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You are browsing the archive for science and society Archives - Page 2 of 32 - The Plainspoken Scientist.

3 February 2023

#AntarcticLog: Getting there

As the sea level rises, so many of us will be seeking higher ground.  This week, I feature a new podcast using that name.  It sits at that intersection of so many matters of my heart — climate change, public information, kids, science identity — and, what’s more, it’s situated where I grew up. 

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27 January 2023

#AntarcticLog: #FridaysforFuture

I’ve made no secret of my admiration for youth climate activists around the world. This week’s #AntarcticLog features four from Kenya and Uganda, along with quotes from their social media posts. 

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20 January 2023

#AntarcticLog: Antarctic Bears

When you think of Antarctic beasts, the tardigrade might not be the first to come to mind. But new research from the British Antarctic Survey shows that the ones in Antarctica represent a divergence hailing back to the time when the continent was cut off from the rest of the world. 

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16 December 2022

#AntarcticLog: Blasts from the past

Magical? Science? Sure, as samples offer clues to unseen, unknown worlds nothing like our own, the metaphors turn to ideas like time machines and portals, and the adjectives turn to fantasy.  And yet — it’s real!  Check this — new proof of ecosystems and species previously unknown, based on a few grains of dirt. 

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9 December 2022

#AntarcticLog: Beyond the “Wall”

Yes, I’m shocked each time I see a scientist take time to get interviewed by someone debunking a false claim about climate change, Antarctica, space, you name it. Besides debunking the debunking, my contribution this week is a look back at just a few #AntarcticLog comics that focus on the work of scientists who worked in Antarctic’s interior.  

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2 December 2022

AntarcticLog: Diversifying Antarctica 

#AntarcticLog is a series of comics by Karen Romano Young. You can find the originals here. There are many efforts afoot to increase minority perspectives in the sciences. As we celebrate the 63rd anniversary of the Antarctic Treaty, which designated Antarctica as an international continent dedicated to knowledge and peace, we acknowledge the lack of diversity there — and elsewhere.   In my new project, I Was A Kid, which launched …

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11 November 2022

#AntarcticLog: Keeping tabs on baby penguins 

I first heard of Stéphanie Jenouvrier and her WHOI colleagues’ work assessing emperor penguins a few years ago, when I was working on my book about Antarctica and climate change. Their work had allowed them to connect projected global temperature rise with its impact on emperor penguins, making the big birds a “sentinel species” for environmental change. 

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28 October 2022

#AntarcticLog: Penguins!

Once upon a time, I had a penguin costume. I’ve learned that, when I go into the field with scientists, it’s never a bad idea to pack a costume. And that one has definitely had legs — short legs, for sure, but I’ve seen it in a number of videos, from penguin dances for International Penguin Day to open mic nights — penguin on saxophone, anyone?

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10 October 2022

Youth astrobiology education continues at Blue Marble Space Institute of Science

On July 16, 2003, the famed former President of South Africa and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Nelson Mandela stood in front of a crowd in the midst of the founding of the Mindset Network and said “education is the most powerful weapon which we can use to change the world”.

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7 October 2022

#AntarcticLog: Back to the ice!

It’s springtime in Antarctica, and the scientists are heading back to the ice. Not only the scientists, but the support people working at the stations, and yes, even a few science communicators and artists. Among the first to travel to McMurdo and the South Pole in the wake of the Covid pandemic is Lauren Lipuma, editor of the U.S. Antarctic Program (and the National Science Foundation’s) newspaper, The Antarctic Sun.

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