Wind as Art

I know this is not aquatic, but this map is too neat not to share. The map displays the current wind conditions throughout the nation. It blends data and art and is quite mesmerizing. My GIS professor showed us this website as an example of how to creatively communicate spatial information.

Go to the website to fully experience this: http://hint.fm/wind/index.html

NPR's Science Friday Report on Cyanobacteria

Cyanobacteria guru Dr. Hans Paerl was on NPR's Science Friday just before Halloween. Listen Here


Dr. Paerl has been a leader in cyanobacteria research since the 1980s. I've been fortunate to see him give presentations twice, and he is an excellent speaker. His message in recent years is that need to be  both nitrogen and phosphorus pollution are contributing to cyanobacteria blooms, and that climate change and warmer temperatures are likely to increase the frequency of cyanobacteria blooms.

I'm not a fan of Science Friday's use of the word "slime" for this piece. It is a reactionary word that oversimplifies the presence of cyanobacteria in the environment. In many systems, if it were not for human alterations to ecosystems e.g. nutrient pollution, cyanobacteria would be a benign to beneficial organism. People already think algae is "gross" and my goal is to educate people on the diverse characteristics of algae some positive and some negative for different ecosystem processes. Calling it toxic "slime" is not a factual representation of what a cyanobacteria bloom is.  In spite of that it's always interesting to hear Dr. Paerl's thoughts and opinions on the topic.