Marine Fungi are Totally Badass
Marine Fungi are Totally Badass avatar

By , on August 3rd, 2011 9 comments   Microbes, Organisms   , , ,  

That’s right, you heard me—there are mushrooms that live in the sea. OK, well technically a mushroom is a fruiting body of a fungus with a cap, stem and gills, but lets take some dramatic liberties and run with it. A new draft manuscript recently necessitated that I review the literature on marine fungi – . . . → Read More: Marine Fungi are Totally Badass

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Scientist in Residence: Beth Orcutt – “There is More to the Marine Subsurface than Sediments”
Scientist in Residence: Beth Orcutt – “There is More to the Marine Subsurface than Sediments” avatar

By , on July 19th, 2011 Leave a comment   Geology, Microbes, Scientist!   , , , , ,  

Beth is an U.S. postdoc scientist at the Center for Geomicrobiology in Denmark studying tiny microbes that live at the bottom of the ocean and their role in global processes. You can check out her website to learn more about her work. Greetings, lovers of the ocean depths! I sheepishly pop my head back in . . . → Read More: Scientist in Residence: Beth Orcutt – “There is More to the Marine Subsurface than Sediments”

Scientist in Residence: Beth Orcutt – “There is More to the Marine Subsurface than Sediments” avatar

Deep Sea mud as precious as diamonds?
Deep Sea mud as precious as diamonds? avatar

By , on July 5th, 2011 One comment   Conservation & Environment, Mining   , , ,  

Interesting news coming out of Nature Geosciences this weekend. Kato et al (2011) are reporting a veritable treasure trove buried in deep-sea Pacific sediments: rare-earth elements. Elements such as yttrium are critical components for consumer electronics–thus, much sought after in today’s technology-driven world. Occurrence of rare-earth elements in deep-sea mud. Image taken from Kato et . . . → Read More: Deep Sea mud as precious as diamonds?

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Dumping Stuff In The Deep Will Solve All Our Problems
Dumping Stuff In The Deep Will Solve All Our Problems avatar

By , on February 11th, 2009 Leave a comment   Conservation & Environment, Dumping, Environmental Sciences, Industry & Government   , , , , ,  

Mention any carbon sequestration scheme and inevitably someone’s original idea is to dump it into the deep. All these plans share 1)an out -of-site out-of-mind attitude and 2) ignorance about processes in the deep. So pardon me if I don’t get too excited about the new scheme to save us all. Rick and Miriam have . . . → Read More: Dumping Stuff In The Deep Will Solve All Our Problems

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