In search of urban marine life

March 12, 2009

This week is Week of the Blue over at Urban Science Adventures. Though every day is happy ocean fun day here at the Oyster’s Garter, I thought I’d join DN’s party by writing a bit on how to have a Marine Urban Science Adventure! You don’t need to go on a big fancy tropical vacation to see tons of cool marine life – you just need to go to the ocean, any ocean.

This is biased towards the cities that I’ve spent the most time in – Boston, New York, San Francisco, and San Diego. Please feel free to add more urban marine life resources in the comments.

Fouling communities

San Diego Bay fouling community, photographed under the docks by yours truly

San Diego Bay fouling community, photographed under the docks by your intrepid blogger

Fouling communities are the critters that grow on artificial substrates, like pier pilings and dock floats. Read the rest of this entry »

7 Comments | Critters, Discovery, Ocean, Sciencey entertainment | Permalink
Posted by Miriam Goldstein

danah boyd on social media

March 11, 2009

If (like me) you haven’t had time to read danah boyd‘s thesis on social media, check out a talk she gave to Microsoft employees. [Full disclosure: I went to college with danah, though I don't know her well.] I highly recommend her work for anyone who cares enough about online communication to be reading this blog. I find it really useful in thinking about how to harness online tools for science education and marine conservation.

From danah’s talk:

I’m going to share my research in three acts:
1) How did social media – and social network sites in particular – gain traction in the US? And how should we think about network effects?
2) What are some core differences between how teens leverage social media and how adults engage with these same tools?
3) How is social media reconfiguring social infrastructure and where is all of this going?

2 Comments | Geek, Getting it right, Social eptitude | Permalink
Posted by Miriam Goldstein

Happy Purim!

March 10, 2009

Today is Purim, the holiday where Jews are religiously OBLIGATED to get fershnikit. (and eat hamentaschen, just one of many Jew Pastry options.) And who knows fershnikit better than the Meshuggenah Men?

Via Yo, Yenta!

1 Comment | Uncategorized | Permalink
Posted by Miriam Goldstein

Restore a habitat, save the economy

March 9, 2009

NOAA is seeking “shovel-ready” coastal and marine restoration projects. You can restore valuable habitat while virtuously stimulating the economy (not to mention having your research actually get funded.) Proposals are due April 6.

From the press release:

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is seeking applications for projects that will restore coastal and marine habitats under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, in an unprecedented effort to jumpstart the economy, create save several thousand jobs, and restore valuable coastal and marine habitat. Congress has entrusted NOAA with up to $170 million for habitat restoration in coastal areas including the Great Lakes. NOAA is accepting applications for a variety of habitat restoration projects – including wetlands restoration, dam removals, shellfish restoration, and coral reef restoration.

1 Comment | Action!, Getting it right, Newsy Bits, Time to Make the Science | Permalink
Posted by Miriam Goldstein

Amazing stealth photos from camera traps

March 9, 2009

The World Wildlife Federation has a network of camera traps set up around the world. They’re triggered by infrared sensors that take a photo whenever something with heat moves. And the photos are so cool. Here’s a few selections from their Flickr group:

Devil panda:

AIEEE! Flash!

I wake up to this when I forget to feed the fat cat:

Thanks to @rmacpherson on Twitter. Ok, fine, I am hooked on Twitter.

2 Comments | Our furry friends | Permalink
Posted by Miriam Goldstein

Sunday Links: Who mocks the Watchmen?

March 8, 2009
Yes, talking about blue whales and the Watchmen in the same post WAS deliberate. No, I do not have dignity or self-restraint.

Yes, talking about blue whales and the Watchmen in the same post WAS deliberate. No, I do not have dignity or self-restraint.

  • Speaking of whales, is conservation NGO Sea Shepherd actually helping them by criminal ramming of ships in the Antarctic? (You can tell how I feel about that.) What about sharks? Dr. M at Deep Sea News discusses the ship-ramming incident  (though the discussion ends in foul sockpuppetery) and WhySharksMatter at Southern Fried Scientist tackles the sharks, with possible cameo by Paul Watson. Also see Shark Divers’s excellent series.
  • I haven’t made it to the Watchmen movie yet, but that hasn’t stopped me from mocking it. Two quality parodies (via Martini-Corona):
  1. Saturday Morning Watchmen – “Strong together, united forever, they’re the best of friends!”
  2. What if Woody Allen (or Sofia Coppola or Quentin Tarentino) had directed Watchmen? Slideshow from Slate.

2 Comments | Sunday Links | Permalink
Posted by Miriam Goldstein

Four new national landmarks!

March 7, 2009

The National Park Service named four new national natural landmarks. The lucky places include a Texas cave, Pensylvania meadows adapted to naturally toxic soil, and a Kentucky Pleistocene fossil site. But my favorite is the Chazy Fossil Reef in Vermont and New York.

The Chazy reef, located on an island in Lake Champlain, is thought to be the oldest fossil reef in the world. It contains gorgeous fossils from the dawn of ocean ecosystems 450 million years ago. From the Smithsonian Magazine:

The Chazy Reef is the oldest reef in the world built by a community of organisms (a few older reefs are made up of one species only). Its foundation was built by Bryozoa, animals that preceded coral by millions of years but exist in similar forms today. The soft-bodied animals, a fraction of an inch long, resemble twigs and gumdrops in shape.

In the next horizon we find the stromatoporoids, extinct relatives of sponges. Then comes an extinct type of algae, followed by actual sponges, more algae and the oldest-known reef-building coral. The coral species found in the Chazy Reef are also extinct. Some looked like flowers, others like organ pipes or honeycombs.

In its heyday, the reef was also home to a bizarre menagerie of other marine life. Large tentacled cephalopods, ancestors of the squid and nautilus, scarfed up trilobites. Crinoids, delicate animals related to starfish that looked like flowers atop a long stem, waved back and forth in the currents. Gastropods, or large snails, proliferated—some of the fossil swirls that “mar” radio black limestone.

Leave a Comment » | Evolution, Getting it right, Newsy Bits | Permalink
Posted by Miriam Goldstein

This year’s squid orgy

March 5, 2009

Check out Gary Hawkins’ film of this year’s La Jolla squid orgy. The big booms are seal bombs – meant to keep sea lions away from the nets. They also keep divers out of the water. Hawkins says:

We did not get in the water to film the underwater shots. The day we filmed the boats were actively fishing so there was danger from boat traffic. Also, seal bombs were being dropped in the water. Thus to get the underwater footage, we lowered a weighted videocam by rope and let it dangle beneath our boat. Hence the reason squid randomly come in and out of shot and the camera appears to bob up and down.

He got some great footage, though! You can also see the light boats shining very powerful lights into the water to lure up the mating squid. (That’s squid sex no-no #1.)

5 Comments | Critters, Ocean, San Diego, Sex | Permalink
Posted by Miriam Goldstein

Open Laboratory 2008 now available!

March 5, 2009

As you might recall, I was honored to be included in Open Laboratory 2008, a compendium of the year’s best science blogging. Now I’m EXTRA thrilled to announce that Open Laboratory 2008 is now available for sale! Though you can  read all the entries for free on their original blogs, why would you want to do that when you can keep & treasure this gorgeous volume?

Though the book will be available on Amazon, proceeds from sales on Lulu.com go towards Science Online ’10. Many thanks to all the folks who worked hard putting this together!

Leave a Comment » | O frabjous day!, Sciencey entertainment, Self-Referential | Permalink
Posted by Miriam Goldstein

Newsy Bit: Science nominees held up by Congress

March 4, 2009

The Intersection and Questionable Authority report that the confirmations of Jane Lubchenco (to lead NOAA) and John Holdren (to lead the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy) have been held up in Congress by multiple anonymous holds.

John P. Holdren, nominated to lead the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and Jane Lubchenco, picked for undersecretary of Commerce for oceans and atmosphere, had been expected to receive a quick floor vote. They received an amicable confirmation hearing Feb. 12 and plaudits from the science community otherwise.

But Holdren, a Harvard University physicist, and Lubchenco, an Oregon State University marine biologist, may have to undergo an extra round of review, Senate style.

Multiple senators have placed anonymous holds on the science advisers’ nominations, according to John D. Rockefeller IV , D-W.Va., chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, which has jurisdiction over the nominations.

“It’s infuriating,” said Rockefeller, who backs Holdren and Lubchenco’s hiring. “They’re brilliant scientists.”

This is bad because there’s $21.5 billion dedicated to science in the economic recovery package, and these people need to be in place to funnel it to the right sources. Questionable Authority has details on what you can do to get Congress to stop playing politics with critical science funding.

4 Comments | Newsy Bits, Politics Gone Wild, Shame, Things That Severely Annoy Miriam | Permalink
Posted by Miriam Goldstein

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