Uncategorized
grrlscientist | December 30, 2006Today, I managed to drag myself out of my apartment where I've been hiding for the past four days, so I could pick up my mail from the post office. It turns out that I received several Christmas gifts from my peeps; a one year subscription to one of the top peer-reviewed journals, Science magazine (YIPPEE!), and another book by Barack Obama, The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream (New York: Crown; 2006). Already, I am more than halfway through Obama's first book, which is very well-written -- so well-written that Obama could make a living as a writer, in my humble…
petnoyer | December 30, 2006An article called "Science 2006" (SEED Magazine, November 2006) discusses a group called Science and Engineers for America that is making important headway in Washington. Please check it out. This kind of advocacy in Washington is mission critical.
Important federal agencies responsible for global ocean health and human welfare (e.g. NOAA and NASA) are currently sitting in budgetary limbo under a continuing resolution because Congress scheduled wartime funding first. It doesn't seem fair to spend so much on governments overseas, and so little on our own.
cevans | December 30, 2006
Happy human holidays, readers. Like everyone else around this time of year, we here at Universe HQ have been spending our long winter nights by the hearth's side, our bifocals pushed far down our noses, all the better to look fondly back on the restless year that was 2006. What a stormy 12 months in the realm of the sciences! There were weeks alone where we couldn't check our blogs fast enough, so fast-paced were the developments in the great research labs and space ships of our brethren!
To be honest, a simple run-down of the most exciting Science Events of 2006 seemed to us a little bit…
cmcclain | December 30, 2006Go welcome Aardvarckology Ardvoloyg Arrdvarkeology Aardvarchaeology. Try not to let the eating of our cephalopod brethren upset you.
cmcclain | December 30, 2006Frank A. brought my attention to this video on Marie Tharpe at the New York Times.
Other scientists dismissed her work as "girl talk," but she refused to back down -- and changed the way we see the planet.
You can also read more about her here. In the words of the late James Brown, "This is a man's world, this is a man's world, But it wouldn't be nothing, nothing without a woman or a girl."
pharyngula | December 30, 2006Quacks have no shame, but once reputable science and engineering magazines should have some vestiges of it. Popular Science magazine will take money from anyone for the ad revenue, as Cyde Weys demonstrates with a scan of an ad for energized water. It will cure cancer and diabetes, and kills bacteria. It's crazy and stupid.
Your blood is 94% water and billions of people flush their diseases along with medication into the ground water 4-5 times/day and it ends up at a faucet somewhere. If you have well water and people in the area have cancer, you have a good chance of getting cancer! S.D.…
cmcclain | December 30, 2006A big welcome to Attleboro High School's AP Biology (I presume MA). There instructor, Mr. Lemire, linked to DSN from the course blog. Students please feel free to post comments and ask questions. Peter and I (and the other bloggers here at Sb) will be happy to answer your questions. For Peter and I, you may want to keep them ocean or biology related otherwise you will never know what kind of answer you wil get!
pharyngula | December 29, 2006Salto Sobrius has become Aardvarchaeology — raise a cup of cephalopod noodle soup and say hello to Martin!
cmcclain | December 29, 2006
Urged by a reader and previous buzz, I finally managed to watch the Calamari Wrestler. The movie is an over-the-top satire of Rocky with a Star Wars twist finish. Fortunately it is much better than the festering heap of movie, Rocky XXXIV. The plot is the tale of a wrestler and son of a geisha, Kan-Ichi Iwata, reincarnated as a squid who fights for more than a wrestling title.
The Calamari Wrestler is from the hills of Pakistan and may be related to the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus. Kan-Ichi easily defeats his first opponent due to the fact "joint locks don't work on an invertebrate,…
tqa | December 28, 2006On the First Day of Christmas, I did the "Yes, Virginia" quote. On the Third Day of Christmas, I did Terry Pratchett's take on the same question. Today is the Fifth Day of Christmas, and it's always been my favorite (mostly because of childhood memories of Miss Piggy adding the "BA DOMP BOMP BOMP's" to the song). Hopefully, the quote for the Fifth Day will tie the last two quotes together. This bit's from Hogfather, too.
"Thank you. Now . . . tell me . . ."
WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF YOU HADN"T SAVED HIM?
"Yes! The sun would have risen just the same, yes?"
NO.
"Oh, come on. You can't expect…
cmcclain | December 28, 2006The first new 25 Things at Sb! So grab a cup-o-joe and read on!
The extremes of the physical deep-sea environment (temperature, pressure, and lack of light, low food) are more than a challenge for deep-sea organisms. Unfortunately, there is one more-disturbance.
In ecology, hypotheses for how biodiversity is maintained generally fall into two categories, equilibrium and nonequilibrium. Equilibrium hypotheses typically focus on processes that promote partitioning of the environment that lowers species competition and coexistence (the competitive exclusion principle). These hypotheses…
cmcclain | December 28, 2006Dolphins & silly little monkeys...thier smatter than you think. Actually...dolphins are dangerous and monkeys throw poo. Luckily, the latest addittion to Sb, Developing Intelligence, has a handle on intelligence. I guess I won't expect too many post on the GOP or "Intelligent" Design.
cmcclain | December 28, 2006The BBC higlights a January expedition of Southampton Oceanographic Centre's (SOC) ROV Isis to the Antarctic. The project is to explore the sediment and organisms of Marguerite Bay. SOC aquired Isis in 2003 from a colloboration with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI). Isis is largely based on WHOI's Jason II and has the typical equipment you would expect out of an ROV, high resolution cameras, manipulators arms, and various add tools for specific tasks.
cmcclain | December 27, 2006Peter McGrath, one of the project's founders, brought my attention to the Beagle Project. The goal is to build a replica of the Beagle and sail it in 2009 along Darwin and Fitzroy's original route. The mission appears to be threefold: public outreach, education, and science. One of the scientific goals is a biological assessment of the changes since Darwin's original observations. A blog is also kept for the project . Should be interesting to see how this project develops with the potential for education and research. My only criticism it that a project goal should be torment…
tqa | December 26, 2006This is a follow-up to the Christmas day quote - the Terry Pratchett take on the same question:
"Susan," said Twyla, from somewhere under the blankets.
"Yes?"
"You know last week we wrote letters to the Hogfather?"
"Yes?"
"Only . . . in the park Rachel says he doesn't exist and it's your father really. And everyone else said she was right."
There was a rustle from the other bed. Twyla's brother had turned over and was listening surreptitiously.
Oh dear, thought Susan. She had hoped she could avoid this. It was going to be like that business with the Soul Cake Duck all over again.
"Does it…
cmcclain | December 26, 2006I love being out to sea, 2 months on a research vessel is heaven. I eagerly read about projects like Freedom Ship and Trilobis and await the days I can shed my terrestrial dwelling. I tried to convince my wife that we should live in an houseboat...we still live on land. With forward politics and Hydropolis and I may be moving to the middle east.
From the industrious Prince of Dubai, who brought the eighth wonder of the world-the Palm Jumeirah, comes the world's first underwater luxury hotel. The key here is luxury...this is no rennovated research shack like the Jules Underwater Hotel.…
petnoyer | December 26, 2006My favorite thing about Christmas is the stories. To me, the holiday comes wrapped in pictures, histories, tales, and yarns just like the gifts setting under the tree. The feast begins after Thanksgiving Day as networks broadcast animated snowmen, elves, and reindeer. Classic stories like Miracle on 34th Street and Christmas Carol make the season great. Even now, when my family gets together, someone brings a Christmas story to read aloud. We tried everything from classics to limericks.
It would be nice to tell a Christmas story here at Deep Sea News. Its a challenge if nothing else. I…