Monthly Archives: January 2019

We’ve all heard of hunting for fossils to learn about the Earth’s past, but what if you wanted to learn about the microbes that lived thousands if not millions of years ago? It’s a little bit more of a complicated process made harder by the fact that microbes are so small and relatively fragile. The likelihood that they survive all the processes on Earth that erode and break things down is small, and as such, scientists have to look for creative ways to define where they were and weren’t. The number of microbes living in the Earth’s crust far outnumber the lifeforms above. To understand where and how they lived gives us better insight into how Earth as a system developed, and so it’s important to be able to identify fossilized microbes as part of Earth’s historical record. This was precisely the task that scientists from Germany and Sweden sought…

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An infant’s experiences in their first year of life is known to affect their personalities and well-being in later years. Ideally, parents should get the chance to bond with their child, learn about their needs, and give them stable support during this time. In turn, these kinds of connections lead to positive developments in the child, like the ability to manage emotions and have empathy. Currently, the U.S. is the only country in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) which doesn’t provide paid leave for mothers. And only about half of working moms—which make up 70% of American mothers—get covered under the Family Leave and Medical Act (FMLA). Single and/or low-income mothers are even less likely to be covered. What’s more, the act only applies to unpaid leave; there are no policies in place to provide paid leave to American moms. This causes many women to go back…

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When faced with a supermarket of shelves and glass cases bursting with choices, how do you decide which fish to bring home for dinner? Companies choose what to include on their packaging based on their understanding of what’s important to consumers.  Nowadays, people place more importance on the ethics of food, so tracking consumer choices helps sellers decide which products and labels to focus on. According to research by the University of Kassel in Germany, people can be separated into five main groups based on what’s important to them about a farmed fish product. Germany was chosen for this study because it has the largest food market in Europe. Researchers found  that the main drivers of choice are cost, country of origin, the way fish are raised, and sustainability labeling. The people chosen to participate in the study were asked about household income and size, age, education level, gender, how…

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The Ruby Slippers from the 1939 masterpiece The Wizard of Oz continue to capture the imaginations of the young and old alike. How we sometimes wish we could be transported home by clicking our heels thrice and saying “there’s no place like home!”. Several pairs of these iconic slippers were used during filming; over the years, some were stolen, some were lost, and some changed hands and attics. In late October last year, one pair of Dorothy Gale’s Ruby Slippers returned for public viewing at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. After more than a year of meticulous sequin-by-sequin restoration and conservation treatment, Janet Douglas and her team of conservationists from the Smithsonian Institution are determined to keep this pair sparkly for several generations to enjoy. This conservation campaign was crowdfunded under the handle #KeepThemRuby. It was important for the research team to first extract detailed information about the…

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The Ruby Slippers from the 1939 masterpiece The Wizard of Oz continue to capture the imaginations of the young and old alike. How we sometimes wish we could be transported home by clicking our heels thrice and saying “there’s no place like home!”. Several pairs of these iconic slippers were used during filming; over the years, some were stolen, some were lost, and some changed hands and attics. In late October last year, one pair of Dorothy Gale’s Ruby Slippers returned for public viewing at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. After more than a year of meticulous sequin-by-sequin restoration and conservation treatment, Janet Douglas and her team of conservationists from the Smithsonian Institution are determined to keep this pair sparkly for several generations to enjoy. This conservation campaign was crowdfunded under the handle #KeepThemRuby. It was important for the research team to first extract detailed information about the…

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Sometimes, all it takes is a whiff of a wine to know whether you’ll like the taste. Each wine is unique: red wines smell distinct from white wines and sweet wines smell different than dry wines. These differences arise from a variety of factors, such as climate, soil type, genus and species of grape used, length of fermentation, and more. Researchers from Australia wanted to know how the volatile profile (gas compounds) of Riesling and Cabernet Sauvignon wine changed at different stages of grape growth. This information will be helpful for managing crops and ensuring grapes are harvested at times ideal for maximizing certain flavor or scent characteristics. At a vineyard in Oxford Landing, South Australia, grapes were randomly collected in bunches from different grapevines every two weeks, starting two weeks after flowering. Grapes for Riesling and Cabernet were sampled until weeks 14 and 16, respectively, when the crop was…

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Sometimes, all it takes is a whiff of a wine to know whether you’ll like the taste. Each wine is unique: red wines smell distinct from white wines and sweet wines smell different than dry wines. These differences arise from a variety of factors, such as climate, soil type, genus and species of grape used, length of fermentation, and more. Researchers from Australia wanted to know how the volatile profile (gas compounds) of Riesling and Cabernet Sauvignon wine changed at different stages of grape growth. This information will be helpful for managing crops and ensuring grapes are harvested at times ideal for maximizing certain flavor or scent characteristics. At a vineyard in Oxford Landing, South Australia, grapes were randomly collected in bunches from different grapevines every two weeks, starting two weeks after flowering. Grapes for Riesling and Cabernet were sampled until weeks 14 and 16, respectively, when the crop was…

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Sometimes, all it takes is a whiff of a wine to know whether you’ll like the taste. Each wine is unique: red wines smell distinct from white wines and sweet wines smell different than dry wines. These differences arise from a variety of factors, such as climate, soil type, genus and species of grape used, length of fermentation, and more. Researchers from Australia wanted to know how the volatile profile (gas compounds) of Riesling and Cabernet Sauvignon wine changed at different stages of grape growth. This information will be helpful for managing crops and ensuring grapes are harvested at times ideal for maximizing certain flavor or scent characteristics. At a vineyard in Oxford Landing, South Australia, grapes were randomly collected in bunches from different grapevines every two weeks, starting two weeks after flowering. Grapes for Riesling and Cabernet were sampled until weeks 14 and 16, respectively, when the crop was…

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