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4 March 2019
So, you wanna start a science blog?
By Shane M Hanlon I’m not the type of person who’s always thought that I’ve had something to say (at least anything that people would listen to). Back in my grad school days, while I saw the value in science outreach, the “communication” part of that was a little tricky for me. “Who cares what I have to say?” Turns out, some people did. Back in…2013 (2012, maybe?) realized that …
2 August 2018
American (voter) attitudes on climate change are complex
Americans have strong feelings about climate change. In addition to political affiliation, it turns out that how old you are can influence the degree to which you accept human-influenced clinate change
25 July 2018
Black Lung Disease is Making a Come-Back
This is part of a series of posts from our own Shane Hanlon’s disease ecology class that he’s currently teaching at the University of Pittsburgh Pymatuning Laboratory of Ecology. Students were asked to write popular science posts about (mostly) wildlife diseases. Check out all the posts here. By Victoria Wright Black lung disease is making a come-back. Characterized by shortness of breath and hypoxemia, a recent NPR article explains that not only are …
23 July 2018
The “Lazy” Southerner: Sloth or Anemia?
This is part of a series of posts from our own Shane Hanlon’s disease ecology class that he’s currently teaching at the University of Pittsburgh Pymatuning Laboratory of Ecology. Students were asked to write popular science posts about (mostly) wildlife diseases. Check out all the posts here. By Kausthubha Yaratha Since the postbellum period, Americans south of the Mason Dixon line have been widely stereotyped as lazy and unmotivated. Academics of the 20th …
17 July 2018
Guinea Worm Eradication: The Dog Days are NOT Over
The end of the guinea worm’s life cycle looks like a scene from a horror movie: a thin, slimy creature emerging from lesions on the legs of the infected.
16 July 2018
Good morning! Bed bugs left you Chagas Disease.
Bugs can be scary. Bugs can be especially scary when they are in your bed.
13 July 2018
The forgotten dogs of the Americas
Over the course of history humans have created hundreds of specialized breeds, each bread for a specific purpose, and originating from all corners of the globe. However, due to having such low ancestry in common, more recently scientists have begun to point to Canine Transmissible Venereal Tumor (CTVT) disease as the most likely cause of the almost extinction of American dog breeds either before or during European arrival in the 15th century.
12 July 2018
Our favorite yellow fruit in danger?!
In the 1950s, the Gros Michel banana was the most-exported banana in the world until a fungus known as banana wilt ravaged the banana population. The banana that we eat today is the Cavendish and is the replacement for the Gros Michel after it was led into near extinction by the fungus Fusarium oxysporum. It’s spreading across Southeast Asia, Australia and the Middle East, where bananas are grown. In the 1950s the banana industry almost completely collapsed because of the fungus, and through switching to the Cavendish they were able to keep the industry going. The banana is being infected by the fungus once again.
11 July 2018
Origin found of amphibian’s worst nightmare, Batrachochytrium Dendrobatidis
In recent years, amphibians all over the world have been dying to the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, affectionately referred to as BD. The fungus has been spreading at an alarming rate, and the death toll is rising. The sudden and dramatic outbreak of BD around the world has prompted a large-scale research effort to locate the origin of the fungus, which may reveal the genetic lineage of the fungus, as well as give us insight into preventing further spread of the disease.
10 July 2018
Brains for breakfast: Can cannibalism lead to disease resistance?
The Fore tribe in Papua New Guinea has a long history of ritualistic cannibalism, resulting in a crippling outbreak of a degenerative brain disease called Kuru in the 1950’s. The epidemic devestated the tribe, but some survivors of the Kuru epidemic are now found to show signs of evolved Kuru resistance and possibly other degenerative neurological diseases.
The Plainspoken Scientist is the science communication blog of AGU’s Sharing Science program. With this blog, we wish to encourage scientists to reach out to non-scientists and to do so with plainspoken discussion.
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