kevin z

Craig is away at a workshop but emailed me this message to relay. Remember to visit and bookmark our new site! ------------------------------------------------------- When I was much, much younger, I joined Jacques Cousteau's Calypso Club (named affectionately after his beloved ship). Was anyone…

Our time here with Seed is at an end. One chapter closed, another one is opened. Right now it is a time a great changes for me. As many readers know, I recently moved to North Carolina to take up a position a research technician at Duke's Marine Lab on the coast. Thankfully we did not get the full…

Eric has the latest edition of the taxonomy and biodiversity blog carnival up, Linneaus' Legacy. Go there and learn some stuff!

Zach at When Pigs Fly Returns has the latest edition of the paleo-carnival, The Boneyard! Keep an eye out for preserved naughty bits...

Well, we are mostly packed up and the family is ready for our big move to coastal North Carolina to start my new job at the Duke University Marine Lab! And it seems like we might be greeted with southern hospitality by Hannah. My first time living in the south and we are immediately confronted by…

Over at The Saipan Blog. Excellent Collection of ocean-related articles. Learn about the proposed Mariana Trench National Monument and how Bush supports it! Kudos to Angelo for this edition of the Carnival of the Blue and all his hard work promoting the creation of the monument. Extra: Just read…

While Deep Sea News is still preparing our new home, spackling the cracks, painting the walls, sanitizing the fridge, throwing out the empties form the last tenant's going away party, unpacking the boxes and otherwise getting settled in, other people are keeping on top of things in our ocean world…

Sheril reports that Barack Obama has taken up the challenge and answered the 14 questions posed by the ScienceDebate08 coalition. These 14 issues run the gamut from space to health to security and education. In particular to myself and you the reader, there was one very important question about the…

I couldn't resist. FAILBlog has the original entry, a screenshot from a forum by someone who has a plan to stop sea level rise, an outcome of global warming. Here is what the text says: "I was watching inconvenient truth the other day and theres the bit where it shows the sea level rising really…

Just another lazy friday afternoon. I don't know about you, but i felt more relaxed after listening to that, almost sleepy. Maybe you need a little sting to wake you up after that? (below the fold)

Eric over at that brilliant invertablog, The Other 95%, is hosting the next edition of Linnaeus' Legacy. It is a blog carnival about taxonomy, biodiversity and systematics. The current edition is at A DC Birding Blog. You have 1 week to get in those submissions! Go here to submit.

While we give you more details about the BIG NEWS. Japanese researchers publish there super duper extremely important must kill all whales research. They are getting skinny! Though they cite global warming as the cause in their paper, Anthony Judd thinks they might be forgetting something... The…

"I have made an important discovery... that alcohol, taken in sufficient quantities, produces all the effect of intoxication."

Finally the decider has made a decision I can agree with and get behind 100%! Angelo has the details of the recent media storm (or see all his posts related to the monument). Here is Angelo in an local TV station interview. Doesn't he just look like a good poster boy for marine conservation? Keep…

Graphic from The New York Times Company. The New York Times has a well-written article about the new Alvin replacement. There is also a 15 minute Science Times podcast and several photos of the 7 foot wide, 3 inch thick titanium sphere being molded (must see) as well as the above graphic proposing…

Learn more about $quid the movie. Hat tip to PZ.

I think I may have put this up but just in case I haven't, well it make me laugh hysterically once again so maybe it will have the same on affect on you: "Most Giant Squid remains have been found in the stomachs of Sperm Whales. This has led some of the stupider Marine Biologists to theorize that…

I found this interesting picture illustrating how extensible the belly of the anglerfish is. They gulp more than their share in body weight! Quite a nice adaptation when you never know another meal will pass you by. Culled from a classroom page at Warrensburg Schools in Missouri. Way to go…

Ahram Biosystems just released a handheld PCR machine affectionately called the Palm PCR. Oh yeah baby. Now you can just strap this 330 g (with battery) puppy to your arm when you go out for a jog. Wait! Is that dead body? Throw a hair in there and amplify as you wipe the sweat of your brow (make…

Conservation is more than saving a species or a habitat. Conservation, at a meta-level, places people in stewardship of the planet and its inventory. Some of the most amazing places and their inhabitants are located in some of the poorest nations or communities. So when the passionate bloggers at…

Hat tip to Sheril.

Now EVERY dolphin is going to be tail-walking on the water. Remember the moonwalk phenomenon in the 80s?? Yeah, you thought that was bad? Well, just think how bad it will be when all the dolphin's start tail-walking? Great job sea world... BBC Reports "Wild Dolphins Tail-Walk on Water": "A wild…

Bora has the first edition of Praxis. I think this carnival will quickly become one of the most important monthly collection of blog posts, covering topics that is about science: "If it is "Life in Academia", then pretty much everything on science blogs is eligible and the effect is diluted. If we…

I was amazed while watching this video (hat tip to Sea Notes), hinging on his every word. I thought Chris Jordan was an interesting and passionate speaker. Together with his imagery and explanation, he wove a fascinating visual analysis of American culture. There are many analogies to what we…

I came across these pictures from Fogonazos. Be sure to go over there for a great article about Mola Mola, the giant ocean sunfish, with about 2 dozen more pictures! Now that's a whole lotta Mola! Read Fogonazos to see why you might not want to eat its flesh though.

NY Times reports "In a study to be published Friday in the journal Science, researchers say the number of marine "dead zones" around the world has doubled about every 10 years since the 1960s. At the same time, the zones along many coastlines have been growing in size and intensity. About 400…

Click on image to embiggen and go to source website. Hat tip to Eric via Dinochick.

G4TV's coverage of the manly hit game Harpooned, brought to us by phisrow who left a comment on the last whale post. You can visit the harpooned.org and download the game to see how *real* scientific research is done (windows only)!

YEAH!!!!! One of my favorite conferences (naturally) put up the first curricular for the 4th International Symposium on Chemosynthesis-Based Ecosystems. It was formerly called the International Symposium on Vent and Seep Biology, renamed to accommodate whale falls and emphasize the common link to…