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Coastal states may reap federal funds
With the world’s oceans and coasts facing growing challenges from sea-level rise, ocean acidification and increasing temperatures, the U.S. Senate took action last week to protect America’s vital ocean resources. The Senate voted 68-31 to approve an amendment offered by U.S. Show More Summary
Ocean acidification in Washington State: an exploration of its chemical, biological, and societal impacts
Saturday 15 June 2013, 4 PM Part of the Seattle Science Festival Ocean acidification is caused by very well understood chemical processes, though its progression in coastal estuaries is complicated by a variety of human activities. The US Pacific Northwest is a hot spot for rapid progression of ocean acidification. The region’s oyster industry has […]
Ocean acidification: a pain in the Arctic
No matter where you live, if you go outside and start walking north, at some point you’ll reach the Arctic Ocean. A vast expanse at the northern reaches of the planet, the Arctic Ocean supports a dizzying array of ocean wildldife, including the charismatic – and much threatened – polar bear. Most readers of The […]
Ocean Acidification: trouble for ocean ecosystems (video)
Presentation by Dr. Richard A. Feely at “Toward a sustainable 21st century”, University of California, Irvine, 3 May 2013. University of California, Irvine (Youtube), 14 May 2013. Video.
Ocean acidification: the next big threat to coral reefs?
By Dr. Lizzie Mcleod, Climate Adaptation Scientist for the Nature Conservancy, Asia Pacific Region As if the long list of threats to coral reefs weren’t enough, we can now add ocean acidification to the list. Perhaps you’ve seen the gloomy headlines like “Ocean Acidification: ‘Evil Twin’ Threatens World’s Oceans, Scientists Warn.” Perhaps it is no […]
Early victims of ocean acidification could go extinct this century
Increasing ocean acidification could lead to the extinction of an entire class of marine organisms by 2100 say a team of scientists from the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS). “Forams – or foraminifera – are much like an amoeba with a shell,” explains Dr Sven Uthicke, lead author of the study which was published […]
How the ocean grows its own medicine
Ocean acidification can be hindered by oysters, which carry greater benefits than previously believed. If the ocean had a doctor, she might want to prescribe some oysters to treat local outbreaks of ocean acidification. New research shows that groups of oysters could actually help prevent coastal waters from becoming more acidic, one problematic result of […]
5-19-13 Ts, J Pod, Harbor Seal and an Octopus!
Sunday, May 19th...early morning I hear transient calls on the Lime Kiln hydrophones, lasting less than four minutes...I immediately thought it might be T20 and T21...and it was!...this is the third time I have recorded them, and each...Show More Summary
Why Global Warming’s Effects Will Be Worse Than You Were Thinking
The story of climate change has always been more of worst-case, or at least, worser-case scenarios developing and less about good news showing up out of nowhere and making us unexpectedly happy. A few decades ago, it became clear that the release of fossil Carbon into the atmosphere primarily as CO2 was going to cause…
Pliensbachian–Toarcian Jurassic Extinction Was a Phased Event
The Pliensbachian–Toarcian (Early Jurassic) extinction, a global multi-phased eventAuthors:1. Andrew H. Caruthers (a)2. Paul L. Smith (a)3. Darren R. Gröcke (b)Affiliations:a. Department of Earth Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, University...Show More Summary
Biology of an Early Earth: RNA Capable of Catalyzing Electron Transfer With Iron Before Great Oxidation Event
A new study shows how complex biochemical transformations may have been possible under conditions that existed when life began on the early Earth.The study shows that RNA is capable of catalyzing electron transfer under conditions similar to those of the early Earth. Show More Summary
5-18-13 It Began and Ended with Kayakers
Saturday, May 18th...I didn't know where the whales were, but shortly before leaving for the harbor I noticed several kayaks quite a distance from shore - that should have been my first clue...just 30 minutes later, leaving the dockShow More Summary
Vintage Dinosaur Art: Dinosaurs (a Little Golden Book)
After so many trips back to the '80s and '90s, it's good to return to a book that's properly vintage. Dinosaurs was number 355 in the impressively diverse Little Golden Book series from Golden Press of New York, and was published in 1959. Show More Summary
Siberia: No Sign of a Snowball Earth Here
Testing the snowball Earth hypothesis for the EdiacaranAuthors:a. Alexei V. Ivanov (a)b. Anatoly M. Mazukabzov (a)c. Arkady M. Stanevich (a)d. Stanislav V. Palesskiy (b)e. Olga A. Kozmenko (b)Affiliations:a. Institute of the Earth's Crust, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Lermontov Street 128, Irkutsk 664033, Russiab. Show More Summary
10,000 hours may gain you little if you have no talent
A few years ago Malcolm Gladwell made the “10,000 hour rule” famous in his book Outliers. In practice (e.g., discussions with people day to day or on this blog) the rule gets translated into the inference “practice is what matters.” When talking about genetics this often implicitly also entails that “genes don’t matter.” I’m not [...]
Impacts of Glaciation on "Tropical" Indonesian Archipelago/Sunda Peninsula During the Pleistocene
Scientists look at past climates to learn about climate change and the ability to simulate it with computer models. One region that has received a great deal of attention is the Indo-Pacific warm pool, the vast pool of warm water stretching...Show More Summary
The Mad, Mad, Mad World of Climatism: Mankind and Climate Change Mania
There is a book called “The Mad, Mad, Mad World of Climatism: Mankind and Climate Change Mania” produced by the Heartland Institute. The Heartland Institute is famous for doing all that work to prove that smoking is not bad for you, and more recently, that climate change is not real or is not important or…
Please ignore mtDNA and Y chromosomal haplogroups
This is a public service announcement. If you are a consumer of direct-to-consumer personal genomics services, please do not pay any attention to your mtDNA and Y chromosomal haplogroups. Why? Because they hardly tell you anything about your individual ancestry. What do I mean by this? Your mtDNA comes down from your mother’s-mother’s-mother’s-mother… and similarly [...]
I am at Maker Faire Even When I am Not at Maker Faire
I looked awful that day and they chose to use THAT pic? ugh.
Vulcans through the eye of the bottleneck
I noticed during Peter Ralph and Graham Coop’s Ask Me Anything about their new paper, The Geography of Recent Genetic Ancestry across Europe, someone brought up the effects of plague. Recall that ~1/3 of Europe’s population died during the Black Death. And population size reductions on the order of ~50% due to epidemics are not [...]
