Project 2025, chicken coops, seabed mining, and the classics: 3 Months of readership stats for Southern Fried Science

Posted on By Andrew Thaler
Blogging

It’s been three months since we posted our last traffic update. I’ve been prepping or traveling since August running OpenCTD workshops and the rest of the team is likewise busy with research, outreach, and policy work. We’ve been quiet, only publishing 12 articles in the last quarter and the traffic reflects that. Traffic is down … Read More “Project 2025, chicken coops, seabed mining, and the classics: 3 Months of readership stats for Southern Fried Science” »

Trump’s Project 2025 and a surprising outbreak of whalepox: this month on the podcasts.

Posted on By Andrew Thaler
Conservation, Policy

Late last month, I joined Andrew Kornblatt and Francis Farabaugh on Ocean Science Radio to talk about Donald Trump’s Project 2025 Presidential Transition Project, how it will effect ocean policy, and why the particular nastiness with which Project 2025 goes after NOAA is proof-positive that, no matter how hard they try and deny it, Project 2025 … Read More “Trump’s Project 2025 and a surprising outbreak of whalepox: this month on the podcasts.” »

Giant tube worms dwell in the deep places beneath the ocean floor.

Posted on By Andrew Thaler
Featured, Science

Giant deep-sea tube worms. When the RV Knorr arrived above Galapagos Rift in 1977, a team of geologists, geochemists, and geophysicist, including Robert Ballard who would go on to locate the wreck of the Titanic among other ocean-shaping discoveries) was prepared to witness something never before seen: a geyser of superheated, chemical rich water erupting … Read More “Giant tube worms dwell in the deep places beneath the ocean floor.” »

6 Ways to Support the America the Beautiful for All Coalition

Posted on By Angelo Villagomez
Conservation, Featured, Policy

The membership of the America the Beautiful for All coalition stretches from the Marianas to Maine, Alaska to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.  We are the largest, most diverse coalition of its kind to ever exist in the United States. Last week, 170+ conservation, climate change, and community leaders from across the United States … Read More “6 Ways to Support the America the Beautiful for All Coalition” »

The story of the pride flag made from NASA imagery: Bluesky’s most-liked image

Posted on By David Shiffman
Science

Last June, a striking image of a pride flag made up of NASA imagery became the most-liked post on the new social media network Bluesky, a post it held for 2 months. I spoke with its creator Rachel Lense about how it was made, and what it’s reception means for inclusion in science. This image … Read More “The story of the pride flag made from NASA imagery: Bluesky’s most-liked image” »

My remarks for Biodiversity Leaders for Harris Walz

Posted on By David Shiffman
Conservation, Science

On Thursday, September 26th, I spoke on a “Biodiversity Leaders for Harris-Walz” zoom call. This is the text of my remarks, including links to learn more. Good evening. I’m Dr. David Shiffman, an ocean conservation scientist who studies threats to marine life and how we can solve those problems using wise evidence-based policymaking, through equitable … Read More “My remarks for Biodiversity Leaders for Harris Walz” »

Comparing the OpenCTD to a YSI Castaway

Posted on By Andrew Thaler
Education, Featured, Oceanography for Everyone

For close to two decades now, the venerable YSI Castaway has been the gold standard for small, relatively cheap, handheld CTDs. In the early days of OpenROV, the robot’s little payload bay was sized explicitly to fit a Castaway. When Kersey and I started building the OpenCTD, our benchmark for viability was how well the … Read More “Comparing the OpenCTD to a YSI Castaway” »

Catching up with the Cephalosquad on Dugongs and Sea Dragons

Posted on By Andrew Thaler
Conservation, Education

The Cephalosquad recently celebrated our 300th episode of Dugongs and Seadragons. Listen along as we reminisce on 6 years of D&D podcasting, getting to old for all this, and the surprising discovery that our younger members do not know who Jennine Garofalo is. Meanwhile, in the ongoing adventure of a bunch of very nerdy marine … Read More “Catching up with the Cephalosquad on Dugongs and Sea Dragons” »

Jumping the shark: New study reviews the breaching behavior of sharks and rays

Posted on By David Shiffman
Featured, Science

One of the most iconic images of shark behavior is a great white shark hitting its prey so hard from below that the whole shark flies out of the water. This behavior, called “breaching,” has been documented in many species, and is useful for a variety of ecological functions, not just hunting. I spoke to … Read More “Jumping the shark: New study reviews the breaching behavior of sharks and rays” »