national geographic | Southern Fried Science

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.

Posted on October 29, 2018 by Andrew Thaler

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 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.

Posted on October 22, 2018 by Andrew Thaler

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.

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.

Frisky Anglerfish, Persistent Aquatic Living Sensors, Make for the Planet Borneo, Sea Cucumber Mafia, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: March 26, 2018

Posted on March 26, 2018 by Andrew Thaler

Foghorn (A Call to Action!)

Sign up for Make for the Planet Borneo and help push forward the next generation of conservation technology!
Announcing the Con X Tech Prize for Hacking Extinction! Apply for funding to create a working hardware prototype and win up to $20,000 in awards.

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

This is a totally ordinary, not at all alarming, call for government bidders on a contract to build “new systems that employ natural or engineered marine organisms as sensor elements to amplify signals related to the presence, movement, and classification of manned or unmanned underwater vehicles.” They even adorably call these Persistent Aquatic Living Sensors PALS. Normal!
Here’s a video of anglerfish mating, because anglerfish are beauty.

This week in science and conservation slowly, awkwardly coming to terms with their racist history: For Decades, Our Coverage Was Racist. To Rise Above Our Past, We Must Acknowledge It and Environmentalism’s Racist History.
Scientists in Survival Mode: After a disastrous hurricane season, scientists in the storms’ pathways struggle to return to work.

The Levee (A featured project that emerged from Oceandotcomm)

Marine lab has ‘front row seat’ to Louisiana coastal loss.

Photo by Melissa Miller

Hurricane Irma, the Manatee Sheriff, climate change, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: September 11, 2017

Posted on September 11, 2017 by Andrew Thaler

Fog Horn (A Call to Action)

One week left! The OpenCTD and Oceanography for Everyone has been selected as a finalist in National Geographic’s Chasing Genius Challenge! Please help me win the People’s Choice award by voting for the OpenCTD. Visit http://www.natgeochasinggenius.com/video/776, create or sign into your Chasing Genius account, and click the yellow star to vote on my video. You can vote once per day until September 15.
“Everyone is homeless. We can’t help each other because everyone needs help.” Ayana Johnson is working to raise funds (and the Waitt Foundation is matching donations, to help the people of Barbuda, where almost every structure on the island was leveled.

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

Yes, I would like to pet a giant isopod, thank you.

We have a new expedition planned to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Join us: Marine Ecology and Underwater Robotics in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
The Manatee Sheriff sends Manatee officers to rescue stranded manatees in Manatee County.

Chasing Genius, aquatic brain blobs, hurricanes, bats, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: September 4, 2017

Posted on September 4, 2017 by Andrew Thaler

Fog Horn (A Call to Action)

Hurricane Harvey has passed, but its impacts will continue to be felt for years to come. There’s lots of great organizations to donate to, but in the immediate aftermath,it’s often best to donate to local relief programs that already have a ground team in place, rather than national groups that will take weeks to build up their infrastructure. I’m a fan of the Texas Diaper Bank and Portlight Inclusive Disaster Strategies, both of which serve communities that tend to be particularly vulnerable during natural disasters.
Gratuitous self promotion! The OpenCTD and Oceanography for Everyone has been selected as a finalist in National Geographic’s Chasing Genius Challenge! Please help me win the People’s Choice award by voting for the OpenCTD. Visit http://www.natgeochasinggenius.com/video/776, create or sign into your Chasing Genius account, and click the yellow star to vote on my video. Thank you!

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

It will take months, if not years, to fully understand the impacts of Hurricane Harvey, which already looks to be the costliest storm in US history. These drone videos give you some idea of the sheer scale of the damage. The Washington Post has an interactive map to help visualize what the equivalent deluge would look like around the world: What the Harvey deluge would look like where you live.

One-eyed sea eagles, deep reefs, crispy jellyfish, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: August 7, 2017.

Posted on August 7, 2017 by Andrew Thaler

Fog Horn (A Call to Action)

One week left! The deadline for comments on Marine National Monuments and National Marine Sanctuaries has been extended due to overwhelming responses. You now have until August 14, 2017 to leave a comment. Scientists, researchers, explorers, and conservationists with particular ties to the Mariana Trench Marine National Monument can sign on the this letter co-authored by me, James Cameron, and numerous researchers who’s worked has benefited from the Mariana Trench.
Chasing Genius: Andrew has applied for a National Geographic Chasing Genius Award to fund more development for the OpenCTD and Oceangraphy for Everyone. Please share and like the video over at NatGeo!

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

A Maine Lobsterman catching a one-eyed bald eagle struggling to swim has got to be a metaphor for something, right?

Seasteading, ivory diving, seabed mining, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: June 5, 2017

Posted on June 5, 2017 by Andrew Thaler

Fog Horn (A Call to Action)

We Should All Care About Sea Grant. Despite being one of the most bipartisan research programs in the United States, with a huge return on investment for coastal communities and businesses, Sea Grant is under attack from the current administration. Read the latest at Deep Sea News: Pam DiBona: #IAmSeaGrant.
27 National Monuments are under review by the Department of the Interior. Our Nation Monuments are our National Treasures. Don’t let them be sold to the highest bidder! Submit formal public comments on the DOI Monument Review and make your voice heard.

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

Seasteading. Ok, we’re not actually obsessed with Seasteading. What we are obsessed with are the increasingly convoluted proposals to create floating nations at sea (heck, I even wrote a novel or two about that). Fresh from the New Republic: Libertarians Seek a Home on the High Seas.

Courtesy of Seasteading Institute

Ocean/Policy superstar Miriam Goldstein reminded me that China Mieville wrote an absolutely brutal takedown of the degraded imagination of the libertarian seasteaders several years back.

Check out Shark Attack Experiment Live, Friday on National Geographic Wild

Posted on November 23, 2011 by David Shiffman

This Friday, tune in to National Geographic Wild for a day of sharks! Starting at noon, they will air a series of shark documentaries culminating at 9 p.m. with “Shark Attack Experiment: Live“. This show, aired live from the shark hotspot of South Africa, aims to test some common myths about shark attacks and to “to dispel negative myths about sharks and raise public awareness that some shark species are being driven to extinction by overfishing”. In addition to the live experiments, survivors of shark attacks will get the opportunity, while surrounded by trained shark-diving professionals, to face their fears and intentionally interact with sharks. The whole thing will also be live-blogged, and organizers have included a social media component (Twitter #sharkattack). Check it out!

The Global Extinction Crisis – species area relationships, habitat loss, and population dynamics

Posted on May 23, 2011 by Andrew Thaler

We are in the midst of a global extinction crisis. Biodiversity is in decline as species after species disappear. Some estimates predict that up to 50% of species will be committed to extinction by 2050. Other estimates claim the current rate of extinction may be 10,000 times the background rate. Many ecologists and conservationists have declared the current species decline the sixth great mass extinction.

A recent paper published in the journal Nature argues that our current estimates of species loss are based on a flawed model and tend to overestimate the magnitude of species decline. The paper has received plenty of attention, and has been heavily criticized by ecologists and conservation biologists. The paper is wrong, but it is wrong for the right reasons, and the criticisms it has garnered point to a gaping hole in our understanding of population dynamics.

Expedition Week premieres tonight, Shark Men next Sunday

Posted on April 3, 2011 by David Shiffman

Expedition Week 2011 starts tonight on the National Geographic Channel. This year, there are 13 premieres on seven straight nights, and they promise “extreme treks, new discoveries, and bold investigations” featuring topics as diverse as conservation, exotic human cultures, archaeology, geology, and maritime history. In other words, there’s plenty for science geeks like us to enjoy.