Status Updates From Below the Edge of Darkness:...

started listening to this on audio in the drive home from the monterey bay aquarium where I saw this book at a gift shop. after observing all the deep sea creatures and their oddities all day, I think I’m obsessed with bioluminescence now and with even more of the crazy critters that exist in the world below

Definitely written for a very unique audience. I happen to be in that audience, but it’s not for everyone.

It’s a bit too technical for a casual reader, but a bit redundant for those interested in the level of detail she provides.

Chapter 2 reads like a biology textbook wherein she’s trying to take you from a high school level to a masters level in the biomechanics of bioluminescence in one short lecture.

Only on chapter 5 but so far the scientific career Edith Widder sounds like a dream life

I did not know there is shit that can go faster than the speed of light in water which I guess makes sense in a whack way but also hmm

Also crying at the terrified physicist like “what do you mean there’s LIGHT at the bottom of the ocean… my research is ruined”

The only thing about this book that’s not fun is she repeats herself a lot but I get it’s for stupid people like me who don’t get the science so she needs to say it a lot lmao

This is around where I got lost last time due to all the actual science happening. It’s a lot easier this time around in audiobook form

Learning a lot more physics than I expect in a biology book but that’s science baby 😞

It’s why I could never make it there lol

I'm really enjoying this one on audio on my way to work.

The time it is taking me to finish this book is NOT a reflection of how much I’m enjoying it

She makes bioluminescence fun !

i'm out of audiobook minutes :/

very interesting

She is so cool

my brain's just not in the right place. i have to stop reading this before i start to hate it cuz i don't want to hate it. i know it's fun but my adhd brain just isn't interested atm and it really upsets me so much!!!!!!! so yeah, will just come back to this later when i hyperfixate on topics relating to the deep ocean

actually fascinating but i feel like i've read the word dinoflagellates enough times today that i deserve to take a break from this book haha

maybe it's cuz i'm fasting that i don't have enough brain energy to absorb any more of the hard science in this book for today

It was a bit of a slow start but after that it’s such a fun read
I also just love hearing abt scientists who are so genuinely passionate abt their work

This is really good so far!

narrator is pronouncing kraken as CROCKIN'. LMAO

this book is fully reinforcing my need to Get Down There have you heard of brine pools????? lakes in the ocean??? im going insane someone throw me down there right now

To be blunt, so far it’s very dry and I’m having a hard time pushing through. It’s basically a biography of the authors life which could have been summarized in a couple pages and not to this extent.

GREENLAND SHARKS CAN LIVE FOR FOUR CENTURIES?!?!

Oh wow! A deep-sea neutrino detector actually collected the longest continuous observations of deep-sea bioluminescence? That’s wild

Also I just realized I could add thoughts as I read in these updates. I’m gonna do that more!!

I promised myself I would finish this by 11:59 PM tonight and by golly I think I’m gonna make it! Also MENTION OF MARK WATNEY AS A SOURCE OF INSPIRATION WHDJJSKFJAKJCJSJ

(2/2) The capture is performed in the interest of research, yes, but Widder's narrative so far is distinctly short on information about the treatment and/or of the captured creatures. What happens to them? Is it fair of us to continually extract life from the deep ocean just to poke and prod at its photophores so we can better our naval forces?

“When possible, it’s far better to capture the creature and hold it in a confined space.” Sure, but is it ethical? The more we learn about mycology and trees the more we're inclined to respect our arboreal friends, so doesn't it make sense that deep sea creatures (who are genetically closer to us) should be treated with the same respect we provide plants and fungi?

i probably should've saved this book for a week more focused on deepwater research.

oh wow I extremely underestimated the difficulty of this book. it has SO much more ACTUAL SCIENCE than I had expected. more like a textbook than a leisure read. might take a bit to work my way through this!

“ In a highly efficient reaction, one photon is equivalent to the hydrolysis of about 6 ATPs… in a less efficient reaction, it may be 10 times that. So a single celled microscopic dinoflagellate that emits about 10^10 photons per flash is using the up that [ATP] at a rate of between 60 billion and 600 billion ATPs per flash.” THIS FOOTNOTE JUST REWIRED MY ENTIRE BRAIN. THE DINOFLAGELLATES ARE DOING W H A T ?

Incredibly interesting, and right up my alley of interests (bioluminescence, women in conservation); some of the science sections are a little dense, but fascinating all the same