Uncategorized
cmcclain | June 7, 2007
Tomorrow is World Ocean Day, and to celebrate, The Nature Conservancy is featuring an article on a haven for sea turtle and shark breeding on Andros Island in the Bahamas. This area, discovered last summer, could help influence Bahamian officials to establish more marine protected areas around the Bahamas.
They have also pulled together some of previous marine features, including a photo essay, "A Day in the Life of the World's Oceans," and information on Hawaii's coral reefs.
Click here for more on World Ocean Day.
Of course tomorrow you can expect something special from Peter and I.
grrlscientist | June 7, 2007tags: health, blog carnival
The second issue of the new Health Blog Carnival was just published today for you to enjoy and, yes, they included a submission from me, too. Be sure to drop in and give them support!
sb admin | June 6, 2007A Republican is somebody who thinks that the first, fourth, and eighth amendments are too dangerous to be followed in the modern world.
A Democrat is somebody who thinks that the second and tenth amendments are too dangerous to be followed in the modern world.
A Libertarian is somebody who thinks that oppression and stifling bureaucracy can only come from governments.
A Socialist is somebody who thinks that oppression and stifling bureaucracy can only come from corporations.
A Communist is somebody both who hasn't read the newspapers in nearly 20 years, and also who teaches humanities at a…
nisbetmc_2 | June 6, 2007Monday night we delivered our latest presentation of the Nisbet & Mooney Framing Science thesis at the new headquarters of the New York Academy of Sciences. Close to 150 people turned out for what proved to be a lively Q&A and reception that followed. The talk was covered by the Columbia Journalism Review and blogged about by John Horgan, author of End of Science. Over at our respective blogs, we have more details, including my reply to Horgan and Chris' reply to NASA scientist Gavin Schmidt, who was also in attendance.
Our next public presentation will be here in DC on June 19, 12…
grrlscientist | June 6, 2007tags: health, fitness, blog carnival
The 12th issue of the Healthy and Fit Family blog carnival was published yesterday for you to enjoy, and they included one of my submissions in their list.
stoat | June 6, 2007The dirt, in this case, is that he was once fairly sensible. In particular, he edited two books published by D Reidel:Global effects of environmental pollution, 1970, which was the proceedings of a Symposium, organised by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, held in Dallas, Texas, December, 1968. ISBN 90-2777-0151-2 if you're interested; shelf-mark 334.2.c.95.254 south front 3, if you're in the UL. And The Changing Global Environment, 1975 (£55, paperback! Whew, the hardcover has a RRP of £100, but amazon offers it for £101 and is proud of the fact. Odd). ISBN…
cmcclain | June 5, 2007 If you live anywhere near the Southern California coast, you are aware they are being invaded by the Humboldt squid. In Ventura County they are hauling in boat loads. Two things bug me about these posts.
1. Most of the articles refer to the Humboldt Squid as the Giant Squid, a common name reserved for Architeuthis species. The common name for Dosidicus gigas, other than the Humboldt Squid, is the Jumbo Squid. You can even call them the Red Devil.
2. Its this quote "'They are gnarly; they've got more teeth than Jaws,' said Jeff Grodin, owner of Oxnard's Capt. Hook's Sportfishing, where…
clock | June 5, 2007And they also make themselves look silly in the process. This time, it is the dinosaurs of journalism, putting out all the old anti-Web canards. Perhaps we should compile an Index of Old-Journalist Claims similar to the Index of Creationist Claims (on TalkOrigins.org). Two examples this week:
First, (via Ed Cone) Jay Rosen rips into this article by Neil Henry:
My impression: we're at the twilight of the curmudgeon class in newsrooms and J-schools. (Though they can still do a lot of damage.) You know they're giving up when they no longer bother to inform themselves about what they…
cmcclain | June 5, 2007
Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute (HBOI) will be switching hands. HBOI was found by Seward Johnson, heir to the Johnson & Johnson fortune, in the mid 1970's. The campus is located a couple hours north of Ft. Lauderdale. A colleague of mine from Alabama referred to HBOI as the Woods Hole of the south. You probably don't know HBOI but you will definitely recognize their submersibles (above), the Sealink I & II. Yes there is two of them. Unfortunately, I can't tell them apart any better than Mary Kate and Ashley. The subs are unique in that they have 360 degree view through the…
cmcclain | June 5, 2007The Haida Indian nation and the Canadian government have signed an agreement to set up BC's Quenn Charlotte Islands as a marine protected area (MPA). The MPA will allow for protection of Bowie Seamount or in the Haida tongue as Sgaan Kinghlas (Supernatural Being Looking Outward), by far a better name. The 55km by 24km seamount rises up from the 3,000 meter deep seafloor to come within 25 meteres of the surface. The top of the seamount is quite productive and a feeding ground for Steller Sea Lions
tlambert | June 5, 2007James Annan:
If "jumping the shark" refers to the point at which a TV series loses all credibility, perhaps "quoting a Motl" could be analogous in the context of coverage of climate science issues.
petnoyer | June 5, 2007Penguins populations on South Africa's Robben Island are feeling the pinch as climate change redistributes sardine and anchovy populations away from their nesting grounds. New York Times runs a nice story on the issue here.
Conservation groups are calling the penguins a "canary on the coal mine", i.e. a first indicator of trouble in the deep sea from the combined effects of climate change, commerical fishing, and ocean pollution.
Alison Boyer described deep diving behavior in Emporer Penguins during Megavertebrate Week.
tqa | June 4, 2007
Today, a United States Marine Corps panel delivered a message to all recently discharged veterans: if you want to maintain all of your benefits, you better sit down and shut the ---- up. The Marines, apparently unfamiliar with the concept of the freedoms of speech and free assembly, decided to penalize an Iraq war veteran for speaking out against the war by taking away his honorable discharge. Corporal Adam Kokesh will instead, if the panel's recommendation is upheld, receive a general discharge (under honorable conditions).
For those who are unfamiliar with the military, a general…
nisbetmc_2 | June 4, 2007Framing occurs across the news production process. It's a function of reporter and source interaction, the decisions made by editors, and the intended audience for the news report.
Over at Framing Science, I detail a classic example, as the same story filed by Andrew Revkin was edited very differently at the sister pubs The International Herald Tribune and The NY Times. This framing-by-way-of-editing leads to varying interpretations as to the motivations of the Bush administration and how experts are evaluating its new climate plan.
cmcclain | June 4, 2007
This Friday is World Ocean Day and to get the week going I thought I would start with a practical "what can I do post". Peter already discussed why plastic is a bad thing for the ocean. I will focus on what you can do to reduce your plastic waste and consumption. Let's face it...you and I my friend are both lazy. Potentially if you're reading this then you're an American, like I, and even lazier than the rest of the world. We need things easy and spelled out for us. So here is a list.
No plastic grocery bags. Obviously the easiest one and the one you already know about. Ask for paper…
petnoyer | June 4, 2007This just in. It's National Oceans Month.
That's like 30 World Ocean Days (June 8) all rolled into one.
(Can't touch this...)
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/05/20070531-6.html
In the press release, President George W. Bush reminds us of the good progress we've made under his administration (e.g. Northwest Hawaiian Islands Monument, Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act of 2006) then he goes on to advocate for secure navigational freedoms and more investment in offshore aquaculture.
OK. Now that you marked your calendar, how do we celebrate a…
petnoyer | June 4, 2007Two interesting new articles are available from the American Geophysical Union publications. The first requires a brief ocean geography lesson, the second documents newly identified features off the Pacific coast of Mexico.
Walczowski, W and J Piechura. 2007. Pathways of the Greenland Sea warming. Geophysical Research Letters. http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/2007/2007GL029974.shtml
The Fram Strait between Greenland and Svalbard Islands is the only deep-water connection between the Arctic Ocean and the world ocean, so this high latitude pass is critically important for heat, mass, and salt…
thescian | June 3, 2007Quoted at Harpers. Deliciously subversive.
Wherever religion is resorted to as a strong drink, and as an escape from the dull, monotonous round of home, those of its ministers who pepper the highest will be the surest to please. They who strew the Eternal Path with the greatest amount of brimstone, and who most ruthlessly tread down the flowers and leaves that grow by the wayside, will be voted the most righteous; and they who enlarge with the greatest pertinacity on the difficulty of getting into heaven will be considered, by all true believers, certain of going there: though it would be…
petnoyer | June 3, 2007
Couldn't wait until next Friday to share this promotional shot for the International Polar Year at MSN's Photoblogs.