wilcoxclynn

Though you see it cheaply plastered across postcards and knick-knacks, aloha is a very deep and meaningful word in Hawaiian. Its exact origin is somewhat up for debate, though etymologists have said it comes from alo , which means sharing or present, oha meaning joy or affection, and ha , meaning energy, life or breath. In Hawaiian, it means everything from hello and goodbye to love, affection, compassion, and to be fond of something or someone. Yes, this post is about goodbyes and hellos... Read Full Story

Recently, in a post titled "Ecologists: Time to End Invasive-Species Persecution", Brandon Keim discussed a comment published in Nature which argued that the ecological community unfairly vilifies the various plants and animals we've transported around the globe. In some sense, the authors are right, at least as far as saying that not all alien species should be considered bad or needing removal. Straight from the beginning, though, the authors attack a dichotomy that doesn't exist. They... Read Full Story

Yes, yes it is. (HT @Oxymoronics ) Read the comments on this post... Read Full Story

The finalists have been chosen , and they are a fantastic bunch! Here are the top 9 which made it in: Cosmic Variance: The Fine Structure Constant is Probably Constant Dr. Carin Bondar: Sacrifice on the Serengeti Empirical Zeal: Blind Fish in Dark Caves Shed Light on the Evolution of Sleep Highly Allochthonous: Levees and the Illusion of Flood Control Laelaps: The Pelican's Beak - Success and Evolutionary Stasis Oh, For the Love of Science: Prehistoric Clues Provide Insight into... Read Full Story

After day after day of me urging you to vote, the results are finally in for the Semifinalist round for the 3 Quarks Daily Science Blogging Prize . Some great posts have made the cut - including these ones by Scicurious , Evelyn Mervine , Allie Wilkinson , Brian Switek , and those Southern Fried Boys . Thanks to you and all your votes, TWO of my three posts are in! Both " Why Do Women Cry " and " How Do You ID A Dead Osama Anyway " are among the top 20. I'm so grateful for all of your... Read Full Story

If you didn't already know because, by chance, you missed my tweets , posts , and facebook updates, there is a science blogging contest going on RIGHT NOW. The 3 Quarks Daily Science Blogging Prize is currently narrowing down the top 20 posts from 87 nominees . To get through the gauntlet, a post has to get enough votes. Rather than remind you again to vote for Observations of a Nerd, I figured I'd show you why you should. Over the next 24 hours, I'll be reposting the three posts in the... Read Full Story

If you didn't already know because, by chance, you missed my tweets , posts , and facebook updates, there is a science blogging contest going on RIGHT NOW. The 3 Quarks Daily Science Blogging Prize is currently narrowing down the top 20 posts from 87 nominees . To get through the gauntlet, a post has to get enough votes. Rather than remind you again to vote for Observations of a Nerd, I figured I'd show you why you should. Over the next 24 hours, I'll be reposting the three posts in the... Read Full Story

If you didn't already know because, by chance, you missed my tweets , posts , and facebook updates, there is a science blogging contest going on RIGHT NOW. The 3 Quarks Daily Science Blogging Prize is currently narrowing down the top 20 posts from 87 nominees . To get through the gauntlet, a post has to get enough votes. Rather than remind you again to vote for Observations of a Nerd, I figured I'd show you why you should. Over the next 24 hours, I'll be reposting the three posts in the... Read Full Story

Today's post is by the fantastic and phenomenal Zen Faulkes . Be sure to check out his blog after you read it! Note; I'm writing this guest post because this week, I'll be a visitor in Christie's current stomping grounds, Hawaii, attending the summer meeting of The Crustacean Society. Christie, meanwhile, is on the mainland. Since we are sort of switching places, we thought it might be fun to switch blogs. So here I am at Observations, and she's promised me a guest post for my blog... Read Full Story

There are still two days of voting left - so go forth and vote ! Even a few votes might make the difference between a post making the cut and falling behind. Here's the full list of entires . There are a ton of great ones - you should read them all! But, I'd be lying if I said I didn't want you to vote for one of the three from this blog (see below). The last one - Why Do Women Cry - is my personal favorite, but of course vote how you wish! The voting closes Wednesday at 11:59pm eastern... Read Full Story