Octopus Genes, Decolonization, and a mega-dose of Citizen Science! Monday Morning Salvage: April 10, 2017

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

Octopuses are weird. Really, really weird. Ed Yong covers yet another weird octopus thing in the Atlantic: Octopuses Do Something Really Strange to Their Genes. And check out the original paper, below.

Jetsam (what we’re enjoying from around the web)

This interview with Shay Akil McLean is one of the best introductions to the concept of decolonizing science: Hood Biologist Explains How to Decolonize All The Science. See also: We Need Decolonial Scientists.
Free Radicals is one of the best new(ish) science blogs on the net: Zapatistas Reimagine Science as Tool of Resistance.
Incidentally, the March for Science does not have a diversity problem.

Instead, I believe that this march needs to be completely apolitical and nonpartisan. I think that we should protest the current administration, which wants to repeal laws guaranteeing clean air and water, claim that climate change is a hoax, and remove scientists’ access to quality healthcare, but in a way that doesn’t alienate members of the current administration. We should demand change, but vaguely, and from no one in particular.

Source.

If you love geophysical fluid dynamics, then you will love these foamy streaks in a lagoon. Deep Sea News, natch.
With the legendary Erika Bergman at the helm, the Aquatica Submarine crew put eyes on a new glass sponge bioherm off the coast of Vancouver.

Another article about the GOSH meeting where I rep-ed OpenROV and Oceanography for Everyone: Santiago de Chile, capital of the Global network for Open Science Hardware.
As a card-carrying population geneticist, I second this piece: Getting your genetic disease risks from 23andme is probably a terrible idea.

Lagan (what we’re reading from the peer-reviewed literature)

Liscovitch-Brauer and friends (2017) Trade-off between Transcriptome Plasticity and Genome Evolution in Cephalopods. DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2017.03.025.

Biological Conservation released an epic collection of Citizen Science papers (hilariously not open access, but Unpaywall will help you out with that):

McKinley and friends (2017) Citizen science can improve conservation science, natural resource management, and environmental protection. DOI: 10.1016/j.biocon.2016.05.015.
van der Velde and friends (2017) Comparison of marine debris data collected by researchers and citizen scientists: Is citizen science data worth the effort? DOI: 10.1016/j.biocon.2016.05.025.
Burgess and friends (2017) The science of citizen science: Exploring barriers to use as a primary research tool. DOI: 10.1016/j.biocon.2016.05.014.
Ballard and friends (2017) Youth-focused citizen science: Examining the role of environmental science learning and agency for conservation. DOI: 10.1016/j.biocon.2016.05.024.
Liebenberg and friends (2017) Smartphone Icon User Interface design for non-literate trackers and its implications for an inclusive citizen science. DOI: 10.1016/j.biocon.2016.04.033.

And, of course, it wouldn’t be an Andrew-curated linkfest without something on Deep-sea Mining.

Fritz (2015) Deep Sea Anarchy: Mining at the Frontiers of International Law. DOI: 10.1163/15718085-12341357.

Driftwood (what we’re reading on dead trees)

The Not-Quite States of America: Dispatches from the Territories and Other Far-Flung Outposts of the USA by Doug Mack. America is bigger than you think and, yes, it does still have de facto colonies.

Derelicts (favorites from the deep archive)

A round-up of all my old posts on 3D-printing. Check out my Thingiverse profile to access my 3D models.

Feel free to share your own Flotsam, Jetsam, Lagan, Driftwood, and Derelicts in the comments below. And, of as always, if you enjoy Southern Fried Science, consider contributing to my Patreon campaign to help us keep the servers humming.

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