Moth Eyes

Click through for full comic. Comic 109 is good too, but you were already subscribed to Tree Lobsters, right?

Surely I’ll have some original content soon!

The next three weeks: a test, an exam, three four assignments, and the rest of a thesis. And maybe a paper too. Someone had better tell my boss I’m going to be taking a bit of leave…

On the plus side, after I get this thesis written, maybe I can get back to blogging the Beagle, eh? It’s only been about five months…

Just in case you couldn’t get enough of my occasional posts on this blog, you can read my occasional tweets on my twitter feed. I’m feeling Web 2.1 already!

I haven’t quite gotten around to publishing any papers just yet, but I’m glad to have learnt the 123 easy steps to public a scientific comment. I’m sure that’ll come in handy. Dr. Free-Ride has also posted some commentary on the topic.
Hat-tip: Cat Dynamics

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Astronomy Cast is always brilliant and educational, but I particularly enjoyed the most recent episodes:

• 146: Astronomy Research: From Idea to Publication and
• 147: How to Be Taken Seriously By Scientists

If you’re crazy enough to not already be listening to Astronomy Cast, go listen to them now!

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And you’ll want to listen to Ben Goldacre in this segment of The Now Show, discussing the flaws in science reporting and how this has damaged public perceptions of science:

Hat-tip: RichardDawkins.net

I just discovered that the feeds haven’t been updating properly. It seems to be fixed now.

Ethan Siegel, who blogs at Starts with a Bang, has volunteered to shave his head if 100 people donate some of their money, or some time, to charity.

Here’s how Ethan explained it:

You see, I believe that if a lot of people get involved with something positive, even if it’s just a little bit, we can make a tremendous change. So I have a challenge for everyone who reads this.

Donate at least ten dollars (or ten euros, or ten pounds, or whatever’s the closest equivalent in your currency) or volunteer at least four hours at whatever charitable organization you choose.

When you do it, leave a comment at the bottom of this post, telling us:

1. what you donated/volunteered to do,
2. what organization you donated to/volunteered for, and
3. why you chose that organization.

I donated $25 to Médecins Sans Frontières – there are links to all their country-specific sites in my Silence is the Enemy post.

This is just hilarous.

You know, I could finish blogging the Beagle much faster if I just reduced it to tweets. So much of it is about birds, anyway, and even the whale has merited a mention.
via Bug Girl.

In modern times, we’ve seen mass rape as an element of warfare in Congo, Darfur, Bosnia, Rwanda, Liberia — but the lesson here in Liberia in West Africa is that even when the fighting ends, the rape continues.

Nicholas Kristov, After Wars, Mass Rapes Persist

Young girls, some as young as three, are victims of the mass culture of rape and sexual abuse that persists in western Africa. More than half of Liberian women have been raped in the aftermath of the civil war. This situation has led Sheril Kirshenbaum over at The Intersection to start a coalition of bloggers to spread awareness of the problem. There are already many great posts up, and you can see the whole coalition here.

So, what can we do? Well, if you’ve got a blog, join in and spread the word! Write to or call your elected representatives – political interest is going to be necessary in bringing about change. And donate to charities that help to make a difference. Médecins Sans Frontières (also known as Doctors Without Borders) provides medical care in some of the most war-torn and impoverished areas of the world. You can give tax-deductable donations if you live in Australia, the USA, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Holland, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates or the United Kingdom. And it’s easy!.

I’m swamped with assignments right now, so much so that I’ve barely managed to get any research done for several weeks now. Let alone chapters, and let’s face it, Tierra del Fuego was never going to be an easy one. My team did come third in the Australian finals for the Imagine Cup, though.

Also, check out the Silence Is The Enemy blogswarm.