February 2017 was notable for not being very wintery across northern areas of the U.S. Headlines across the country (for example, this one from the Washington Post) alternately commented on the record warm temperatures, the guilty pleasure of people enjoying spring-like weather in what normally can be a dreary month, the early arrival of … Continue reading Mosquitoes, malaria, and more

More news has been announced from NASA today, this time accompanied by a press conference and intriguing animations and graphics. NASA scientists have been studying a solar system very far away—almost 40 light years in distance, which means it would take 40 years to travel there if we could move at the speed of light. … Continue reading Exoplanets!

Perhaps you've heard of a movement called "citizen science." The term describes efforts that involve a collaboration among scientists and a team of amateur scientists who help them gather or evaluate data—otherwise known as anyone with an interest in science who isn't getting paid for participating! More and more projects are receiving attention through the … Continue reading Planetary citizen science

Two science headlines caught my attention this week that highlight how little we still know about the habitats and diversity of living things and how exciting new discoveries can be. For starters, scientists exploring the Cave of Crystals in a mine in Chihuahua, Mexico think they have discovered a type of microorganism that may have … Continue reading Deep explorations

This is a photo I snapped of some microorganisms, awkwardly using a cell phone camera aimed through the eyepiece of a light microscope. The large black needle shape is a pointer visible through the eyepiece; the tiny black specks are bacteria, caught swimming and wriggling in a quick moment in time. The main objects of … Continue reading A picture is worth a thousand words

I love tomatoes. They are hands-down one of my favorite foods to eat. Nothing beats a homegrown tomato, fresh off the vine at the end of the summer. This tomato... is not that kind of tomato: I bought this perfectly nice tomato at the grocery. In January. It's about the best you can get in … Continue reading Would a tomato by any other name taste as sweet?

This is the excerpt for your very first post.