Five basic types of taste exist: sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami. Most people are familiar with all of these except the last, umami, which…
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Category: Biology
Are swimming zooplankton driving ocean currents? Sort of.
Biomixing, where the ocean is mixed by swimming animals, has long been a hot topic in oceanography. Some people think all that biological flapping and stroking…
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Diagnosing Death with Diatoms
“I know you drowned him in the ocean, these bones don’t lie…” Ever heard of forensic limnology? Neither had I, until I had a random…
View More Diagnosing Death with DiatomsZOMG Whale shark attack!!!! Or not…
So this little gem came across my Google alerts today. The cognitive dissonance between what happens (biologically) in that video, what the two intrepid heroes…
View More ZOMG Whale shark attack!!!! Or not…New Obligations and Continuing Challenges in Shark Conservation
As the sun rose this morning here in Trinidad and Tobago where I’m conducting field work, I was certain about two facts. First: Trinidadians and…
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The Tale of a New Phylum That Really Wasn’t
In 1986, a group of scientists from Australia and New Zealand described, in the one of the highest profile scientific journals, the existence of a…
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Summer of the Goatfish
I take on a senseless internet meme and make it even more so – for science. With the northern hemisphere days getting shorter, and…
View More Summer of the GoatfishThe official anthology of Rick Ross rapping about crustaceans
I generally bow to Dr. M and Alex when it comes to rap music knowledge, but I’m just going to add this little factlet to the…
View More The official anthology of Rick Ross rapping about crustaceans
No way is that a Manta in the Kelp Forest…
Yes…yes it is. This video was just taken off of San Clemente Island by spearfisherman Carter Jessop (used with permission). This is his account…
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What the "Call of the Reef" is Telling Us
Coral reefs are in crisis. They are fragile. They are complex. And they are disappearing faster than we are able to understand them. This threat…
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