I am back. Corn is evil. Sign this.

Well, hello again.
I got back from the glorious city of Charleston a couple of days ago!

(This is a happy thing, and a sad thing.)

Anyway, I lost my Internet connection yesterday, and that is why your minds are not whirring with inspiring and sometimes horrible science news.

Let us rectify this!



Quirky.
That is just such a great word.
Shark Week.
The best week of the year.
Discovery Channel is doing a top ten list of quirky sharks (just for me, obviously) before Shark Week starts August 12th.
Huzzah!
#4, the Hammerhead shark.

I guess it is pretty quirktastic.

http://dsc.discovery.com/sharks/hsw/top-10-quirkiest-sharks-07.html#mkcpgn=fbdsc1







When sea turtles wash up on shore (usually a result of tangling in something) they are often exhausted and usually need medical care.
Sea turtle wash back programs in Saint Augustine, Florida, is in need of volunteers.
More information below:

http://www.historiccity.com/2012/staugustine/news/florida/2012-sea-turtle-wash-back-program-27748







And yet again, corn is behind the destruction of the world in general.
(More on this in the other blog, where I will soon type out and publish the first chapter of a memoir I'm writing.
Yes. The first chapter is about corn.)

Pollutants (namely nitrate) are emptying out of farms (CORN.) and properties into the Missouri River, which slowly makes its way into the Gulf of Mexico.
What this nitrate does is suck the oxygen out of the water causing a massive low-oxygen area (hypoxia).
The result of this is death (or immediate flight) for...ummm...everything in its path... and eventually this deadly pesticide by-product filters down into what has become the aptly named "Dead Zone" of the Gulf.
Bad.
And the nitrate levels along the Missouri have increased by 75% since 1980.
Worse.
Oh, and uhhh... scientists can't figure out how to stop it.
Catastrophic.

So, yeah.
That needs to happen.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=dead-zone-pollutant-grows-despite-decades-work







Last but not least, we have a gorgeous photo by NASA, captured yesterday off the coast of Iceland.
It features (from left to right) a swirl of sea ice, a phytoplankton bloom (a lighter blue than the bulk of the ocean) and of course, the (ironically) green terrain of Iceland.
Enjoy!

Petition:

http://signon.org/sign/navy-under-water-sound?source=mo&id=45595-21172192-H1GMSzx

(End the Navy's use of underwater equipment that is damaging to whales and dolphins!)

In honor of my long absence, let's add some zing to my weekly sign-off!

Science, biznitches.