Katie Kline Apr 20, 2011 No Comments
National Parks Week: In addition to Earth Day activities, this week is also National Parks Week. Allie Wilkinson of the blog Oh, For the Love of Science! paid tribute with a mini-travel guide on Acadia National Park in Maine; the post is complete with trail information and scenic views (see below video). “Maine may as [...]
Read more...Katie Kline Apr 11, 2011 No Comments
Pollution is not limited to toxic chemicals in the air and water—light pollution in urban environments, for example, has been shown to affect the mating rituals of some birds. Research has also shown that noise pollution in the oceans alters the behavior and communication of marine life such as dolphins and whales that depend on [...]
Read more...Katie Kline Mar 30, 2011 2 Comments
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s 2009 Programme for the International Student Assessment results showed the United States ranking 19th in math and 14th in science out of 31 countries. Following this news, President Obama announced a $250 million proposal to increase funding for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education. As he stated [...]
Read more...Katie Kline Mar 29, 2011 No Comments
“Parc National La Visite is one of the few remaining refuges for Haiti’s once-remarkable biodiversity. It is also the only refuge for over 1,000 desperately poor families, the poorest people I have encountered anywhere on this planet. Naked children with bloated stomachs stood next to pine-bark lean-tos and waved shyly to me as I walked [...]
Read more...Fish are probably not the first animals that leap to mind when thinking of seed dispersers. Squirrels are well-known examples, but researchers have recently tracked a species of frugivorous—that is, fruit-eating—piranha in the Amazon that distribute seeds over more than five kilometers of flood plains. As Daniel Cressey described in a Nature News article, “Although [...]
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