We All Fell for the Whale Fall.
WHALEY BIG FIND! We’re still documenting the baleen whale skeleton we discovered with @MBNMS at Davidson Seamount off central CA’s coast. Scavenging fish and octopus strip blubber while bone-eating Osedax worms dissolve bones onsite.
Watch #NautilusLIVE: https://t.co/Ajj54YYX2Q pic.twitter.com/d8DAAepgiB
— E/V Nautilus (@EVNautilus) October 16, 2019
The E/V Nautilus found a decomposing whale skeleton at the bottom of the ocean last week. Hanging out with bone-eating worms has never been so fun!
—Jenessa Duncombe, Staff Writer
Diseases Are Spreading with Climate Change. Panic Doesn’t Have To. Valley fever is riding the wave of warmer, drier air in the West, and health officials are taking new approaches to informing and warning the public.
—Heather Goss, Editor in Chief
Astronomers Discover “Cosmic Yeti” Galaxy from the Early Universe.
With Halloween just around the corner, scientists now have proof of a new monster—a monster galaxy, that is. A University of Arizona astronomer recently spotted light “in an area without a known galaxy.”
—Tshawna Byerly, Copy Editor
Scientific Integrity Act Passes House Committee.
What excellent news for the scientific community and for the public! The part of the bill that prohibits “suppressing, altering, interfering with, delaying without scientific merit, or otherwise impeding the release and communication of, scientific or technical findings” is particularly needed in today’s politically charged landscape and in this climate crisis. Now, on to the full House….
—Kimberly Cartier, Staff Writer
The Experts Have Spoken: Disbanded Particulate Pollution Panel Finds EPA Standards Don’t Protect Public Health. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) disbanded its Particulate Matter Review Panel about a year ago. However, scientists from that panel continued their work as an independent group. They recently released recommendations to the EPA administrator on the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Particulate Matter.
—Randy Showstack, Staff Writer
Paleontologists Discover Complete Saurornitholestes langstoni Specimen.
Preserved in this new specimen is its flat tooth with ridges that is thought to have been used for preening its feathers. Imagine this flying dinosaur landing on your balcony railing to preen itself if it were around today—it’s the size of a large turkey but with a very long tail and, of course, teeth!
—Liz Castenson, Editorial and Production Coordinator
California Launches Nation’s First Earthquake Early Warning System.Last week, on the thirtieth anniversary of the devastating 1989 earthquake that hit the San Francisco Bay Area, an app was launched called MyShake that “notifies residents of an earthquake of magnitude 4.5 or higher in their area.”
—Melissa Tribur, Production Specialist
A Universal Law for the “Blood of the Earth.” The natural pattern that describes how snowflakes form and bacterial colonies spread, called Laplacian growth, also appears to characterize how many river networks around the world take shape, according to a series of studies. This piece clearly summarizes the work—and some skepticism about it—and wonderfully captures the appeal of a topic that’s long fascinated scientists but that with a blander recounting, might not be quite enough to excite most of us.
—Timothy Oleson, Science Editor
The Limits of Science. This is a great essay for anyone looking to understand how rational, thoughtful people can be antiscience, and how we define science itself might require a more humanitarian approach.
—Caryl-Sue, Managing Editor
Citation:
(2019), Dead whales, dinosaurs, a Yeti, and other spooky news of the week, Eos, 100, https://doi.org/10.1029/2019EO136143. Published on 24 October 2019.
Text © 2019. AGU. CC BY-NC-ND 3.0
Except where otherwise noted, images are subject to copyright. Any reuse without express permission from the copyright owner is prohibited.
Text © 2019. AGU. CC BY-NC-ND 3.0
Except where otherwise noted, images are subject to copyright. Any reuse without express permission from the copyright owner is prohibited.