Scylla and Charybdis team up to make passing through the Straight of Messina impossible – to be a safe distance from one meant being too close to the other. They were one of Odysseus’ many challenges during his epic journey. Scylla is a six-headed monster storied to have become that way after poisoning by the jealous wife of Poseidon who captured sailors off their boats and ate them. Charybdis is best described as a whirlpool bringing ships to the bottom of the sea. She was the daughter of Poseidon and converted by Zeus.
Read More “Our favorite sea monsters – Scylla and Charybdis (#2)” »
There is a place in the Atlantic where ships vanish, where planes fall from the sky, where vast, inexplicable mysteries haunt the sea. The Bermuda Triangle, darling of mysterious disappearance buffs. What causes all these weird disappearances? Numerous hypotheses have been put forward, from aliens to methane bubbles, to magnetic anomalies. Unfortunately, the real answer … Read More “Ocean of Pseudoscience Shorty – The Bermuda Triangle” »
Last weekend, longtime SFS reader Suzy sent me an interesting question. Suzy is Asian, and though she is a committed conservationist, several members of her family regularly eat shark fin soup. One relative just sent her a copy of a news article entitled “Shark Fin Soup: Eat it without guilt” (available here). Suzy asked me if the information in this article is correct, and how she should respond to her family members.
Though it is a few years old, I had never seen this article, and it’s a little shocking. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a better example of distorting or ignoring science to promote a political agenda outside of Fox News. In short, Suzy, most of the information in here is either false or intentionally misleading.
More people have joined in on the Ocean of Pseudoscience week. First, Shark Diver from Underwater Thrills throws down with Shark Pseudoscience – Juicing Tweaked Bulls. Something tells me Bull Shark Testosterone isn’t going to make you cool, but let’s see if our readers can come up with an explanation why. Sheril, from the intersection … Read More “Ocean of Pseudoscience Linkfest, Round 4 and reader challenges” »
What’s that strange hairy creature in the woods? Why, it must be the legendary bigfeets, Gigantopithecus darwiniensis!
My grandfather, who was on board Marine ships from 1928 through the Korean War, used to suggest eating pickles for seasickness. During my recent cruise in the Sargasso Sea, I finally had a chance to test his theory and it worked. Was it just a placebo effect, was it the vitamin C, or something else … Read More “Ocean of Pseudoscience Shorty – Pickles for Seasickness” »
We’re halfway through our first ever Ocean of Pseudoscience Week. Many great blogs have decided to enter the fray, tackling pseudoscience in their own fields. If anyone wants to join in, either as a guest post on our blog or as a post on your own blog, let me know. Below are all the blogs … Read More “An Ocean of Pseudoscience, Linkfest Round 3” »
Sea Monsters, mythical beasts of legend and lore that ply the world’s oceans, sinking ships, terrifying sailors, swallowing entire crews whole. Sea monsters occupy a special place in our imagination. The ocean is huge, unfathomable. Of course mighty beast could dwell within, undetected.
Every once in a long while, the myths, the legends, the stories, turn out to be true. This is one of those times.
Read More “Our favorite sea monsters – The Giant Manta Special Edition” »
Though the Aspidochelone is not as well known as some other sea monsters, the story surrounding it is so awesome that we had to include it on our list of favorites.
According to legend, this crafty turtle/whale/fish (the story varies between cultures on this point) is so big that sailors think it is an island. Excited to see land after so much time out on the water, sailors make landfall on the Aspidochelone. The beast then submerges, taking the unsuspecting sailors with it to the depths.
Read More “Our favorite sea monsters – Aspidochelone (#3)” »