You’ll be singing this in your sleep.

Llama!

Almost as good as the squirrel.

How about a Time Traveler’s Convention?

Sounds like some party to me. I hope somebody swings by the 19th century and picks up Jules. Wouldn’t be a time-traveler party without him.

My first post from Grenoble, check it out!

You might want to update your link (if you’ve made one), I probably won’t be posting here again for a while…(not that I’ve been a regular poster here, anyway…heh).

As I was walking through the student union this morning, one of the TVs announced to me that today was International Bisexual Day!

…And besides wondering exactly what kind of celebration such a holiday would entail (kiss ALL your friends!) I thought, isn’t that just a bit like celebrating International Indecision Day?

Which I believe is this coming Sunday, actually.
Or maybe Monday.

(If you’re offended by this post, you may of course yell at me, or rather, type something scathing to me, since yelling at your monitor might be silly. But, honestly, why do we need a special day of the year to commemorate a sexual preference? …Although, International Transvestite Day might be interesting on campus.)

Obviously, I did offend someone with my last post. But I’m not going to retract it. I’m not going to apologise for making the post.

I do admit it was a lame joke to begin with…

But it started the most discussion/debate my blog’s seen yet. So, in that way, it was not all bad. And for that reason, I’ll let it stand as it is.

The discussion on my blog, in addition to another even longer, deeper one I had in AIM during and afterwards, has left me with lingering doubts, though. Obviously, one conversation with one person is not going to change my opinions–what would that say of me and my beliefs if that were true? My doubts are more closely related to the question of what constitutes a friendship? How different can two people be, and yet call themselves friends?

I, for one, have long held the belief that any two human beings can find a common ground, no matter how tiny that scrap of ideological turf is. Osama bin Laden and Mother Theresa (were they both still alive) could probably agree that cinnamon smells nice and that light, loose clothing really is best in hot weather. But how much more is needed for a friendship?

Or, conversely, how much (or how strongly) can two people disagree before friendship is no longer an option? I venture to say it should take a whole lot. I don’t make instant friends (except in a few rare instances); it usually takes me a long time to build up enough trust in another person to use the term “friend”. And once I think of them that way, I stay loyal to them. I may not have many friends, but those I do have I tend to keep around for a while.

And, there are things upon which I disagree with every one of them. Some of them drink more than I think they should. Some of them smoke. Some of them have sex outside of marriage (or would like to, haha). Some of them are Democrats. And some of them are militant on various sundry topics that tend to make my skin crawl. But they’re my friends and I stick by their right to make those decisions.

I don’t like to argue. Debate’s not really my thing. I am of the “agree-to-disagree” school of thought, especially when it comes to the hot topics. But I find it comfortable to accept people, even if I disagree with them. Because I feel that a person is more than their collection of ideas. Our ideas change as we grow and age, for one thing, and that’s as it should be. And therefore I often find myself overlooking their opinions to the things I like about them.

So, I’m asking. Can two people accept each other as they are, warts and all, without accepting their ideas? I, for one, like to hope that they can.

But I don’t speak for anybody but myself.

(Sorta.)

After centuries of myth and decades of scientific research, someone finally got up close and personal with the fabled Giant Squid! Well, if the definition of “up close and personal” includes camera work …and a tentacle ripped free of the reluctant film star.

Read the Yahoo! story here.

This is my idea of exciting news. Though, the article has left me with one big question on my mind. …Just who thought up the idea of the Pureed Gonads Cam? That speaks of a special kind of desperation, if you ask me.

And Serenity is in 2 DAYS!
*happy dance*

(much thanks to Dave Barry’s Blog for passing on the field notes and photograph)

…So, in a fight between the two most iconic reptiles of North America and Southeast Asia, who would win?

What follows is the report of a rare and bizarre finding from the depths of the Everglades, which carries with it some intriguing and serious implications:
Read the rest of this entry »

(seen on Boing Boing.net)

Make your own LED display tube top! (or better yet, make ME one )

Pictures, video, and how-to here.

The one shown displays Conway’s Game of Life, the famous mathematical model that shows how highly complex patterns (and even reasonable facsimiles of certain animal behaviors) can arise from the continuous application of very simple rules.

…And, if you’re wondering where someone could wear a garment like that, well, if nothing else it’d be an awesome Halloween costume for next year!

“So, what are you supposed to be?”
(maniacal giggle optional) “Life.“

Behold: the puppy purse.

…I’m pretty sure that qualifies as animal abuse in some states.
Or it should.

UPDATE: It’s not just for the ladies, either!

(seen on Dave Barry’s Blog)

Behold, the cellborg.

(I found this article while I was doing research for my Evolutionary Development take-home exam. Enjoy.)

I’m sure you’ve heard before that we humans share 99% of our genetic material with a banana. It’s a beautiful truth about the code of life, the elegant simplicity from which great diversity and magnificent complexity can derive. My Evolutionary Developmental Biology professor refers to the genetic toolkit, certain genes (or suites of genes) that crop up frequently along the evolutionary path in different contexts with different effects. Scientists have only just begun to identify and explore the applications of these tools that work like commands in lines of programming code. Researchers label genes as they find them, usually according to the mutation that results from their absence or modification. Related genes are given distinctive adjectives added to a collective label. Later, certain genes might be found to produce very different effects in other contexts, in a myriad of organisms, and the labels can lose their relevance.

And so it is that two of the most important genes in the embryonic development not just of humans, but of animals of all kinds right down to the lowly fruit fly, are called: Sonic hedgehog (abbreviated Shh) and Lunatic fringe.

…Who says geneticists don’t have a sense of humor?
(This is also evidence of what can happen when you lock doctoral students in the lab for too long.)

Velociraptors didn’t slash; they hugged.

…Robots and dinosaurs in the same article. Tell me you boys don’t love this.

(Thanks to The Kuz for passing this link on to me.)

is brought to you by the esteemed folks at Nature.

A quote of interest:

Chris Ryan, with the National Association for Premenstrual Syndrome in Kent…

Who funds these people, Nestle?

is not a cartoon character; he is real.

Key quote:

Rumour has it the French researchers who discovered the world’s first specimen in the 1980s didn’t realise its significance. So, they ate it for dinner.

…and Jacques Cousteau never left the interns alone with his new specimens again.

Popular Science has published a list of the Top Ten Worst Jobs in Science. The duties range from screening semen to spending days in 125-degree conditions collecting noxious arsenic-laden mud.

And then there’s number 3 on the list: Kansas Biology Teacher.
Touché.

(via Boing Boing)

…and boy, ain’t it purdy.

Nikon has posted the winners of their annual Small World photography contest. All entries were taken through different techniques using a light microscope. Check out the stunning results here.

(also via Boing Boing)

“It is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press. It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech. It is the soldier, not the campus organizer, who has given us freedom to demonstrate. It is the soldier, who salutes the flag, who serves beneath the flag, and who’s coffin is draped by the flag, who allows the protester to burn the flag.”
–Father Dennis Edward O’Brien/USMC

Doc Russia, a former jarhead and an honorable man, has an archive of quotes (including the one above) by and about the Marines on his blog today, with a small but enthousiastic tribute to the Corps.

Respect our soldiers. Support them. They live and die to perform duties which we civilians are unable or unwilling to do for ourselves. When we question their purpose, we are lying about the most unpleasant side of human nature, which they face every day so that we are able to ignore it. They give us their lives; the very least we can return is our enduring respect and gratitude, and not just on the flag-waving holidays.

That you do not live on the same street as this guy.

…and I used to think our next door neighbors’ display was over the top.

Anyone care to take bets?

Key quote: “Big engine…light-weight hippie car. This should be fun.”

Link

There is a pile driver working on a bridge down the street this week.

It’s like living next to a two-ton metronome. I find myself thinking simultaneously of sixth grade band practice and Chinese water torture…I never realized how close a comparison that could be.

Superman, indeed.

Guy screams like little girl.

Now, click here. All the cool kids are doing it, haven’t you heard?

School + life = crazy. Random blogging shall resume. Stay tuned

Team Ryouko rocks.

Link.

Key quote: “…as far as we know they are still together.”

I wonder what they served at the reception…

You decide.

“What a beautiful ring!”
“Thanks, it’s my father.”

He links stuff like this.

“So, what’ll it be? The wood flower picks sea cucumber hoof, or the cowboy leg beautiful pole?”
(Personally, I didn’t know you could order the latter at a restaurant. Rawr.)

…if they can get anyone to pay for it.

Guilt-free burgers, anyone? Count me in!

a nice, warm, fuzzy dose of realism in their stuffed animal collection.

Other cheery examples here.

(via Dave Barry, as usual)

Check this out.

…Oh yeah. World’s Top Predators, baby!

As some of you know, I’ve been trying to decide for months what I want to do after I graduate. There’s the big cat sanctuary internship I’ve applied for, and it will probably be another few months before I hear from them. I’ve also been looking at jobs at zoos all over the country, and giving serious thought to coming back for grad school after getting a year (or so) of practical experience. But really, I’m just trying to find my place in this big, wide field I’ve chosen, a field that I’m discovering really is not easy to break into…

But, I’m not without allies, and a couple of months ago, one professor that has become one of my best contacts at the university put me in touch with the brand-new conservation geneticist my school just imported from Canada. After meeting with him, he agreed to let me volunteer in his lab once he got it set up.

Well, almost two months later, he informed me that most of the equipment has arrived and soon the biologist he hired to help him will be arriving to start up the experiments. So, I went down to the lab today and got the grand tour! Dr. Geneticist told me about some of the research he’s planning and though he has to attend a conference in Arizona for the next two weeks, he promised to start training me when he gets back–hopefully, the other biologist will have arrived by then.

This means I’ll have another demand on my time besides school, but–I’m gonna learn how to extract DNA! And replicate it! And quantify it! And it’s all in the name of helping save an endangered species!
And maybe, just maybe, we might even clone a fish at the end of the summer.

I am officially in BioGeek Heaven.

This has to be one of the best trailer remixes yet.

Serenity Day is June 23.

Even if you can’t participate, spread the word. We all want to see another BDM!

You’ll probably want to put the drinks far away from the computer for this one.

The article neglects to mention this cat’s second name is Bauer.

(In which case the bear’s lucky he got out of the yard without being shot in the thigh.)

Dave Barry and Fox News (and probably a lot of other people) have taken note of something interesting happening near the ol’ homestead.

I couldn’t help but give my own input on Mr. Barry’s blog. It’s always fun to see other people comment on how weird and horrible-sounding life in Florida can be. We’ve got sinkholes, hurricanes, alligators, palmetto bugs, mosquitoes carrying West Nile virus, anacondas and virtually every other invasive exotic species known to the United States, seven species of venomous snake and two poisonous spiders, skin cancer, and the FCAT…

…and, for all that, it’s home. You talk about these things and people look at you like you’ve just adopted the mangy, one-eyed, rabid puppy from the pound, but deep in your heart you know that life here is pretty darn good. It’s the little things, like wearing flip-flops year-round, the glorious sunsets, fewer taxes, and never worrying about your pipes freezing, that make it a nice place to live. Everything else is a kind of badge of comraderie, an inside joke shared among the residents and former residents. Haha, let’s tell the rest of them how horrible it is so they won’t come looking for the clubhouse.

Well, somebody’s blown our cover, or Florida wouldn’t be experiencing the huge housing boom it is. Maybe a few more sinkholes and hurricanes might chase away the more faint-hearted latecomers. We natives can weather just about anything (pun intended).

…As long as the A/C stays on.