In this visually dazzling talk, Jonathan Drori shows the extraordinary ways flowering plants — over a quarter million species — have evolved to attract insects to spread their pollen: growing ‘landing-strips’ to guide the insects in, shining in ultraviolet, building elaborate traps, and even mimicking other insects in heat.
Continue reading Jonathan Drori: The beautiful tricks of flowers
In case you have not heard we are having an internet-wide discussion of … well, just click on all of the links below and read everything then you’ll know. I’ve included all the current links that I know of. If I’ve left something out, please put it in the comments and I’ll add it.
Meanwhile a group of survivors of sexual assault spearheaded by Stephanie Zvan and Bug Girl have put together a Letter to Richard Dawkins. You are welcome to sign on to the letter if appropriate.
The following links are in chronological order by day (but probably mixed up within day).
Continue reading Elevators and Privilege: A Letter to Dawkins and a Link Farm
Yesssss!!!!! …. This is what you have been preparing for all this time.
Darwin developed his theory of evolution from a famously simple tree of life drawing. How has the study of evolution and the inter-connectedness of species changed with modern DNA technology? How has exploring genetic relationships shaped how we now view ourselves and how might that be expressed in art?
Lynn Fellman is a multiple media artist and designer who works with scientists to communicate their research. Her work focuses on evolution and the human genome. From research to sketches to completed digital art, she’ll explain how her process engages the people in the DNA portraits in genetics–becoming informed advocates for science. See examples on her website www.fellmanstudio.com.
Dr. Scott Lanyon served as Director of the University of Minnesota’s Bell Museum of Natural History for thirteen years before becoming Professor and Head of the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior in 2008. Using DNA sequence data he and his colleagues develop an understanding of the tree of life which he then uses as the foundation of his studies of behavioral and morphological evolution in birds.
ATTENDANCE IS FREE!
For more information about the Beaker and Brush Discussions, visit http://www.smm.org/beakerandbrush.
Beaker and Brush Discussions are co-sponsored by the Science Museum and the St. Paul Art Crawl
Scientific American has launched a new blog network.
Here is a post by Bora Zivkovic announcing the network, and here is the press release.
Today Scientific American launched a new blog network which unites editorial, independent and group blogs under the magazine’s banner. The community of 60 bloggers provides authoritative information and insights about science and technology, and their roles in global affairs. The blog network, overseen by Blog Editor Bora Zivkovic, who serves as moderator for the community, encourages discussion and facilitates the exchange of ideas with both the bloggers and Scientific American readers.
There are a lot of great bloggers on the network … see Bora’s post for a list.
Recently, Richard Dawkins said (full quote below) that a woman should not be concerned about her own safety if she finds herself in an elevator (under some sort of threat, presumably), because it is trivially easy to get out of an elevator if you are under attack. I’m sure Richard is a very smart guy and maybe he’s right, but there is evidence to the contrary that women can just leave the scene if they are uninterested in being raped or groped.
For example:
Continue reading Ladies, Richard Dawkins knows how to protect you from being raped in an elevator
And thus, structurally, Richard Dawkins, or his distant cousin Richard D. Poe (I am still not sure) has shut down the argument that the Elevator Guy acted inappropriately when he asked Rebecca Watson over for a cuppa joe at four O’clock in the AM, in an elevator, while she was on her way to bed.
Continue reading Shut up about everything all the time unless what you have to say is HITLER!!!!
Charles Darwin did a lot of work with birds. Darwin was a consumer of information, constantly attempting experiments, interviewing locals, making observations, and so on. For this reason, his writing about birds provides not only interesting information about birds, but also insight into his methods and thought process. I’m writing a weekly blog post about this, and the current exemplar of Darin and his “other” birds is about the Andean Condor.
Rebecca Watson did the right thing when she spoke about McGrew’s response too her (Watson’s) response to the Elevator Guy, and Barbara Drescher’s response to all of that is amazing. If you don’t know what I’m talking about here, it might be best to move on. Otherwise, here’s my two cents (and there are exactly two) about this Matryoshka Moment.
Continue reading Rebecca Watson, Barbara Drescher and the Elevator Guy
Good morning.