I’ll be headed up to where it’s colder this weekend for the NC Science Blogging Conference. I will be participating in one panel discussion during the conference, Real-time blogging in the marine sciences from 9:50-11:00 a.m. (ET).
Moderated by Kevin Zelnio of The Other 95%, Peter Etnoyer of Deep Sea News, Karen James of the Beagle Project, Rick Mac Pherson of Malaria, Bedbugs, Sea Lice, and Sunsets and Jason Robertshaw of the Cephalopodcast.
Our discussion will be initially be focused on the following:
- Using blogs as a tool in Science, Conservation and Marine Education
- Blogs as filters of novel research and synthesizers of concepts
- Communicating Marine Science to the public via blogs (including podcasting and video blogs) to increasing public awareness of Ocean Science and related issues (i.e. who reads marine biology blogs and why).
- Blogging from the field as a method to communicate the scientific method, how research is done and what its like to be a scientist
- The multifaceted constraints of blogging in the field and to what extent blogging does or does not represent the organization you work for.
This is in an unconference format, so everyone who attends the event is encouraged to be an active participant in all of the sessions and discussions.
Also, depending on the bandwidth capabilites available, I will attempt to stream the presentation.
Some of the kids over at Metafilter are suggesting that today is Giant Squid Day. Others suspect it maybe Cloverfield virality. Either way, get your ink on over here:
![Carnival Of The Blue [100x100, 7K]](http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1148/531775421_125285bc74_t.jpg "Carnival Of The Blue")
Things have been pretty dry here at the cephaloblog. My apologies, but tis the season for distraction. I didn’t even have a post worth forwarding on to this month’s Carnival of the Blue. But you can moisten up with the latests submission from other fin folk. Carnival of the Blue #7 is now up at The Natural Patriot.
And I have a long overdue interview with Mark Powell to post on this very matter shortly. Stay tuned.
Now that the thanking and the giving is nearly over, take a look at this Wired article to see what the meal looked like under high magnification. There is turkey, gravy, cranberry, bread, beer, potato, peas.
Wired asked Mike Davidson, a biologist and expert photomicrographer at Florida State University’s National High Magnetic Field Lab, to turn his lenses on the all-American meal. The images aren’t particularly appetizing, and they probably won’t help you keep your gobbler moist this year (try brining), but at least you’ll be more intimate with the stuff that’s making you loosen your belt as you collapse on the couch.
![lionfish, by jon hanson [240x196, 44K]](http://cephalopodcast.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/90795994-aec234acf5-m.jpg "lionfish, by jon hanson")
lionfish, by jon hanson
Common names: Lionfish, lion fish, zebrafish, firefish, turkeyfish, red lionfish, butterfly cod, ornate butterfly-cod, peacock lionfish, red firefish, scorpion volitans
Happy Turkey Day for those in the States. Ben Franklin famously suggested that the turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) would make a more fitting symbol for the United States than the bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus). Many derisively scoff at the notion, but if you read this account of his recommendation, especially in light of current events, it’s rather telling we chose the latter bird instead.
But there is another turkey out there that I wanted to mention today. This one won’t end up on too many dinner plates, probably because it’s a venomous fish. more commonly known as the lionfish in the United States, Pterois volitans is also called the Turkeyfish in many other parts of the world. Normally found in the Indo-Pacific Ocean, it has recently been found in increasing numbers off the east coast of the U.S. It is a common and spectacular staple of the live reef fish trade and authorities suspect specimens released from aquariums were the original source of the invasive population.
The Turkeyfish is in the Scorpionfish family and is a predator of smaller fish. Authorities fear that as its range expands into new areas, it will have a disruptive effect on the ecology of these environments.
More Turkeyfish Day links appear over at the Invasive Species Weblog.
Back in February I cheekily proposed a new Internet adage called Gorton’s Law. It was an allusion to the more well-known Godwin’s Law and is the notion that in any discussion of sea life, no matter how rare, strange or repulsive, some knucklehead will quickly sour the conversation by asking how well it goes with lemon or butter. An addendum to this is that it will usually happen within the first 10 comments and that they might also propose some other condiment.
My intent was to highlight how prevalent the attitude is that sea life is there merely for us to “harverst.” That the primary purpose is for our consumption and not for any intrinsic value or ecological roles those flora and fauna may contain.
Deep-Sea News has now officially formulated this notion into an actual equation.
Gorton’s Measure states that the time for someone to ask “Can you eat?” when discussing a marine species is directly proportional to the rareness, strangeness, and repulsiveness of the species.
![Gorton's Laws, Equation for Sea Life Trolling [154x65, 4K]](http://cephalopodcast.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/eqn8528.jpg "Gorton's Laws, Equation for Sea Life Trolling")
where theta=time for someone to ask “Can you eat?”
t=total people in room
alpha=species’ rareness
sigma=species’ strangeness
delta=species’ repulsiveness
![Gorton's Laws, Equation for Sea Life Trolling [162x35, 4K]](http://cephalopodcast.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/eqn8528-2.jpg "Gorton's Laws, Equation for Sea Life Trolling")
This is related to Gorton’s Constant (Gamma) that states that the question “How well does it go with lemon and butter?” will occur at a very high percentage approaching infinity despite relative changes in audience size (n).
My thanks to Craig for working out the maths. Of course, now that it is officially formulated, I regret a little going for the more amusing Gorton’s Law and not the more eponymous Robertshaw’s Law. At least that way I would have been know for something. Oh well. 
See also:
[via SeaSpan]
The Center for Biodiversity and Conservation at the American Museum of Natural History is offering free marine educational materials for undergraduate and professional-level teaching. Many of the materials are authored by Tundi Agardy, Pew Advisor and executive director of Sound Seas, and cover marine conservation biology, marine protected areas (MPA) and MPA networks, and marine conservation policy.
In order to use the materials, you have to register with NCEP website and promise to use the materials for good, not evil.
If you suckers didn’t get enough of a cephalopod fix between Cephalopod Awareness Day and TONMO, you can now embrace the efforts of Matt Stagg, who is extending a tentacle into the mired depths of Facebook. He has started an International Cephalopod Appreciation Society group therein.
Dr James Wood apparently has a ceph group in Facebook too, but it appears to have entered a stage of senescence.
UPDATE: You know, there are only ~89,000 of these facebooktopuses left. If someone wanted to get me a gift, you know, I wouldn’t mind.
![Giant Octopus - Aquatic Studio Collection [200x150, 52K]](http://cephalopodcast.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/pic-faogpo.jpg)
Saw one of these embiggened octopus plushies today. FAO Schwartz sells them. At ~183 cm across, it’s probably a little too big (and spendy) for Cephalopodcast HQ.
Our octopi [sic] are available in two sizes. The Giant Octopus lives up to his name, reaching almost 63″ from head to tip of tenctacle and he makes a very comfortable pillow. If that’s too big to handle, we also offer a smaller version, constructed of the same richly-detailed plush.
They also have other large, fluffy sea creatures, including sea turtles, hammerhead sharks, walruses, jellyfish, stingrays and clownfish.
Many visitors to this cephaloblog are probably already aware of the plight of the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus. However, there is another, rarer species said to lurk in the farm country of the northeast. And the first photographic evidence of the elusive seven-legged Vermount tree octopus has recently been released. It is an enormous beast which obviously has binocular vision and a hardened siphon. Be aware folks. Be very aware! 
- -
All kidding aside, this concludes my posts for the first annual International Cephalopod Awareness Day. Thanks again to everyone who participated. If you are interested in planning events for next year, head on over to TONMO and join the conversation. And remember, next year it will be 08-October-08!
Sheryl is a sculptor with a couple of quirky works on display. Some are fluffy fantasy while others are bare reality. But the ones that caught my attention the most are her Perma-Pet “cuddlefish”, nudibranchs and octopuppy.
Related items:
[via Megaconference]
![Flag of the Earth [300x186, 12K]](http://cephalopodcast.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/pic-flagofearth.png)
Sure, nations of the world have their flags to fly. But what if you want to consider yourself a citizen of planet Earth? There is a flag for that too.
Created on May 17, 1970 by James W. (Jim) Cadle of St. Joseph, Illinois
Jim designed the Flag of Earth, then hand crafted sewn flags of various sizes, and sold them on his website. Many of the radio observatories around the world, particularly those involved in SETI (the Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence) fly a Flag of Earth as a reminder of the purpose of the searches.
Officially, The Flag of Earth, while on Earth, has had no display protocol. On November 1, 2003, the Flag of Earth became part of the public domain.
Various tentacly things aggregating in my inbox:
Be sure to also check out Mike Levitt’s DIY Action Figure video. Fascinating.
A funny thing happens when you start rearranging the letters in the title of some blogs. Strangely, I see a definite trend towards analagrams with the results from my own blog. 
Anagrams for Cephalopodcast (67254 found)
- Coastal Chopped
- Papa Cod Clothes
- Clashed Cat Poop
- Cloaca Depth Ops
- Cecal Pathos Pod
Anagrams for Pharyngula (176 found)
- A Phyla Rung
- A Harpy Lung
- Angry Pal Uh
- Ah Pray Lung
- Gnarl Yap Uh
Anagrams for Deep-Sea News (1267 found)
- Seaweed Pens
- Sand Pee Wees
- We Need Peas
- Sea Deep Wens
- Sea End Weeps
Anagrams for Laelaps (46 found)
- Ale Laps
- Seal Pal
- Paellas
- All Peas
- All Apes
Anagrams for Shifting Baselines (58824 found)
- A Belting Fishiness
- A Sensible Fish Ting
- A Binge Elfish Snits
- A Bile Fishnet Signs
- Lets Begin A Fish Sin
You can explore your own confirmation bias over at the Wordsmith Internet Anagrams Server.
[via Glenn]
Today’s Too Much Coffee Man comic by Shannon Wheeler is indeed cephalopodtastic. Thanks Glenn!
Anyone else know of funny cephalopod-inspired comics?
Cephaloblog Comments