Giant Blobs of Doom

I've always liked jellyfish—at least to look at. Whenever I'm at an aquarium, especially the fantastic one at Monterey Bay, I seek out the jellyfish and proceed to stare at them for as long as I can. They move in such interesting ways and come in so many different shapes and sizes. Now, I know they can be dangerous and there are numerous horror stories of beach goers being stung by them, but they are also popular as a food item.

After reading this AP article today, however, I'm starting to move them more into the bad/dangerous category and less in the good/pretty/edible category. Certainly we've all heard about the effects global warming is having on the oceans, but until now I'd not heard about the damage ever-increasing jellyfish territories are having on fisheries. I also didn't know that the Nomura, which is the largest and most poisonous species, can get up to 6 feet in diameter!

I guess this might also explain the hundreds (thousands?) of dead jellyfish I found here at the beach last week. Fortunately, they were only about 1/60th the size of the Nomura.

Have you had any memorable encounters with jellyfish? Eaten them? Been stung by them?

Political Borders

If you've read any of my other blogs and/or have known me for a while, you know that I have always liked studying maps. I spent many hours after (elementary) school with my dad looking at our atlas and globe. Both were made prior to 1989, so by the time I could actually read, many borders had changed. The USSR had broken up, some of the last parts of Africa to become independent had done so, and Yugoslavia was being divided. Then, for many years, not a lot changed. The borders that were added or subtracted were short and I got it in my head that the world was probably pretty close to its final political divisions. I was so optimistic — I figured the world was a pretty stable place, so why would the borders change further?

Although my view had changed a bit in the last few years, as I watched wars, governments, and global warming change the shapes of a number of countries, it wasn't until I watched this video on TED.com that I realized how many more border changes are likely to come.