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Category: Uncategorized

Southern Fried Science: Origins

Posted on November 24, 2011December 9, 2011 By Andrew Thaler
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On a cold Thanksgiving morning, three years ago, I sat down at my old computer, a desktop long disused which had served me throughout high school, logged on to wordpress.com, and launched Southern Fried Science. This little blog has changed so much since those early posts, but the heart of the blog, that science is wonderful, conservation is essential, and we shouldn’t take ourselves too seriously all the time, remains. In honor of our three year anniversary, here is the very first post, excepting the generic “hello world” introduction, published on this blog.


In order to start with something interesting, I thought I’d dig up and old article I wrote on a visit to the Kentucky Creation Museum in 2007, enjoy.

Two giant crosses and a giant adult film warehouse
Two giant crosses and a three-building adult film warehouse

Down a long country road outside Petersburg, Kentucky, past giant roadside crosses and even larger adult entertainment centers, stands a new monument to the old time religion of William Jennings Bryant. The Creation Museum was built by Answers in Genesis, an evangelical non-profit, as a state-of-the-art natural history museum promoting young earth creationism. The museum is not new – it’s been here for more than 20 years – but now it’s stylish and sleek, sexy and inviting.

Read More “Southern Fried Science: Origins” »

So Shiffman is a bit of a Blue Devils fan…

Posted on November 24, 2011December 9, 2011 By Andrew Thaler 1 Comment on So Shiffman is a bit of a Blue Devils fan…
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…by which I mean he bleeds Duke Blue. He’s also still maintaining a healthy lead in the 2011 Blogging Scholarship. Vote for him so it stays that way.

Rise of the Shark Whisperer

Posted on November 23, 2011December 9, 2011 By Andrew Thaler
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Another day dawns and David Shiffman remains in first place, though his lead is rapidly shrinking! Go vote for David Shiffman! Go vote for sharks! Go vote for more hilariously embarrassing pictures of the man many would call Shark Whisperer!

Because you love the way we science for science…

Posted on November 22, 2011December 9, 2011 By Andrew Thaler 5 Comments on Because you love the way we science for science…
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…David has regained the first place position, with a small but comfortable lead over second place (who, by the way, also writes a fantastic immunology blog). As an added incentive to keep it that way, here’s a wholly inexplicable picture of David: Remember to vote here every 24 hours.

#SciFund Ocean Update

Posted on November 21, 2011December 9, 2011 By Andrew Thaler
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In case you were worried that in the wake of David’s quest for a blogging scholarship has distracted us from other philanthropic adventures, fear not, #SciFund is alive and well (and halfway done). For those just tuning in #SciFund is a month-and-a-half long initiative to raise funds for a variety of scientific research projects. Project leaders post a project … Read More “#SciFund Ocean Update” »

David Shiffman is not in the lead…

Posted on November 21, 2011December 9, 2011 By Andrew Thaler
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…and that needs to change. If you haven’t voted for David yet today, go vote now. You know you want to see hilariously embarrassing pictures of him. Until then, enjoy this semi-fictional mini-biopic of David’s love affair with the shark: httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92yHyxeju1U

Important blogging scholarship update: All votes reset to zero and you can now vote every day!

Posted on November 18, 2011December 9, 2011 By David Shiffman 2 Comments on Important blogging scholarship update: All votes reset to zero and you can now vote every day!
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Earlier tonight, I received an e-mail from the Blogging Scholarship organizers indicating that there have been some irregularities with the voting. In response, they have reset all votes to zero and have changed the rules. Everyone may now vote once every day, and the voting period has been extended one full week until November 30th. … Read More “Important blogging scholarship update: All votes reset to zero and you can now vote every day!” »

Vote for me in the blogging scholarship and support our shark conservation research!

Posted on November 17, 2011December 9, 2011 By David Shiffman 4 Comments on Vote for me in the blogging scholarship and support our shark conservation research!
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Yesterday, I asked for your support and vote in the 2011 Blogging Scholarship. Since that time, over 7,000 of you have voted for me, and as of this writing, I am in the lead! Thanks for your help and encouragement. Andrew announced earlier today that for every day I’m in the lead, he’ll post an embarrassing picture of me. For many of you, that’s incentive enough to vote for me. However, I also want to tell you what I would use the $10,000 scholarship for if I won.

In addition to boring stuff like tuition, supplies, and travel support, for my own dissertation (assessing the ecological importance of sharks to coral reefs) , I will use the money to support our lab’s ongoing shark conservation research. My lab, the RJ Dunlap Marine Conservation Program at the University of Miami, has many shark research projects taking place. Yesterday, some of that research was used by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission as background in their decision to make hammerheads (great, smooth, and scalloped) and tiger sharks protected species in Florida waters- a proud moment for us and for the Abess Center for Ecosystem Science and Policy, which we are affiliated with.

Read More “Vote for me in the blogging scholarship and support our shark conservation research!” »

Blogging Scholarship – what’s in it for our readers

Posted on November 17, 2011December 9, 2011 By Andrew Thaler 2 Comments on Blogging Scholarship – what’s in it for our readers
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You love us, I know. You want to David Shiffman win a $10,000 scholarship to help fund his education. But clicking a link, then clicking a radio button, then clicking another link is a commitment. It requires work. You deserve to be rewarded for you efforts and I’m happy to oblige. You see, I’ve know … Read More “Blogging Scholarship – what’s in it for our readers” »

2011 Blogging Scholarship: Please vote for me!

Posted on November 16, 2011December 9, 2011 By David Shiffman 1 Comment on 2011 Blogging Scholarship: Please vote for me!
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The finalists for the 2011 blogging scholarship were announced last night, and I’m thrilled to announce that I made the list! The scholarship provides $10,000 towards education and research expenses to the winner. Voting opened last night, and continues until November 23rd. Please consider voting for me! You can see a list of all the … Read More “2011 Blogging Scholarship: Please vote for me!” »

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