Oil is bad for wildlife. Period. But we really do not understand how it is bad. What does it do? Can marine organisms respond physiologically…
View More Why Oil-Laden Prey is Bad for Sea BirdsTag: Best of Zelnio
Putting Oilmageddon 2010 in Context
When I posted Iglu’s revised Oil Spill Timeline a few days, I didn’t give much thought to visual properties of the data presented in the…
View More Putting Oilmageddon 2010 in ContextWhat in Darwin’s Name Are Chaetognaths?!
Lynn Margulis classified the Chaetognaths, known as arrow worms, as deuterostomes. Deuterostomy is characterized by several developmental characteristics including radial, indeterminate cleavage, a posterior position…
View More What in Darwin’s Name Are Chaetognaths?!Huge Silicate Sponge Spicules and the Evolution of Calcification
The deep-sea sponge Monorhaphis chuni (Hexactinellida) has the world’s largest known biosilica structure! A silicate spicule that can grow up to 3 meters long. That’s…
View More Huge Silicate Sponge Spicules and the Evolution of CalcificationFiddler Crabs Moult for a Breath of Fresh Air
Everyone knows that all crabs moult. Its no secret. When you wear you skeleton on the outside, its difficult to find the room to grow.…
View More Fiddler Crabs Moult for a Breath of Fresh AirThe ‘Eye’ of the Vent Shrimp
*Not to be confused with the hit song by Survivor. The vent shrimp Rimicaris exoculata (literally the Rift-shrimp deprived of eyes) swarms hydrothermal chimneys, with…
View More The ‘Eye’ of the Vent ShrimpScience Communicator or Scientist Communicator?
The distinction is not trivial. I have been thinking about this alot over the last couple years while reflecting on my goals and how I…
View More Science Communicator or Scientist Communicator?The Cove
Disclaimer: This review may not appropriate for all audiences. Certainly not anyone that is sensitive to violence against dolphins. If you think you may be…
View More The CoveSay Hello to My Little Friend
What looks like a worm, is completely symmetrical in cross-section, and in the words of Dr. Peter Holland: “It has no mouth, no gut, no…
View More Say Hello to My Little FriendIsopods Cause Reproductive Death in Shrimp
Isopods, you know them as those adorable little roly-poly bugs under rocks in the forest or the gigantic Bathynomus of the deep sea. They are…
View More Isopods Cause Reproductive Death in Shrimp