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ScienceConservationThis ‘Map of Life’ Shows Where Undiscovered Species May Be Lurking
Nine years ago, a team of Yale ecologists mapped out the world’s life, a project that showed biodiversity patterns in geographical context; basically, a heat map of animal life. Now, they’ve gone a step further: mapping the likeliest spots for unknown species to still exist, in the hopes that those animals can be documented before … Continued
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EartherClimate Change Is Killing Butterflies in the American West
Butterflies play essential role in pollinating wild plants and crops. Which makes a new study published in Science on Thursday such bad news. It shows the climate crisis is posing an existential threat to their survival, particularly in the American West. The researchers—who hail from Tennessee, Arizona, California, and Texas—combined three datasets on butterfly observations. The … Continued
By Dharna Noor -
EartherAnnual ‘Star Count’ Could Reveal How Covid-19 Has Affected Light Pollution
We can’t go to bars or restaurants, but for a romantic night out during the pandemic, consider laying out a picnic blanket in a park to count the stars. As an added bonus, your little date could help see if covid-19 lockdowns have impacted light pollution. The cute suggestion comes from the 14th annual “star … Continued
By Dharna Noor -
How ToThese Are Some of the Best Citizen Science Projects You Can Join With Just Your Phone or Laptop
Maybe you’ve never noticed, because they don’t get a lot of hype but there are hundreds and hundreds of citizen science projects that you can get involved in. These projects range from tagging space observatory photos to transcribing documents that are centuries old. You don’t need any special skills or qualifications to help advance the … Continued
By David Nield -
EartherEarth ScienceA New Type of Aurora Has Been Discovered by Citizen Scientists
A collaboration between physicists and citizen scientists has led to the discovery of a previously unknown form of Northern Lights. Dubbed “the dunes,” the spectacular auroral form is providing new insights into Earth’s upper atmosphere. New research published today in AGU Advances describes the auroral dunes, which appear as undulating, green-tinged waves in the night … Continued
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ScienceAnimalsScientists Need 10,000 Dog Volunteers for Very Important Research
Calling all good boys and girls: This week, researchers debuted a citizen science project that’s hoping to enlist 10,000 furry friends to better study aging in both dogs and people. And they’re asking pet owners across the U.S. to volunteer their pups to participate. The Dog Aging Project, or DAP, is a collaboration between researchers … Continued
By Ed Cara -
ScienceAnimalsMan Takes First-Ever Photo of Living Colombian Weasel After Finding It Standing on His Toilet
A man rediscovered the rarest South American carnivore after uploading a picture of it climbing on a toilet to a citizen science database. The Colombian weasel is South America’s smallest weasel, and is known only from six specimens. It has never been photographed alive—until 2011, when it showed up at architect Juan M. de Roux’s … Continued
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ScienceAnimalsBlack Widow Spiders Are Spreading Farther North Than Ever Before
Using photos snapped by citizen scientists, Canadian researchers have documented the northerly spread of black widows into regions not typically known to host these spiders, whose bites can cause severe pain. An updated species distribution map published this week in a new PLOS One study shows that the northernmost range of black widow spiders (Latrodectus … Continued
