Whoooa PICK ME.

It's been another one of those "Whooooooa PICK ME!" days.


Volcanoes. Hot.
The Arctic. Cold.
Opposites, right?
Heh.
WRONG.
Here are some lovely photos of...Arctic volcanoes.
That's almost as cool as that volcanic lightning from a few days ago.
Almost.

Whoa.

Mount Erebus.

http://news.yahoo.com/photos/stunning-arctic-volcanoes-slideshow/;_ylt=AsPxgmAEGJluqci07dMefecPLBIF;_ylu=X3oDMTRwaDE4YTVvBG1pdANWaWRlbyBGZWF0dXJlZCBDYXJvdXNlbCBTY2llbmNlBHBrZwM1Yzk3YmJiNC05MGU2LTMxODQtYTY3MS04N2U4Y2JhZmFmNDMEcG9zAzIEc2VjA01lZGlhRmVhdHVyZWRDYXJvdXNlbFRlbXAEdmVyA2YzZDc4OTEzLWJiNDItMTFlMS1iZmU3LTFhNmQwZGJlMDcxNw--;_ylg=X3oDMTFsMmxkdGs2BGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANzY2llbmNlBHB0A3NlY3Rpb25z;_ylv=3






Endangered things are endangered.
Also cute.
The green kakapo, or "Night Parrot" (a resident of New Zealand) has been in decline lately, but have no fear!
They are now living in a sanctuary at Codfish Island off the coast of Maori.
Gaze upon these lovely pictures!

Dawwwww.

http://news.yahoo.com/photos/night-parrot-back-from-the-brink-slideshow/;_ylt=AnQufq57dlbH7FQRdnpnbKsPLBIF;_ylu=X3oDMTRwdDAzOHUzBG1pdANWaWRlbyBGZWF0dXJlZCBDYXJvdXNlbCBTY2llbmNlBHBrZwMwNmFlN2UyNC0zZjRkLTMyYmItYTMxZi04OWZlMzBjY2Y3MzUEcG9zAzEEc2VjA01lZGlhRmVhdHVyZWRDYXJvdXNlbFRlbXAEdmVyAzU0Y2RjZDMzLWJiYWYtMTFlMS1iZmJlLWY4NGY0YWYzZmJmYg--;_ylg=X3oDMTFsMmxkdGs2BGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANzY2llbmNlBHB0A3NlY3Rpb25z;_ylv=3







See, I knew this wasn't just a silly little rant on the internet.
Okay, so it is.
But that's good.
Blogging is really just about values, I think.
For instance, I have seriously decided on what to do with my life, besides playing with dolphins.
I want to decrease the level of notsome in the world if at all possible. That would be great.*
What's important to you?

http://news.yahoo.com/why-blog-change-world-140000854.html;_ylt=AnRC5F3M5QuAEcv2Ys4ghxUPLBIF;_ylu=X3oDMTN0NG5qZ3BuBG1pdANUb3BTdG9yeSBTY2llbmNlU0YEcGtnA2M1MmI1ZTAyLTQwMDAtM2VkMS05NTQ1LWNjMjVmZDBjNDBkNQRwb3MDMTAEc2VjA3RvcF9zdG9yeQR2ZXIDMzQ2OGE4YjEtYmJlMy0xMWUxLWJiZmEtMzZlZTEzOGI1MzIz;_ylg=X3oDMTFsMmxkdGs2BGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANzY2llbmNlBHB0A3NlY3Rpb25z;_ylv=3







Soooo, did anyone else completely miss the summer solstice?
Well, that's because it came a day early.
Also I was too busy thinking about how the heck is it 100 degrees in Tennessee? ...
Oh my gosh.
So yeah, longest day of the year. Gone. I didn't even get to stare creepily at the sunset.
Whoa.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-summer-solstice-20120621,0,2600887.story







Phytoplankton aren't usually the type of organism we associate with DEATH BY VIRUS.
Unfortunately, viruses in the ocean kill a lot of phytoplankton.
Weird.
So this virus is a coccolithovirus, which makes sense, because phytoplankton are coccolithophores.
Go figure.
These things have huge diameters (for viruses) - 160-180 nanometers.
That's twice the size of the human flu virus, and bigger than any marine virus.
There have been nine genomes discovered so far, for nine species of coccolithophores.
There is a second part to this article to be posted tomorrow! I shall indeed be checking that business.
Oooooo. Mystery.

Ehux.

http://news.yahoo.com/wanted-know-virus-infects-phytoplankton-part-one-150000277.html;_ylt=AjqOCDGugMwv3Er7ykCjvtYPLBIF;_ylu=X3oDMTNzODdkNzUwBG1pdANUb3BTdG9yeSBTY2llbmNlU0YEcGtnAzY1NmUzOTQ3LWMwZDQtMzk3Ny1hNDhjLWQ5MGY1ODE1MmQ5ZgRwb3MDOQRzZWMDdG9wX3N0b3J5BHZlcgMxODczZDExMS1iYmRmLTExZTEtYjZkZi00M2MwZmY1MTMyOGY-;_ylg=X3oDMTFsMmxkdGs2BGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANzY2llbmNlBHB0A3NlY3Rpb25z;_ylv=3







Okay, so I wrote about fracking a few days ago, and I did indeed say that it is not as likely as other drilling methods to cause an earthquake.
However.
I did not say that it wasn't poisoning our planet. Slowly but surely.
This is slightly different - these are wastewater wells.
BASICALLY, we inject tons of toxic liquid down into the earth because we have nowhere else to put it, and this is obviously
Bad.
And leaky.
Now little toxin fountains pop up in random places across the country.
Oh dear.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=are-fracking-wastewater-wells-poisoning-ground-beneath-our-feeth







Humans in general waste a huge amount of natural resources.
But when humans get...large...it has an even worse effect on the environment.
America as an isolated case has gotten much bigger partially due to the fast-food culture we thrive on, and of course being obese does not have anything to do with how wonderful of a person you are.
But the waste created by someone with five times the appetite of the average person is bound to be impressive.
Not to mention transportation and air conditioning (this means for the food itself, as well as the person).
All around, this does not bode well for the global environment.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=global-shift-obesity-packs-serious-climate-consequences







Predators are becoming increasingly important as the climate changes.
Not just in an Oh we need you to kill things! kind of way, but sometimes in an Oh we need you to try not to overrun species that are already struggling! kind of way.
So, that being said, predators of producers are also important, such as caribou and muskoxen in Greenland - plant diversity is partially dependent on them.
It's all part of the food web, and you better not be messin' with it.
Oh snap.

Muskoxen.

ttp://phys.org/news/2012-06-predators-key-extinctions-planet.html







And now for something that makes Marley very very very happy.
OMGVENEZUELABANNEDSHARKFINNING.
WHOA.
So yeah.
Amazingness.
Also there is now a shark sanctuary covering over 1,000 square kilometers around the Los Roques Archipelago!
Wow!
I mean, it took them long enough to outlaw finning, which is...bad...
*cough* cutting off sharks' fins and throwing them back into the ocean to die *cough*
So yeah.
Kind of sad, but still awesome.
Confusing things are confusing.

Venezuelan lemon shark.

http://news.yahoo.com/venezuela-bans-shark-finning-establishes-shark-sanctuary-181507070.html;_ylt=AqlNuSdYgjy04F8wU_w3UAgPLBIF;_ylu=X3oDMTN0ZzNybTc0BG1pdANUb3BTdG9yeSBTY2llbmNlU0YEcGtnAzIyNjM5Y2U4LTNiMjgtM2RmNS1hOGZlLTUxZTYzZTk5ZmE5MARwb3MDMjAEc2VjA3RvcF9zdG9yeQR2ZXIDYjliYTI3MjEtYmJjZC0xMWUxLWJhMmYtNWFiZDVhODZmZThh;_ylg=X3oDMTFsMmxkdGs2BGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANzY2llbmNlBHB0A3NlY3Rpb25z;_ylv=3

So much science. So little time.

* Awesome is awesome. Notsome is notsome.