fake news | Southern Fried Science

The real deep reefs of South Carolina, dolphin chatter, autonomous starfish killing robots, an exciting submarine discovery, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: September 3, 2018

Posted on September 3, 2018 by Andrew Thaler

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

Robots versus Aliens is my favorite genre of conservation technology. Sea-Star Murdering Robots Are Deployed in the Great Barrier Reef.

Fish Bombardment is my other. Video: Utah Officials Restock Remote Lakes by Plane.

The Gam (conversations from the ocean-podcasting world)

Speak Up for the Blue with two great recent episodes.

Walking fish and microbe warfare: Thursday Afternoon Dredging, February 15, 2018

Posted on February 15, 2018 by David Shiffman

Cuttings (short and sweet):

Follow Katelyn Heman, a marine conservation biologist working at the Georgia Aquarium, on twitter!
What this walking fish can teach us about evolution. By Sarah Gibbens, for National Geographic
Fish forego sleep thanks to this molecule in their brain. From Nature’s Animal Behavior news.
Microplastics pollute even the most remote parts of the ocean. By Sandra Laville, for the Guardian.

Spoils (long reads and deep dives):

Protecting Panama’s humpback whales from ship collisions. By Mike Gaworecki, for MongaBay.
Polar bears need disappearing sea ice in more ways than one. By Randall Hyman, for Oceans Deeply
Marine microbes exchange fire with subcellular weapons. By Jennifer Frazer, for Scientific American.
We’re climate researchers, and our work was turned into fake news. From the Conversation.

Please add your own cuttings and spoils in the comments!

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Monday Morning Salvage: February 20, 2017

Posted on February 20, 2017 by Andrew Thaler

For all our US-based Readers: Happy President’s Day! For everyone else, this is the reason none of you USian colleagues are answering e-mails. Unless they are, in which case, *grumble grumble grumble* *something about work-life balance*

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

The ocean is full of garbage and even the deepest trenches aren’t safe. Here’s an interview I did with KSPN Saipan where I talked about the garbage the precedes us everywhere we go.

Also: Banned chemicals persist in deep ocean. This seems important.

Sifting the fact from the false in an internet full of fake ‘news’

Posted on November 15, 2016 by Chris Parsons

Southern Fried Science has at the forefront of trying to debunk fake news, such as faux documentaries about mermaids or giant sharks. In their article “Fish tales: combating fake science in the popular media” Andrew Thaler and David Shiffman asked that:

“scientists familiarize themselves with common sources of misinformation within their field, so that they can be better able to respond quickly when factually inaccurate content begins to spread”