Living the Scientific Life (Scientist, Interrupted)

Today's Mystery Bird for you to Identify

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 09:59:56 -0500

tags: birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz

[Mystery bird] photographed on the Katy Prairie, Houston, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]

Image: Joseph Kennedy, 6 February 2010 [larger view].

Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/350s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.

Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.

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CATalunia Boy's Choir

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 06:59:26 -0500

tags: CATalunia Boy's Choir, classical music, humor, funny, strange,cat sounds, music video, streaming video

This amusing video should go into the "what did we do before YouTube?" category. This video captures the CATalunia Boy's Choir singing classical music with feline vocals .. it's a 'must view' for all cat owners and cat fans!

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TEDTalks: Nick Veasey Talks About Exposing the Invisible

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 05:59:28 -0500

tags: x-ray art, photography, nature, Nick+Veasey, TEDTalks, streaming video

Nick Veasey shows outsized X-ray images that reveal the otherworldly inner workings of familiar objects -- from the geometry of a wildflower to the anatomy of a Boeing 747. Producing these photos is dangerous and painstaking, but the reward is a superpower: looking at what the human eye can't see.

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Today's Mystery Bird for you to Identify

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 09:59:23 -0500

tags: birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz

[Mystery bird] photographed at the Big Sioux Recreation Area near Brandon, South Dakota. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]

Image: Terry Sohl, 4 November 2007 [larger view]. You are encouraged to purchase photographs from this photographer. I am happy to email his contact information to you.

Canon 20D, 400 5.6L.

Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.

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A Splendid Endeavour!

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 06:59:21 -0500

tags: NASA, Endeavour, International Space Station, spaceship launch, STS-130,Kennedy Space Center, space exploration, physics, astronomy, engineering, streaming video

Space shuttle Endeavour, carrying Commander George Zamka, pilot Terry Virts, and Mission Specialists Nicholas Patrick, Bob Behnken, Steve Robinson and Kay Hire, successfully launched from the Kennedy Space Center in the early hours of February 8, headed for its 13-day STS-130 mission to the International Space Station.

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TEDTalks: Kartick Satyanarayan Talks About How the "Dancing" Bears of India Were Rescued

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 05:59:43 -0500

tags: environment, education, conservation,animal welfare, dancing bears, India, sloth bear, Kartick Satyanarayan, TEDTalks, streaming video

Traditionally, the Kalandar community of India has survived by capturing sloth bear cubs and training them to "dance" through extreme cruelty. Kartick Satyanarayan has been able to put an end to this centuries-old practice, and in so doing discovered a lesson of wider significance: make the practitioners part of the solution.

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Scientia Pro Publica: One Week from Today!

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 20:59:40 -0500

Image: wemidji (Jacques Marcoux).

Nam et ipsa scientia potestas est (And thus knowledge itself is power)
-- Sir Francis Bacon.

Scientia Pro Publica (Science for the People) is just one week away and it is still seeking submissions! Can you help by sending URLs for well-written blog essays to me?

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Racehorse Research Identifies Speed Gene

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 15:10:42 -0500

tags: evolutionary biology, molecular biology, Thoroughbred race horses, horses, aerobic capacity, muscle development, myostatin, MSTN, myostatin-suppressing C variant, myostatin-suppressing T variant, Horse Genome Project, Equinome, bpr3.org/?p=52, peer-reviewed research, peer-reviewed paper

Emerging from the mist is Rachel Alexandra, a champion American Thoroughbred who excels at winning both long and short distance races.

Image: Rob Carr, 2009, Associated Press [larger view]

If you've worked at or been around a racetrack very much, as I have, you'll quickly realize that everyone there has their own pet idea for picking winners. Horse breeders rely on pedigree analysis and studying the horse's conformation to predict whether a particular racehorse is better suited for running short or longer distances. But this is an art that requires both practice and experience and it can waste valuable time, money and sometimes, horses. Which makes one wonder whether modern science can be applied to the challenge of identifying specific genes that make a particular horse better suited to running sprints or distances?

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Mystery Bird: Ferruginous Hawk, Buteo regalis

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 09:59:57 -0500

tags: Eagle Hawk, Gopher Hawk, Squirrel Hawk, Ferruginous Rough-legged Hawk, Ferruginous Hawk, Buteo regalis, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz

~~[Mystery bird]~~ Ferruginous Hawk, also known by a variety of other common names such as Eagle Hawk, Gopher Hawk, Squirrel Hawk or Ferruginous Rough-legged Hawk, Buteo regalis, photographed in Lyman County, South Dakota. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]

Image: Terry Sohl, 17 January 2010 [larger view]. You are encouraged to purchase photographs from this photographer. I am happy to email his contact information to you.

Canon 50D, 400 5.6L lens.

Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.

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Parisian Love

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 06:59:26 -0500

tags: Parisian Love, long-distance relationship, Google, Superbowl Ad, streaming video

The one nice thing about the StuporBowl is the ads that are aired during the game. Well, some of the ads that are aired .. most of the 2010 StuporBowl ads were really stupid, but this one, by Google, was quite nice. In this ad, an American finds true love in Paris, France. The ad was really nice because it shows what Google is about, and it tells a sweet story. Congratulations on the superb ad! Way to go, Google!

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Dan Savage on Gay Adoption

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 05:59:26 -0500

tags: gay adoption, United States, equality, religion, children, religion, hypocrisy, Dan+Savage, streaming video

Unlike straight parents, gay parents cannot go out one night, get drunk and adopt. Unlike straight parents, gay parents have children because they are wanted and planned for. Certainly this was the situation for my (straight) so-called parents, who not only didn't plan for me and didn't want me, but they were horribly abusive and neglectful after I was born, and after they'd finished trying to destroy me, they gave me up to the state when I was a teen-ager. I would love to have had Dan Savage or someone like him as one of my parents instead of the violent, hateful wackaloons that I was born to. If anyone is "destroying the fabric of society," through their behavior, it's all those people who thoughtlessly pop out unwanted kids.

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Birdbooker Report 104

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 11:59:06 -0500

tags: Birdbooker Report, bird books, animal books, natural history books, ecology books

"How does one distinguish a truly civilized nation from an aggregation of
barbarians? That is easy. A civilized country produces much good bird
literature."
--Edgar Kincaid

The Birdbooker Report is a special weekly report of a wide variety of science, nature and behavior books that currently are, or soon will be available for purchase. This report is written by one of my Seattle birding pals and book collector, Ian "Birdbooker" Paulsen, and is edited by me and published here for your information and enjoyment. Below the fold is this week's issue of The Birdbooker Report which lists ecology, environment, natural history and bird books that are (or will soon be) available for purchase.

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Mystery Bird: Jackson's Widowbird, Euplectes jacksoni

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 09:59:02 -0500

tags: Jackson's Widowbird, Euplectes jacksoni, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz

~~[Mystery bird]~~ Jackson's Widowbird, Euplectes jacksoni, photographed in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania, Africa. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]

Image: Dan Logen, February 2010 [larger view].

Nikon D2X, 600 x 1.4, ISO 320, f/5.6, 1/800 sec.

Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.

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Seeking Submissions: Scientia Pro Publica

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 08:59:40 -0500

Image: wemidji (Jacques Marcoux).

Nam et ipsa scientia potestas est (And thus knowledge itself is power)
-- Sir Francis Bacon.

Scientia Pro Publica (Science for the People) is almost here once more and it is still seeking submissions for next Monday's edition of this blog carnival! Can you help by sending URLs for well-written science, medicine, and nature blog essays to me?

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My Favorite Christian Is An Atheist!!

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 06:59:56 -0500

tags: religion, cults, humor, funny, silly, hypocrisy, Edward Current, streaming video

"I just found out that my favorite YouTuber for Christ is actually a godless atheist God-mocker. Blocked!"

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