the same thing. Still Big Favorites Tsunami: One Year Later, Part I: What We Know About The Event Itself. Galapagos Tortoises Visit NYC Backtracking Birds Show Islands are not Evolutionary Dead Ends Thoughts on the Value of Blogs to Science How I…
Dodos, rabbit poop, Mt. Rushmore and poker .. what more could you ask for than to make sense of the controversy regarding the teaching of so-called "intelligent design" versus evolution in science classrooms. To this end, the artistic community has teamed up with scientists to produce a film that explores strategies used by proponents of so-called "Intellegent Design" to confuse and mislead the general public about evolution. Advance screenings; February 2 - KANSAS 730pm, Glenwood Arts Theater, call 913.642.4404 for tickets. February 6 - HARVARD 700pm Geology Lecture Hall February 10 -…
The Endangered Species Act (ESA) has provided protection to our most threatened and endangered plants and animals for over 30 years. As new legislation makes its way through Congress that would weaken the ESA, undermine its scientific foundation, and cripple federal efforts to protect and preserve wildlife and their habitats, scientists' voices are critical. A strong, unified statement will help ensure that the science in the ESA remains strong. Several organizations have written a letter and are seeking signatures from scientists. To sign this letter, go to the electronic form provided by…
Western Grebe, Aechmophorus occidentalis copyright by Ted Steinke. Birds in Science; Researchers at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, believe they have located a place in the brain where songbirds store the memories of their parents' songs. The discovery has implications for humans, because humans and songbirds are among the few animals that learn to vocalize by imitating their caregivers. In a paper published this week in the top scientific journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, David Vicario and Mimi Phan of Rutgers, and Carolyn Pytte of Wesleyan University…
tags: science news, SeedGroup, ScienceBlogs To the best of my knowledge, I have never been the subject of gossip before, probably because I am the most boring person whom you could ever know. However, an e-magazine, Element broke the news today that Scientific Life and several other science blogs will be moving to a new location. This has not exactly been a secret because I have hinted several times in the previous months that I will be moving to a new server, and some friends and colleagues have been following the development of this project behind the scenes, but the details of this move…