Science – Page 64 – Southern Fried Science

A friendly reminder from Penn and Teller on vaccines and autism

October 16, 2010 Andrew Thaler 6 Comments

Watch this clip (warning, some foul language): The head over to a Shot of Prevention and read this excellent post: Why My Child With Autism Is Fully Vaccinated (warning, comments are depressing). ~Southern Fried Scientist

The Ship that Flips

October 12, 2010 Andrew Thaler 1 Comment

Science

How to brew beer in a coffee maker, using only materials commonly found on a modestly sized oceanographic research vessel has picked up a second wind today thanks to Boing Boing. Several new readers have asked about that puzzling picture in the post, featuring a research vessel apparently sinking with its bow pointing straight out … Read More “The Ship that Flips” »

Altered sea turtle sex ratios: Can global warming harm warm-water animals?

October 12, 2010 David Shiffman 5 Comments

Conservation, Science

When most people think of an animal threatened by global warming, images of a polar bear drowning because of lost ice habitat come to mind. Few know that climate change can also threaten animals used to living in environments much warmer than the Arctic. Even when you’re used to heat, too much heat can be a serious problem- particularly in vulnerable early life history stages.

One example of this phenomenon is the sea turtle. Though one species (the leatherback) often ventures into Arctic waters, the other species are largely confined to tropical and temperate climates. All seven species are threatened or endangered due to decades of bycatch mortality and habitat destruction, and they are in serious trouble as a result of warming beach temperatures.

Shark Science Monday: Thomas Farrugia discusses restoring lost shark and ray habitat

October 12, 2010 David Shiffman 3 Comments

Conservation, Science

A major threat facing sharks is the loss of important nursery habitat. In this week’s Shark Science Monday, Thomas Farrugia discusses how effective habitat restoration can be. Feel free to ask questions for Thomas in the comments. ~WhySharksMatter

Bed Bugs: better bitten than smitten

October 11, 2010October 14, 2010 Andrew Thaler 7 Comments

Science

800px-Bed_bug,_Cimex_lectularius — Common bed bug Cimex lectularius

Bed bugs, the nasty nocturnal nursery rhyme nightmares than are making a comeback throughout the northeastern United States. Infestations, previously relegated to the status of urban legend in much of the developed world, are on the rise due to a combination of more frequent travel, pesticide resistance, and the end of the ‘better living through chemistry” era when DDT was a perfectly acceptable thing to spray into your baby’s crib. They’re mean, nasty blood suckers that have risen over the summer to become the scourge of hotel managers everywhere. Except, they’re really pretty harmless. Most people don’t even have a reaction to the bite, they are shockingly poor vectors for disease, and, when you get past the blood sucking, they’re rather cute as far as bugs go. There is one rather disagreeable feature about these critters, and it’s the reason we should all be thankful that we’re only bitten by them.

Traumatic Insemination.

A short note on the “turtle harvest” e-mail

October 8, 2010 Andrew Thaler

Conservation, Science

An e-mail has been making the rounds over the last few weeks purports to show evidence of an illegal turtle egg harvest in Costa Rica. It contains several pictures like this: While the pictures are real, the e-mail is misleading. They show a sustainable, legal turtle harvest that actually helps the Olive Ridley turtle population. … Read More “A short note on the “turtle harvest” e-mail” »

Re: Application for Job in Sahrk Biology

October 6, 2010October 5, 2010 Andrew Thaler 14 Comments

Science

Dear Dr. Schiffman, I am a recent graduate in biology. After several attempts to work in a population genetics molecular biology lab, I realized that there was way too much maths and other difficult concepts and that I would be much better off studying orgasmal biology such as sharks or skates or rays. As you … Read More “Re: Application for Job in Sahrk Biology” »

How not to apply for a job working with sharks

October 6, 2010October 6, 2010 David Shiffman 11 Comments

Science

This week marked an important e-mail milestone for me: I received my 100th request for a job. I do not mean job offers (i.e. people saying “David, we’d like to hire you”), or requests for job advice (i.e. people saying “David, can you point me in the right direction?”). I’d be thrilled to answer any of those e-mails (particularly the job offers). I mean job requests (i.e. people saying “David, please hire me”).

I get all kinds of e-mails from readers, and I’m always happy to answer them. However, I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that applying for a job in this way is incredibly ineffective. I thought I’d take some examples from some of my favorite job request e-mails to explain to you all how not to apply for a job working with sharks.

Shark Science Monday: Michelle Heupel discusses the need for lethal shark research

October 4, 2010October 4, 2010 David Shiffman 6 Comments

Conservation, Science

Last spring, we held an ethical debate focusing on a paper called “Science or Slaughter”. The authors claimed that sometimes it is necessary to kill sharks to answer important scientific questions. One of the authors agreed to be interviewed for Shark Science Monday. Enjoy! As always, feel free to ask questions of the interview subject … Read More “Shark Science Monday: Michelle Heupel discusses the need for lethal shark research” »

Bad news for sharks in the South China Sea

September 30, 2010September 29, 2010 David Shiffman 1 Comment

Conservation, Science

While a large percentage of the world’s shark fins pass through Hong Kong fish markets, most come from far-away countries and little attention has been paid to shark populations in adjacent waters. An important new paper, appropriately titled “The sharks of South East Asia – unknown, unmonitored and unmanaged” provides new insight into this problem.