Southern Fried Science

Fun Science FRIEDay – Gut Enzyme Turns Blood Into Type O

November 16, 2018November 16, 2018 Kersey Sturdivant

Uncategorized

The process of blood transfusions, started in the late 19th century and perfected in the early 20th century, were a big advancement in modern medicine and the treatment of human health. Part of the improvements in this procedure was the discovery of the various blood types in humans, and how that affects how the immune system responds to and “accepts” blood transfusions. Recently, researchers from the University of British Columbia may have found a reliable way to use a bacterial enzyme from the human gut to convert any type of blood into type O – which is compatible with nearly everyone.

Animation of red blood cells (Photo credit: meghanmecrazy)

Apple’s war on repair, mining the deep sea, reflecting on the mid-terms, (not) repelling sharks, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: November 12, 2018.

November 12, 2018November 11, 2018 Andrew Thaler

Weekly Salvage

Foghorn (A Call to Action!)

Take a moment. Breathe. Then get back to work.

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

Here Are All the Candidates With Science Backgrounds Who Just Got Elected. Note, my representative, Dr. Andy Harris, MD, also has a science background and he’s an awful, incompetent, ineffectual, and embarrassing representative, so having a “science background” isn’t everything.
Mining the deep ocean will soon begin. What will that mean for existing denizens of the abyss? Featuring Drs. Diva Amon and Leigh Marsh!

Coral reefs lose their champion, which laptop is really the greenest, new sea slugs, and an octopuses garden in the sea. Monday Morning Salvage: November 5, 2018.

November 5, 2018November 4, 2018 Andrew Thaler

Weekly Salvage

Foghorn (A Call to Action!)

Help the Victims of Typhoon Yutu.
Ruth Gates dedicated her life to saving the world’s reefs and training the next generation of reef scientists. The Fight for Corals Loses Its Great Champion.

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

Scientists Have Just Named 17 New Sea Slug Species, and They’re All Fabulous.

The newest members of the nudibranch family. (H. iba comes in 2 color morphs.) Photo: California Academy of Sciences — The newest members of the nudibranch family. (H. iba comes in 2 color morphs.)
Photo: California Academy of Sciences

A close-up photo of the sponge that is being studied. NHM.

Help the Victims of Typhoon Yutu

October 29, 2018November 6, 2018 Angelo Villagomez

Climate change

Photo credit: Nicole Cabrera

On Thursday, October 25, Super Typhoon Yutu slammed into my home islands of Saipan and Tinian packing sustained winds of 178 miles per hour. The storm resulted in one fatality and widespread destruction. Friends and family have lost everything.

Andrew Thaler and I would like to reach out to the Southern Fried Science community of readers to ask your support in helping our friends and family in the the islands with relief efforts (Andrew has conducted OpenROV workshops in the region and has helped with efforts to confer UNESCO World Heritage and National Marine Sanctuary status on the Mariana Trench).

You can help by:

SPREADING THE WORD

The easiest way for you to help, and it doesn’t cost anything, is to share this blog on social media so that more eyes are reading this call for help. Please use the hashtags #SuperTyphoonYutu and #YutuRelief. Also, please share other people’s photos and stories on social media (you can find them using the hashtags). Finally, you can help spread the word by sharing news stories. Here are some from CNN, NPR, USA Today, Washington Post. Civil Beat also has a post with lots of photos of the destruction. Again, please use the hashtags.

DONATING

The Pacific Daily News, the newspaper of record on Guam, has a list of ways readers can help the victims. There is also a website yuturelief.com, that looks like it is run by various members of our diaspora. I encourage you to read both websites and see what method of donating works best for you. Here are a few others:

Youth v Gov, thinking about oysters, how to talk climate change to radicalized conservatives, delightful dumbo octopuses, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: October 29, 2018.

October 29, 2018 Andrew Thaler

Weekly Salvage

Foghorn (A Call to Action!)

The kids are alright. I’m suing the U.S. government for causing the climate change crisis #YouthVGov.
This fleet of underwater robots will help citizen scientists make the case for ocean conservation. Find out how you can get yours through the SEE Initiative!

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

The Deepest Volcanic Eruption Ever Documented Left a Gnarly Sight on the Ocean Floor.

A lava flow detected in the Mariana back-arc that’s evidence for the deepest historic eruption ever detected. Photo: Courtesy Bill Chadwick.

This comic comes at you like a kick in the teeth. Can Climate Science Be Rendered Conservative-Friendly? How to pitch environmentalism to climate change deniers.

I made a ridiculous Glowing Wall Mount for my OpenROV Trident!

October 26, 2018 Andrew Thaler 1 Comment

Open Science

Because OpenROV Trident is a work of art and should be displayed as such when not on deployment. This was my first big design project using the Glowforge and integrating LED strips If you have a Trident, you can download the plans and bill of materials right here: OpenROV Trident Glowing Wall Mount. More importantly, if … Read More “I made a ridiculous Glowing Wall Mount for my OpenROV Trident!” »

Canada announced new marine protected area standards. Here’s how science and conservation professionals reacted.

October 22, 2018 David Shiffman

Science

Recently, the Canadian government released the Final Report of the National Advisory Panel on Marine Protected Area Standards. This report is a set of guidelines and goals for the creation of new marine protected areas in Canada, and comes as Canada is hoping to greatly increase the number and quality of MPAs. I reached out to MPA experts and environmental nonprofits to ask what they think.

I want you to have amazing adventures with underwater robots, protecting the oceans like national parks, songs of a ice and warming, cannibals, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: October 22, 2018.

October 22, 2018October 21, 2018 Andrew Thaler

Weekly Salvage

Foghorn (A Call to Action!)

I want you to have amazing adventures with underwater robots. That’s why Nat Geo and OpenROV are giving away 1000 robot submarines!
National Geographic Announces Initiative to Donate 1,000 Underwater Drones to Explore the Ocean.

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

Get inspired with the latest TED Talk for OpenROV visionary David Lang.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k32nNIzWHog

Teen scientists went looking for meteorites in the Great Lakes. They found another type of alien.
- And follow these kids’ incredible expedition on Open Explorer.

Barndoor skates, once a textbook example of overfishing, have recovered enough to allow fishing

October 19, 2018October 19, 2018 David Shiffman

Science

Barndoor skates were once thought to be so overfished that a highly-publicized paper from 1998 noted that they had been “driven to near extinction without anyone noticing.” One of the largest skates, barndoor skates can reach over 5 feet in wingspan, which is large enough that their diet includes small sharks like spiny dogfish; for a skate, that’s about as close as it gets to charismatic megafauna!

Recently, NOAA Fisheries announced that Barndoor skate populations off the Northeastern United States had finally recovered enough that fishing for them could resume. This move comes after a 2009 NOAA Fisheries report showed that the species had begun to recover enough that they could be removed from the species of concern list, though they remained protected at the time. “This is good news,” Mike Ruccio, a Supervisory Fishery Policy Analyst for NOAA Fisheries Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office, told me. “Rebuilding overfished stocks is one of the cornerstones of the US domestic policy on fisheries.”

Ancient fish farming and popular invasive species: Thursday Afternoon Dredging, October 18th 2018

October 18, 2018 David Shiffman

Uncategorized

Cuttings (short and sweet): Follow everyone in this amazing thread of twitter wildlife biologists started by David Steen. Ancient Egyptians farmed fish thousands of years ago. By the New Arab. This is a neat story about a new archaeological study, which tells us about ancient humans’ relationship with the sea. Fun fish festivals around the … Read More “Ancient fish farming and popular invasive species: Thursday Afternoon Dredging, October 18th 2018” »