Wildlife Wednesday

This is the first of a themed posting I will be doing weekly called Wildlife Wednesdays.

First, I would like to refer to a couple comments received. I'd like to keep my options open, and share information on applied sciences as well as theoretical science. I find them both important and insightful. Also, I will always attempt to keep my writing style such that everyone may enjoy this blog.

Feel free to ask me for further information. Now back to the topic for this post.

I’ve always enjoyed nature shows, and really any information about the living creatures of our world. Look at my Netflix history and it could be said I should slow down.

This week’s Wildlife Wednesday let’s talk jellyfish.

Small Box Jellyfish   Image Credit: Guido Gautsch,
                                                       Creative Commons

Fascinating and, personally at least, frightening creatures. Of course not all of them are dangerous to us. There are many species so it can be difficult to memorize which ones are dangerous in the area you may be swimming.

One study recently published in PLOS ONE, and shared by a very cool blog called Wild Things, explains some research on jellyfish stings that cause more pain than others. Particularly they find that the length of the tubule is a major factor.

The tubule is what extends from the tentacles when contact is made. The tubule can be thought of like a needle, and that is what attempts to penetrate the skin to inject the venom.

The research found that if the tubule reaches our nerve endings then they are likely to cause serious pain. The information was helpful in understanding the difference of pain received from different species of jellyfish. 

I have had a few encounters with jellyfish, but luckily never stung. As a kid I came across a couple while enjoying myself at the beach in Florida, and in Alabama.

While living in Okinawa, Japan I enjoyed snorkeling every chance available. Occasionally I would see a couple jellyfish during a swim, but it was easy to keep my distance. However, one day with the rising tide an entire swarm came in and I was surrounded. I’ll just say it was a careful, and scary swim to shore.

It would be great to receive any thoughts, information, or stories about jellyfish in the comments. Please feel free to share what you have.

Picture of the Day

Image Credit: U.S. Geological Survey

Earthquakes are really amazing geological occurrences in my opinion. Destructive of course, but at the same time I find them fascinating.

One thing that rarely comes to my mind are the economic costs of large earthquakes. I see the destruction, but for whatever reason it rarely clicks in my head the loss of goods and infrastructure for example.

On September 16, 2015 an earthquake occurred with a magnitude of 8.3 off the coast of Chile. I ended up doing a decent bit of research over this specific earthquake as it is recent and certainly large enough to worry a significant amount of people.

Luckily this earthquake wasn’t extremely terrible. The U.S.Geological Survey (USGS) estimated a 46% probability that the economic loss will be between $100 million and $1 billion in US dollars. Still a significant amount of money. From what information I was able to find the numbers did seem to be in that range. 

Chile I would say is well accustomed to earthquakes due to its location. Just off the coast is the Nazca Plate and South America Plate tectonic boundary. This area is also a part of the Ring of Fire.

Image Credit: U.S. Geological Survey

The Nazca Plate moves generally east and slightly to the north. Subduction occurs at the boundary, where the Nazca Plate is pushed under the South America Plate and destroyed. Earthquakes from subduction tend to be the largest.

Most of the earthquakes at this location occur when the compressional stress builds up beyond the rock’s limit and the plate slips releasing a massive amount of energy.

The seismic energy released causes the ground to shake, and the sudden displacement of water sends out a series of waves. Tsunami alerts are sent clear across oceans usually for these events.

I have felt a few earthquakes so far in my life. I remember two while I was in Okinawa, Japan, and one during my time in California. Lucky for me the intensity was low enough for all of these that they just rattled everything in the room.

If anyone has some experiences, stories, further information, or questions then I welcome you to comment and share.

About This Blog

Science provides many questions and answers. I would say that most discoveries lead to even more questions than answers. Science is the ultimate curiosity in my opinion.

When it comes to learning and understanding I really try to get the information that allows me to break down the topic into its basic form, so that I can understand what is actually happening.

Racing Stars     Image credit: Andrew Stawarz

I find science to be very interesting because they learn the basics and then try to find new advanced processes and uses. I am always curious with many questions. A special characteristic of science is that there never seems to be a shortage of questions.

I am a college student currently pursuing a degree in General Studies. My focus is in science and mathematics. I have really enjoyed being able to take classes in the different sciences such as astronomy, chemistry, and geology so far.

With this blog I hope to provide information on current and developing research. With luck these posts will bring about further questions for not only myself, but you the reader as well.

It is always great to get feedback from others as they will always have another perspective to the topic. I find it fun learning a new view, and I will try to find out more information to possibly answer some of your questions.

I hope that all my readers can enjoy learning some cool new information, expanding on it with comments, and sharing any further information they find relevant.

There truly is no shortage in amazement provided by scientific curiosity.