A Lonely Tree Far From Home Brings New Life to the Ocean Deep: A Narrative in Five Acts
A Lonely Tree Far From Home Brings New Life to the Ocean Deep: A Narrative in Five Acts avatar

Act 1: Wood Falling on Water At two miles below the ocean’s surface, I see wooden carcasses, once buoyant, lying listlessly on the abyssal seafloor. They range from small fragments to 2000+ pound behemoths.  Ligneous cadavers litter the seafloor, a last resting place for visitors from a faraway and drier place, becoming rare as . . . → Read More: A Lonely Tree Far From Home Brings New Life to the Ocean Deep: A Narrative in Five Acts

A Lonely Tree Far From Home Brings New Life to the Ocean Deep: A Narrative in Five Acts avatar

Cool as a sea cucumber: life (and death) at extraordinary deep sea pressures
Cool as a sea cucumber: life (and death) at extraordinary deep sea pressures avatar

Edit – In the original article I said that the sphere of the Deep Challenger was made of titanium.  In fact, it’s made of steel.  My bad! In trying to explain to friends, colleagues and Twitter followers during recent days what James Cameron may have seen out that softball-sized window of the Deep Challenger submersible . . . → Read More: Cool as a sea cucumber: life (and death) at extraordinary deep sea pressures

Cool as a sea cucumber: life (and death) at extraordinary deep sea pressures avatar

What knowledge of the deep sea tell us about life on other planets
What knowledge of the deep sea tell us about life on other planets avatar

We as humans have three fundamental questions. Where do we come from? Where are we going? Are we alone in the universe? The answers to these thrust at the core of our humanity and uniqueness.  Through science we seek out replies to these inquiries. The Drake Equation In 1960 the National Academy of Sciences asked . . . → Read More: What knowledge of the deep sea tell us about life on other planets

What knowledge of the deep sea tell us about life on other planets avatar

Finding The Perfect Home That Just Screams YOU!
Finding The Perfect Home That Just Screams YOU! avatar

Hermit Crab Changes Shell & Hermit in a Bottle “After having looked for years, we finally saw a hermit crab in the act of switching shells. And, in the same month, also saw one walking around in a bottle!” Find out lots of great pictures and videos by the divers at Blenny Watcher, an . . . → Read More: Finding The Perfect Home That Just Screams YOU!

Finding The Perfect Home That Just Screams YOU! avatar

What’s In Your Stomach?
What’s In Your Stomach? avatar

With Mardi Gras recently passing, I was privileged to partake of a King Cake graciously offered by a coworker.  Originally European in tradition, the riche brioche-style cake is now also popular along the Gulf coast. King Cakes are recognizable from nearly 3 miles away by the patches of green, purple, and gold sugar that top . . . → Read More: What’s In Your Stomach?

What’s In Your Stomach? avatar

The Large But Enigmatic Supergiant
The Large But Enigmatic Supergiant avatar

In 1899 a French zoologist named Edouard Chevreux with an inordinate fondness for crustaceans officially described two crustaceans from the deepest parts of the ocean. Over 100 hundred years later, scientists have collected less than two dozen specimens of this enigmatic shellfish, shocking given that is largest species of amphipod ever known. Within Crustacean . . . → Read More: The Large But Enigmatic Supergiant

The Large But Enigmatic Supergiant avatar

Extinct life is like a box of chocolates
Extinct life is like a box of chocolates avatar

I celebrated another lap around the sun this weekend, and in honour of that my friend Betty, who lives in Arizona, sent me a rather awesome gift.  It wasn’t elegantly wrapped; in fact, its contents were variously contained in a decidedly pedestrian mix of old bubble wrap, styrofoam noodles and plastic bags from Target AND . . . → Read More: Extinct life is like a box of chocolates

Extinct life is like a box of chocolates avatar

Perverted cannibalistic hermaphrodites haunt the Pacific Northwest!
Perverted cannibalistic hermaphrodites haunt the Pacific Northwest! avatar

This is a repost from my former blog The Oyster’s Garter and was originally published on March 24, 2008. I’m re-posting in honor of Kate Clancy‘s & Scicurious‘ Sex, gender and controversy: writing to educate, writing to titillate session at Science Online 2012, since this is one of the silliest bits of sex-related writing I’ve ever . . . → Read More: Perverted cannibalistic hermaphrodites haunt the Pacific Northwest!

Perverted cannibalistic hermaphrodites haunt the Pacific Northwest! avatar

TGIF – Flatworm Fu… er… Mating.
TGIF – Flatworm Fu… er… Mating. avatar

“There actually sticking their penises in each othr quite randomly.” Invertebrate reproduction or one crazy night in Vegas?? You decide! Hat tip to @echinoblog. Broadcast Spawn!Tweet#call_to_action h4{padding:0px 5px;}“There actually sticking their penises in each othr quite randomly.” Invertebrate reproduction or one crazy night in Vegas?? You decide! Hat tip to @echinoblog. Broadcast Spawn!Tweet

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow
Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow avatar

Oh the dark deep sea is frightful, 
 But the food not so delightful,
 But since we’ve got no place to go,
 Let It Marine Snow! Let It Marine Snow! Let It Marine Snow! The deep-sea floor is a patch mosaic of habitats In the late 1960’s, two marine biologists, Howard Sanders and Robert . . . → Read More: Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow avatar