I’ll give a free copy of “Jacques Cousteau: The Sea King,” a new biography by Brad Matsen, to the first reader who can precisely identify the contents of this photo. You can email your answers to grobbins@ocregister.com. Or you can place your answer in the Comments section of the blog. The winner will be announced at 4 p.m. Saturday. Follow @grobbins on Twitter | Become a fan of Sciencedude on Facebook Add Sciencedude to your Yahoo and iGoogle pages Email your weather pho... Read Full Story

A magnitude 1.8 microquake occurred at 1:29 a.m. near the intersection of Hazard Avenue and Beach Boulevard, not far from the Westminster Mall and Westminster Memorial Park, says the U.S. Geological Survey. The quake began a bit southeast of a branch of the Newport-Inglewood fault, at a depth of 3.7 miles.  The shaker was not widely felt, and is mentioned here because the public is interested in the small, isolated microquakes that regularly happen in or near Orange County. The little tremor ... Read Full Story

The National Weather Service issued a fire weather watch for drought-plagued Orange County, effective Sunday morning, due to the expected combination of dry Santa Ana winds and low relative humidity. Forecasters say, “Northeast winds of 15 to 25 mph, with gusts to 40 mph, will develop below the Cajon Pass and in the Santa Ana Mountains and foothills Sunday morning, then shift south and east into portions of inland Riverside and San Diego counties during the day. Local gusts in excess of... Read Full Story

The National Weather Service is reminding local boaters who plan to travel west of Santa Catalina Island that there’s a small craft advisory in effect, with winds in the outer waters gusting to 25 knots. The winds will last well into this evening, and pose a threat to people who want to go sportfishing in the outer waters. The winds will ease some on Saturday but will still gust to 20 knots at times, forecasters say. Conditions are comparatively mild on the seas between Orange County an... Read Full Story

There's moisture south of Orange County, but little of it will move into this region. A thick marine layer is developing over Orange County and will reach 5,500 feet deep in many areas by early Friday, possibly generating drizzle over a wide area and keeping temperatures in the 60s again tomorrow. But the National Weather Service says “high pressure aloft slowly shifts over the state on Saturday through Sunday. An offshore flow develops late Saturday night through Sunday morning with gu... Read Full Story

UCI biophysicist Zunanna Siwy. Image courtesy of UCI. A UC Irvine biophysicist who explores the minute pores that allow nutrients to flow through the walls of such things as human cells will be honored by the White House in January for being one of the most promising young scholars in the country. Zuzanna Siwy is one of roughly 100 scientists and engineers nationwide who are receiving a Presidential Early Career Award, an honor that comes with funding to support the person’s work. Siwy ... Read Full Story

FORTY WINKS: Northern elephant seals at rest. Image courtesy of Wikipedia's Creative Commons Big, blubbery Northern elephant seals sometimes flop on to the rocks in the more isolated coves of Laguna Beach and sleep, which apparently is only part of the way they refresh themselves. New research led by Japan’s Hokkaido University says its possible that the animals also may sleep while they do “drift diving” while migrating between California and Alaska. The behavior seems to ... Read Full Story

SAFE HARBOR: Cory Neumiller captures the moodiness of changing whether in Dana Point Harbor. Say so long to temperatures in the upper 70s and low 80s. At least for a day or two. A low pressure from the Gulf of Alaska is dropping south and will bring lots of clouds to Orange County on Thursday, making daytime high temperatures 5-10 degrees below normal, says the National Weather Service. Inland highs are only expected to reach the upper 60s. Forecasters say there’s a 20 percent chance t... Read Full Story

Researcher James Nowick. Image courtesy of UCI. UC Irvine has slowly begun to follow the lead of other colleges and universities,videotaping courses that are later placed online for the enjoyment and education of the public. Irvine recently posted an entire 20-episode organic chemistry course on iTunes that is taught by James Nowick, an award-winning researcher who explores how proteins might be manipulated to fight cancer and other diseases. The course — Chemistry 51A Organic Chemistry... Read Full Story

Courtesy of Bing Images UC Irvine is recruiting adult volunteers for a clinical study focused on people who suffer adult depressive disorder. In a solicit, UCI says that researcher Rinal B. Bera is trying to “determine whether AZD6765, an investigational drug, has an effect on depression when taken together with current prescribed depression medication. AZD6765 is being developed for individuals with symptoms of depression and who have responded poorly to currently available antidepress... Read Full Story