Below are the ten most read posts for the month of August, 2010, in order of popularity. How to build a canoe from scratch on a graduate student stipend The Southern Fried Scientist’s advice for new graduate students Anti-shark stereotypes in “River Monsters” Shark Week 2010: A big step in the right direction! Epistemological Idioms … Read More “Top Posts for August, 2010” »
In another universe, Queequeg is a woman, Ishmael is a harpooner, and the Great White Whale is a … dragon? Somehow, I can’t quite picture this as a faithful adaptation, but it might be fun. Hat tip to Jason. Follow along with our year long expedition into the real Moby Dick at Finding Melville’s Whale. … Read More “Finding Mellville’s … dragon?!” »
Chapter 3 of the classic Moby Dick by Herman Melville, summarized in verse. Read along with us and discuss this chapter or the book as a whole in the comments. The Spouter-Inn The tavern heaves as if it were a sloop battered by too many waves, too much drink, as three years afloat celebrates the … Read More “Finding Melville’s Whale: Chapter 3 – The Spouter-Inn” »
The ocean is full of metals and minerals that naturally occur such as zinc, copper, and cobalt and many marine organisms therefore depend upon access to those metals in small concentrations. However, inshore marine systems receive inputs from industrial, mining, and stormwater runoff that far exceed what these organisms can use. So what’s the effect? There was recently a good review article by Mayer-Pinto et al describings the effects of these metals at the assemblage level that basically did my job for me, research-wise, covering both marine and freshwater systems.
Charlie, Sophie, Bluegrass, and Morgan hanging out by the fire.
This past Saturday was my 26th birthday, and also marked the anniversary of Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech. Conservative commentator Glenn Beck probably chose that date for his “Restoring Honor” rally because of the latter exciting historical moment that August 28th marked.
Beck’s rally inspired no shortage of controversy, including a counter-protest by modern civil rights leaders. One of the controversies deals with how many people attended. Political organizers have long used rally crowd sizes as measures of support for a cause, and fighting over crowd sizes has gotten so bad that the United States Park Police no longer provide official estimates on how many people attend.
That pasta salad looks yummy.
Chapter 2 of the classic Moby Dick by Herman Melville, summarized in verse. Read along with us and discuss this chapter or the book as a whole in the comments. The Carpet Bag South he journeys, to the island from which the new world whaling ships unfurled their sails and raised anchor, but the ferry … Read More “Finding Melville’s Whale: Chapter 2 – The Carpet Bag” »
It must be time to eat. Charlie digs in.
Charlie wields his fork with the determination of a doll ready to eat things.





