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Category: Science

Bed Bugs: better bitten than smitten

Posted on October 11, 2010October 14, 2010 By Andrew Thaler 7 Comments on Bed Bugs: better bitten than smitten
Science
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.

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

Posted on October 8, 2010 By 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

Posted on October 6, 2010October 5, 2010 By Andrew Thaler 14 Comments on Re: Application for Job in Sahrk Biology
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

Posted on October 6, 2010October 6, 2010 By David Shiffman 11 Comments on How not to apply for a job working with sharks
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.

Read More “How not to apply for a job working with sharks” »

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

Posted on October 4, 2010October 4, 2010 By David Shiffman 6 Comments on Shark Science Monday: Michelle Heupel discusses the need for lethal shark research
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

Posted on September 30, 2010September 29, 2010 By David Shiffman 1 Comment on Bad news for sharks in the South China Sea
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.

Read More “Bad news for sharks in the South China Sea” »

Shark Science Monday: Eric Clua discusses the economics of shark feeding tourism

Posted on September 28, 2010September 28, 2010 By David Shiffman 4 Comments on Shark Science Monday: Eric Clua discusses the economics of shark feeding tourism
Conservation, Science

Continuing the discussion about shark feeding dives started last week by Aleks Maljkovic, Eric Clua discusses the economics of this practice and concludes that a living shark can be worth much more than a dead shark. If you have any questions for me or the subject of this week’s interview, please leave them as comments … Read More “Shark Science Monday: Eric Clua discusses the economics of shark feeding tourism” »

Everybody Farts, Even Manatees

Posted on September 28, 2010September 27, 2010 By Andrew Thaler 2 Comments on Everybody Farts, Even Manatees
Science

This audio clip provided by my housemate. You definitely want to listen to the entire clip to get the full effect. Enjoy. Manatees produce a variety of mechanical sounds Original file courtesy of Save the Manatee. ~Southern Fried Scientist

Sailing by Starlight: the lost art of celestial navigation

Posted on September 27, 2010September 27, 2010 By Andrew Thaler 12 Comments on Sailing by Starlight: the lost art of celestial navigation
Science

This post is a slightly modified transcript of a talk I gave on celestial navigation. As some of you know, I like to build things, and I recently decided to build some classic navigational tools. Of course, in the process of building these instruments, I had to learn how they work. The history of celestial navigation is fascinating and deeply connected to the history of astronomy and mathematics. The original slide show can be found at the bottom of this post. Enjoy!

I’m going to begin with a seemingly simple question, then hopefully give you some basic tools to answer that question. Where are you?

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Compact Fluorescent Lights, Energy, and Mercury

Posted on September 25, 2010September 26, 2010 By Andrew Thaler 38 Comments on Compact Fluorescent Lights, Energy, and Mercury
Conservation, Science

We recieved several responses to Dave’s post this week on the bizarre “Save the Light Bulb” movement. A movement that seeks to ban energy efficient compact fluorescent lights (CFL) and return to the old, energy expensive, incandescent bulbs. The primary critique is that CFL’s contain mercury, and thus, any environmental benefit is negated by mercury exposure when the bulbs break or are thrown out.

Read More “Compact Fluorescent Lights, Energy, and Mercury” »

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