Recent headlines have reported that a mass coral bleaching event is currently threatening coral reefs throughout the Hawaiian Islands. But what exactly does that mean? Corals turn white.. so what? Why does that matter? Here are a few things you need to know about coral bleaching and how it is like a bad break-up: What exactly is a coral? … Continue reading
I recently read a great blog post about issues with the spread of misinformation via social media. If you are a social media user, I’m sure this is something you are familiar with. How often have you gone on Facebook and seen “16 dead in tragic roller coaster accident in Orlando” all over the page? … Continue reading
You know that routine when the electricity goes out, but you find yourself flipping the lightswitch every time you walk into a room anyway? That’s how I imagine the people of Toledo felt last week when they went to fill up the tea kettle- take a shower- wash an apple- top off the dog dish- … Continue reading
As a scientist studying issues related to climate change, I have had my share of futile conversation, arguments, and debates with climate deniers. It happens, perhaps too frequently. I recently had one of these conversations with a well-educated, young engineer during a cross-country flight. Said engineer was not so sure that the human impact on … Continue reading
Funneling women into STEM majors seems easy enough. Add enough women in the mix, and (like trickle-down economics) those women will get tenure track positions, they’ll encourage the next generation and so on. In a perfect world, if a girl were interested in science, she would study science, and then she would get a job … Continue reading
As promised but a little late, here’s a breakdown of current tidal energy technologies! This post is similar to my previous summary of wave energy techniques, so hopefully you’ll find it just as informative. The utilization of tidal, or as it is sometimes termed ‘current,’ energy is a bit different from wave energy in its … Continue reading
Science can be wonderfully serendipitous. Any number of terse journal articles would seem to dispute this, but a refreshingly readable (and open access!) new article in the American Geophysical Union’s journal Earth’s Future showcases the fact that one can go searching for diatoms and instead find… plastic. Okay, this is no cause for celebration, as … Continue reading
China’s Offshore Wind to Pick Up the Pace China just might beat the US to the punch in offshore wind energy development! Continue reading
A really informative imagination of what developing a tidal energy farm would look like. The concept in this video is actually a little revolutionary when compared with their cousins, wind turbines. These tidal turbines are capable of harvesting the energy from tidal currents in both directions as they ebb and flood, in a fairly linear … Continue reading
By now I’m sure you’ve heard about the new Clean Power Plan put forth by the EPA (through the direction of President Obama) on Monday. If not, you should check out the press release and do some digging of your own. As with all issues discussed in my posts, I encourage you, the reader, to … Continue reading
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