Oceans5 reports on the latest problems that are harming our reef.

First of all, how many of you have played WhyReef?

WhyReef is one of my favorite games on Whyville. Like all Whyville games it is educational, fun, and engaging. What's more, it centers around one of Whyville's most beautiful natural features - the Coral Reef.

But lately, it seems a great danger has befallen our beloved North Reef. While the corals are bleached, the populations of producers such as sea grass and turf algae have skyrocketed. And while the population of sea urchins, the natural consumers of turf algae, is increasing at an alarming rate, higher carnivore populations have taken a turn for the worse.

After careful consideration, I have deduced that the driving cause of this mess is due to coral bleaching.

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DrRabiah shares that scientists have lives just like everyone else.

It's funny how often some of the non-scientists I meet are shocked that I have a life. Like, a real life, with hobbies, friends and (gasp!), fun. It's true that I work a lot, in the office, with young people or in the lab, but I've got lots of other stuff going on, too!

The general perception that scientists and engineers are lab rats with no social skills or outside interests is a long-standing one, but that perception is definitely starting to change as more scientists are coming out of the closet with their hidden talents and interests. Remember NIH head Dr. Francis Collins, best known for leading the Human Genome Project, singing and strumming his guitar on camera? For some of us, those kinds of moments are akin to Bill Clinton's 1992 saxophone performance on the Arsenio Hall show - who knew that super-nerds and politicians also have talents and hobbies like the rest of us?

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