In-pursuit-of-knowledge-blog - Everything Is Interesting!

news report: survey says

me: what was the sample size? the distribution? the demographic??? this is meaningless. you could have asks two people in line at starbucks

9 Ocean Facts You Likely Don’t Know, but Should

Earth is a place dominated by water, mainly oceans. It’s also a place our researchers study to understand life. Trillions of gallons of water flow freely across the surface of our blue-green planet. Ocean’s vibrant ecosystems impact our lives in many ways. 

In celebration of World Oceans Day, here are a few things you might not know about these complex waterways.

1. Why is the ocean blue? 

The way light is absorbed and scattered throughout the ocean determines which colors it takes on. Red, orange, yellow,and green light are absorbed quickly beneath the surface, leaving blue light to be scattered and reflected back. This causes us to see various blue and violet hues.

2. Want a good fishing spot? 

Follow the phytoplankton! These small plant-like organisms are the beginning of the food web for most of the ocean. As phytoplankton grow and multiply, they are eaten by zooplankton, small fish and other animals. Larger animals then eat the smaller ones. The fishing industry identifies good spots by using ocean color images to locate areas rich in phytoplankton. Phytoplankton, as revealed by ocean color, frequently show scientists where ocean currents provide nutrients for plant growth.

3. The ocean is many colors. 

When we look at the ocean from space, we see many different shades of blue. Using instruments that are more sensitive than the human eye, we can measure carefully the fantastic array of colors of the ocean. Different colors may reveal the presence and amount of phytoplankton, sediments and dissolved organic matter.

4. The ocean can be a dark place. 

About 70 percent of the planet is ocean, with an average depth of more than 12,400 feet. Given that light doesn’t penetrate much deeper than 330 feet below the water’s surface (in the clearest water), most of our planet is in a perpetual state of darkness. Although dark, this part of the ocean still supports many forms of life, some of which are fed by sinking phytoplankton. 

5. We study all aspects of ocean life. 

Instruments on satellites in space, hundreds of kilometers above us, can measure many things about the sea: surface winds, sea surface temperature, water color, wave height, and height of the ocean surface.

6. In a gallon of average sea water, there is about ½ cup of salt. 

The amount of salt varies depending on location. The Atlantic Ocean is saltier than the Pacific Ocean, for instance. Most of the salt in the ocean is the same kind of salt we put on our food: sodium chloride.

7. A single drop of sea water is teeming with life.  

It will most likely have millions (yes, millions!) of bacteria and viruses, thousands of phytoplankton cells, and even some fish eggs, baby crabs, and small worms. 

8. Where does Earth store freshwater? 

Just 3.5 percent of Earth’s water is fresh—that is, with few salts in it. You can find Earth’s freshwater in our lakes, rivers, and streams, but don’t forget groundwater and glaciers. Over 68 percent of Earth’s freshwater is locked up in ice and glaciers. And another 30 percent is in groundwater. 

9. Phytoplankton are the “lungs of the ocean”.

Just like forests are considered the “lungs of the earth”, phytoplankton is known for providing the same service in the ocean! They consume carbon dioxide, dissolved in the sunlit portion of the ocean, and produce about half of the world’s oxygen. 

Want to learn more about how we study the ocean? Follow @NASAEarth on twitter.

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com.  

Marc Crockett

People horrifically fucking up facts about evolution and genetics too support their stupid beliefs or to seem smart and “rational” is probably one of my big pet peeves 

“The State of  Archaeology”

Such a scary title right? Well, boy oh boy do I have an adventure for you today.

So, I was at a really bougie historic preservation conference because my bosses were presenting. The last panel I went to was supposed to cover the kinds of issues with Cultural Resource Management (CRM) the state was coming across. 

They ended up talking about how all of this would kind of be fixed if we had more funding from the state and more robust laws surrounding archaeological materials.

But this was a room of basically only archaeologists, and mostly professional archaeologists over the age of 35. We were in such an echo chamber. I was the only “young” student there.

SO. I start getting pissed because the same people just kept practically saying “but HOW do we fix our funding problem, we have such AWESOME sites.” “oh, the public is definitely a vital piece to archaeology” but no one was saying the (what I thought was) obvious.

TL;DR If archaeologists want to fix their problems, they need to DO something about it instead of sitting in an echochamber. WE need to make sure the public knows what we do, and more importantly, WHY it matters. We need to make sure the information we disseminate is not just for ourselves in the present, but for the public, for EVERYONE, and for everyone in perpetuity.

it’s really not as bad as you might think!

honey is the only food product that never spoils. there are pots of honey that are over five thousand years old and still completely edible

Robotic companions will never take the place of our furry best friends – but they can help us get them (and us) out of a jam! Test your robotic readiness by figuring out these futuristic scenarios.

Can we talk? Starting a career in science communication

“Here is how science is relevant and has an impact on your life, and more importantly, here is how it can empower you.” ~ Mónica Feliú-Mójer

In this week’s featured podcast, “Sci on the Fly,” our own AAAS Science and Technology Policy fellow Allyson Kennedy interviews neurobiologist Mónica Feliú-Mójer, communications and science outreach director at Ciencia Puerto Rico. 

We’ll let them take it from here: bit.ly/2ITDur3   

Above:  Mónica I. Feliú-Mójer delivering the keynote talk at the University of North Carolina STEM Diversity conference,  Credit: Katherine Gale Stember Feliú-Mójer is also associate director for diversity and communication training at NSF-funded iBiology, where she produced a series of videos that is rethinking the narrative of “diversity in science”: https://goo.gl/3xmTET Below:  Allyson Kennedy, Ph.D., a developmental biologist and 2017-18 Science & Technology Policy fellow at NSF, in The Dickinson Lab at Virginia Commonwealth University, where she did her graduate and postdoctoral work,  Credit: Allyson Kennedy, Ph.D.   

https://www.nsf.gov/od/oia/activities/aaasfellows/bios/kennedy.jsp

Above: Kennedy at Virginia Commonwealth University, where she led one arm of a multidisciplinary project investigating the effects of e-cigarettes on embryonic development,  Credit: Leah Small, VCU Public Affairs https://www.aaaspolicyfellowships.org/ Below: Feliú-Mójer filming a segment for Univision that featured Latinxs in higher education. She is showing the camera the model organism she used for her PhD research, the nematode C. elegans, Credit: Mónica I. Feliú-Mójer, Ph.D 

Did you know that Uranus was (accidentally) discovered on this day in 1781, the first planet to be discovered with the aid of a telescope? At first, British astronomer William Herschel thought the object in the sky to be a star or comet, but within two years, other astronomers showed it was a new planet orbiting the Sun. The ice giant is four times wider than the Earth and appears blue due to the methane in its atmosphere. Photo: NASA