Southern Fried Science

Academia should be more Skyrim and less Mario Kart to address lack of long-term diversity

September 12, 2019September 11, 2019 Michelle Jewell

Academic life

Many friendships in the 90s were built or lost over who got to select their Mario Kart character first because character selection largely determined whether or not you would win. SNES Mario Kart designers tried to correct this by crafting tracks that favored one character over others, guaranteeing a win on at least one race. Bowser’s fast top speed and drifting skills made them the best suited character for Bowser Castle’s sharp turns and straightaways. The icy pools of Vanilla Lake smiled upon Koopa Troopa and Toad’s tight handling and minimal drift, but that was arguably the only track they could dominate.

Now imagine another version of Mario Kart, but instead of a variety of different tracks that celebrate different strengths, every track was built by Mario. With Mario as an architect, it’s highly likely that every track would favor his particular set of (minimal) strengths. This would give the non-Mario players an unintended disadvantage since they would never get a chance to excel with their diverse skills, and the majority of races would consequently be won by Marios. In many places, this is the current state of academia.

Big storms, lost ships, fake shrimp, and more! Weekly Salvage: September 9, 2019

September 9, 2019September 9, 2019 Andrew Thaler

Weekly Salvage

Transcript provided below.

Emerging technologies for exploration and independent monitoring of seafloor extraction in Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction

September 3, 2019September 3, 2019 Andrew Thaler

Conservation, Exploration, Science

[The following is a transcript from a talk I gave at the 2019 Minerals, Materials, and Society Symposium at the University of Delaware in August, 2019. It has been lightly edited for clarity.]

Good afternoon and thank you all for coming. I want to change tracks for a bit and scan the horizon to think about what the future of exploration and monitoring in the high seas might look like because ocean and conservation technology is in the midst of an evolutionary shift in who has access to the tools necessary to observe the deep ocean.

This is the Area. Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction, International Waters, the High Seas, the Outlaw Ocean. It’s the portion of the ocean that falls outside of national EEZs and is held in trust by the UN under the Convention on the Law of the Sea as the Common Heritage of Humankind. It covers 64% of the ocean and nearly half of the total surface of the Earth. It’s also the region in which most major deep-sea mining ventures intend to operate.

Egosystem management. Or how tantrums and unprofessional behavior are hindering conservation

September 2, 2019September 2, 2019 Chris Parsons

Academic life, Conservation

In helping to organize several meetings and events for conservation groups, I’ve frequently encountered conservation professionals loudly declaiming “Don’t you know who I am!” and expecting special treatment. Recently I got an email from someone whose abstract was rejected by a conference committee I was assisting, in which they had quite a tantrum. There were lots of … Read More “Egosystem management. Or how tantrums and unprofessional behavior are hindering conservation” »

Bot meets Whale: making friends in the ocean; or how I learned to stop worrying and mitigate harmful interactions between recreational ROVs and marine mammals.

August 21, 2019August 21, 2019 Andrew Thaler

Conservation, Science

An example of a microROV system. From Thaler et al. (2019)

Today, there are more robots exploring the ocean than ever before. From autonomous ocean-crossing gliders to massive industrial remotely operated vehicles to new tools for science and exploration that open new windows into the abyss, underwater robots are giving people a change to experience the ocean like never before. The fastest growing sector of this new robotic frontier? Small, recreational, observation class ROVs.

Best Practices for Mitigating Negative Interactions Between Marine Mammals and MicroROVs

August 21, 2019August 21, 2019 Andrew Thaler

Science

Today, we published our guidelines on the responsible operation of small recreational ROVs around marine mammals.

You can read the full paper here: Thaler and friends (2019) Bot Meets Whale: Best Practices for Mitigating Negative Interactions Between Marine Mammals and MicroROVs. DOI: 10.3389/fmars.2019.00506.

Reprinted below are the explicit guidelines proposed in the paper.

1. Education. Central to any mitigation strategy involving diverse stakeholders, ranging from professional to recreational, is user education. The following are critical to establishing a responsible user community: Ensuring all potential microROV users 1) not only understand the laws and regulations for wildlife viewing that apply to the jurisdiction in which they are operating, but understand why those regulations are in place; and, most importantly, 2) have internalized a stewardship ethic that motivates them to respect the rationale behind those regulations even when operating in regions where those regulations are not enforced. This is most effective when it occurs at point-of-sale or registration of the microROV. Thus, while the additional four guidelines relate to the user, this first one relates to the manufacturer. To most effectively convey the potential harm that microROVs could pose to marine mammals, the manufacturers are best positioned to educate their user base by providing informational material with each microROV sale.

Announcing the #BestShark contest for David’s birthday: make sandbar shark memes and art, win prizes!

August 21, 2019August 21, 2019 David Shiffman

Uncategorized

My 35th birthday is next week, and I am calling upon the forces of the Internetz to help make it an amusing one. As you all know, sandbar shark is #BestShark. This spectacular shark is even the logo of my new consultancy! I want you to help me celebrate my birthday by creating sandbar shark … Read More “Announcing the #BestShark contest for David’s birthday: make sandbar shark memes and art, win prizes!” »

Ballard’s hunt for Earhart’s wrecked plane, sink or swim for deep-sea mining, prints of whales, and more! Monday Morning Salvage, August 19, 2019.

August 19, 2019August 19, 2019 Andrew Thaler

Weekly Salvage

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

Bob Ballard is off on a quest to find the wreckage of Amelia Earhart’s Electra 10E. Many attempts have been made to discover the famed aviator’s fate, but never with the technological tools at Robert Ballard’s disposal.

But make no mistake: behind the flashy headlines is a chance to test some of the most advance seafloor searching autonomous systems in the research armada.

BEN (Bathymetric Explorer and Navigator) was made for the University of New Hampshire by marine autonomy tech company ASV Global(Credit: University of New Hampshire)

The motivating photo, however, is a bit of a stretch.

A brutal slog through some of the worst ocean and climate news of the summer. Also, fish cannons. [Tuesday] Morning Salvage: August 13, 2019.

August 13, 2019August 13, 2019 Andrew Thaler

Weekly Salvage

Foghorn (A Call to Action!)

Trump Administration Guts Endangered Species Act, setting back conservation efforts by decades, dooming thousands of charismatic species to extinction, and sealing his legacy as the racist president that is unambiguously worse than Nixon. Look, at this point, if you aren’t calling your representatives on the regular to demand impeachment, I don’t know what to tell you.

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

This Satellite Image Shows Everything Wrong With Greenland Right Now.

Ballard announces new plan to search for Amelia Earhart’s plane. Cool.
- Side Note: Ballard’s search for the Titanic has now been revealed as a front to search for two lost US nuclear submarines. Many defense experts also believe Earhart’s flight was used to provide cover as the Navy populated the Pacific with airfields. So perhaps something else is happening here, too.
Whooshh! Salmon Cannons Are A Thing.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1159610222148669440

A global assessment of biodiversity and research effort at active Seafloor Massive Sulphides: Transcript from my talk at the International Seabed Authority.

August 6, 2019August 6, 2019 Andrew Thaler

Conservation, Science

[The following is a transcript from a talk I gave at a side event during Part II of the 25th Session of the International Seabed Authority in July, 2019. It has been lightly edited for clarity.]

I want to change gears this afternoon and talk about a very different kind of mining. For the last two years, Diva and I have been engaged in a data mining project to discover what we can learn and what we still need to learn about biodiversity at hydrothermal vents from the 40-year history of ocean exploration in the deep sea.