13 Thursday Nov 2014
Posted in Fun
10 Monday Nov 2014
Tags
adorable, animals, author, babies, birds, cats, fun, kittens, motherhood, mothers, nature, parenthood, Science, science news, Stephanie Beavers, wildlife, writer
A Baby’s Cry Transcends Species
Baby Wrens Learn While They’re Still in the Egg
Some things we have in common with our animal buddies.
Y’know, I’ve never actually looked into all that prenatal learning stuff, but I’ve always idly wondered about those mothers who press earphones playing Mozart against their swollen bellies… are they crazy, or is there something to it?
Well, for wrens, the babies definitely learn in the egg. Scientists played various sounds and calls and reached the conclusion that yes, baby birds learn in their eggs. Cue the rounds of aaaaaaw. (I have a mental picture of a little baby bird rocking out to earphones inside his egg.)
(And did you know that songbirds also share our musical scales? Whaaaat?
As it turns out, baby cries both animal and human have a lot in common, too. Mothers of various animal species would attempt to locate the source of distressed baby cries regardless of the species making the cry. Turns out parenthood unites mothers of all species.
Although really… scientists needed to do a study to verify this? I think most of us have felt our heartstrings tugged by the cries of distressed baby animals before. There are too many adorable internet videos for that not to be the case. INTERNET, PROVE ME RIGHT FOR SCIENCE!
See? Aaaaaaw!
06 Thursday Nov 2014
Posted in News
Tags
animals, author, birdcalls, birds, fun, hummingbird, hummingbirds, nature, Stephanie Beavers, wildlife, writer
Hummingbirds. Beautiful. Tiny. Surely these are the sweetest of all birds.
Spoiler alert: no.
I once heard hummingbirds described as miniature fighter pilots with pit bull personalities. From what I’ve seen, this is entirely accurate.
Throughout my childhood, my mom had a single hummingbird feeder hanging over our deck, and let me tell you, hummingbirds are a scrappy lot. They’re territorial and constantly dive-bombing one another. When two males challenge each other, I’ve seen them fly around in tight circles, feathers spread in challenge displays. They get so focused on each other that I’ve seen them bounce off branches, windows, and even the side of our house!
Don’t believe me? Check out this article: Male Hummingbirds Use Beaks As Daggers To Stab Opponents’ Throats
Here’s a really good quality video of normal hummingbird footage, including what they sound like. Hummingbirds don’t just make sound by “tweeting” (or squeaking), they also make sounds with their wings. Their “humming” (created with their feathers) will vary depending on what they’re trying to communicate. An angry hummingbird is a loud, buzzing hummingbird (it’s usually very vocal, too). Individual hums also vary.
At one point in the above video, you can actually hear them whack into each other.
After 0:27 the dive-bombing starts.
Around the 1:56 mark, you can see one hummingbird poke his tongue out the end of his beak. They actually do it quite a few times over the course of the video. It always reminds me of the Road Runner sticking his tongue out at Wile E. Coyote.
Hummingbird mating dances are really cute though. I remember seeing one kind at home. The male would fly straight up in the sky with a little “zoop zoop zoop” sound, and then dive back down with a high-pitched “pew” sound. I tried to find footage of it for you guys, but apparently given how tiny they are and how fast they’re moving over a large space, it’s really hard to catch on video. I did find this cute, puffy hummingbird “singing” a courtship song:
But I think this might be my new favorite kind of hummingbird. Look! Kite tails and fluffy legs!
Remember folks, they’re only cute because they’re squeaky.
So, readers? Did you know that hummingbirds were really mean little fighting machines? Or did this come as a surprise? I’d love to read your hummingbird stories!
03 Monday Nov 2014
Tags
author, book release, books, exciting news, life, News, publishing, self publishing, selfpub, Stephanie Beavers, update, writer
Well folks, I have some exciting news. Calling On Fire is going to be released soon! We’re in the final stages of editing, and most everything else is prepared as well, so the ebook should be released this month! Now, because publishing is complicated, I’ll be taking a bit longer to get the print version out, but I’m still hoping for next month, before Christmas. As you might imagine, I am insanely excited for this! Weeeeeee!
But really, who can believe it’s November already? I know I can’t. My life has been so consumed by mundane things, it’s difficult to swallow. I’ve been trying to get business cards made (shouldn’t be this complicated…), I’ve been trying to eat better, and I’m already trying to brainstorm Christmas presents. XD Halloween was fun (I hope you all had fun too!). I forgot to take pictures, but I mocked up what I have finished so far on my scale-mail costume into something that I thought was passable. I must admit, however, that wearing it for a few hours definitely pointed out a few design flaws (yeah… need to protect bare skin under the gauntlets… ouch!)
Sorry for the short update! Have a great day!
In other news, please help out this Jedi, down on his luck:
30 Thursday Oct 2014
Posted in Fun
27 Monday Oct 2014
Posted in News
Tags
author, batteries, creepy, energy, jewelry, Naomi Kizhner, needles, Science, science fiction, science news, social commentary, Stephanie Beavers, writer
Jewelry That Harvests Energy From Your Veins
Let’s read that again. It’s jewelry that HARVESTS ENERGY from your VEINS.
Need a charge? Just STAB your jewelry straight into your own body to draw a charge!
(I may be a tad SCARED SKINNY of needles.)
Didn’t she watch The Matrix? We shouldn’t be giving our own technology the idea that we can be used as human batteries!
Okay, so you may have noticed me taking a hypochondriac’s spin here. In fair representation, Naomi Kizhner created these devices as a social commentary on human energy consumption, not as a practical way to harvest energy. (Although I still say sticking a couple needles into yourself to make a wheel spin inside a transparent casing is CREEPY, but there you go.) In her words, the jewelry is a discussion piece “about how far will we go to in order to ‘feed’ our addiction in the world of declining resources.”
Check out her website to see these torture devices.
What do you think, readers? Cool or creepy?
23 Thursday Oct 2014
Posted in Fun
Tags
author, chills, entertainment, fun, Halloween, spooky, Stephanie Beavers, Tuck Me In, video, writer, youtube
This spooky amateur video will get you in the Halloween Spirit
20 Monday Oct 2014
Posted in News
Tags
animals, author, birds, cat, cats, magnetic fields, migration, navigation, pet, pets, Science, science news, sea birds, sea turtles, Stephanie Beavers, turtles, writer
So I read a cool article yesterday: How a Kitty Walked 200 Miles Home: The Science of Your Cat’s Inner Compass
Some animals have the most extraordinary navigational abilities. Some days it seems like there’s nothing new for science to discover when it comes to the mammals we’re so familiar with, like birds and cats, but really, we’ve barely scratched the surface. The article above shares an anecdote about someone’s cat: the cat belonged to a local family, had been lost on a trip two months earlier, and had traveled 200 miles (322 km) in that time to arrive back in her hometown. Scientists have no idea how the cat was able to do that.
I can find my way home.
We do understand how some animals navigate. Dung beetles use the stars, as do seabirds (seabirds use the sun too). Some use Earth’s magnetic fields; sea turtles are born with a magnetic map of the ocean in their heads, allowing freshly hatched babies to run to the ocean and find feeding and breeding grounds. Of course, we’re not sure how exactly they sense and use magnetic fields to navigate, but we know that’s how they’re doing it. Seabirds get lost when it’s overcast, and sea turtles will go the wrong way when presented with artificial magnetic fields. Many animals can also sense things we can’t; a dog’s sense of smell is a prime example.
Maybe this is a reminder for us human beings to keep in mind that there’s more to our world – even the more obvious parts of our world – than we know.
For further reading: Watch: How Far Do Your Cats Roam?
16 Thursday Oct 2014
Posted in Fun
Tags
adorable, animals, author, cat, cat food, cats, dear kitten, dog, entertainment, Friskies, fun, humor, kitten, kittens, lol, pet, pets, Stephanie Beavers, writer
Okay, so I very recently posted the first Dear Kitten video on my blog.
Now I have discovered there are more. :D
So here they all are. The first is still the best, but they’re all cute. Enjoy!
13 Monday Oct 2014
Posted in Life
Tags
author, entitlement, gratitude, Happy Thanksgiving, life, philosophy, social commentary, Stephanie Beavers, thankful, Thanksgiving, writer
To all Canadians (and everyone, really, even if today isn’t your Thanksgiving Day or if you don’t celebrate it at all), Happy Thanksgiving!
For all my little woes and complaints, I know that I am insanely blessed. I have so much to be thankful for, and while I do try to always be grateful, I know I don’t always succeed.
I believe that gratitude is one of the most powerful emotions that people have in their arsenal-for-life, and yet it is sadly underused. Our culture has replaced feeling grateful with feeling like entitled. Instead of “I am so blessed,” it’s just “I deserve this.” Entitlement robs gratitude’s power. Being grateful is a wonderful feeling; it lifts us up. But when you feel you deserve something, it can only tear you down, because if you deserve it and you get it, well, whatever, but if you deserve it and you don’t get it, it’s a terrible thing.
There is another lost aspect to gratitude too; we shouldn’t only be grateful for obviously good things.
When I was younger, I struggled a bit with being depressed. One of the things that helped me turn that around was gratitude. Every night, before I went to sleep, I thought of two good things that I was grateful for, and then two bad things that I was grateful for. This forced me to change my perspective, because if nothing else, we learn from the bad things in our lives. Sometimes those bad things are even serendipitous, and because of them, we find ourselves in good situations we wouldn’t otherwise have been in.
Don’t get me wrong, I do think some things happen for no reason (not everything happens for a reason), but if they’re bad, do they have to be all bad? If we focus on the good, if we try to be grateful, then we can learn so much, and over time, life will become a happier, better thing. I could link to innumerable studies supporting the power of positive thinking, but I’m pretty sure we’ve all heard of them.
So I know I, for one, am taking a moment to count my blessings and be thankful for each and every one. What do you think, readers? Have I overrated gratitude, or do you think there’s something to this? Let me know in the comments!
Happy Thanksgiving! I hope everyone gets some turkey.
Stephanie Beavers 