This Past Weekend Marked The First Anniversary Of The Launch Of NASA’s Latest Ocean Color Satellite,

Guess hoo-hoo it is 🦉

The owlfish, named for the size of its large eyes relative to its head, lives throughout the North Pacific. These species are in the family Bathylagidae and are relatively common in the deep sea, living at depths of over 6,000 meters (19,685 feet). In Monterey Bay, we observe these fish between a few hundred meters to over 2,000 meters (6,560 feet)

(Feb 6, 2016) Photos from Volcano Irazú in Costa Rica.

NSF cancels grant reviews due to WH executive order

The National Science Foundation (NSF)—the major funding agency for basic science—has canceled all grant review panels this week to comply with an executive order from the new administration. This is where independent panels of scientists discuss grant proposals they’ve reviewed for scientific merit and recommend which projects get funded to NSF project managers. A LOT of work goes into setting up and scheduling grant reviews. It will take time to reschedule these panels, delaying key decisions for many promising projects. This will wreak havoc on science grant funding for months to come.

Put simply, this action along with the halting of NIH-funded grants are blatant and reckless political attacks on science, from an administration that seeks blinding loyalty.

NPR

National Science Foundation freezes grant review in response to Trump executive orders

The National Science Foundation has canceled all grant review panels this week. It's unclear how long the pause could last.

Annual Arctic sea ice minimum, 1979-2016

It’s no secret that we think sea otters are pretty swell. 🦦🌊

They are critical in keeping our kelp forests healthy and more resilient to climate change.

Aphid captured under a student microscope.

Family 2

Before...

Pets..

Health scares

Regrets?

I've already written one entry reflecting on how my family is doing without me and how I am doing without all of my family and friends. I've had to deal with a number of things that have happened at home.

Shortly before I left the United States, my grandfather faced a few health scares. By the time I left, everything had almost past, aside from some minor things. I knew there was a possibility that it could get worse while I was abroad, but I also knew that going abroad would not change any outcome.

Then, almost a month and a half ago, my family had to put one of our dogs to sleep. It was very sudden and everything happened in a few days. What made this more surprising is that our oldest dog is clearly showing his age and we all knew it was possible that I may not see him again, but our other dog is a little bit younger, but he always acts like a puppy so you would never know that he was ten years old. I even remember telling him that I didn’t have to worry about him because it seemed like he was in perfect health. Of course, I feel guilty about saying this, but there is no way I or anyone else could have known what was going to happen.

A few weeks before that, my dad broke his ankle and leg, and would be out of work for weeks. For me, the biggest impact this had was related to money, since my dad is the main bread winner in our family by a mile and it's not like we are rich or very comfortable to begin with. Now, today (Mother's Day in the U.S.), my mom called me because something else happened and my dad has been in critical condition all day and at this point, there is still a lot of uncertainty. It is harder to deal with since I am abroad, especially since a lot of people at SU have finished the semester and have been able to go home.

I think that all of this is plenty of reason to regret going abroad.....but I don't. Even though I lot has happened and is still happening, there is not much I could have done if I was home. More than likely, all of this would have still happened because stuff just happens in life. Don’t get me wrong, it is harder being abroad and being about from all of my friends and family but right now, I'm just reminding myself that stuff like this happens in life and often under the worst of circumstances (not that there is a best of circumstances).

Why Octopuses Could Never Disappoint 

These cephalopods, who telegraph their moods by color changes and solve problems by using tools, have surprised me again and again.

And now it’s happened again. An octopus has astonished me.

This time, it’s a common octopus caught on camera in South African waters by a dive team for the documentary Blue Planet II, currently airing on BBC America in the United States.

The action is dramatic. A pyjama shark seizes the octopus. Just as the situation begins to look dire, the octopus stuffs the shark’s gills shut using its sinuous arms, making it impossible for the shark to breathe — until the shark releases it.

Dinoflagellates The dinoflagellates are a large group of flagellate protists. Most are marine plankton, but they are common in fresh water habitats as well. They are characterized by two flagella, one girdling the cell and the other trailing the cell. Some dinoflagellates exist in coral, in a symbiotic relationship. These dinoflagellates are termed the zooxanthellae. Other dinoflagellates occur in such high numbers that the water is colored red, a phenomenon known as a red tide.