Sheril R. Kirshenbaum
sheril
Posts by this author
July 29, 2008
When this hit my inbox, I thought it was a bad joke:
She's plump, powerful and ready to cause more controversy than "SuperSize Me." She's Fat Princess, the star of Sony's upcoming video game of the same name. Debuting at last week's E3 expo, the colorful Fat Princess is a capture-the-flag game…
July 29, 2008
by Philip H.
[Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this blog piece are the opinions of the author alone. They do not represent the opinions, policies, procedures, or sentiments of any government agency for which he currently works or has worked in the past. If you disagree, please contact the…
July 28, 2008
We've invited some excellent 'intersection personalities' to contribute here while we devote necessary time to completing our book. While we'll continue posting on politics, science, culture, and storms, our first guest is ready to make his debut tomorrow...
Introducing Philip H.
A coastal…
July 28, 2008
I love books. Some of my favorite authors are Robbins, Allende, Homer, Vonnegut, Sagan, Burroughs, Tan, and on and on...
Lately I've been reading and reading and reading, but it's been awhile since getting lost in a good story.
Intersection readers are encouraged to make recommendations here in…
July 26, 2008
A one-month-old Ferruginous Pygmy-owl, Glaucidium brasilianum, at the National Zoo in Managua, in the spring of 2008. The owl was brought to the zoo after its nest fell from a rotten branch at a construction site.
Bonus points if you recognize the quote in the title.
July 25, 2008
From Jonathan Crow:
If movies were completely scientifically accurate, they'd probably be as interesting as a Physics 101 lecture. In real life, there are no explosions in space, gas usually doesn't explode from a lit cigarette, and Bruce Willis/Jackie Chan/Will Smith would most likely be in a…
July 24, 2008
Carbon: Seems it's the subject on everyone's mind these days... and for good reason!
It's in the food we eat, the gasoline that fuels our cars, our clothes, jewelry, and beyond. It's us! C is the sixth most common element in the universe and intimately important in the tale of life on planet…
July 23, 2008
This week's question at NexGen asks us about what policies are necessary toward diversification of energy sources on a national and international level. Are we ready--economically, politically, and technologically--to accept and expand in so many directions?
Many have predictably taken issue with…
July 22, 2008
Remember the 2007 Scibling meetup? Well it's that special time of summer once again for Seed's science bloggers to gather in Manhattan and take the city by storm! Unfortunately, Chris can't make it this year, but I'll be in town with Jennifer, Bora, Razib, Grrl and many more of the colorful…
July 21, 2008
If anyone's perfected the science of music, it's Girl Talk.
Regular readers know how I feel about music's power to move and motivate people. Well I've just discovered Gregg Gillis who began as a student of biomedical engineering at Case Western Reserve University. Regardless of whether his art is…
July 18, 2008
It's no secret, I love space. From following the Mars Lander to cosmic collisions, I call it 'my dark side' along with complex adaptive systems theory. And now's our chance to shuttle up to the moon! Well, sort of...
NASA is inviting all of us to send our names along board the Lunar…
July 17, 2008
The latest from JibJab reminds me of the night we covered Dylan in NYC at the 2007 Sb blogger meetup... Chris, I think it's time for an encore.
July 16, 2008
This week at Next Generation Energy we're taking on the question of input and output. Can we--and should we--balance the production of biofuels with food production? And to add complexity, I'm asked to forecast our transportation needs down the line and predict whether sustainable biofuels will…
July 15, 2008
As if taking on evolution vs. intelligent design wasn't controversial enough, how about finding humor in global warming? Marine ecologist turned filmmaker Randy Olson has. In a big and poignant way...
I was first introduced to Randy Olson's work during Bob Steneck's invertebrate zoology course in…
July 14, 2008
I've been offline for months, having tired of the ridiculous ramblings you flightless hominids occupy yourselves with involving God knows what. However, on that topic, the recent outbursts in and out of the blogosphere have me so perplexed, I'm inclined to give everyone involved a good bite on…
July 14, 2008
Real ad for epMotion: An automated pipetting system.
Yes folks, biotech is targeting women in science. Readers can, uh, form their own opinions of Eppendorf's approach...
July 11, 2008
Earlier this year, some in Sebastopol, California were very concerned over potential health hazards of wireless internet and halted a local company from providing public wifi access. (For details, visit O'Reilly). While I'm less nervous over electrical sensitivity, I can't help but wonder what…
July 10, 2008
McCain and Bush are recommending a plan for offshore drilling...
Having spent much of 2006 working hard to keep it far away from Florida's coast, I cannot overemphasize that this is a miserable idea. Craig McClain sums it up well over at Deep Sea News:
First, the current supply of drilling ships…
July 10, 2008
Readers response to my post on biofuels yesterday was tremendously interesting with many new ideas, perspectives, and avenues to wander down in the future. The second installment at Next Generation Energy is already up this morning offering a different persepctive from Joseph Romm of Climate…
July 9, 2008
Today marks my inaugural post at a brand new Seed Scienceblog called Next Generation Energy: An evolving interactive forum on alternative energy. Each week my co-bloggers and I will dissect which ideas are real contenders and what will be practical (and affordable) at the start of the 21st century…
July 8, 2008
Well folks, it's that special time once again when we celebrate all things wondrous and marine... Carnival of the Blue 14 is now live over at The Blue Economy.
July 7, 2008
As I've written in the past, species are constantly blinking in and out of existence. This may or may not be of concern depending on your scale of interest. After all, extinction is the only real certainty.
Last month Andy Revkin asked, 'Does the world need leatherback turtles? '
Need, eh? Well…
July 3, 2008
Meet Tropical Storm Bertha:
Chris may be driving across the desert, but he's always got an eye to developing storms and has asked me to post the latest while he's offline.
Bertha has formed in the far eastern Atlantic and according to Jeff Masters, this is the first time we're observing a tropical…
July 3, 2008
According to ABC, a new study reports that women tend to drop out of research between their postdoc positions and running their own labs. I can't say I'm shocked. While personal anecdotes are not reliable evidence, by age 28 I've already seen this trend firsthand among my peers many, many times…
July 2, 2008
Just before the Olympic Games, a 5,000 square mile blue-green carpet has covered China's Yellow Sea.
The event is likely due to excess nitrates from pollutants like sewage and agricultural run-off, which can act like extra fertilizer for plankton. (Remember The Simpsons?) While Chinese officials…
July 1, 2008
What is it about that person? You know the one... You can't explain it, but when they're in the room, no one else matters. You light up and feel more alive. Try to think of something clever to say... a joke, a story, anything that might invoke a smile. Attraction.
'They Always Do' is a track…
June 27, 2008
This week I've composed my first column at Science Progress called 'Plight of the Postdoc: Is modern American science strangling its young talents in the cradle?' The piece explores some illuminationg--and troubling--figures about the arduous road ahead for many early career scientists.
At first…
June 26, 2008
'I wanted to blaze a trail as a woman in math--once I decided I probably couldn't be a baseball player.'
- Moon Duchin
A pioneer in mathematics, Moon hopes to do interdisciplinary teaching and research incorporating math and the humanities.
Moon has a keen mathematical intellect, which she brings…
June 25, 2008
Well I'm impressed...
It's called EVO or www.evo.com. The goal is simple: To increase transparency in the green market, decrease green washing, and encourage corporate responsibility.
In response to this increasing demand for product transparency, EVO spent several years developing an objective…
June 24, 2008
Real tribe. Not really lost.
Turns out, the photos were a hoax to call attention to the dangers of the logging industry.
The disclosures have been made by the man behind the pictures, José Carlos Meirelles, 61, one of the handful of sertanistas - experts on indigenous tribes - working for the…