Philosophy of activism: comment “swarming”

Posted on By David Shiffman 12 Comments on Philosophy of activism: comment “swarming”
Conservation, Popular Culture, Science

In my ongoing Philosophy of Activism series, I describe tactics used by various advocacy organizations and solicit feedback from our readers to determine if those tactics are effective or not. For the latest edition, I wanted to pick all of your brains about a tactic that I personally used this week.

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The shifting winds of science blogging

Posted on By Andrew Thaler 4 Comments on The shifting winds of science blogging
Uncategorized

The structure of the science blogosphere is changing. That much is apparent to anyone who follows any of the many talented writers who sail under the flag of ScienceBlogs. Several of the most popular writers have left, gone on strike, or are in the process of deciding their fate. I don’t need to rehash any of that, Bora has done that for us.

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Alien Invaders: coral pathogens

Posted on By Andrew Thaler
Science

The following is a repost from the old Southern Fried Science WordPress blog. The original can be found here.

It was a story that could very easily have been written as science fiction. Gorgonian (sea fan) corals of the Florida coast were turning black and dying. The infectious culprit was something no one working on the reefs had encountered before. It was totally alien. The black rot spread across the Caribbean, decimating coral populations. By the time the contagion had been deduced, more than 50% of total sea fan tissue had been eradicated in the Florida Keys. It was one of the worst coral epidemics in recent history.

The culprit was indeed an alien, though certainly not extra-terrestrial. In fact, it was very terrestrial. Aspergillus sydowii, a globally distributed saprophytic soil fungus was the nightmare creature. Aspergillus causes a variety of diseases in humans and birds, but had not previously been recognized as a marine pathogen.

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Check out the two newest blogs in our network

Posted on By Andrew Thaler 1 Comment on Check out the two newest blogs in our network
Uncategorized

Over the last week or so, we’ve been expanding the blogs covered under the .southernfriedscience domain. Check out our newest additions – Ya Like Dags, covering all things dogfish related, and Mammoth Tales, discussing the history and science of the noble mammoth. And don’t forget to visit our new mainpage, The Gam, where posts from … Read More “Check out the two newest blogs in our network” »