"This isn't science!" Apparently that was a common refrain at the science bowl my son participated in last week. The event is normally held at the Carnegie Science Center, a typical modern hands-on institution heavy on technology like robotics and interactive computer exhibits and also physics demonstrations and experiments. This year the science bowl was at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, the kind of scientific institution built a century ago to study and display fossils, field specimens of living organisms, … [Read more...] about Science in Review: Dig the Future of Natural History
conservation
Science Corner: Offering Thanks for Science & Technology
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I wanted to highlight a few scientific and technological developments of the past year for which I am grateful. Let's start with a story I alluded to last week, the shrinking hole in the ozone layer. Changes to the ozone layer were first detected in 1974 and traced to human release of chlorofluorocarbons into the atmosphere. Because ozone helps to shield us from harmful radiation, an international agreement was reached in 1987 to eliminate chlorofluorocarbon usage. As a result of those … [Read more...] about Science Corner: Offering Thanks for Science & Technology
Science in Review: Pleistocene Park
Earlier this month, we looked at some man-made extensions to the bacterial genetic code. If that story got you worried about Dr. Frankenstein, you're going to love last week's announcement. Harvard biologists believe that within two years they will be able to create a woolly mammoth-African elephant hybrid embryo. Bringing back the mammoth is part of a larger program of "de-extinction" to explore the possibility of bringing back various extinct species, at least some of which we humans are responsible for eliminating. … [Read more...] about Science in Review: Pleistocene Park