Democrats support shark conservation, Republicans do not

Posted on By David Shiffman 13 Comments on Democrats support shark conservation, Republicans do not
Conservation

I’ve written about the Shark Conservation Act several times. Though it passed the House of Representatives, it keeps stalling in the Senate, and bills need to be passed by both in order to become law. The SCA would close many existing loopholes in United States shark management policy, and is endorsed by many conservation organizations.

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Should South Carolina’s public colleges freeze new construction projects to save money?

Posted on By David Shiffman 5 Comments on Should South Carolina’s public colleges freeze new construction projects to save money?
Uncategorized

Rising tuition costs are a problem at institutions of higher learning around the country. When it is more expensive to go to college, fewer people can afford it. Various strategies have been tried to fix this problem, but the latest hits close to home for me. This week, South Carolina governor Mark Sanford proposed strict new spending rules for public colleges. From the Charleston Post and Courier article:

“The state’s Budget and Control Board could decide this week whether to place a moratorium on new building projects on public college and university campuses as a way to reduce the cost of tuition.”

Statewide, school administrators have greeted this announcement with strong resistance. Fundamentally, it all comes down to different philosophies of government. Conservatives like Mark Sanford support lower taxes and lower spending, while liberals favor a “tax and spend” strategy. Which is more appropriate for state-funded colleges?

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

Posted on 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” »

Chemistry of the Great Big Blue: Sewage

Posted on By Bluegrass Blue Crab 3 Comments on Chemistry of the Great Big Blue: Sewage
Uncategorized

"Warning! Stormwater discharge area may be contaminated by discharge from pipe. Swimming is not recommended within 200 feet of this sign during active discharge"

You live on a rural island. You poop. You flush. Does your island have a sewage treatment plant? Is your plant large enough to deal with the influx of tourists that increases the population of your island by an order of magnitude in the summer? Ever stop to look at the metal pipes on your island’s beach to see what was coming out? More than likely, there’s an ocean outfall involved in your island’s wastewater treatment plan. It may only be for overflow, but it’s an option.

What does “ocean outfall” really mean? Well, often it means raw sewage is dumped into the coastal environment that we all love to swim in.

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Finding Melville’s Whale: Chapter 15 – Chowder

Posted on By Andrew Thaler
Uncategorized

Chapter 15 of Herman Melville’s classic – Moby Dick. Read along with us and discuss this chapter or the book as a whole in the comments. Chowder Cod or clam chowder, these were the choices at the Try Pots, the inn recommended by Peter Coffin at the Spouter-Inn. So Ishmael and Queequeg ordered chowder. First … Read More “Finding Melville’s Whale: Chapter 15 – Chowder” »

Sailing by Starlight: the lost art of celestial navigation

Posted on 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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