nature

 

Spring walk [video]

Posted 2 April 2012 by GrrlScientist

SUMMARY: Join Fred Rumsey, Botanist at the Natural History Museum as he tells us about the flora he encounters on a spring walk at Warley Place Nature Reserve in the British Isles Spring is here, but maybe you’ve not had the chance to get outdoors to enjoy it. I thought I’d share this video with you. In this lovely video, we see a host of flowers from fields of wild daffodils to nectar-rich lungworts buzzing with bees, and even a... Read more

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A census of the ocean [video]

Posted 9 March 2012 by GrrlScientist

SUMMARY: This video presents some of the scientific findings of the decade-long Census of Marine Life programme “We can only sense that in the deep and turbulent recesses of the sea are hidden mysteries far greater than any we have solved.” ~ Rachel Carson, 1907-1964. Screen grab. Oceans cover more than 70% of the surface of Earth, and contain a large portion of Earth’s biodiversity, much of it still unknown. Further, we know more about the surface of the Moon... Read more

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Leaping lizards [video]

Posted 23 February 2012 by GrrlScientist

SUMMARY: Theropod dinosaurs used their long tails as counterbalances to stabilise rapid or irregular movements Male red-headed rock agama, Agama agama, in Lake Nakuru National Park, Kenya [dinosaurise]. Image: Chris_huh, August 2005 (Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.) There was a time, not so very long ago, when dinosaurs were portrayed as slow-moving behemoths, shuffling about with their tails dragging on the ground like a dead weight. But then a number of publications came out proposing that (at least... Read more

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Behind the scenes of “Hummingbirds” [video]

Posted 20 February 2012 by GrrlScientist

SUMMARY: This lovely video smile features a flower’s-eye view of hummingbirds A color plate illustration from Ernst Haeckel’s Kunstformen der Natur (1899), showing a variety of hummingbirds. [velociraptorise.](This image is in the public domain due to its age.) Hummingbirds are remarkable animals. For example, they are amongst the smallest vertebrates in the world and yet, they can be found living comfortably in the Andes mountains at elevations where it is difficult for humans to breathe. They manage this feat by... Read more

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Birdwatching With Your Eyes Closed [Book & Podcast Review]

Posted 5 December 2011 by GrrlScientist

“Eighty percent of bird watching is listening”, I often told my university students whilst we squished through marshes and crept through thickets in search of birds. But sometimes, my students asked how I became so skilled at identifying birds, especially sight unseen, from just listening to them? Having a fascination with and a passion for birdsong certainly helps, but like any skill, birding by ear takes practice — a lot of practice. One might say it’s a lot of work,... Read more

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Brood XIX Periodical Cicada 2011

Posted 19 May 2011 by GrrlScientist

SUMMARY: This dramatic time-lapse video features more than 2700 photographs captured during a 7-hour time period showing an individual 13-year periodical cicada nymph shedding its exoskeleton and transforming into the adult (imago) stage If you live in the southern portions of the eastern United States, you are or will soon be witnessing an astonishing natural phenomenon: the emergence of the 13-year cicada (an individual of one of the 17-year cicada species is pictured). There are seven species of periodical cicadas,... Read more

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The flip side of flipper bands on penguins

Posted 14 January 2011 by GrrlScientist

Hypothesis: use of bands on penguin flippers to mark individuals reduces survivability of those individuals thereby introducing bias into data collected about them As an ornithologist and a birder, I’ve long been concerned about the effects of banding (ringing) on study birds. Lots of studies have been undertaken to determine whether banding is a problem, but these studies are often inconclusive or conflicting. In the case of penguins, zoos reported in the early 1970s that flipper bands can cause wounds... Read more

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Nature Publishing Group Continues Application to Join Digital Age of Science Publishing

Posted 22 September 2010 by GrrlScientist

SUMMARY: Nature Publishing Group, publishers of the world’s top-ranked peer-reviewed science journal, Nature, continues their evolution as a modern scientific and academic publisher. Image courtesy of Nature Publishing Group. Some of you know that I write another blog, Punctuated Equilibrium at The Guardian. I’ve mostly devoted myself to working on that site since I’ve been sitting back and watching the progress of the recent improvements occurring here. I am pleased to tell you that the changes I’ve been observing here... Read more

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Scientia Pro Publica 29

Posted 10 May 2010 by GrrlScientist

SUMMARY: This is it! The 29th edition of Scientia Pro Publica, the traveling blog carnival that celebrates the best writing targeted to the public about science, medicine, the environment and nature published on a blog in the previous 60 days. Scientia Pro Publica is seeking hosts as well as submissions for future editions. tags: Scientia Pro Publica, Science for the People, biology, evolution, medicine, earth science, behavioral ecology, chemistry, physics, astronomy, blog carnival Image: wemidji (Jacques Marcoux). Nam et ipsa... Read more

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