Tag Archives: Education

Fight back against junk food marketing

24 Monday Apr 2017

Posted by in Disease, Humans, Science communication

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Frugivoro: a board game about health foodMost people realize that our food is loaded with sugar and that our eating habits are unhealthy, but it’s very hard to change them. Rather than simply accepting the situtation or complaining about it, my sister-in-law and her mother decided to change it. Over the past several years, they’ve designed, tested, and refined a new board game, Frugivoro, that gets kids excited about healthy foods (and sneaks in some education, too!). Many of our eating habits form in childhood, so this is a create way to counter the deluge of junk food marketing kids are exposed to. Continue reading →

The Social Evolution Forum

07 Saturday Nov 2015

Posted by in Blog, Science communication

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I’m very pleased to be part of the Evolution Institute‘s new group blog, The Social Evolution Forum. SEF brings together a range of writers concerned with evolution in a broad sense, from ecology to cultural evolution. To get an idea of what SEF is about, have a look at DS Wilson’s announcement post.

My first post is on a pernicious and persistent misunderstanding of evolution: the myth of progress.

Evolutionary theory is extremely powerful and pervasively misunderstood. Stripped to its core, it describes an interplay between replication, variation, and selection which can generate complexity, diversity, and novelty. Its elegance lies in its simplicity and power, a combination which unfortunately also makes it readily misunderstood.

The idea of evolutionary progress is the most common – and probably the most damaging – misunderstanding of evolution. It lingers behind the phrase “higher animals” and the claim that humans evolved from apes (we are apes). It lurches into full view in the famous March of Progress illustration which has, unfortunately, become iconic of evolution.

You can read the whole thing on the SEF site. While you’re there, have a look at the other inaugural posts by Arun Sethuraman, Lee Alan Dugatkin, Jennifer Raff, Anthony Biglan, Jeremy Yoder, Madhusudan Katti, and Peter Turchin to get an idea of the voices and approaches you’ll find on the Social Evolution Forum.

A Different View of a Museum

27 Tuesday Jan 2015

Posted by in Foraging

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I’ve always loved museums, especially natural history museums, but I’ve never managed to spend as much time wandering through them as I’d like. Fortunately, I recently discovered Shelf Life, a wonderful series of videos from the American Museum of Natural History. The web page bills it as “opening doors, pulling out drawers, and taking the lids off some of the incredible, rarely-seen items in the American Museum of Natural History” — from what I’ve seen, it’s sort of a backstage look at the museum. It’s a good reminder that museums don’t just serve to educate the public; they are also important research centers and the collections they curate are are an invaluable resource. The episodes are bite-sized; each lasts just a few minutes — long enough to tell you some interesting things, but not so long that you have to make time for it. Unfortunately, there’s only one episode per month. I’ve embedded the first three episodes, but be sure to check out the Shelf Life webpage if you’re interested in more. Continue reading →

DNA can survive atmosphere re-entry

10 Wednesday Dec 2014

Posted by in Astronomy, Evolution, Genetics

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747px-EntryOn March 29, 2011, a TEXUS-49 rocket took off from northern Sweden for a short trip into space and back through Earth’s sheltering blanket of atmosphere. This amazing feat of engineering has become surprisingly routine — we humans have gotten to the point where launching a vehicle into space to carry out an experiment or deliver a satellite into orbit no longer inspires awe and wonder. Sounding rockets are commonly used as sub-orbital research platforms. In this case, one of the experiments on the mission was a test of how well DNA molecules can survive the temperatures involved in plummeting back through Earth’s atmosphere. The results, published earlier this year in PLOS ONE, show that DNA is tough enough to make it through atmospheric re-entry after a quick jaunt in space. Continue reading →

Hello, 67P/C-G!

13 Thursday Nov 2014

Posted by in Astronomy, Physics

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Earlier today, the Rosetta lander Philae successfully docked with the comet it’s going to study, 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko! By now, the lander is busily doing science on the surface of a comet. Not bad for a robot built by a bunch of curious apes! Congratulations to everyone involved, and thanks for all the hard work!

Over the next few days, Philae will take plenty of pictures of the landing site, analyse the comet’s surface materials, drill out a chunk of the comet for analysis in the onboard laboratory, and measure the electrical and mechanical properties of the surface. It will also cooperate with Rosetta to study the comet’s internal structure by sending low-frequency radio waves through it. Philae’s primary battery will only last for a few days; after that, a secondary, rechargeable battery may keep it going until March if the solar panels don’t get blocked.

Rosetta’s job isn’t over yet. While Philae is studying the comet up-close, the spacecraft will keep orbiting the comet as it gets closer and closer to the Sun. In August, the comet will be at its closest to the Sun — ‘only’ 185 million kilometers, which is still slightly farther out than the Earth’s orbit. Rosetta will ride through the approach and stay with it on the outward journey, beaming back data the whole way. So there’s a lot to look forward to from Philae in the coming days and from Rosetta in the coming months!

Image credit
The picture, courtesy of the ESA, was taken by Philae during its descent; the lander was about 3km above the comet’s surface. Congratulations to the Rosetta team!

Selfie from space!

16 Thursday Oct 2014

Posted by in Astronomy, Physics

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Rosetta selfieHello again, Rosetta! After a ten year journey, the spacecraft is only 16km from the comet it’s been sent to explore. Earlier this week, it sent back this selfie showing one of its solar panels and the comet, 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. It’s an awe-inspiring image. A decade ago, we hurled this little ship out into cold, dark space. It looped around the solar system several times, sending back pictures of Mars and Earth as it looped past us to pick up speed. Barrelling out past the Mars’ orbit, it went to sleep to conserve power. Thanks to the hard work and careful planning of the ESA team, it managed to rendez-vous with the 4km wide comet after a journey of over 6 billion kilometers! That’s amazing! And now it’s sending back pictures as the two of them flirt and dance around each other while Rosetta looks for a place to put down its lander, Philae. Well done, humankind! And congratulations to the Rosetta team!

There’ll be more news next month, when the docking itself should take place. Once on the comet, Philae will send back data for anywhere from a few days to a few months — we simply don’t know how long it will last on the comet’s surface.

Image credit
The picture is, of course, from the ESA. Well done!