Author: Andrew Thaler

Marine science and conservation. Deep-sea ecology. Population genetics. Underwater robots. Open-source instrumentation. The deep sea is Earth's last great wilderness.

Welcome stumblers, reddit-ers, and neatorama readers

Posted on By Andrew Thaler
Uncategorized

We’re getting a huge surge in pageviews from reddit, stumble, and neatorama today. If you’re new here check out some of our classic Southern Fried Science Posts: How to brew beer in a coffee maker, using only materials commonly found on a modestly sized oceanographic research vessel. The Cove, Dolphins, and Mercury Ethical Debate: Captive … Read More “Welcome stumblers, reddit-ers, and neatorama readers” »

365 days of Darwin: The second 3 months

Posted on By Andrew Thaler
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Today marks the official halfway point for our year long adventure traveling the world with Charles Darwin. his first 3 months are summarized here – 365 days of Darwin: the first 3 months. Charlie has had an exciting 3 months, traveling across the country, diving into the Deep Sea Lab, and even testing out his green thumb in the garden. He kicked off these three months with a celebration of Mardi Gras:

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Unguided deep-sea research is essential for national and global security

Posted on By Andrew Thaler
Conservation, Science

This Sunday on NPR I heard the following paraphrased comment: “The ROV pilots have never had to deal with anything like this before, no one has trained for the kinds of maneuvers needed to close to well.” I’ve known many ROV pilots. They are all incredibly skilled, know how to handle their robots, and generally have many years of experience working in industrial settings.

But commercial ROV work tends to be monotonous. Many pilots I know spend the vast majority of their time inspecting pipelines and oil rigs, flying over long tracks of seafloor with little to no variation, looking for any signs of damage. When their skills are put to the test, it’s often the same repetitive motion, over and over. Even training simulations to prepare them for catastrophes cannot predict the infinite variations that could occur as an oil-rig collapses. It’s impossible to train for everything.

Until you throw a biologist into the mix.

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Bacon Blog Wars is on

Posted on By Andrew Thaler 13 Comments on Bacon Blog Wars is on
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There’s been far too much Science around here lately, and not nearly as much Southern Fried. Scicurious of the excellent Neurotopia stepped into a hornet’s nest when she declared: Chocolate covered bacon is a SIN AGAINST DELICIOUSNESS @scicurious To which I responded: blasphemy against one bacon is blasphemy against all! @sfriedscientist How could she know … Read More “Bacon Blog Wars is on” »