News – The Rockefeller University – Program for the Human Environment

New genus and species of Bryozoan named for Jesse Ausubel

March 13, 2020March 13, 2020

Dating back to the Ordovician period about 450 million years ago, Bryozoa are small aquatic invertebrates with exoskeletons that typically sieve food particles out of the water with a crown of tentacles. The individual zooids live in colonies forming fans, bushes, and sheets.

Haeckel Bryozoa.jpg — “Bryozoa”, from Ernst Haeckel‘s *Kunstformen der Natur*, 1904

Dennis P. Gordon, distinguished taxonomist at New Zealand’s National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research, has described “New Hippothoidae (Bryozoa) from Australasia” in the journal Zootaxa.

Dennis and Jesse Ausubel worked together in the Census of Marine Life 2000-2010. Dennis has named a new genus of Hippothoidae Bryozoans the Jessethoa and the first species Jessethoa ausubeli.

*Jessethoa ausubeli,* ovicellate zooid, scalebar: 0.1 millimeter, photographed with scanning electron microscope; collected about 60 m deep NE of Spirits Bay, North Island, New Zealand

This brings the total of described hippothoid genera to nine (plus two fossil) and species to 83 recent (plus 15 fossil).

The Jessethoa page in the World Registry of Marine Species

The Jessethoa ausubeli page in the World Registry of Marine Species

On behalf of the entire Census of Marine Life, Jesse is greatly honored to be permanently associated with this fascinating taxon. Thank, Dennis Gordon!

Robert Bryce on electricity

March 13, 2020March 13, 2020

The lively mind and pen of Robert Bryce have authored the new book, A Question of Power: Electricity and the Wealth of Nations. We were happy to talk with Robert about subjects in the book, for example, vertical cities. ‘Ausubel continued, “Basically, height is electrical.”‘ (p. 24)

eDNA in Wired magazine

February 23, 2020February 23, 2020

Journalist Eric Niler publishes a good feature in Wired magazine on eDNA that includes coverage of the work of PHE’s Mark Stoeckle:

‘Environmental DNA’ Lets Scientists Probe Underwater Life
With the help of a new kind of drone, marine biologists can sequence DNA found in the ocean to reveal what’s living in an ecosystem—and what’s missing.

Big Data Mindset

January 26, 2020January 26, 2020

PHE researcher Iddo Wernick published a short essay ‘The Big Data Mindset” in Issues in Science and Technology

Leonardo DNA project chapter from Madrid exhibition catalogue

January 14, 2020January 14, 2020

We post Leonardo DNA Project: Strategy, goals and aspirations. A bridge across science and art. This is the chapter from Leonardo da Vinci, The Faces of Genius, the superb 2019 book edited by Christian Galvez.

1986 paper on limits of prediction

January 14, 2020January 14, 2020

We scanned and now post Jesse Ausubel’s pre-Internet paper

Some Thoughts on Geophysical Prediction
In Policy Aspects of Climate Forecasting, R Krasnow (ed), pp. 97-109, Resources for the Future, Washington, DC, 1986

We also post the 2-page memo that Jesse wrote in 2016 about Limits to Knowledge for the Deep Carbon Observatory.

Popular versions of our work

January 6, 2020January 6, 2020

During the past couple of years several authors have made good use of our work in their books. These include:

The Power of Bad: How the Negativity Effect Rules Us and How We Can Rule It – December 31, 2019 – by John Tierney and Roy F. Baumeister

Fewer, Richer, Greener: Prospects for Humanity in an Age of Abundance

by Laurence B. Siegel | Dec 5, 2019

by Andrew McAfee

Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress – January 15, 2019 by Steven Pinker

It’s Better Than It Looks: Reasons for Optimism in an Age of Fear – March 5, 2019 by Gregg Easterbrook

4th Quiet Oceans newsletter

January 6, 2020January 6, 2020

the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research has just issued the 4th newsletter of the International Quiet Oceans Experiment.

Passing of Arthur Singer

January 2, 2020January 14, 2020

Our great friend of many years, Arthur L. Singer, passed away 25 December 2019. The New York Times published an accurate, informative obituary. Art’s own memoir is posted here.

We post Jesse’s Remembrance of Arthur Singer, Old Friend, penned on 7 January 2020.

David Thaler joins us more officially

December 11, 2019December 11, 2019

For decades we have enjoyed stimulating conversations, co-authorship, and the deep reading of David S. Thaler. A protege of Joshua Lederberg, David spent many years at The Rockefeller University and is now based at the Biozentrum – Center for Molecular Life Sciences in Basel, Switzerland. David now rejoins RU as a guest investigator with PHE, and mutual interests spanning evolution, barcodes, Leonardo, and more. Welcome, David.

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