50 Excellent Science Blogs Anyone Can Appreciate

50 Excellent Science Blogs Anyone Can Appreciate

Any time a 'best science sites' list is created by someone outside the usual self-congratulatory, self-indulgent clique it's worth taking a look, namely because in this instance I found 5 terrific…
Scorpions mimicking flowers?

Scorpions mimicking flowers?

I was watching a wildlife documentary several years ago. The commentor said that scorpions glow under black light (UV light) and proceeded to demonstrate it and it was fascinating to see all those…
autism Hero invents Computer /WWII hero

autism Hero invents Computer /WWII hero

Alan Turing 1912-1954 Alan Turing an autisitc guy from the glory days of Autism before the Rain Man Era Curse was able to absently overcome autism and like many of us learned a different kind of…
Autism Chalkboard frozen in time

Autism Chalkboard frozen in time

As old autism people like me, that came out kind of ok and missed Rain Man Era Politics met each other online to compare notes on our different kind of human thought process that has never been…
Autism  Awareness -Pain tolerance

Autism Awareness -Pain tolerance

A loose quote or two from and old Autism of America  handout sheets that were pre Rain Man. "Non cuddly babies that will not move to be comfortable in mothers arms" "pain toleance - shows…
Philip Pullman on the Right to be Shocking

Philip Pullman on the Right to be Shocking

Here is an amusing quote from novelist Philip Pullman. At the 2010 Oxford Literature Festival, on the early afternoon of Palm Sunday, March 28th, in Oxford's Sheldonian Theatre, Philip Pullman gave a…
Stuff Worth Giving A Look

Stuff Worth Giving A Look

A lot has been going on recently in blogs I sporadically visit (I am not a big reader myself). I thus thought I'd put together a list of valuable links here. First of all, Michael Schmitt deserves…
Snowy Tree Cricket: Woodland Thermometer

Snowy Tree Cricket: Woodland Thermometer

Out in the woods and wondering what the temperature is? Slip down to the nearest stand of deciduous trees to search for the wee Snowy Tree Cricket, Oecanthus Fultoni, part of the order orthoptera.…
Cricket

Cricket

Out in the woods of North America and wondering what the temperature is? Slip down to the nearest stand of deciduous trees and bushes to search for the wee Snowy Tree Cricket, Oecanthus Fultoni.…
Euryperids: Ancient Predators of Permian Seas

Euryperids: Ancient Predators of Permian Seas

About two dozen families of eurypterids “sea scorpions” are known from the fossil record. Although these ancient predators have a superficial similarity, including a defensive needle-like spike or…
How the history of science is like a fantasy novel

How the history of science is like a fantasy novel

Not long ago, I read J.R.R. Tolkien's mythopoeia masterpiece, The Silmarillion (his creation myth for the world of The Lord of the Rings). Upon finishing it, I immediately picked up Sparks of Life, a…
Are Vision and Consciousness Intimately Related?

Are Vision and Consciousness Intimately Related?

In my article on brain waves and consciousness I looked at some research associating gamma wave activity with consciousness. This is, however, a controversial area in that other researchers have…
Help Me Solve A Mystery!

Help Me Solve A Mystery!

You probably think that because I started a hybrid social media/science media darling like Scientific Blogging, adored by many, I must know a lot of people.   Just the opposite is true.  I…
Video games: A parent's best friend

Video games: A parent's best friend

When I was the president of an international private coeducational boarding school for teenagers with dyslexia and other kinds of learning disorders, I was frequently asked by parents to curtail…
The Supurb Lyrebird (and skepticism!)

The Supurb Lyrebird (and skepticism!)

Birds in general are impressive creatures, but the Supurb lyrebird takes the cake for its ability to mimic sounds. Here's a video demonstrating its ability to mimic construction sounds. You can…
The Say Of The Week

The Say Of The Week

"I love work, it fascinates me; I can sit and watch it for hours". J. K. Jerome
Zeeya Merali on The Large Human Collider

Zeeya Merali on The Large Human Collider

I just read a very nice article by Nature's Zeeya Merali, and I thought I would link it from this blog. It discusses in detail several aspects of the sociology of the very large communities of…