On Australia
Posted by Grg in Don't Go In the Water, Dumb thoughts, General stuff on Thursday, December 2, 2010
“Things in Australia that can kill you.”
In close second is “Things in Austalia that will kill you.”
The Question and Answer Book of Space: About Astronauts
Posted by Grg in Science Fandom, Science/Geek on Wednesday, November 24, 2010
The suit adds a few inches, but renders your arms useless, I'm afraid.
Many men and women, too, in this country would like to be astronauts. But who are we kidding? Men. Big men of science.
Again, like young Werner, below, note the dress and posture. Right hand up, slacks pressed with the force of a thousand colliding suns. Less casual this time, as noted by the darker sports coat and the dangling left hand. This is a man of serious cheekbones and disposition. The sort of man we need to strap to the top of a rocket and let fly. He could use the release, metaphorical or otherwise.
Why I don’t go in the water: More on Squidworm
Posted by Grg in Don't Go In the Water, Science Fandom, Science/Geek on Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Who lives in your nightmares under the sea? SQUIDWORM WIGGLYPANTS!
Ugh. All wiggly and covered in its nasty little appendages. That’s not a proper worm, its the embodiment of an entry mid-way through the “S” section of the Lovecraftian bestiary. Of course, its only about 10 centimeters (about 4 inches) long, but it has, like, 10 of these little arms.
Squidworm was discovered 2,800 meters (about 9200 feet) beneath the Indian Ocean, thanks to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute for Finding Tiny Awful Things (EDIT: I mentioned this earlier), who found it using one of their handy submersibles. Which one? the MSNBC article I linked from doesn’t say. Bad MSNBC.
Moreover, the MSNBC folks categorize this as a missing link, which gets my hackles up some. Not only does “missing link” rank along with “holy grail” as my least favorite science cliche, it isn’t a missing link. Missing link implies transitional fossil. This is real, this is now. To what are we proposing squidworm as link between, Greg asks in a spit-flecked bit of poorly structured sentence? A worm and squid? Annelida and Mollusca? (Same thing, just getting fancy.) Can’t blame MSNBC too much, of course, as they were quoting a researcher who was looking for a way to say that these critters represent a branch of the evolutionary tree (ugh, talk about bad science cliche) where worms could move between the mud and the sea above — in that bit of the deep water known as the benthic (great word) zone.
Fortunately, you can read the scientific article in Biology Letters (if you happen to have access) which states that they used the awesomely-named Max Rover, Global Explorer, which sounds more like a PBS Kids series about a globe-trotting canine than a deep sea submersible. Max Rover isn’t part of Woods Hole, but apparently a system run by a company called Deep Sea Systems, presumably a WHOI-related contractor or something.
The Biology Letters article muses on how squidworm has managed to evade detection:
The relative inaccessibility of the deep sea has left most of its vast spaces unexplored, so discovery of new species is seldom surprising. The unusual morphology, large size, numerous observations (16 within seven dives), behaviour and phylogenetic position of T. samae are however a surprise. How could such an animal evade collection until now? We believe that the immense volume of deep, pelagic habitat, the difficulty of sampling deep demersal communities and T. samae’s ability to swim away from towed observational or sampling gear probably all contributed to its long seclusion.
The lead researcher on the project author on the study, Karen Osborn of UC, San Diego/Scripps Oceanographic Institute, previously published the discovery of a species of ocean worm that used bioluminescent bombs to evade predators. Squidworms, bomber worms…what hath Karen wrought open mankind with her insatiable thirst for the damnable horrors of annelida?
On yet another tangent, Karen’s lab website is found at spineless.ucsd.edu/ — Spineless! How freakin’ precious is that?
Update: I switched lead researcher to lead author, because I honestly don’t know if Karen was the lead on the overall project, but she was certainly the lead author on the paper.
Ghosts on the loose in the USS Olympia…or maybe just a bid for tourists
Posted by Grg in Dumb thoughts, Grg's Reference, PR Guy, Rant/Rave, Skeptic on Friday, October 29, 2010
“I’m a complete rationalist,” said Jesse Lebovics, manager of the Olympia and submarine Becuna for the Independence Seaport Museum. “I can explain most of it.
“But [the ship] certainly has a colorful enough history that I think if something were to be around, it makes sense it would be around the Olympia,” Lebovics said.
Sure, Jesse, nice “but” there. I’d think a few ghosts would be mighty convenient for you though.
I don’t necessarily blame the folks who run the Olympia for pitching this story. After all, we’ve seen Eastern State Penitentiary go from moldering historical curiosity to one of the most popular “haunted” places in America by embracing the ghost tourist industry. (By day a historic gem, by night a history-making cash cow.) And the Independence Seaport Museum is still reeling from the scandal left behind by its former president, who ran the place as his own personal cash/political favor machine.
Apparently, the ISM has already pimped out the ship to the ghost TV reality show industry, a necessary first step, I’m sure, before they partner with a ghost tour outfit. That is, if they can put it together in time. According to previous reports, they’re looking to sell it for $20 million or they’ve threatened to sink it off the coast of Cape May. My thinking is that it will join the SS United States and become another ghost ship of Philadelphia.
Um, not in the haunted sense, but the abandoned, looming over Ikea sense…although the Olympia doesn’t necessarily loom over anything.
You want to save the Olympia? Save the waterfront. May my father, a highway engineer since the 60′s, forgive me, but let’s get rid of I-95. The idea is so mad it might work.
UPDATE:
I can’t link it directly, but check out picture number four in the gallery. The caption says it all: “In recordings, Harry Burkhardt says, he has heard voices, including one that told him: ‘Save the ship!’”
Harry, are you certain Jesse wasn’t whispering in your ear?
Why I don’t go in the water: Death Tuna
Posted by Grg in Don't Go In the Water on Monday, October 25, 2010
…scuba diver Ramir Te, who was on a diving expedition, was 80 feet below the surface when he was pulled down by a giant tuna fish at the waters off Kiamba afternoon of Sunday.
Oooh, sorry Charlie. Hope he didn’t get lead poisoning along with the bends. 
Its generally good thing that cows and tuna don’t chat. Better yet, maybe we ought to take the warning and just cut back on tuna consumption.
Why I don’t go in the water: Needlefish Attack!
Posted by Grg in Don't Go In the Water, Science/Geek on Tuesday, October 19, 2010
He probably uses this fish to kill other, bigger fish.
The fish’s long, pointed snout punctured Larson’s back and collapsed a lung, said Bobby Dube, spokesman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Larson, 46 of Cudjoe Key, was rescued at sea Sunday evening by two volunteer firefighters and a paramedic who rushed her to Dolphin Marina.
“She was scared. We were all scared,” said volunteer firefighter Kevin Freestone, who used two of his towboat company’s boats to respond. “She was in a very bad way. She was in a lot of pain and her breathing was weak.”
A waiting helicopter airlifted Larson nearly 100 miles to Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami. She was in serious but stable condition in the intensive care unit on Monday, a hospital spokesman said.
Oh, but this isn’t the first recorded attack by flying fishspears, why check out these assuredly true tales:
In 2000, a 17-year-old girl was snorkeling off Big Pine Key when she was struck by a jumping houndfish. Its bill broke off in her neck, just missing her carotid artery. She lived to tell about the tale after emergency surgery at Fishermen’s Hospital in Marathon.
Another incident involving a houndfish and human occurred more than a decade ago in the Dry Tortugas, about 70 miles west of Key West.
A graduate student was diving at night for a project and the light of a glow stick tied to the top of his air tank apparently attracted the fish, which slammed into the side of his head. The graduate student lived.
A fisherman in Malaysia was not so lucky in 1999. He was killed when a houndfish stabbed him through the lung.
I like kayaking, despite my fear of that which nibbles beneath the sea. Next time, I think I’ll wear a flack jacket underneath the life vest. Still, I can’t wait until SyFy makes this into a movie, like Megapirahna, only no amount of bicycle kicking will save your ass:
Linkdump: Save the words
Posted by Grg in Grg's Reference on Monday, October 18, 2010
Also, if I ever do that podcast thing I wanted to do, I’m using a song from this album as its theme. Probably Sambarama (track 4 below).
Why I don’t go in the water: even more nasty things ‘neath the sea
Posted by Grg in Don't Go In the Water, Rant/Rave, Science Fandom, Science/Geek on Monday, October 4, 2010
Still, I’m creeped out.
This critter, below, for example is a squidworm. The forward tentacles are there, I’m sure, to rape your mind.
Apparently, squidward squidworm was identified during a 2007 expedition to the Celebes Sea, near Borneo.
From the expedition’s chief scientist, Larry Madin:
When we got down nearer the bottom with the ROV, we encountered the most unusual and unfamiliar animal of all. When we first spotted it, people watching the video called out “squid,” “no, shrimp,” “maybe a fish,” “I think it’s a worm.” It did turn out to be a worm, but like nothing we had ever seen before. A worm almost 10 centimeters long, swimming with a row of paddles formed from stiff bristles, and with 10 long, writhing tentacles coming out of its head. No wonder we thought it could be a squid! We did end up calling it the “squidworm.” We think it may be an undescribed species, but none of us are experts on polychaete worms, so we’ll have to wait until a real specialist can tell us more about it.
Why I don’t go in the water: Sea Pigs
Posted by Grg in Don't Go In the Water, Science/Geek on Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Ick.
The Question and Answer Book of Space: Earth
Posted by Grg in Science Fandom, Science/Geek, Vintage science on Tuesday, September 21, 2010
The Earth, of course, is much too close to the moon, or vice-versa, I’m not sure which. And both are much nearer to the sun, unless it is in the process of exploding in which case the Mercurians and Venusians have already had it. The Earth is 93 million miles or so from the sun and, as everyone knows, of course, the moon is exactly one helvetica away from the Earth, roughly 238,857 miles.
Still, it does well to set up the whole vast loneliness of space thing, which is a bit much for a kids book written in the midst of the space race. Figure this, between the book’s first printing, 1965, and this edition, 1970, Americans had already witnessed two landings and were beginning to scan the dial to see what else was on TV.