Over 15 years of ocean science and conservation online
12 years ago, Craig McClain wrote what is probably now the most widely read and discussed blog post in the entire ocean blogging community: How presidential elections are impacted by a 100 million year old coastline. A decade later, people are still talking about it. Watch Dr. McClain discuss this 100-million-year-old coastline on PBS Human … Read More “Dr. Craig McClain on How An Ancient Ocean Shaped US History” »
Twelve years ago, Discovery Channel aired a documentary so egregiously bad, so wildly dishonest, and so utterly contemptuous of its audience, that it set the entire Science Blogging Community alight. And then, a year later, they followed it up with another. This was a clarifying moment for science, and especially ocean science, blogging. We weren’t … Read More “We Were Wrong About Megalodon: lessons learned from 10 years combating fake science in popular media” »
It’s hard to overstate just how huge February was for us here at Southern Fried Science. When we did our soft relaunch this January, we expected visitor numbers to be flat for quite a while. No one wants to read blogs anymore, right? Short form videos and the infinite feed are king. I am very … Read More “The people hunger for blogs: what you read on Southern Fried Science in February” »
This Southern Fried Classic was first published July 13, 2017 and is one of Andrew’s all-time favorite articles. Wait, what? In 2017, Oregon State Police reported that a truck carrying a shipment of live hagfish overturned, spilling its slimy cargo all over the highway and damaging at least one vehicle. What’s a hagfish? Hagfish are … Read More “Your car has just been crushed by hagfish: Frequently Asked Questions” »
North Atlantic Right whales are on the brink of extinction. There are approximately 360 individuals left, of which only about 70 are reproductively active females. In 2017, an unusual mortality even resulted in the death of 37 individuals. Ship strikes and entanglements remain the leading cause of death for this population. On August 20, 2022, … Read More “NOAA confirms North Atlantic Right Whale killed by commercial lobster gear” »
I’m Andrew and I like weird little projects. I built a weird little FitBit walking robot. I built a weird little cyborg see turtle. I built a weird little face-mounted Lidar array that lets you see the world like a dolphin. I built a weird little ring light with a panic button to get you … Read More “Great conservation technology programs thrive on weird little projects” »
Note: This is an updated and expanded version of the original article: 3 kid-friendly STEAM electronics projects that harness NOAA’s massive public databases. If you’re anything like me, you probably have a stack of assorted electronics in various stages of disrepair, which is great for your hardware hacking dads and moms, but kids need projects … Read More “Weekend electronics projects for kids that love the ocean.” »
So, you’ve made it! The remnants of science twitter have at last begun to coalesce around a new microblogging platformed owned by questionable individuals with inadequate content moderation that groans under the weight of a massive surge in new users. Welcome to Bluesky. Honestly, it’s pretty great, in the way that Twitter circa 2012 was … Read More “A quick and dirty guide to making custom feeds on Bluesky” »
Hello Friends, do you like Dungeons and Dragons? What’s your favorite class and why is it Circle of Spores Druid? In the campaign I run for my family, my daughter was sent to rescue the mayor, who was kidnapped by dwarves during a property dispute. In the process, she uncovered an illegal quicksilver mining operation, … Read More “Roll for Climate Initiative: A Dungeon Master’s Guide to Running for Local Public Office” »
By pretty much every metric, this month was the best month we’ve had at Southern Fried Science since the pandemic began. It turns out people do still read blogs and just a little bit of effort posting regular updates goes a long way. 13,500 of you stopped by to see what we were writing and … Read More “What you read on Southern Fried Science in January” »
