Southern Fried Science

10 misrepresentations about climate change

October 3, 2011October 2, 2011 David Shiffman 146 Comments

Science

Few scientific fields generate as much controversy as climate change. Misunderstandings, misrepresentations, and outright lies are common. While environmentalists rightly criticize anti-global warming activists for not being truthful, neither side is innocent. Presented here are five common misrepresentations from both sides and the truth about those issues.

Misunderstood Marine Life # 7 – The Living Fossils

October 3, 2011October 1, 2011 Andrew Thaler 3 Comments

Science

Horseshoe Crabs, Coelacanths, Seven-gilled sharks, hagfish. Throughout the oceans there are creatures whose primitive bodies hearken back to earlier days in our evolutionary history. They possess basal characteristics that are more akin to those of the ancestors of our contemporary phyla. Because we can look into these organisms and learn something about our own deep past, we think of them not as modern descendants, but as living fossils, relics of a primeval state.

This is, of course, a misnomer.

Welcome to a Week of Ocean Pseudoscience!

October 3, 2011October 3, 2011 Andrew Thaler 3 Comments

Uncategorized

Few things have inspired the human imagination quite like the ocean. The vast, mysterious deep is the stuff of poets, artists, explorers, and scientists. A natural result of this seemingly endless, unfathomable world-beneath-the-waves is the emergence of a broad and persistent ocean mythology, ranging from tales of sea monsters, to near magical healing powers, to … Read More “Welcome to a Week of Ocean Pseudoscience!” »

Deep Fried Sea: Sample Dispensation Part 2

October 3, 2011October 1, 2011 Andrew Thaler

Uncategorized

Thank You NSF

September 28, 2011September 28, 2011 Bluegrass Blue Crab

Science

The National Science Foundation has recently announced the NSF Career-Life Balance Initiative largely in hopes of retaining women in the sciences past their the dissertation years. Most notably, the Initiative allows a year long pause in awarded grants to new parents. This pause matches the pause in the tenure process that most universities offer (but … Read More “Thank You NSF” »

Thorny skate protection: NAFO falls short

September 26, 2011 David Shiffman

Conservation, Science

Last week, I previewed the annual NAFO meeting. Two elasmobranch conservation measures (reducing the Total Allowable Catch for thorny skates to the level that the scientific council recommended and requiring fishermen to report the species of the sharks they catch) were to be discussed. That meeting is now concluded, and the results, while not … Read More “Thorny skate protection: NAFO falls short” »

It’s an Ocean of Pseudoscience Week returns October 3!

September 23, 2011September 23, 2011 Andrew Thaler

Uncategorized

Last September we debuted Ocean of Pseudoscience week with resounding success. We covered issues ranging from greenwashing, to bone-eating creationism, to iron fertilization, to maximum sustainable yield, all while counting down our favorite see monsters (most imagined, some real). We’re a bit late this year (it turns out the beginning of the semester isn’t the best time to … Read More “It’s an Ocean of Pseudoscience Week returns October 3!” »

WhySharksMatter talks about sharks and shark week on Dr. Kiki’s Science Hour

September 22, 2011September 22, 2011 David Shiffman

Science

Check out my interview with Kristen “Dr. Kiki” Sanford on Twit TV’s “Dr. Kiki’s Science Hour!

In sexual selection and thermoregulation, bigger is better, at least for fiddler crabs

September 21, 2011October 20, 2011 Andrew Thaler 2 Comments

Science

uca_dimorphism — Sexual dimorphism in fiddler crabs. Female (A) and male (B) Uca panacea. Scale bars indicate 1 cm. From Darnell and Munguia 2011

Imagine yourself a fiddler crab. For this exercise, imagine yourself a male fiddler crab. Are you with me? Great. Check out your right claw, it’s a sleek, slender machine, perfect for picking through the sand as you sift out bacteria and other microorganisms for food. It also makes a handy shovel for digging nice deep burrows to protect you from harsh conditions. Now check out your left claw. Wow! This thing is massive. If you possess a particularly vivid mind and have place your ego within the carapace of Uca panacea, your giant claw is more than a quarter of your body weight. This comically mis-proportioned appendage is why those pesky bipeds call you and your cousins “Fiddler Crabs”.

See that female fiddler crab at the perimeter of your territory? Yes, she is checking you out. That giant claw of yours is primarily used to attract mates, signalling to interested parties that your are fit and fecund. You even have a special dance, unique to each fiddler crab species, to announce your vitality. And if some other, lesser-clawed, male tries to move in to your territory, why, you’re equipped with a serious piece of hardware to drive off that interloper.

A brief comment on advertising

September 21, 2011 Andrew Thaler 3 Comments

Uncategorized

You may have noticed a leaderboard across the very top of this page advertising various biotech companies. Over the next month we’ll be experimenting with the potential for hosting ads through Sproutnova, a new, science focused advertising company. Please use the comment field on this post as an open thread to discuss the new ads … Read More “A brief comment on advertising” »