Science – Page 69 – Southern Fried Science

Tyrone Hayes, Atrazine, Syngenta, and a little DMX

August 18, 2010August 18, 2010 Andrew Thaler 28 Comments

Dr. Tyrone Hayes is a professor of Biology at UC Berkley who has been at the forefront of some groundbreaking research into the developmental effects of the pesticide Atrazine on amphibians and mammals. Dr. Hayes runs the Atrazinelovers homepage, a site dedicated to educating the public about the effects of the pesticide on our environment and human health. His research and outreach have earned him the ire of many in the pesticide industry, especially from Syngenta, the company that manufactures Atrazine. The Oyster’s Garter provides a good introduction to his research here.

Below is a video of one of his talks, summarizing his research:

Chemistry of the Great Big Blue: Plastics

August 17, 2010August 31, 2010 Bluegrass Blue Crab 2 Comments

Science

From the microscopic to the gigantic, plastic debris has plagued our oceans since its invention. Much of the problem originated initially because we didn’t realize that plastics don’t degrade until after we had dumped tons into the ocean, largely off of ships as trash. WHOI offers a good summary of the history of plastic pollution. Many things changed since that first realization and the nature of plastics in the marine environment has a very different face nowadays.

The plastic is smaller and more widely distributed. There are fairly well-known areas that collect the plastics such as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. There are also other areas affected that are closer to shore and where people use marine resources. Plastic often settles in seagrass beds that serve as important nursery habitat and on beaches where turtles and shorebirds mistake them for food and nesting material. Need more details on plastic?

An Ancient Sea Monster’s Fearsome Fins

August 11, 2010 Andrew Thaler 8 Comments

Science

During the Cretaceous, the oceans were ruled not by sharks or aquatic mammals, but by large, predatory marine reptiles. Among these, the dominant ocean predator was the Mosasaur. Mosasaurs emerged in the Early Cretaceous from a lizard-like ancestral squamate. They thrived in warm, shallow seas. Some species could reach up to 17 meters in length. Like modern marine mammals, they breathed air yet had an entirely aquatic life history. Unlike sea turtles and other modern marine reptiles, they gave birth to live young in the water, instead of building nests on land.

sn-mosasaur — Illustration by Stephanie Abramowicz, Dinosaur Institute, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

Shark Week 2010: A big step in the right direction!

August 10, 2010August 10, 2010 David Shiffman 26 Comments

Popular Culture, Science

Disclaimer: Both the Southern Fried Scientist and I received a media care package from the Discovery Channel containing a t-shirt, an adopt-a-shark packet, and DVDs of two of the premieres. While I still have some criticisms, I wanted to start this review by saying that this year’s Shark Week was a lot better than any from the past few years. Before I review each premiere I need to acknowledge that I watched all of them at their later air times, not when they originally aired. The content of each premiere is the same, but I did not see the same commercials as everyone else, I never saw the Oceana PSA, I saw very few Craig Ferguson interludes, and I don’t know if there were any pop-up ads during the shows. This was an unavoidable inconvenience and hopefully doesn’t bias my review too much.

Shark Conservation: The problem, the goal, and how to get there

August 9, 2010July 8, 2012 David Shiffman 12 Comments

Conservation, Science

The problem

Sharks consistently rank near the top of lists of American’s greatest fears. In reality, they have much more to fear from us than we do from them. Because of our actions, many species of sharks are on the verge of extinction. A recent International Union for the Conservation of Nature Shark Specialist Group report shows that fully 1/3 of open-ocean species of sharks are in danger of extinction in the next few decades. Many shark species have had population declines of over 90% in the last few decades.

Shark fin — Fins from a blacktip shark. Photo credit: David Shiffman

Vote for the RJ Dunlap Marine Conservation Program

August 3, 2010August 3, 2010 David Shiffman

Conservation, Science

The University of Miami Shark Research Program is in the running for a $25,000 grant from the Pepsi Refresh Project. The money will be used for tags, boat time, underwater video cameras, and paying for local underprivileged children to participate. Among their many other projects, UM scientists are attempting to track sharks to see if … Read More “Vote for the RJ Dunlap Marine Conservation Program” »

The Southern Fried Scientist’s advice for new graduate students

August 2, 2010December 6, 2011 Andrew Thaler 10 Comments

Science

This year marks the beginning of my fourth year as a Ph.D. graduate student. Over the last three years, I’ve participated in five research cruises, organized two of them, had multiple grants get rejected and a few accepted, published papers, failed to publish papers, had my entire thesis fall out from under me, completely change fields, passed my qualifying exams, and discovered that my experience is pretty typical for graduate students. So looking back on the first three year, what do I wish I had known at the start?

Shark Celebrity Auction

August 2, 2010 David Shiffman 1 Comment

Conservation, Science

Throughout Shark Week, the Shark Research Institute is hosting a fundraiser. You can bid to meet various “Shark Celebrities”, and winners can join them for a meal, a face-to-face discussion, or in some cases a trip into the field to interact with sharks! The shark celebrities being auctioned include scientists, filmmakers, authors and conservationists. Unless … Read More “Shark Celebrity Auction” »

Interridge code of conduct for resposible research at hydrothermal vents

July 29, 2010July 30, 2010 Andrew Thaler 2 Comments

Conservation, Science

The following is a repost from the old Southern Fried Science WordPress blog. The original can be found here.

bluebreeze-fixed_logo InterRidge, a global organization of hydrothermal vent biologists, has, over the last several years, established a set of guidelines for responsible research practices at deep-sea hydrothermal vents. Along with many scientists, several nations and commercial organizations have signed onto this statement. Although tailored to deep-sea science, these guidelines are broadly applicable to any science program that requires field work.

Read More “Interridge code of conduct for resposible research at hydrothermal vents” »

Bottom trawling and the importance of plaice

July 27, 2010December 20, 2011 Andrew Thaler 7 Comments

Conservation, Science

“The commons petition the King, complaining that where in creeks and havens of the sea there used to be plenteous fishing, to the profit of the Kingdom, certain fishermen, for several years past have subtily contrived an instrument called the “wondyrechaun” made in the manner of an oyster dredge, but which is considerably longer, upon which instrument is attached a net so close meshed that no fish, be it ever so small which enters therein can escape, but must stay and be taken.

And that the great and long iron of the wondyrechaun runs so heavily and hardly over the ground when fishing that it destroys the flowers of the land below water there, and also the spat of oysters, mussels and other fish upon which the great fish are accustomed to be fed and nourished. By which instrument in many places, the fishermen take such quantity of small fish that they do not know what to do with them; and that they feed and fat their pigs with them, to the great damage of the commons of the realm and the destruction of the fisheries, and they pray for a remedy.”

Petition by the Commons to King Edward III, 1376 (from The Unnatural History of the Sea)

This petition, penned in 1376, reveals a depth of understanding that we often don’t attribute to 14th century fishermen. Habitat destruction, overfishing, bycatch, even common pool resources are all clearly described here. In it, the Commons protests a new and efficient, though inaccurate fishing tool, the ‘wondyrechaun’, and begs King Edward III to ban it. This is the first historical record of the ‘wondyrechaun’, what today is called a beam trawl. Everything you need to know to understand why the world’s fisheries are in trouble is contained within the single fact that, in 1376, at it’s very inception, the people begged the king to ban it’s use, and 700 years later, the beam trawl survives.