By that, of course, I mean the more widely read internets: specificially, the Charlotte Observer's online content. They're featuring my blog this week in their science section. I knew I was going to be in print, but I didn't know I was going to be online, too! Totally cool. Anyhow, go check it out. And you can check out the full version of that blog right here.

The Hawaiian archipelago has a lot of amazing and adorable creatures. Here's a great shot of a baby white tern, or Manu-o-ku, c/o my lab mate Tonatiuh. It was taken by National Geographic explorers in 2005 while they were in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.When people think of Hawaii, they think of the 8 main islands where people live, but the archipelago stretches another 1,200 miles and includes many islands and atolls with vibrant coral reefs and amazing wildlife. This area is so special it's practically off limits to everyone but scientists, protected by NOAA's National Marine Sanctuary…

I'm writing this while on the plane, flying back from a fantastic weekend in North Carolina. Before I can even begin reflecting on the past few days, I have to thank NESCent again for their generous travel grant which allowed me to go to Science Online in the first place. Without their funding, I'd have spent the weekend laying out on a beach instead of freezing my butt off with over 200 amazing people who, thought diverse in many ways, all have one thing in common: a passion for science communication. Sure, the beach would have been a lot warmer and more relaxing, but going to Science Online…

If you read this blog, odds are you appreciate those who write about peer-reviewed research. You might have even noticed that little check-mark page image on the upper left hand side of some of my posts: that handy image lets you know that that blog post has been registered with ResearchBlogging.org, a FANTASTIC site which collects posts from all over the web about all kinds of scientific research. Well, now they've decided it's time to reward the best of the best in research blogging, so they're giving out cash prizes in all kinds of categories. Any blog that has included peer reviewed…

Tilapia has quickly risen the ranks as an important aquaculture fish. It's third in production behind carps and salmon, with over 1,500,000 metric tons produced every year. They're ideal fish farm species because they're omnivorous, fairly big, quick-growing, tolerate high densities quite well and are mighty tasty. More than anything else, tilapia are hailed as one of aquaculture's greatest successes. Cheap and easy, they breed well and are considered far more environmentally friendly than other species because they can be fed a vegetarian diet. Conservation organizations have even set up a…

It's finally here! We have a list of elite blog posts chosen by the best of the best to publish in this year's Open Laboratory. Yours truly got the double honor - I got to help judge the entries and, by some miracle, one of mine made the cut! I display these proudly: Anyhow, go check out all the winners and congrats to all who made it!

I just realized I haven't done a weekly dose of cute baby tiger before! I'm actually a little shocked. Well, here's a real cute one for ya - so ferocious! :) Photo credit to Associated PressThe little tyke is a white tiger born at the Chilean National Zoo. There are more pictures, too - to see the rest of the cuteness, pop over to Zooborns.com.

I just saw this ad for Science World for the first time, and I think it's brilliant. Science World, for those not from Vancouver, British Columbia, is a science center that seeks to make science education a little more fun, including hundreds of interactive exhibits and its own OMNIMAX theater. You can see some more of their great adverts at Rethink Communications. Kudos for the good science-educating work, and even more for the great ads! (thanks, Joel, for the hat-tip to Rethink's link!)

Well, it's 2010, and it's time for another edition of the Carnival of Evolution! Without further ado... First up we have a fascinating discovery brought to us by GrrlScientist over at Living the Scientific Life. Scientists have recently discovered a new species of orchid. This one is definitely unique - it's TINY! Check out the minuscule newest addition to the plant kingdom! Speaking of interesting species, our next submission documents an interesting creepy crawly species. Ted C. MacRae talks about the evolution of a "really" big-headed tiger beetle over at Beetles In The Bush. Of course,…

Ok, I kind of covered this parasite earlier this year. In that post, I explained that Mistletoe is a hemi-parasite (only partially dependent on its host for survival) and that the family represents one of the nine times that parasitism evolved in the plant kingdom. I also mentioned that unlike most parasites, parasitic plants are keystone species, where their ecological impact is disproportionate relative to their abundance. But I didn't talk about the many varieties of mistletoe, and this time, I'd like to focus on one: dwarf misteletoe, of the genus Arceuthobium. Recently, the dwarf…

c/o Reindeer Owners and Breeders AssociationWhat could be cuter than a little baby reindeer around the holidays? Not much! Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus, or Caribou) have become a holiday staple for their sleigh pulling behavior. The large beasts are a kind of deer, native to North America, that travel great distances every year in search of food. Babies can run faster than a wolf only minutes after they're born! But what you might not know is that Santa's reindeer, even ole Rouldolph himself, have to be girls - at least if the classic pictures are correct. That's because, according to the…

img c/o Dr. David Cox via Telegraph.co.ukYou're looking at the world's smallest snowman, standing a whopping 0.02 mm tall or so, the typical length of Paramecium caudatum (a ciliate protist) or about twice the width of a human hair. OK, to be technical, it's not a "snow" man because it's not made of snow. The snowman figure was created by Dr David Cox, a member of the Quantum Detection group at the National Physical Laboratory in West London, using technology designed for calibrating electron microscope lenses. The body is made of two tin beads wielded together with platinum, while the jolly…

Wow. This is so cute, it burns. h/t Greg Laden

Surf's up - literally! The North Shore is getting some monster waves here in Hawaii right now (as high as 50 feet!). I want to go check out the killer surf, so I'm gonna dive head first into Carnival of the Blue #31 so that I'll still have time to go catch the waves! First up: Wanderin' Weeta had a heck of a time with a terrible twosome of mollusc-eating flatworms. Read all about her adventures into the platyhelminthes! After you're done digesting that little tale, swim on over the Sea Notes and read all about what it's like behind the scenes at the seahorse exhibit at the Monterey Bay…

This is just too adorable. It turns out trampolines aren't just for kids: The foxes must have thought it was the greatest discovery EVER.

Mosquitoes carry a lot of parasites, many of which are global health concerns. Mosquito vectored diseases include protozoan diseases like malaria, filarial diseases, and viruses like dengue fever, encephalitis, West Nile and yellow fever. Perhaps the least-concerning creature you can get from a mosquito is Dermatobia hominis. But what it lacks in deadliness it makes up for in grossness. Dermatobia hominis , or the human botfly, is a fairly common looking species of fly native to Mexico and Central America. From its outer appearances, you wouldn't think anything bad of it. Like other flies,…

Starting tomorrow, National Geographic embarks upon a week of adventure. It's Nat Geo's Second Annual Expedition Week, seven nights of journeys to places as diverse as Mars and the deep ocean. Every night at 9PM, Nat Geo takes us on a different expedition sure to fascinate and amaze. I was lucky enough to preview this entire series, and I have to say, it's a pretty great week that's full of science as well as adventure. Be sure to tune in for any that pique your interest! Here's the lineup for the week: The week starts with Sunday's Search For The Amazon Head Shrinkers. The documentary…

Weighing in at around 10 lbs with a wingspan of up to 8 feet, the brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) is an impressive bird. Sure, it's the smallest of the pelican species, but it hardly lacks in size. Along the shores of Florida and the Gulf Coast, these birds are common. They swarm docks and piers wherever fish are being caught and cleaned, and their acrobatic fishing techniques often catch the eyes of tourists and locals alike. But it wasn't always so easy to see these large birds in action. DDT use decimated the pelican population to such low numbers that in 1970, it was placed under…

Hey there fellow nerds! Carnival of the Blue #30 is now up at Oh For The Love Of Science!. Be sure to swing by and get your feet wet. And if you're blogging some salty news yourself, be sure to submit your posts for the next Carnival of the Blue to... ME! December's Carnival of the Blue will be hosted right here at Observations of a Nerd.They've got this new handy-dandy BlogCarnival submission form you can use now to submit your posts! If you have any trouble, feel free to e-mail me at NerdyChristie [at] gmail [dot] com.

Sci-Fi authors will tell you that the next big breakthrough in medical technology will be the ability to grow our own organs for transplants. In the idealized future, you'll have a heart or kidney cultured from your own cells on hand for whatever emergency might come up. Well, scientists have taken another step closer to creating functional replacement tissues, detailing the creation fully-functional penis part replacements in rabbits in a paper published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. . Yes, I did say penis part replacements. They are serious. Hey, if you're…