NYCLife | This Scientific Life

Free Money?

Aug 10 2010 Published by grrlscientist under Cultural Observation, Employment, Ethics, NYC life

tags: free money, unemployment, underemployment, financial woes, credit history, medical bills, Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital, New York Presbyterian Hospital, NYC, NYCLife

Image: The Baltimore Sun.

I just mailed a letter back to the comptroller for Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital [now: New York-Presbyterian Hospital], which promises a refund for one of several duplicate charges that the hospital levied against me for medical bills that were "unpaid." I know I should be happy about this, but instead, I am very very angry. Why?
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AMNH Separates Iconic Battling Dinosaurs in Rotunda

Aug 09 2010 Published by grrlscientist under Fossils, NYC life, Paleontology, Streaming videos

tags: AMNH Separates Iconic Battling Dinosaurs in Rotunda, NYC, New York City, AMNH, American Museum of Natural History, dinosaurs, barosaurus, allosaurus, streaming video

The American Museum of Natural History began the process of separating two long-time combatants -- barosaurus and allosaurus skeletons -- that have shared the same display mount in the Theodore Roosevelt Rotunda since they were first installed in 1991. The separation kicked off with curator Mark Norell overseeing the first ceremonial cut in the mount.
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WNYC Street Shots with Bruce Gilden

Mar 13 2010 Published by grrlscientist under Cultural Observation, NYC life, Streaming videos

tags: photography, NYCLife, NYC Life, cultural observation, Bruce Gilden, Street Shots, WNYC, streaming video

Watching this video makes me feel like I am walking on "my" streets once more alongside this photographer. It reminds me of how much I miss my beautiful and vibrant home, NYC.

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The Long Arm of The Law

Mar 06 2010 Published by grrlscientist under Expat Life, NYC life

Today, I was surprised to receive an unpleasant letter in the mail. The letter was sent by ConEdison, the power company that provided electricity to my NYC apartment before I left. The letter says;

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The Known Universe

Dec 23 2009 Published by grrlscientist under NYC life, Streaming videos, Teaching

tags: The Known Universe, education, AMNH, American Museum of Natural History, NYC, streaming video

The Known Universe is an educational video about the new exhibit at AMNH that takes viewers from the Himalayas through our atmosphere and the inky black of space to the afterglow of the Big Bang. Every star, planet, and quasar seen in the film is possible because of the world's most complete four-dimensional map of the universe, the Digital Universe Atlas that is maintained and updated by astrophysicists at the American Museum of Natural History. The new film, created by the Museum, is part of a new exhibition, Visions of the Cosmos: From the Milky Ocean to an Evolving Universe, at the Rubin Museum of Art in Manhattan through May 2010.

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The Secrets of Time Square's Ridiculous Billboards

Sep 26 2009 Published by grrlscientist under Streaming videos

tags: Times Square, NYC, New York City, billboards, NYCLife, culture, streaming video
You're being punked whenever you walk into NYC's Times Square: for example, the massive LED billboards assaulting your eyeballs are much higher res closer to ground than they are up top. This, and other discoveries are revealed in this interesting video interview.

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TODAY in NYC: A Sea Change: What if There Really Were No More Fish in the Sea?

Sep 13 2009 Published by grrlscientist under Conservation, Education, Environment, Global Warming, NYC life, Streaming videos

tags: conservation, environmentalism, global warming, ocean acidification, AMNH, American Museum of Natural History, New York City, A Sea Change, film premier

Image: A Sea Change [larger view].

Can you imagine oceans that have been emptied of all fish? What would life be like for other life forms on this planet if there really were no more fish in the sea? This is not science fiction: human-caused ocean acidification is already making its effects known. Sometimes known as the "wet underbelly" or "evil twin" of climate change, ocean acidification is caused by excess carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels dissolving in sea water. The ocean becomes more acidic, making it difficult for tiny creatures at the bottom of the food web to form their shells. The effects could work their way up to the fishes that one billion people depend upon for their source of protein and livelihood.

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Tomorrow: A Sea Change in NYC

Sep 12 2009 Published by grrlscientist under Conservation, Education, Environment, Global Warming, NYC life, Streaming videos

tags: conservation, environmentalism, global warming, ocean acidification, AMNH, American Museum of Natural History, New York City, A Sea Change, film premier

Image: A Sea Change [larger view].

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TODAY! Wild Parrot Safari in NYC!

Sep 12 2009 Published by grrlscientist under Nature, NYC life, Pets

tags: birds, parrots, Quaker Parrot, Monk Parakeet Grey-Breasted parakeet, Myiopsitta monachus, NYC events, NYC Life, Brooklyn, Wild Parrot Safari

Monk Parakeet (Myiopsitta monachus) Old San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Image: Magnus Manske, 10 May 2008, Wikipedia [larger view]

Even though NYC is located in the armpit of hell where, during the summers, the air is a humid miasma of fetid human sweat and decomposing dog shit, and the winters possess the cold and wind of Antarctica with none of its natural charms, there is a brave group of illegal aliens who not only live here, but are actually thriving. Who are these illegals? They are Quaker parrots, also known as Monk or Grey-Breasted parakeets, Myiopsitta monachus.

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POSTPONED: NYC Area Cricket Crawl

Sep 11 2009 Published by grrlscientist under Education, Environment, Insects, NYC life, Zoology

The cricket sang,
And set the sun,
And workmen finished, one by one,
Their seam the day upon.
The low grass loaded with the dew,
The twilight stood as strangers do
With hat in hand, polite and new,
To stay as if, or go.
A vastness, as a neighbor, came,--
A wisdom without face or name,
A peace, as hemispheres at home,--
And so the night became.
~ Emily Dickinson
This is the cutest event I've heard of for NYC: a night spent counting crickets and katydids.