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cmcclain | September 26, 2007
Tardigrades are a paradox. There are less than 1,000 species globally yet they can survive anything-temperature extremes, starvation, irradiation, dehydration, vacuums, and the pressures of the deep sea. So the obvious question is whether tardigrades can survive space.? The program is called TARDIS (Tardigrades In Space) and you Dr. Who fans will catch the reference. In the words of the TARDIS program...
Why should we send dry aquatic invertebrates into space, an environment that certainly is not normal for these animals?...One would be: to see if these animals, as the first ever, are able…
cmcclain | September 26, 2007If the title doesn't drive the Google hits in then hopefully word of mouth will. Sheril has the low down on this iconographic video of our field, red hot barnacle sex. Keep in mind that barnacles as a percentage of body length may have the largest penis in nature.
jlynch | September 26, 2007Just a quick note to point out that my colleague, Tom Martin, who occupies an office just down the corridor from me, has won the Second Annual Seed Science Writing Contest with his essay "Scientific Literacy and the Habit of Discourse." Take a look.
cmcclain | September 26, 2007SeaWiFS turns 10 this year. What is SeaWiFS? It is one of the most important advances of science in the last 20 years. The SeaWiFS is an instrument on a sattelite (Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor) that circles the planet 14 times every day. By measuring iridescence and color, among other variables, over both land and sea we can derive estimates of primary production (the accumulation of photosynthetic biomass) over both time and space. SeaWiFS has both refined and greatly added to our understanding of global carbon cycling. Of course, there are many other areas where advances are…
cortex | September 26, 2007From David Leonhardt:
There appears to be a growing happiness gap between men and women.
Two new research papers, using very different methods, have both come to this conclusion. Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolfers, economists at the University of Pennsylvania (and a couple), have looked at the traditional happiness data, in which people are simply asked how satisfied they are with their overall lives. In the early 1970s, women reported being slightly happier than men. Today, the two have switched places.
Mr. Krueger, analyzing time-use studies over the last four decades, has found an even…
thescian | September 25, 2007Caferati is a place for aspiring writers to meet, share and collaborate with each other. It is of Indian origin and the members meet in many cities in India. They have a number of online resources (site, google groups). Geographical accidents such as birthplace and country of residence should not worry you if you want to dive in with them and splash about. The editors are doing fantastic work to promote young writers and keep them informed of various publishing opportunities. Our own Scifi story contest (submission closes in a few days, get your story in soon) has got a number of story…
cmcclain | September 25, 2007
Corsair generously sent along their 8GB Survivor Flash Drive midsummer for me to field test at the behesting of this post. Over the last few months I have done everything I can to beat this flash drive to hell. The flash drive comes in its own CNC-milled, anodized aircraft-grade aluminum case. In its case an EDPM o-ring makes the case resistant to 200m. The drive has a molded shock dampening collar that prevents vibration from impact being transmitted to the drive. Here is a list of all the things I have done to the drive and it still works.
Ran over it with my 2 Ton Jeep Wrangler...no…
cmcclain | September 25, 2007
Rick at Malaria, Bedbugs, Sea Lice, and Sunset recently reviewed Kona Deep awhile back and promised to send along a bottle to taste. Previously, I made a rather bold claim...
Imagine yourself laying on a sandy beach. As you take in the supple views and iconic air, you reach for your multi-fruit, multi-liquor, multi-umbrella, tropical drink. But wait! Wouldn't you rather have a beverage "bottled and certified at the source in Hawaii...the result of this ancient water being shepherded with special care through a proprietary process that takes out almost all of the salt, but retains important…
cmcclain | September 25, 2007Sunday evening the intelligent and lovely Sheril Kirshenbaum posited a question that I have received many times. The question is always a good one because it stems from knowledge and deductive reasoning. The said question requires one to know that one of the most extreme environmental gradients is the increase of pressure with increasing depth, at the surface being 1 atm and reaching well over 1,000 atm in deepest parts of the ocean. The question(s) how do organisms survive this great pressure and what happens to organisms when you bring them to the surface? I really never get tired of…
cmcclain | September 25, 2007 Pangea Ultima: Earth in 250 Million Years?
Credit & Copyright: C. R. Scotese (U. Texas at Arlington), PALEOMAP
In 250 million years from now, my research will be a little easier. Besides the insights that I will derive from a long-term database and 250 million years of publications, my database will be extremely simplified. Instead of all those pesky categories I have for ocean/basin...Atlantic, Indian, Gulf of Mexico, Mediterranean, and Pacific. My future samples will be Pacific, Pacific, Pacific, and Pacific. In the distant future all the landmasses will once again be united into a…
grrlscientist | September 24, 2007tags: blog carnivals, books, book reviews
The Books Carnival is now available for you to enjoy. This blog carnival is filled with essays about books and reading as well as lots of book reviews. You can't say that you can't think of a decent book to read after you've read through this blog carnival! Interestingly, this is a bilingual carnival (Spanish), too.
petnoyer | September 24, 2007Researchers used stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen on old and new parts of the shells of 44 Bahaman green turtles (Chelonia mydas) to examine changes in sea turtle diets between their juvenile and elder stages.
The results indicate green sea turtles spent their "lost years' in the deep ocean as carnivores feeding on jellyfish, before moving closer to shore and switching to a vegetarian diet of seagrasses. The new research was published in the online journal Biology Letters. Karen Bjorndal led the study. She is a zoologist and director of the University of Florida's Archie Carr Center…
cmcclain | September 24, 2007
My absence from DSN is soon to come to an end as I head back to California today. Part of my hiatus is due to this and other because of this. The Research Triangle being the epicenter of the blogging universe meant the oppurtunity to bag some fellow Sb'lings. I shared a fantastic evening with Bora, Sheril, Abel, and Anna.
jlynch | September 22, 2007
My grandfather - now dead 28 years - and I used to coil up laughing to this.
grrlscientist | September 21, 2007It is important to me to be included in the book, OpenLab 2007. So I am asking you to help me write a kick-ass essay that will be good enough for this little book. The only reason (I think) that I was included in the inagural edition of this book was because the editor was a great fan of one essay that I wrote. So I need to write another essay that will also be competitive for inclusion in this year's book.
I think the best approach is to rewrite an essay that I've already written or to combine and rewrite several essays on closely related topics that I've already written, but I am asking…
sb admin | September 21, 2007A mere nine months after the National Academy of Science told OMB to junk its junk science proposal, the Bush administration is at it again. On Wednesday, OIRA administrator Susan Dudley and OSTPâs associate director Sharon Hays sent a memorandum to all executive agencies. The memo advised that âafter carefully evaluating [the] constructive recommendations from the NAS, as well as feedback from rigorous interagency review, and public commentsâ OMB decided not to issue a final version of its risk assessment bulletin, but instead, to issue a memorandum âto enhance the scientific quality,…
grrlscientist | September 21, 2007Just for all my bird-loving pals, the 58th edition of I and the Bird blog carnival is now available for you to enjoy. This blog carnival was written as a conversation between the author and Doctor Who. Who? As usual, there are plenty of birdalicious links for you to explore, so be sure to pop in and check them out!
grrlscientist | September 21, 2007tags: latte, online quiz
What Your Latte Says About You
When it comes to what you like, you have your own unique tastes. And people don't really understand them.
You are a very serious person. You don't have time for silly antics.
Intense and energetic, you aren't completely happy unless you are bouncing off the walls.
You're addicted to caffeine. There's no denying it.
You are responsible, mature, and truly an adult. You're occasionally playful, but you find it hard to be carefree.
You are complex and philosophical, but you are never arrogant.
What Does Your Latte Say About You?
Okay…
grrlscientist | September 21, 2007tags: blog carnivals, encephalon, cognition, learning
Okay, this is the last time I will ask you to send me submissions for the upcoming issue of the blog carnival, Encephalon, which I am hosting on Monday, 24 September. A few submissions have trickled in so far, but I want my efforts to be recognized as the best ever on behalf of this carnival so I am going to ask you all again to send me your submissions! Encephalon is THE carnival that focuses on blog writing about all aspects of neuroscience, from the molecular to the cognitive. So if you want your brainy words to be read by a larger and…
cmcclain | September 20, 2007The Johnsen Lab at Duke University has several great high resolution (warning: slow loading) photographs of specimens from the Gulf of Mexico (Brine Pool, Garden Bank, Vioska Knoll, Green Canyon) between 1000 and 3000 feet. Photos are courtesy of their of the Johnsen Lab.
The crab Paralomis cubensis
The brittle star (serpent star) Ophiocreas sp.