Andrew Thaler

#SciFund Returns – A Climate for Castrators?

May 9, 2012 Andrew Thaler 2 Comments

Science

#SciFund, a month long initiative to raise funds for a variety of scientific research projects, is once again upon us. Project leaders post a project description and an appeal for funds, and members of the public are invited to make small donations to projects that they deem worthy. Donations come with rewards such as access to … Read More “#SciFund Returns – A Climate for Castrators?” »

Personal Sustainability Challenge May Edition – ditching the disposable razors

May 7, 2012May 4, 2012 Andrew Thaler 5 Comments

Uncategorized

A rigorous documentation of 24 hours of neck-beard growth, highlighting both the coarseness and density of neck-beard hairs.

I am what most people would consider a “well-bearded” individual. According to this graph, I fall rather appropriately into the category of “Sea Captain”. Despite my proud embeardedness, I also play host to a horrifying parasite frequently referred to as a “neck beard”–a foul nest of bristles with a coarseness and consistency that lies somewhere between steel wool and dermal denticles. This means that, appearances aside, I still need to shave, sometimes twice, daily.

If you’re like most American men, this means using either disposable razors or cartridge razors, both of which result in discarded plastic and steel. Cartridge razors, commonly found with an increasingly horrifying numbers of blades, vibrators, laser pointers, and PEZ dispensers, produce less waste but are also more expensive. The average price for the three-bladed monster at my local pharmacy runs about $4.00 a cartridge, and those things don’t last very long–I’m lucky if I can get 2 weeks out of a single cartridge, often less (although, somehow, the very last cartridge in each pack seems to last 3 times longer than the others). In addition to wasting plastic and steel in the actual cartridges, and plastic and cardboard in the packaging, I’m burning around $100 per year.

There are a few possible ways to reduce shaving associated waste. The most obvious is switching to an electric razor–which is what our other beardly blogger did until recently (he now reports that “My beard used to destroy electrics in less than a year.“)–but the cutting heads need to be replaced and they will, eventually wear out. I’m also not a fan of electric razors, I don’t particularly like the shave I get with them. Next on the list are single-blade safety razors, the classic standard of the 1930’s through 80’s. These have the advantage of no plastic, and allegedly get you a closer, cleaner shave than disposables (though I suspect that has more to do with the brush/lather and spending more time on getting a good shave), but the blades are still disposable. So, it appears as though, if I truly want to eliminate as much waste as possible from my shaving routine, I need to take a more traditional approach.

#SciFund Returns: Coping with stress: Coral reefs in Kiribati

May 4, 2012May 3, 2012 Andrew Thaler

Science

Recollections from a future ocean – a short story for eno magazine

May 3, 2012May 3, 2012 Andrew Thaler

Science

eno. is the new literary magazine for the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University. Its mission is “to inspire a respect for our environment by engaging in thoughtful expression through the use of artistic, reflective, and creative forms.” This year, I have two poems and one short story featured. Both poems can be found … Read More “Recollections from a future ocean – a short story for eno magazine” »

#SciFund Returns – Muddy waters: coral health after storm events

May 3, 2012May 3, 2012 Andrew Thaler

Science

#SciFund Returns: Seahorse Adventures

May 2, 2012 Andrew Thaler

Science

Towards a personal stewardship ethic – monthly sustainability challenge

May 1, 2012 Andrew Thaler 4 Comments

Uncategorized

We tend towards waste. As a nation, as a community, and in our personal lives, waste is ubiquitous and often imperceptible. That we can afford to discard is an unfortunate side effect of having a high quality of life. Waste is not always a bad thing, either. We’re comforted by the fact that our doctors use disposable needles, that food can be packaged and preserved, that soiled diapers can be discarded. Disposability is freedom from the tedious chores of our grandparents and great-grandparents. It is access to time that can be spent with our loved ones or engaged in more fruitful pursuits. But there is still plenty of unnecessary waste that exists purely for convenience.

Those of us who consider ourselves environmentalist, good stewards of the earth, are often just as guilty of waste, myself included. Over the next several months, I will be exploring ways to reduce my own waste production. Each month I will identify some aspect of my personal life that generates unnecessary waste and explore solutions. Plastic is my major target, but I will also be looking for other resources drains that could be made more efficient (or, if possible, eliminated).

#TaxonomyFail: Salps, Jellyfish, and the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant

May 1, 2012November 4, 2013 Andrew Thaler 26 Comments

Science

I’m a bit late to the party, but last week, several news outlets reported that the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant was taken offline by “jellyfish-like creatures” that clogged several cooling intakes. While most sources were careful to point out that these were “jellyfish-like” organisms, some secondary sources truncated the description and announced that “Nuclear Power Plant Knocked Offline By Tiny Jellyfish, The Invasion Has Begun”. Unfortunately, these organisms are salps, not jellyfish, and you’d be more correct to describe them as human-like rather than jellyfish-like.

Salps are free-swimming pelagic tunicates, one of the most basal members of the chordate phylum. While they superficially resemble jellies to the untrained eye, they are far more derived, possessing three tissue layers (compared to the jelly’s two), a primitive, larval notochord, a perforated pharynx, and the rudimentary beginnings of a centralized nervous system. They form large, clonal colonies that are able to take advantage of plankton blooms by rapidly producing more clones to capitalize on an unpredicatable food source. Although I don’t have first hand reports, this is likely what happened in Diablo Canyon, as warm water discharges from nuclear power plants can trigger massive plankton blooms. Far from a “jellyfish invasion”, this was probably the natural response of a predator to increased food availability.

The Ocean Question: What is your favorite marine organism and why?

April 26, 2012April 26, 2012 Andrew Thaler 12 Comments

Science

We caught up with 11 marine scientists (including one honorary marine scientist, paleoblogger Brian Switek) at this year’s Ocean Sciences meeting in Salt Lake City and asked them the following question – What is your favorite marine organism and why? Their responses ranged from the classic (dolphins and sharks) to the bizarre (deep-sea shrimp and snails) to the exceptionally … Read More “The Ocean Question: What is your favorite marine organism and why?” »

Before the Lights Go Out – Alternative Energy and America’s Grid

April 25, 2012April 25, 2012 Andrew Thaler

Science

Fossil fuels, photovoltaics, clean coal, wind turbines, hydroelectic dams, nuclear reactors, hydraulic fracturing. For all the discussions of energy independence, sustainable energy, renewable fuels, one word is often painfully absent: grid. America’s electrical grid has evolved from Edison electric generators and a few, uninsulated, wires in New York and Wisconsin to a massive, and massively inefficient, network of power lines, control stations, and generators that crisscross the country in three power blocks. This mycelial behemoth serves one function–to keep the electrons flowing. In Before the Lights Go Out: Conquering the Energy Crisis Before It Conquers Us, Maggie Koerth-Baker strips the wires of the United State’s electrical grid bare, revealing how it works, how it doesn’t work, and what we can do to make it work better, increasing efficiency, decreasing atmospheric carbon dioxide production, and securing America’s energy infrastructure.

Before the Lights Go Out begins with a bold and inspired move by Koerth-Baker. By choosing to focus on the development of our energy infrastructure and the challenges inherent in the current model, she bypasses the common stumbling block of “energy crisis” arguments in the United States–the unwillingness of some groups to accept the uncontroversial recognition of anthropogenic climate change. Improving the efficiency of the grid, incorporating alternative energy sources into our infrastructure, reducing waste which cost energy producers and consumer real capital, these are not goals that require an a priori understanding of climate change to make sound economic, social, and political sense. Koerth-Baker deftly skirts around the quagmire of one of our most baffling political debates and dives straight into solutions.