This isn’t funny, of course, and I don’t intend to make light of a tragedy. However, this is a good time to question the captivity of orcas.
Why I don’t go into the water with orcas…
February 25th, 2010
No Comments
An orca trainer died at SeaWorld yesterday. By all accounts she was a kind, devoted animal trainer who loved her work.
The science version of the BBC booklist
February 23rd, 2010
No Comments
Curious Wavefunction has been thinking about what might constitute the science version of the BBC booklist you may have seen popping around places like Facebook, in particular.
It is a great start to a list in need of expansion (great blog, too). I’ve read most of these, but the list suggests a few I hadn’t heard of or gotten around to.
My favorite book is on the list, De Kruif’s Microbe Hunters, which is still very readable.
Both Popper and Kuhn are there, although neither are very fun reading. (I favor Kuhn, but I’ve always felt that he Kuhn missed the mark in some ways. Paradigm shifts happen rarely — and entire fields will only ever get one or two — but most progress in science is through relentless incrementalism. It seems to me the whole observation is in some ways reflective of a particular moment in time, as the various disciplines matured. Also, it is a fairly Western-oriented look at science. Also, also, I hold a grudge against Kuhn for popularizing the term “paradigm shift,” damn him.)
As I said, the list needs to grow some. Off the top of my head, here are a few that I’d consider candidates:
The Lives of a Cell by Lewis Thomas
Six Easy Pieces by Richard Feynman (or maybe Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman…tough call…)
Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and its Consequences by John Allen Paulos
Consciousness Explained by Daniel Dennett (It marks a particular moment in time when scientists really began to talk frankly and openly about consciousness. His Darwin’s Dangerous Idea is great as well.)
I’m sure there are more, but I’ll post them as I think of them.
Why I don’t go into the Cretaceous water…in Kansas…
February 23rd, 2010
No Comments
Because sharks with 1000s of teeth will eat me.
Paleontologists have just identified the remains of a gigantic, 88.7-million-year-old shark nicknamed the “shell crusher.” The Cretaceous species could pulverize large, shelled animals with its 1,000 teeth, suggests a new study.
A handful of other fossils for the shark, Ptychodus mortoni, had been previously found and hinted that the species was extremely big. The new discoveries support that contention and reveal the shark likely grew to at least 33 feet in length and chomped on its prey with its 3-foot-long jaw.
Giant snowball fight in Times Square
December 20th, 2009
No Comments
While I was rocking Stinkbug Manor with my neighbor’s 40 year-old Sunbeam-brand electric snow wheezer, much, much happier people were having a snowball fight in Times Square.
This is the sort of thing that replenishes my faith in humanity.
Why I Don’t Go In The Water: The gentle nurturing of apex predators
November 17th, 2009
No Comments
National Geographic photog Paul Nicklen comes face to face with a leopard seal of unusual size.
One seal brought a penguin over to me. I didn’t touch it; I just sat there and photographed. The penguin took off, and the seal grabbed it, brought it back to me, and put it on my camera dome again.
Eventually the seal got upset and started blowing bubbles at me. It was the most fascinating interaction I’ve ever had.
Watch the full video here. And another version here:
Part of me is amazed that an enormous leopard seal could be so kind to another creature…and the other part is annoyed on behalf of the leopard seal. All of me would have been paralyzed with fear.
Still…if someone offers you a penguin, eat it. We are talking common manners here.
Why I don’t go in the water: There’s always a bigger fish.
October 26th, 2009
No Comments
Always.
I’d be afraid of a 10-foot Great White…even behind a foot-thick wall of aquarium glass. Sure, I’d put a brave front up for the kids, but I’d also shudder the chill of the damned, as if a mariachi band — at that very moment — were collectively walking over my grave playing Besame Mucho Tiburon.
So, I’m fairly certain I would become paralyzed instantly if I saw a 20-foot Great White bite the first one in half.
“That cannibal thing is what great whites do; they’ll eat anything, including their own kind,” Hugh Edwards, a local shark expert, told Australia’s 7 News. “It would be sensible not to swim in that area for a little while.”
Dya think?
Not for the faint of heart…hit the read more button (or the link above) if you weren’t planning to sleep tonight anyway.
Biofortified with Extra Goodness
October 26th, 2009
No Comments
Here’s something to pay attention to: Biofortified, a pro-science group blog that takes on some of the hysteria surrounding GMO food.
Puppies of Jenkintown: Soon to be ripped off by Disney edition
October 26th, 2009
No Comments
I shouldn’t be doling these out so softly, but I must admit that we are behind in our puppy-hunting.
The same walk to the town square as the last two entries yielded Kimba, named after Kimba the White Lion. Also known as the the cartoon Disney ripped off to create the Lion King, which happens to be one of Julia’s favorite Disney movies, of course. This site is somewhat exhaustive in its comparisons.
Kimba was a big girl and, after Julia (and Benny) got up the courage to pet her, we had a nice long discussion about copyright infringement and the difference between an homage and a rip-off.
No matter how many times it was explained, it went over my head entirely.
Anyway, here’s Kimba the Golden Retriever:
Please note that Kimba is not actually on fire or somehow effervescent, except in terms of charm and puppylike sweetness. That is: nice dog, but not outgassing…at the moment, at least. Apparently, Julia had been fiddling with settings, as is her right as an artist.
Puppies of Jenkintown: Bella, Greta and Karch
October 23rd, 2009
1 Comment
We had seen them around town often — I mean, how do you miss three jacketed miniature greyhounds? — so it was nice to finally capture them, or parts of them, to be precise, on camera. (Feel free to correct me on the breed, they’re probably Toy Bavarian Fleethunds or Giant Italian Racing Chihuahuas or something.)
From right to left: Bella (sans head), Greta and Karch (judging your soul).
“You know, Karch, like the volleyball player,” the owner said. Um, sure. Let’s go with that.
Puppies of Jenkintown: Rocket
October 18th, 2009
No Comments
Last week — or maybe two weeks ago, it all has become very hazy really, that immediate passage of time thing — Julia and I walked up the hill to see an open house jointly hosted by Jenkintown’s fire companies.
(Yes, a town exactly one square mile in area has two fire companies because, as it turns out, Catholic houses burn too)
We took a few pictures, but I really don’t have the time to post them all at once, so here is a new friend (with a cameo by Julia’s thumb) that we met at the town square. His name is Rocket
DandyID
Flickr
Facebook
Linkedin
Twitter