The Last Word

By: | May 27, 2017

May 22 – 26, 2017

Lots of reduxes this week — “redux” in this case meaning posts that were posted before but would be nice to reread, if for no other reason than that the authors liked them.

Christie on the line between dryness and drought:  “How much contrary evidence do we need before we decide it’s time to update our definition of normal? At what point do we as humans let go of the past — the way things were, the present that we’re used to — and accept the future that we’ve created?”

I wrote about how to avoid being maimed by a fall: “Physics says the best way to not let gravity hurt you is to make the fall last as long as possible, drag it out, fall as long as you can.  Just keep falling, see if you can outlast it, maybe if you fall long enough you won’t ever be felled, the splat might never happen.”

Michelle on conservation biologists learning to code:  “In 2013, the team members gradually transformed themselves from scientists into scientist-programmers. They learned to code in R and RStudio, track the different versions of their files in Git, and share their work in GitHub. . . . Now, Lowndes says, marine biologists working in the Baltic can much more easily compare their data to those gathered in the Pacific.”

Rose on readers’ inevitable question of where she gets her ideas:  “In the spirit of my former editor, who told me that anything could be a story, here is a post about ideas. Or, more specifically, not having them. This is an ode to all the ideas that have escaped my grasp. Or, that I could never quite catch in the first place.”

Jenny the nature-lover on what not to do when around sharks:  “I took off one of my dive gloves and waited. If she stuck to her pattern, the shark’s next move would take her exhilaratingly close. She turned and cut in toward me, as I expected, and I stayed still and kept my eye on hers as she closed in. Practically on me now, she swiveled slightly, just enough.”

BONUS
Emma’s comment on Rose’s no-ideas post:  “I have those big sprawling ideas too, lots of them, lumbering around like galaxies. I usually can’t see the edges of them and I don’t know if I’m in the middle of them or out in the suburbs. I wander through these translucent landscapes all day. I do dishes in them, try to pay attention to what my kids are saying.”

 

Redux: Something About Sharks

By: | May 26, 2017

Despite the occasional tragic outcome of such encounters—and they truly are occasional relative to attacks by other wild animals—I love meeting sharks in the wild. So, dive in with me as I recall this experience with Emma the tiger shark in the Bahamas. I don’t know that she was as intrigued with me as I was with her, but I’m happy to report that she left me totally intact.

Here’s the link to my May 2015 post.

 

[photo from unsplash.com]

I Have So Many Ideas, I Have No Ideas At All

By: | May 25, 2017

Whenever I talk to students or aspiring journalists there is one question I dread. It’s also a question I can almost guarantee someone will ask. And it’s this: “Where do you get your ideas?”

I usually answer first, with a performative groan. I hate this question, I say. It’s a good one of course. It’s one I asked guest speakers too. Then I give some kind of answer that usually consists of a combination of things. I recount when a former editor once told me “anything can be a story.” I give the cliche answer that they should “always be curious about everything.” I tell them that when I’m really stuck, I go to a random word generator, and then plug the words it gives me into Google Scholar (this is true, and has resulted in many stories for me). I tell them to always ask sources “what’s the coolest thing happening in your field right now?” or “is there anything else you want to talk about?” I tell them to always keep a notebook or a phone handy. I tell them to read, read, read, write down questions, and talk to people who might not seem useful, because you never know.

The students nod and take notes when I say these things. And then, more often than not, I go home, and I stare at a blank document and think to myself: “How do I come up with ideas?”

Today is one of those days. And so, in the spirit of my former editor, who told me that anything could be a story, here is a post about ideas. Or, more specifically, not having them. This is an ode to all the ideas that have escaped my grasp. Or, that I could never quite catch in the first place.

Continue reading →

The Common Language of Conservation

By: | May 24, 2017

When marine biologist Julia Lowndes started graduate school in California in 2006, she expected to spend the next several years learning about the behavior of the Humboldt squid, which had recently—and dramatically—expanded its range north along the California coast.

But before she learned anything about the squid, she discovered, she had to learn to code.

Continue reading →

Redux: Falling

By: | May 23, 2017

Back in 2012, I wrote about falling and gravity’s terrible vengeance when we don’t perfectly obey and how, if we’d just learned our physics, all this wouldn’t be so surprising.  Re-reading the post now, it seems also to be a nice science metaphor.

That is, physics says the best way to not let gravity hurt you is to make the fall last as long as possible, drag it out, fall as long as you can.  Just keep falling, see if you can outlast it, maybe if you fall long enough you won’t ever be felled, the splat might never happen. I’m not sure that I’m saying anything coherent here, but the idea is comforting.  Anyway, here’s the post.

____

Photo:  Quinn Dombrowski

Redux: When is it time to revise our story?

By: | May 22, 2017

This post first ran on January 26, 2012. We now have three years in a row that have set records for the hottest year on record, and it comes after a string of previous records. 

Today’s post began with a social media status update by my friend Paolo Bacigalupi. Paolo wrote:

At what point does a “drought” become an “arid climate?”

Paolo posed his question months ago, and at first glance, it seemed like nothing more than a jab at Texan politicians like Rick Perry, who deny climate change even as evidence for it accumulates in their own backyards.

But my mind has circled back to Paolo’s question because it touches on so much more than just rainfall in the Southwest. It’s also about the scientific process, the line between data and interpretation and the role of story in science. Continue reading →

The Last Word

By: | May 20, 2017

Drawing of four people in chairs, now with colorWhat a diverse week of posts! Seriously, take a peek at these:
You’ll love Helen’s artistic take on a scientific meeting about immunity. She sketched her experience rather than jotting notes, and it’s pretty great.
Emma introduced us to a field you’ve never heard of, taphonomy, the study of the gritty transition of a human corpse, especially the bones, from biologic to geologic.
Ann wrote about a guy in retirement who digs up the stories behind those old lonely family photos that stack up at junk stores. Some relatives are excited by his discoveries; others not so much.
A redux from Christie celebrates the ink-on-your-fingers experience of reading a real newspaper, like we did in the olden days.
And Jessa finished off the week with a redux on ravens, illustrated with beautifully textured hot-wax paintings by Yukon artist Nicole Bauberger.

Redux: Ravens among us

By: | May 19, 2017

My son and I have been reading Neil Gaiman’s new novelization of Norse Mythology, which includes glancing reference to Odin’s raven informants Huginn and Muninn. It reminded me of this post from March 2011, which featured the artwork of raven-obsessed Yukon artist Nicole Bauberger. Ten years ago I asked Bauberger why she spent years on painstaking encaustic (hot wax) paintings of ravens–at least forty raven paintings in all–some of which now hang on my wall.

Why did this particular avian subject grab her? To the best of my decade-old memory, she told me the following:

“Looking at each other, the raven and I feel like equals. I can’t fly, but he can’t drive stick. And when I paint a raven, I don’t have to worry that I’m stealing his image, because I know it’s nothing he wouldn’t steal from me.”

Here’s the original story.