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barrybluebeans · 1 year
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A hummingbird thought a man’s orange hat was a flower [x]
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barrybluebeans · 2 years
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In completely unrelated news I’m tired of celebrity culture. I’m sick of hearing the hot takes on the Oscars. After an initial laugh the night of I do not care. I don’t want to see the James Corden or the SNl takes on it. Why are we still talking about all this shit and not the hooded pitohui
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barrybluebeans · 2 years
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barrybluebeans · 2 years
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@confuzzledcraft
Obsessed with the ornithologist (Mario Cohn-Haft) who heard a birdsong he didn’t recognize in 1988, predicted that the song was made by a new species of bird, and then spent the next 25 years looking for it before finally discovering evidence for the previously undescribed species in 2013. I’m pretty sure this excerpt from the paper is academia speak for “FUCK yeah I totally called it I knew this bird was out there”
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The man did one of the most badass things you can do in biology and predicted the discovery of an animal species (which I like to call “pulling a Darwin’s Hawkmoth”) and he has every right to flex by naming his new species the Predicted Antwren! Look how cute this elusive little creature is
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(Photo by Hector Battai)
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barrybluebeans · 2 years
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Obsessed with the ornithologist (Mario Cohn-Haft) who heard a birdsong he didn’t recognize in 1988, predicted that the song was made by a new species of bird, and then spent the next 25 years looking for it before finally discovering evidence for the previously undescribed species in 2013. I’m pretty sure this excerpt from the paper is academia speak for “FUCK yeah I totally called it I knew this bird was out there”
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The man did one of the most badass things you can do in biology and predicted the discovery of an animal species (which I like to call “pulling a Darwin’s Hawkmoth”) and he has every right to flex by naming his new species the Predicted Antwren! Look how cute this elusive little creature is
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(Photo by Hector Battai)
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barrybluebeans · 3 years
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Barry: when I was younger, an elf stole my family name :(
Lup Bluejeans: stop telling people that I stole your name! we’re married! you gave it to me fair and square!
Barry: yeah I just like hearing you say we’re married :)
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barrybluebeans · 3 years
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“There are two kinds of truth: the truth that lights the way and the truth that warms the heart. The first of these is science, and the second is art. Neither is independent of the other or more important than the other. Without art science would be as useless as a pair of high forceps in the hands of a plumber. Without science art would become a crude mess of folklore and emotional quackery. The truth of art keeps science from becoming inhuman, and the truth of science keeps art from becoming ridiculous.”
Raymond Chandler (1888-1959) American novelist
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barrybluebeans · 3 years
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Burshies
(via)
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barrybluebeans · 3 years
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theres a toucan outside my window, can you give me a sweet fact about toucans so i can say heey this buddys sweet :)
no but I can give you a really weird fact!
see, unlike almost every other bird of the planet, toucans are completely unable to grow down feathers.
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that might sound a little nonsensical, but down feathers are the fluffy underlayer that other birds have between their regular flight feathers and their skin! this layer of fluff provides the birds with extra insulation and shock absorption, and are so damn good at their job that humans regularly steal them for use in jackets and pillows.
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oops?
and since toucans just straight don't have this layer under their body feathers, you can actually see their translucent skin under there if you hold them right!
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(most bird skin is translucent, you just can't see it like this because there's down in the way. unless the bird in question is a toucan. weirdos.)
but more importantly, down USUALLY serves as insulation for vulnerable chicks, and is replaced/covered up as the chick's body feathers grow in!
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BUT NOT TOUCANS. baby toucans are born completely naked-o, and they stay that way until their body feathers decide to show up.
which looks really weird, actually.
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in timelapse, it looks like a chorus of tiny old men spontaneously grew their own tuxedos.
but anyway this really has no bearing on your day-to-day life, but the next time you see one of these:
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just know that they're hiding a REALLY WEIRD secret under there.
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barrybluebeans · 3 years
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Barnard 228, Dark Wolf
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barrybluebeans · 3 years
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TINY WRLD (2020)
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barrybluebeans · 3 years
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A Burst of Deep Sea Fireworks: A Rare Jellyfish Filmed by the E/V Nautilus
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barrybluebeans · 3 years
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The Bobbit Worm
Eunice aphroditois, dwells on the ocean floor where it buries its body waiting for its prey. They usually are around 3 feet in length, but some have been found to grow up to 4 feet long (like Barry). 
The bobbit worm uses one of its five antennae to sense prey and attack it. Sometimes it attacks so fast that it can slice its prey in half.
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barrybluebeans · 3 years
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So that’s basically how it went down
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barrybluebeans · 3 years
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The Lost Ladybug Project is a citizen science initiative through Cornell University to collect information on the disappearance of native ladybugs in North America. They want people to submit ladybug sightings of their own. Check it out! The website is kid-friendly and easy to understand.
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barrybluebeans · 3 years
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NASA Spotlight: Earth Climate Scientist Dr. Yolanda Shea
Dr. Yolanda Shea is a climate scientist at NASA's Langley Research Center. She’s the project scientist for the CLARREO Pathfinder (CPF) mission, which is an instrument that will launch to the International Space Station to measure sunlight reflected from Earth. It will help us understand how much heat is being trapped by our planet’s atmosphere. Her mission is designed to help us get a clearer picture than we currently have of the Earth’s system and how it is changing
Yolanda took time from studying our home planet to answer questions about her life and career! Get to know this Earth scientist:
What inspired you to study climate science?
Starting in early middle school I became interested in the explanations behind the weather maps and satellite images shown on TV. I liked how the meteorologists talked about the temperature, moisture, and winds at different heights in the atmosphere, and then put that together to form the story of our weather forecasts. This made me want to learn more about Earth science, so I went to college to explore this interest more.
The summer after my junior year of college, I had an internship during which my first assignment was to work with a program that estimated ocean currents from satellite measurements. I was fascinated in the fact that scientists had discovered a way to map ocean currents from space!
Although I had learned about Earth remote sensing in my classes, this was my first taste of working with, and understanding the details of, how we could learn more about different aspects of the physical world from satellite measurements.
This led to my learning about other ways we can learn about Earth from space, and that includes rigorous climate monitoring, which is the area I work in now.
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What does a day in your life look like?
Before I start my workday, I like to take a few minutes to eat breakfast, knit (I’m loving sock knitting right now!), and listen to a podcast or audio book. Each workday really looks different for me, but regardless, most days are a combination of quieter moments that I can use for individual work and more interactive times when I’m interfacing with colleagues and talking about project or science issues. Both types of work are fun in different ways, but I’m glad I have a mixture because all researchers need that combination of deep thinking to wrap our minds around complex problems and also time to tackle those problems with others and work on solving them together.
When do you feel most connected to Earth?
I’ve always loved sunsets. I find them peaceful and beautiful, and I love how each one is unique. They are also a beautiful reminder of the versatility of reflected light, which I study. Sitting for a moment to appreciate the beauty and calm I feel during a sunset helps me feel connected to Earth.
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What will your mission – CLARREO Pathfinder – tell us about Earth?
CLARREO Pathfinder (CPF) includes an instrument that will take measurements from the International Space Station and will measure reflected sunlight from Earth. One of its goals is to demonstrate that it can take measurements with high enough accuracy so that, if we have such measurements over long periods of time, like several decades, we could detect changes in Earth’s climate system. The CPF instrument will do this with higher accuracy than previous satellite instruments we’ve designed, and these measurements can be used to improve the accuracy of other satellite instruments.
How, if at all, has your worldview changed as a result of your work in climate science?
The longer I work in climate science and learn from the data about how humans have impacted our planet, the more I appreciate the fragility of our one and only home, and the more I want to take care of it.
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What advice would you give your younger self?
It’s ok to not have everything figured out at every step of your career journey. Work hard, do your best, and enjoy the journey as it unfolds. You’ll inevitably have some surprises along the way, and regardless of whether they are welcome or not, you’re guaranteed to learn something.
Do you have a favorite metaphor or analogy that you use to describe what you do, and its impact, to those outside of the scientific community?
I see jigsaw puzzles as a good illustration of how different members of a science community play a diverse set of roles to work through different problems. Each member is often working on their own image within the greater puzzle, and although it might take them years of work to see their part of the picture come together, each image in the greater puzzle is essential to completing the whole thing. During my career, I’ll work on a section of the puzzle, and I hope to connect my section to others nearby, but we may not finish the whole puzzle. That’s ok, however, because we’ll hand over the work that we’ve accomplished to the next generation of scientists, and they will keep working to bring the picture to light. This is how I try to think about my role in climate science – I hope to contribute to the field in some way; the best thing about what I have done and what I will do, is that someone else will be able to build on my work and keep helping humanity come to a better understanding of our Earth system.
What is a course that you think should be part of required school curriculum?
Time and project management skills – I think students tend to learn these skills more organically from their parents and teachers, but in my experience I stumbled along and learned these skills through trial and error. To successfully balance all the different projects that I support now, I have to be organized and disciplined, and I need to have clear plans mapped out, so I have some idea of what’s coming and where my attention needs to be focused.
Another course not specifically related to my field is personal financial management. I was interested in personal finance, and that helped me to seek out information (mainly through various blogs) about how to be responsible with my home finances. There is a lot of information out there, but making sure that students have a solid foundation and know what questions to ask early on will set them to for success (and hopefully fewer mistakes) later on.
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What’s the most unexpected time or place that your expertise in climate science and/or algorithms came in handy?
I think an interesting part of being an atmospheric scientist and a known sky-watcher is that I get to notice beautiful moments in the sky. I remember being on a trip with friends and I looked up (as I usually do), and I was gifted with a gorgeous sundog and halo arc. It was such a beautiful moment, and because I noticed it, my friends got to enjoy it too.
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Can you share a photo or image from a memorable NASA project you’ve worked on, and tell us a little bit about why the project stood out to you?
I absolutely loved being on the PBS Kids TV Show, SciGirls for their episode SkyGirls! This featured a NASA program called Students’ Clouds Observations On-Line (S’COOL). It was a citizen science program where students from around the globe could take observations of clouds from the ground that coincided with satellite overpasses, and the intention was to help scientists validate (or check) the accuracy of the code they use to detect clouds from satellite measurements. I grew up watching educational programming from PBS, so it was an honor to be a science mentor on a TV show that I knew would reach children across the nation who might be interested in different STEM fields. In this photo, the three young women I worked with on the show and I are talking about the different types of clouds.
To stay up to date on Yolanda's mission and everything going on in NASA Earth science, be sure to follow NASA Earth on Twitter and Facebook.
🌎 If you're looking for Earth Day plans, we have live events, Q&As, scavenger hunts and more going on through April 24. Get the details and register for our events HERE.
Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com.
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barrybluebeans · 3 years
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(observes you)
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