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Tag: sextant

High octopuses don’t love you back, sextants in space, protect our ocean monuments, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: September 24, 2018

Posted on September 24, 2018September 23, 2018 By Andrew Thaler
Weekly Salvage

Logo for Monday Morning Salvage.

Foghorn (a call to action)

  • After a decade spent expanding marine protection throughout the US EEZ, the federal government is going to war on healthy oceans: The Trump Administration’s New Attack on Marine Monuments.
  • Want to work for COMPASS in DC? One of the nation’s preeminent science communications institutions is hiring, and trust me, DC needs you.
  • If fleeing to Canada is more your style (David (¬_¬) ), Ocean Watch is hiring a manager to plan, manage and execute the Coastal Ocean Health Initiative.

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

  • Gulper Eels are amazing. Amazing.
  • This is an amazing series of visualizations from the Guardian. Seven endangered species that could (almost) fit in a single train carriage.
There are approximately 30 vaquitas left in the world Illustration: Mona Chalabi
There are approximately 30 vaquitas left in the world
Illustration: Mona Chalabi
  • There are sextants on the International Space Station and I can’t stop thinking about it.

Read More “High octopuses don’t love you back, sextants in space, protect our ocean monuments, and more! Monday Morning Salvage: September 24, 2018” »

Sailing by Starlight: the lost art of celestial navigation

Posted on September 27, 2010September 27, 2010 By Andrew Thaler 12 Comments on Sailing by Starlight: the lost art of celestial navigation
Science

This post is a slightly modified transcript of a talk I gave on celestial navigation. As some of you know, I like to build things, and I recently decided to build some classic navigational tools. Of course, in the process of building these instruments, I had to learn how they work. The history of celestial navigation is fascinating and deeply connected to the history of astronomy and mathematics. The original slide show can be found at the bottom of this post. Enjoy!

I’m going to begin with a seemingly simple question, then hopefully give you some basic tools to answer that question. Where are you?

Read More “Sailing by Starlight: the lost art of celestial navigation” »

Celestial Navigation – sailing by the stars

Posted on June 23, 2010June 23, 2010 By Andrew Thaler 1 Comment on Celestial Navigation – sailing by the stars
Science

An awesome short introduction to how celestial navigation works. Hat tip: @SEA_Cramer (which happens to be my very favorite tall ship) ~Southern Fried Scientist

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