Southern Fried Science

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Ocean of Pseudoscience Shorty – Chemosynthetic ecosystems and independence from the sun

September 9, 2010September 10, 2010 Andrew Thaler

Science

One of the many frequent claims that crop up in both popular and scientific reports about deep-sea hydrothermal vents is that chemosynthetic ecosystems are independent of photosynthetic ecosystems. Even high quality scientific reporting have been guilty of making this claim: “These animals live completely independent of sunlight” (NOAA Ocean Explorer). But are chemosynthetic systems totally … Read More “Ocean of Pseudoscience Shorty – Chemosynthetic ecosystems and independence from the sun” »

Ocean of Pseudoscience Shorty – The Montauk Monster

September 9, 2010February 2, 2012 Amy Freitag 4 Comments

Uncategorized

The headlines read: “Dead Monster Washes Ashore in Montauk” So what exactly was this crazy dead thing? Some call it a marketing scheme and no one can deny that it brought attention to the town of Montauk. Others say it might have been a prank by a local filmmaker to bring attention to his movie. … Read More “Ocean of Pseudoscience Shorty – The Montauk Monster” »

The Aquatic Ape Hypothesis

September 9, 2010August 30, 2010 David Shiffman

Uncategorized

Science can often be complicated, which makes a simple explanation extremely appealing. Sometimes, these simple explanations are correct. Sometimes they are spectacularly wrong.

One of the most complicated areas of science is evolutionary biology. Describing the origin of current species is a lot like putting together an enormous puzzle when most of the pieces are missing. A simple explanation for an evolutionary problem would be very, very appealing. Some people believe they have found one for human evolution, and they call it the “Aquatic Ape Hypothesis”.

Elaine Morgan says we evolved from aquatic apes

September 9, 2010August 30, 2010 Andrew Thaler

Science

Our favorite sea monsters – Scylla and Charybdis (#2)

September 9, 2010September 2, 2010 Amy Freitag

Popular Culture

Scylla and Charybdis team up to make passing through the Straight of Messina impossible – to be a safe distance from one meant being too close to the other. They were one of Odysseus’ many challenges during his epic journey. Scylla is a six-headed monster storied to have become that way after poisoning by the jealous wife of Poseidon who captured sailors off their boats and ate them. Charybdis is best described as a whirlpool bringing ships to the bottom of the sea. She was the daughter of Poseidon and converted by Zeus.

Ocean of Pseudoscience Shorty – The Bermuda Triangle

September 9, 2010September 5, 2010 Andrew Thaler 1 Comment

Uncategorized

There is a place in the Atlantic where ships vanish, where planes fall from the sky, where vast, inexplicable mysteries haunt the sea. The Bermuda Triangle, darling of mysterious disappearance buffs. What causes all these weird disappearances? Numerous hypotheses have been put forward, from aliens to methane bubbles, to magnetic anomalies. Unfortunately, the real answer … Read More “Ocean of Pseudoscience Shorty – The Bermuda Triangle” »

Reader mail: Shark Fin propaganda

September 9, 2010August 31, 2010 David Shiffman 1 Comment

Science

Last weekend, longtime SFS reader Suzy sent me an interesting question. Suzy is Asian, and though she is a committed conservationist, several members of her family regularly eat shark fin soup. One relative just sent her a copy of a news article entitled “Shark Fin Soup: Eat it without guilt” (available here). Suzy asked me if the information in this article is correct, and how she should respond to her family members.

Though it is a few years old, I had never seen this article, and it’s a little shocking. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a better example of distorting or ignoring science to promote a political agenda outside of Fox News. In short, Suzy, most of the information in here is either false or intentionally misleading.

Ocean of Pseudoscience Linkfest, Round 4 and reader challenges

September 9, 2010September 9, 2010 Andrew Thaler 5 Comments

Uncategorized

More people have joined in on the Ocean of Pseudoscience week. First, Shark Diver from Underwater Thrills throws down with Shark Pseudoscience – Juicing Tweaked Bulls. Something tells me Bull Shark Testosterone isn’t going to make you cool, but let’s see if our readers can come up with an explanation why. Sheril, from the intersection … Read More “Ocean of Pseudoscience Linkfest, Round 4 and reader challenges” »

365 days of Darwin: September 9, 2010 (5/7)

September 9, 2010August 31, 2010 Andrew Thaler 1 Comment

Uncategorized

What’s that strange hairy creature in the woods? Why, it must be the legendary bigfeets, Gigantopithecus darwiniensis!

Ocean of Pseudoscience Shorty – Pickles for Seasickness

September 8, 2010September 8, 2010 Amy Freitag

Uncategorized

My grandfather, who was on board Marine ships from 1928 through the Korean War, used to suggest eating pickles for seasickness. During my recent cruise in the Sargasso Sea, I finally had a chance to test his theory and it worked. Was it just a placebo effect, was it the vitamin C, or something else … Read More “Ocean of Pseudoscience Shorty – Pickles for Seasickness” »