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This is why the push to grant non-human personhood to species like chimpanzees is so important.
posted to MetaFilter by Alice Russel-Wallace at 5:15 PM on May 29, 2015

I think some context is needed here:

1) Helen Garner is an expert in human journalism and storytelling. She tells stories about real events, and as a storyteller she includes her own responses to the material. I wouldn't be surprised if there are some anecdotes where some details are mildly exaggerated to further the story. This is what story tellers do. I think much of Garner's work is a forerunner to modern pieces like "Serial". She takes a news story then… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Alice Russel-Wallace at 6:18 PM on May 16, 2015

However, I do encourage you to step back and not participate in the conversation, until the person sitting across from you looks more like a human than a monster.

Yeah, how about no. Because I'm not denying his humanity, not calling him a monster. I'm just pointing out that he's an asshole with a rather stunning lack of introspection, and at this point, I don't really feel any real desire to sugarcoat that for the sake of "comity". And I find your… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Alice Russel-Wallace at 6:00 PM on December 29, 2014

And what if it's a point of view you don't have any respect for? Are you supposed to just swallow your feelings and "play nice"?

Of course not. You fight. You fight with words, or actions, or policy, or whatever mechanism you choose. Most importantly you work towards change. But not by simply trading barbs. Trading barbs is great for letting off steam at the pub - and it has value there - but it doesn't accomplish much in a shared… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Alice Russel-Wallace at 6:55 PM on December 29, 2014

I saw that article too. On the blue I think(though damned if I can find it now). I believe that article went further and even indicated that not only does the dog recognize you pointing, but they get that you are indicating to them something "OVER THERE" instead of just, "hooman did a thing, so ill do this other thing". So they actually understand that you pointed for a reason and they get the cause/effect of that point. So wish I could find that now.… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Alice Russel-Wallace at 11:26 PM on November 25, 2014

So brilliant! I had never seen these videos!
posted to MetaFilter by Alice Russel-Wallace at 4:57 PM on November 21, 2014

When this first broadcast I was working at an academic remainders store. We all wanted to be Bernard Black. Hell, we all thought we were Bernard. We collectively swooned at the thought of hitting customers with a broom and yelling "GET OUT, GET OUT, YOU TIME WASTING BASTARDS", a thought that was particularly attractive given our close proximity to Australian Parliament House and the fact that several high-profile politicians would come in to buy books on cricket or… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Alice Russel-Wallace at 8:32 PM on August 6, 2014

Mr. Bad Example, you and Mrs Example are NOT alone in that incapability!
posted to MetaFilter by Alice Russel-Wallace at 3:57 AM on August 7, 2014

Earlier this year I took members of a young naturalists society out on a night walk to do just this. We had about 35 kids ranging in age from 2 to 14 and their parents. I've never seen such delight at seeing wolf spider eye shine, nor such enthusiasm in catching different (non-venomous) spiders for identification (and subsequent release)!
posted to MetaFilter by Alice Russel-Wallace at 5:20 PM on August 2, 2014

I too became a glorious sunbear, at one with the sun!
posted to MetaFilter by Alice Russel-Wallace at 9:39 PM on July 31, 2014

This is the most delicious piece of gossip and intrigue I've seen all day! Upon reading the OP a scandalised "NO?!" emerged spontaneously from me. Strunk and White as spooks... who would have thought...
posted to MetaFilter by Alice Russel-Wallace at 3:42 AM on July 10, 2014

I saw Pacific Rim for the first time on an iPad whilst on a trans-Pacific flight between Honolulu and Sydney. I LOVE THIS MOVIE SO MUCH! I have never before been on the edge of my economy seat watching a film in the air - it was just sheer fun.

Also, as a scientist, I rather enjoyed the - admittedly ridiculous - scientists.
posted to MetaFilter by Alice Russel-Wallace at 6:04 PM on June 27, 2014

My favourite vague cooking instruction occurred within the recipe for some Indian sweets called besan ladoo. My recipe told me that "they will be done when the mixture releases an appetising aroma". I was... dubious as to whether this instruction would be helpful. But I followed the instructions and cooked the mix of chickpea flour, ghee, sugar and spices on the stove top, until the mix suddenly released a fuck-off amazingly delicious aroma.

Vague cooking… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Alice Russel-Wallace at 4:41 PM on June 19, 2014

The importance of intellectual curiosity to my future was something that I only understood in abstract, because I was 11 years old.

I've been doing scientific outreach with kids for almost 20 years now, working with school-aged students from urban, rural and isolated geographic areas. 11-12 year old students are, almost without exception, an absolute pleasure to teach. Particularly when you engage them in questions-driven learning activities.… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Alice Russel-Wallace at 7:36 PM on June 1, 2014

Last year we saw a friend's daughter dance her very first Siva Samoa. Everyone was so proud of her - I think this blog post from Samoan author Lani Wendt Young explains this sense of pride in the Siva better than I could.

For folks who aren't familiar with the Siva Samoa, have a look at these different dancers' versions.

There is also this short film from American Samoa, `O A`u `O Le Taupou (I am the Taupou).… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Alice Russel-Wallace at 6:39 PM on June 1, 2014

I love their fluffy feet (i.e. the scopula)!
posted to MetaFilter by Alice Russel-Wallace at 4:38 PM on May 24, 2014

It is SO interesting how the dog notices something (the kid, presumably), goes to check things out with very little hesitation, trots around the side of the car... and then clearly decides to go for the attack. You can virtually see the point at which the dog moves from being curious (with the potential to get aggressive) to being full-on aggressive.

The cat is my hero. A couple of years back I was attacked by a pack of three dogs. Two started attacking from the front… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Alice Russel-Wallace at 9:10 PM on May 14, 2014

Alfie and I have a somewhat more relaxed approach to trekking...

Step 1) "Alfie! Outside!". Alfie runs to the door and sits expectant.

Step 2) Alfie gets fitted out with his harness and leash.

Step 3) I gather myself a cup of tea or glass of wine.

Step 4) We embark into the great outdoors! Alfie has to roll in the sand before we really get started though.

Step 5)… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Alice Russel-Wallace at 5:59 AM on May 14, 2014

I got to hold one of these spiders for two hours as part of an outreach day. Basically I went around showing kids just how sweet and fluffy a tarantula could be! What most folks don't realise about these tarantulas is how velvet-soft their under-side is, and how fluffy their feet are. It was like holding a very heavy powder puff!
posted to MetaFilter by Alice Russel-Wallace at 4:07 PM on March 21, 2014

They can also shed those fluffy soft urticating hairs in an instant as a defense mechanism.

late afternoon dreaming hotel, the urticating hairs are the ones on their dorsal side. The ventral side is truly velvety soft and not at all dangerous. Trust me. I'm a scientist.
posted to MetaFilter by Alice Russel-Wallace at 9:38 PM on March 21, 2014

I love this evidence that the children of scientists are inextricably involved in their parent's work, whether peripherally or more centrally.

Also, I love that children are still drawing houses the same way, regardless of the century. Houses are square. Cats sit in windows. Smoke comes from the chimney.
posted to MetaFilter by Alice Russel-Wallace at 7:10 AM on March 19, 2014

Absolutely stunning photos - I wish I could take photos of my beasties like that!

Jumping spiders are (although I don't work on them... yet) one of my favourite species. They just have this innate charm. Every time I meet one I am compelled to wave my finger over its field of vision, just for the pleasure of watching it follow my finger's movement.
posted to MetaFilter by Alice Russel-Wallace at 6:18 PM on January 29, 2014

Gosh it's been a long time since I worked on a Sappho translation (well over a decade)... BUT THE TIME HAS COME to dust off my ancient greek dictionaries and to have a shot at this. It won't be pretty, and it won't be timely, but I want to try...

I'm unbelievably excited to hear this news. Despite my scientific focus, I actually have a classics degree too, and Sappho is just so, so special and beloved.
posted to MetaFilter by Alice Russel-Wallace at 3:03 AM on January 29, 2014

I interviewed Paul Walker back in 2001 when he was in Australia doing promotion for the first Fast and the Furious film. The folks doing PR for the film invited a whole lot of student journalists to the Australian premier and after party, presumably because the film didn't have enough buzz at that time to attract real journalists.

My main memories of the interview surround the fact that he was really, really nice to us when we asked our cringe-worthy student-journalist… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Alice Russel-Wallace at 10:23 PM on November 30, 2013

Also, he was REALLY nice about the fact that we asked him the extreme-gender-studies question that we'd been planning to ask Michelle Rodriguez (who at that time had just appeared in Girlfight, and who was meant to be doing the promo tour as well but backed out last minute). Looking back, I can't quite believe that he answered our question on feminism and The Fast and the Furious with a straight face...
posted to MetaFilter by Alice Russel-Wallace at 10:27 PM on November 30, 2013

If this kind of "pretty-lady scientist" meme had been around when I was an awkward, fattening girl, I'm pretty sure the "oh, I'm not even ladylike enough to do science" message would have kept me from becoming an engineer.

The thing is that scientists (male and female) are a diverse bunch. When I was doing my (evolutionary genetics) PhD I liked to read novels and wear kitten heels with tan fishnets. Now I never knew these… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Alice Russel-Wallace at 8:36 PM on November 25, 2013

I am just so glad to see a pop culture presence rail against the same things I rail against most days. More power to you Madame Comrade!
posted to MetaFilter by Alice Russel-Wallace at 1:06 AM on November 13, 2013

Back in my salad days at university I was president of the Classics society. The society had a Roman feast every year. We would take traditional recipes to the university catering company and they would make just enough modifications to make these recipes delicious. Just a little less fish sauce (standing in for garum) and a little less vinegar made all the difference!
posted to MetaFilter by Alice Russel-Wallace at 5:06 PM on October 4, 2013

The article doesn't even go far enough. My own career is filled with examples, but one of the worst was the interactions I had with labs who routinely left women off all group publications. I could say more, but the thought of typing it here just depresses me and I don't particularly want to wreck my day.

The point is that women in science have it just as hard as ever. I'm just trying my best to contribute to incremental cultural change so the younger women coming up… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Alice Russel-Wallace at 8:10 PM on October 3, 2013

The other day I walked past a playground and saw two kids and a parent playing on a see-saw. It was one of the ones with springs underneath it that means the actual movement of the see-saw platforms is restricted. They were kind of bobbing up and down a bit. Then I remembered the see-saws I grew up with (as a child of the 80s) and how they were just a long plank atop a pivot point. Sometimes they would have handles, and sometimes they'd have an old tyre underneath each end as a cushion.… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Alice Russel-Wallace at 12:10 AM on September 20, 2013

I think the debate over exactly when Darwin received key letters from Wallace is still very much alive, despite what the last link says. A recent paper (which, admitedly I am still in the process of reading) in the Biological Journal of the Linnean Society states that the letters in question arrived EARLIER than Darwin stated. I can memail the article anyone interested in discussion of the paper. Abstract below:

1 July 1858: what Wallace knew; what Lyell… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Alice Russel-Wallace at 6:41 PM on September 12, 2013

That didn't look like a ram at all to me. I thought it might be one of the 2 year lambs/ fat lambs. You know, the fat and fluffy ones that look like fully grown sheep but are still kinda playful and boisterous.

Anyway, that is seriously cute stuff - it reminded me of when my childhood dog had puppies and she spent a morning teaching them how to bark. She would bark and the pups: 1) ran away in fright; 2) recovered their equilibrium and got curious; 3) started a chorus… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Alice Russel-Wallace at 7:35 PM on September 8, 2013

No snags for me, but I picked up a rather nice jar of tomato chutney at my polling booth.

I'm finding today incredibly depressing (particularly the number of folks holding the Liberal how to vote card in the queue as I waited to get my ballot papers - this is in Perth). However, I'm trying hold onto the silver lining: as a very wise friend of mine said, we are about to enter a golden age of Australian political satire. It is inevitable given the material.… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Alice Russel-Wallace at 9:15 PM on September 6, 2013

My problem with Debrett's is that the whole thing is just too U and non U usage for me (or too NY and non NY as the case may be). But I like this thread for its thoroughly anachronistic juxtaposition of smart phones and noblesse oblige.
posted to MetaFilter by Alice Russel-Wallace at 7:37 AM on September 5, 2013

I always opt out on principle... except for this one time. Last time I flew out of SFO they'd changed the rules about showing your ID as you approached security. I was used to the process where they check your ID and boarding pass as you enter the security queue, so I had my documents out and ready to go, then stowed them away before I hit the scanner. THEN just as I put my bags on the conveyor belt there was a new procedure where I had to show both ID and boarding pass again: I was hurried… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Alice Russel-Wallace at 11:43 PM on September 3, 2013

Suddenly the after-effects of my rather stressful day have just slid away... thanks mama cat and peeping kittens!
posted to MetaFilter by Alice Russel-Wallace at 7:02 AM on August 26, 2013

Such beautiful photos - thank you so much for posting! I find it fascinating how dwellings get reclaimed by nature. While doing fieldwork sometimes I come across the footprint of a small house outlined by old rose bushes, bulbs or a solitary lemon tree. So lovely to see the animals doing the reclaiming!
posted to MetaFilter by Alice Russel-Wallace at 8:50 PM on August 22, 2013

For information on wolves and the domestication process that resulted in dogs I can recommend these two books:

1) The Philosopher & The Wolf (by Mark Rowlands): An autobiography of sorts by an academic who adopted a wolf cub.

2) The Genius of Dogs (by Brian Hare and Vanessa Woods): An incredibly readable book on the evolution of domestic dogs. I saw Brian Hare speak many years ago about the work that has ended up being discussed in this book… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Alice Russel-Wallace at 12:56 AM on August 19, 2013

Poor much maligned keas :( They are gorgeous and playful birds, and they are just so intelligent that they are driven to explore and deconstruct their world. I once met a kea at the botanical gardens in Dunedin. It looked at me for a while then went sifting through the rocks on the floor of its enclosure. After a while it picked up a small rock in its beak, climbed up the inside of the cage so that it was at my eye level and poked its beak through the wire mesh. I didn't know what to do, so I… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Alice Russel-Wallace at 7:40 PM on August 17, 2013

Oh I definitely know he's more than that! Capaldi's a coup for the Doctor Who team as far as actor capability goes. I just can't see him being a good fit in things like the River Song story...

Have you seen Capaldi's performance as Randal Brown in "The Hour", specifically his rapport and chemistry with Anna Chancellor's Lix Storm? THAT is what the Doctor and River Song could be - and it would be so brilliant!
posted to MetaFilter by Alice Russel-Wallace at 12:10 AM on August 5, 2013

Amazing photos! However I was hoping to see the Assassin Spider there (alternative name: "Pelican Spider").
posted to MetaFilter by Alice Russel-Wallace at 10:15 PM on July 31, 2013

I'd like to be Mervyn Bunter's assistant. Whilst Lord Peter Whimsey and Harriet Vane are off doing their intellectual jousting, Mr Bunter and I would be off collecting the hard forensic evidence for whatever book we were in. We'd tag-team on trailing suspects. I'd have blue stocking tendencies, which Mr Bunter would discretely approve of. At the end of the day we'd go for a decorous pint before Mr Bunter went back to look after Lord Peter - I suspect Bunter would be a fabulous drinking partner!
posted to MetaFilter by Alice Russel-Wallace at 6:43 PM on July 29, 2013

I have a soft spot for Shaun of the Dead. It isn't based on the film's merits though (which are, for the record, extensive) - I used a cinema screening of Shaun to monitor the deterioration of my eyesight when I got funnel web venom in my eye in a lab experiment gone wrong ("and that's why you ALWAYS wear safety glasses"). It definitely distracted me from the whole "does the eye contain enough blood vessels to carry funnel web venom to the… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Alice Russel-Wallace at 6:17 PM on July 21, 2013

Either I missed the irony in that idiotic movie the first time around or I'm being trolled by hipsters now. Point Beak? Seriously?

I can't even...
posted to MetaFilter by Alice Russel-Wallace at 6:18 PM on July 21, 2013

As requested: how Shaun of the Dead helped me assess my envenomation incident...

A few years ago, while I was working on the Australian funnel web spider (the deadliest spider of them all) I decided to do a side project on funnel web spider venom (a project that - for reasons that will become clear - was never completed, but that I might actually do some day now that I think about it). The protocol for obtaining funnel web spider venom was to tease… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Alice Russel-Wallace at 9:06 PM on July 21, 2013

So how do you tease a spider? This is vital information.

WELL...

If it is an Australian funnel web spider you puff a little bit of air on the spider's "face" (i.e. eyes and chelicerae). That's generally enough to get the venom flowing. You might even nudge the spider gently with a blunt plastic pipette. That'll get male spiders doing their little backflips.

For the vast majority of other… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Alice Russel-Wallace at 8:40 AM on July 22, 2013

Work is busy so I have to read the thread in depth, and all the articles later on today. But before I head to the lab I wanted to respond to this:

What possible justification can they [Jezebel] offer for republishing the photos?

Some folks have said above that Jezebel should have just republished one or two photos to get the point across. What I think we have to remember is that we no longer live in a world where print media… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Alice Russel-Wallace at 6:53 PM on June 19, 2013

The below-the-chin view was tough - you just so badly want to see where they're focusing.

But, but, but you got to see their whiskers! And you got to see their whiskers go down when they were interested in foxes etc.

In short, we have video evidence for kitty vigilance!
posted to MetaFilter by Alice Russel-Wallace at 9:52 AM on June 13, 2013

Also, go see Rosie catch a moth. These cats live way exciting lives!
posted to MetaFilter by Alice Russel-Wallace at 9:53 AM on June 13, 2013

What I find so incredible is that he managed to keep calm (calm enough to survive at least) while knowing that it was highly unlikely anyone would come for him.
posted to MetaFilter by Alice Russel-Wallace at 10:27 PM on June 12, 2013