Science Connected Magazine

Does Habitat Fragmentation Affect Biodiversity?

May 9, 2019May 9, 2019 Science Connectedbiodiversity, conservation biology, edge effect, fragmentation, habitat

By Jacqueline Mattos (@mattosjacq) Most scientists used to believe that habitat fragmentation was a real threat to biodiversity, but some controversial ideas have made this a potential topic for further discussion. Iconic experiments in the Brazilian Amazon, for example, have shown the edge effects on the ability of small patches to retain species. Edge effects relate to the possible outcomes of having too much border on chopped forests, which creates a boundary between two habitats. Where there is deforestation, patches are the remaining pieces of natural vegetation among other human-affected…

Book Reviews Citizen Science Connected Blog Ecology Oceanography

Book Review: a World Without Fish and Unraveling Ocean Life

May 3, 2019May 12, 2019 Science Connectedbook review, climate change, marine biology, marine life, ocean, overfishing, science art, science education

by Patricia Balbon Day-to-day encounters of fish—at the grocery store, visiting an aquarium—passively reinforce a notion of triviality about aquatic life until we are prompted to take a pause and spare a thought for a breathtaking world beyond the shore. This month’s selection in our ongoing book review series, World Without Fish, prompts such reflection; however, as the pages turn, we witness the marine world’s vulnerability alongside its majesty. Through Mark Kurlansky’s words and Frank Stockton’s art, we are challenged by the crisis of disappearing biodiversity in our oceans. This…

Ecology Environment Science Policy

Forest Restoration, Not Plantations, Will Curb Warming

May 2, 2019May 9, 2019 Science Connectedcarbon dioxide, climate change, forest, global warming, plantation, restoration

By Neha Jain (@lifesciexplore) Forests are our best natural weapon against climate change. By sucking up large amounts of carbon dioxide from the air, forests can store about a quarter of the carbon necessary to restrict global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. So, it is not surprising that boosting forest area through restoration has been one of the main goals of international organizations tackling rising global temperatures. Encouragingly, 43 countries concentrated around the tropics, where trees grow fast, have pledged to restore 292 million hectares of forest…

Animals Citizen Science Citizen Science Connected Blog Ecology

Citizen Science in Nebraska is Bigger Than You Think

April 29, 2019April 26, 2019 Science Connectedbutterflies, citizen science, nebraska, salamanders, spotted skunks

by Megan Ray Nichols (@nicholsrmegan) In Nebraska, scientists working for the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission are increasingly relying on casual researchers and citizen scientists to better understand three creatures in particular: spotted skunks, salamanders, and regal fritillary butterflies. Why? The populations of these species have either declined or are in jeopardy, and scientists want to get a current population count. Let’s take a closer look at these three Nebraskan citizen science projects and what researchers hope to learn from data collected by citizen scientists. Nebraska is a big state.…

Citizen Science Connected Blog Education

Cyberchase Makes Math and Science Exciting, Fun, and Relevant to Kids

April 26, 2019April 26, 2019 Science Connectedcitizen science, cyberchase, science education, STEM education, TV shows

By Bob Krech Based on my many years of teaching elementary math and science, I know that when kids are bored with math and science, it’s usually because they don’t see the point of how these subjects could be useful or interesting in the context of their real lives. Kids want to apply their math and science skills to make things happen! One great way to help them do this and see the value of these subjects is to introduce the idea of citizen science. Citizen science creates connections for…

Citizen Science Connected Blog

Citizen Science Connected, a New Blog Platform

April 25, 2019April 25, 2019 Science Connectedblogging, citizen science, GotScience, science communication, science connected, scistarter

SciStarter and Science Connected are partnering to produce a new blog platform: Citizen Science Connected. Citizen science is a way for regular people to do real research, and the Citizen Science Connected platform is a place to tell those stories. The fields that citizen science advances are diverse: ecology, astronomy, medicine, psychology, linguistics, genetics, engineering, and many more. Science Connected is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit publisher of science nonfiction for a general audience and resources for science teachers. The organization is powered by a global group of scientists and science communicators…

Biology Botany Chemistry

Microbes Help Plants Survive Heavy Metal Stress

April 18, 2019April 18, 2019 Science Connectedheavy metals, microbes, soil contamination, soil fungi, soil microbes, soil microbiome

By Radhika Desikan When you hear the term heavy metal, what do you think of? Music or chemistry? Exposure to heavy metal music can cause stress in some humans. But what about chemical heavy metals? Are they good or bad for the environment and living organisms? In chemical terms, heavy metals are elements in earth’s crust that have a high density (weight), and they include zinc, copper, iron, silver, gold, arsenic, lead, and cobalt, to name a few. While trace amounts of heavy metals such as copper, iron, cobalt, and…

Astronomy Citizen Science Citizen Science Connected Blog

Slavery from Space: Citizen Science in the Antislavery Movement

April 12, 2019April 12, 2019 Science Connectedantislavery, citizen science, politics, satellite images, science and politics, science for justice, slavery from space, social justice

By Dr. Jessica Wardlaw Slavery from Space is a citizen science project that allows users to further the antislavery movement by mapping the locations of activities in which people are frequently found to be enslaved. How many slaves do you think there are in the world? You might be surprised. In 2016, the International Labour Organization estimated that 40.3 million people were enslaved globally, of which 28.7 million are women and girls and 24.9 million are in forced labor. To put those numbers into perspective, those sums are roughly equivalent…

Anthropology Biology Botany Chemistry

Leaf Age Matters for Plant Survival

April 11, 2019April 3, 2019 Science Connectedbotany, leaf age, plant, plant age, plant communication

By Radhika Desikan Does age really matter? For us humans, age seems to be a very sensitive issue relevant to how we live our lives. And while it also matters to plants, it does so at a different level. Some of our tissues, like skin, have cells that are constantly dividing (to replace dead cells) and therefore differ in age, but what defines our age as an organism is not the life span of individual cells in our body, but rather the length of time that has passed since our…

Astronomy

What Does a Black Hole Look Like?

April 8, 2019April 8, 2019 Science Connectedactive galactic nucleus, astronomy, black holes, event horizon telescope, M87

By Steven Spence (@TheStevenSpence) “We ordinary people might lack your great speed or your X-ray vision, Superman, but never underestimate the power of the human mind.” Mark Millar, Superman: Red Son As I write this article, the science community is eagerly awaiting the April 10 press conference of the Event Horizon Telescope. By the time you read this, there will probably be multiple press releases and articles depicting a “photograph” of a black hole [1]. Technically, this will not be entirely true, but it will be a representation of a black…