Environment – Athens Science Observer

Who gives a hoot? A wildlife management tale of two owls

Madden Solomon — Sat, 21 Dec 2024 17:12:39 +0000

If you’ve spent a significant amount of time on the South campus of the University of Georgia, you’ve probably heard talk of the “Warnowl,” and maybe even seen it once or twice. Students have affectionately awarded this name to the barred owl that frequents the trees surrounding the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources …

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To Kill or Not to Kill: a Surprisingly Difficult Call

Jane Huang — Wed, 11 Dec 2024 15:41:45 +0000

Ask a shelter worker what’s the most difficult moment in their job. In an open-admission, municipal shelter, you’re likely to get one answer- euthanasia. When a vivid life sits in front of you with its bright, shiny eyes, ending it with your own hands is one of the toughest things for any human being. The …

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Spuds and Science: Digging Up the Origins and Future of the Potato

Dionne Martin — Wed, 04 Dec 2024 13:00:00 +0000

The next time you and your friends share some fries, impress them with some knowledge on your favorite side dish. They’ll be amazed to learn that potato is the world’s third most consumed food crop and America’s favorite vegetable (according to the US Department of Agriculture). Strangely enough though, potatoes haven’t always been a fan …

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Helping plants thrive: assisted gene flow may combat habitat loss

Riley Thoen — Mon, 25 Nov 2024 16:26:08 +0000

If you have ever driven on a rural road, you have likely seen flowers in small patches of land on the roadside. While it is easy to write these habitat patches off as “just some on the roadside,” they actually serve as some of the last remnants of the American prairie. Before the colonization of …

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Predicting the not-so-Northern Lights

Sahana Parker — Fri, 15 Nov 2024 15:16:12 +0000

For the first time in two decades, stargazers across the southern United States have been dazzled by colorful, undulating waves of light in the night sky. These so-called Northern Lights are vibrant displays of the interaction between electrons and ions emitted by the Sun and the Earth’s upper atmosphere. While this interaction usually occurs closer …

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How climate change makes trees sicker

Simone Lim-Hing — Mon, 11 Mar 2024 17:51:42 +0000

We are heavily entwined with forests. The structure of your house is likely southern pine. The package you ordered in the mail is encased in wood pulp. The stuff that makes your toothpaste thick is cellulose from wood. We rely on trees as a renewable resource for our daily activities and well-being. However, our …

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The small genetic quirk that could help us fight biodiversity loss

Ben Long — Wed, 07 Feb 2024 13:00:00 +0000

The numbers are in, and it’s official: we are losing the fight to save the many endangered species on our planet. Despite a growing number of global voices highlighting the importance of preserving biodiversity to worldwide human health and food security, the WWF’s Living Planet Report 2022 estimated we’ve lost 69% of monitored wildlife populations, …

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The Hoof or the Boot? Phylogenetics as Historical Evidence

Guppy Stott — Tue, 27 Jun 2023 13:55:27 +0000

“Pueblo Revolt 1680” by Loren Mozley. Public Domain. The horse is thought of as a symbol of the American West, but when and how domesticated horses arrived has been a matter of controversy. Lakota oral histories described the arrival of the horse occurring prior to the arrival of the Spanish colonizers. However, the Spanish (and …

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A Tale Of Two Shelterbelts

Guppy Stott — Wed, 30 Nov 2022 16:15:00 +0000

For decades, climate scientists have highlighted concerns about climate change caused by greenhouse gasses emitted by humans (through fossil fuel use as well as refrigerants). While reducing greenhouse gas emissions would solve the crisis, there is a lack of political will, particularly in the United States, which prevents significant progress towards meeting goals set by …

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Cooling just got cooler

Sarada Sripada — Thu, 19 May 2022 14:14:00 +0000

As we head into Georgia’s hot and humid summers, you might find yourself chilling in an air-conditioned room, or reaching out to your fridge for a cold beverage. But have you ever thought about how these appliances might be heating up our planet? Refrigeration is integral to our modern lives, affecting everything from household food …

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The Disconnect Between Traditional Chinese Medicine and Conservation, and How We Resolve It

Ben Long — Thu, 12 May 2022 19:00:23 +0000

Picture this: you find yourself strolling into a small, crowded shop in downtown Hong Kong. As you cross the threshold, a barrage of strange sights and smells attacks your nose and vision. As you turn your gaze to the walls, you notice shelves upon shelves of animal parts, mysterious fungi, and dubious bunches of dried …

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Drifting through cosmic dust into April Lyrid Meteors

June Haeun Kim — Mon, 18 Apr 2022 13:59:27 +0000

People say that April showers bring May flowers, but have you ever considered meteor showers? We are in the midst of the annual Lyrid meteor shower, and it is one of the oldest meteor showers ever observed with sightings dating back to 687 BC. In 2022, the shower is expected to peak on the night …

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Our Water, Our Health in Rural Appalachia

Jessica Fabbricatore — Fri, 08 Apr 2022 19:08:01 +0000

West Virginia is home to the newest national park, New River Gorge, known for its world class white water rafting. It is also home to some of the worst drinking water in the United States. The juxtaposition of the two could not be more clear. Old habits die hard, and in a state where an …

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Don’t take them for granite: The whimsical world of granite outcrops

Riley Thoen — Wed, 06 Apr 2022 13:21:52 +0000

When most people picture landscapes of wildflowers, they often picture bright pastels of yellow, blue, and pink against a backdrop of prairie grass. Others may think of the chorus of spring ephemerals blooming in the understory of the woods. Folks from the west coast may even imagine a blanket of desert annuals blooming in synchrony …

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Machine Learning for Ecologists and Other Interesting People

Daniel Suh — Thu, 24 Mar 2022 11:00:00 +0000

Every spring, graduate students at the Odum School of Ecology at the University of Georgia organize a short weekly seminar around an interesting theme. This year, the theme is â€œMachine Learning for Ecologistsâ€. At first glance, machine learning may not seem very related to a discipline mostly concerned with the distribution and abundance of organisms, …

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Long term ecological research is our crystal ball

Inam Jameel — Fri, 18 Mar 2022 16:00:00 +0000

How might climate change affect the environment in 50 or 100 years? To even begin to answer this pressing question, we need work that can accurately describe changes in the environment to predict the future. Long term ecological research (abbreviated as LTER), describes studies interested in environmental processes that last for at least one year …

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Sus scrofa: The Notorious Sibling of the Pig Family

Justine Smith — Sat, 04 Dec 2021 12:00:00 +0000

When you think of farm animals, what comes to your mind? Cows, chickens, pigs, goats, sheep, horses, and so on? Each animal on the farm serves a key role in providing us with food or resources to use. But before we industrialized and invested into the farming industry, these animals were found in the wild. …

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Pandemic Preparedness Requires a Macroecological Perspective

Daniel Suh — Wed, 24 Nov 2021 16:00:00 +0000

Prior to the emergence of COVID-19, there already was a movement to understand infectious disease emergence at the global scale. With the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, this information has only become more relevant. The macroecology of infectious diseases is an important area of research with great promise for our ability to predict and prepare …

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Fighting fire with fire: How microbe farmers use bacteria for self-defense and other survival functions

Benjamin Phipps — Fri, 05 Nov 2021 12:40:05 +0000

Insects comprise over half of all described species excluding bacteria and around 90% of the animals on Earth. They are so prevalent that we encounter them every day without thinking twice, and have evolved to live in nearly every imaginable habitat, from mountaintops to the depths of caves. How do insects survive in such harsh …

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Not all invasive species are created equal

Max Barnhart — Thu, 21 Oct 2021 19:51:49 +0000

On an otherwise entirely forgettable late-summer morning during the height of pandemic-induced self-isolation, I stepped out onto my front porch and saw the biggest spider I had ever seen in my life suspended above my hedges, hanging in the middle of an elaborate web. My new neighbor was as big as my palm, bright yellow …

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Zine #2: A Quick Guide to the Plants of Athens

ASO Zine Team — Wed, 29 Sep 2021 02:39:16 +0000

The Power of People and the Prairies

Samantha Surber — Fri, 21 May 2021 15:22:27 +0000

What ecosystem do you think about when you see the state of Georgia? Was it the sprawling forests you see on nearly every drive you make? If it was, this is likely because Georgia's land is nearly 70% forested and is one of the top states that contributes to the logging industry. Georgia is made …

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Preventing the Loss of a Natural Spectacle

Nicole Steel — Fri, 23 Apr 2021 14:25:25 +0000

There is a certain art to finding fireflies, and it comes down to understanding suitable habitats for common species in your area. As a child, you may have turned off your house lights and used a flashlight to attract fireflies, desperate to catch a glimpse of these bioluminescent creatures. These flashing beetles generate a sense …

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Why Muscadines should be your next favorite fruit

Rebecca Atkins — Thu, 25 Mar 2021 16:00:00 +0000

Odds are if you've taken a walk in the woods you've noticed twisted, shaggy vines dipping down from the tree canopy and anchored to the forest floor. As signs of spring appear, these vines will come to life, unfurling new tendrils and ravenously reaching for the sun. Growing upwards of six inches in diameter and …

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The Trap of Pseudo-Sustainability

Simone Lim-Hing — Thu, 18 Mar 2021 16:06:45 +0000

Last week, I received an email from Brandless, an online store that specializes in affordable, healthy, and environmentally-conscious products. Their email was advertising their new line of â€œtree-freeâ€ products â€“ paper products that are made from bamboo and sugarcane, rather than trees. I strive to be environmentally conscious, but I am also a person who …

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In Defense of Natural History Museums

Rebecca Atkins — Wed, 17 Feb 2021 13:16:03 +0000

What becomes of species that no longer exist, or bygone narratives of human history? Where do scientists go for answers when our questions span continents and centuries? For the answer to these questions and so many more, we need museums. Natural history museums in particular serve as the nexus between research and people, spanning numerous …

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Stand in the place where you live

Monica Harmon — Tue, 22 Dec 2020 16:40:12 +0000

Trees are all over, above us and below us. They connect soil to the atmosphere. They create forests and confer their beauty on our city. In Athens we have the tree that famously owns itself, a white oak. Maybe you've taken a stroll through Oconee Forest Park or noticed the smell of the woods on …

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In defense of trees and those who cut them

Colton Meinecke — Tue, 24 Nov 2020 13:00:00 +0000

Trees have received a lot of press lately. As wildfires tore through forests worldwide, President Donald Trump blamed the devastation on poor forest management. Meanwhile, the United States formalized a commitment to planting trees to restore our climate. The world's governments and scientists are grappling with how we both protect and manage forests. What should …

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Botanical blackmarket: the hidden world of cycad poaching

Inam Jameel — Tue, 17 Nov 2020 15:09:51 +0000

A text comes in. It reads â€œMeet me at the abandoned gas station past Lexington and Thomas.â€ The car starts up and heads down the dimly lit streets. Soon, headlights illuminate the dark gas station. There is already a truck parked behind the shuttered garage. The buyer opens their car door and steps toward the …

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Battle for the Ocean's Giant Kelp Forests

John Spiekerman — Tue, 03 Nov 2020 15:55:01 +0000

Slightly off the Californian coast, battle lines are drawn. On one side lies a purple, spiny, extraterrestrial-looking creature intent on eating all plant life in its path. On the other, an equally eccentric echinoderm in the shape of a star awaits that same creature as its next meal. The battleground between them is overshadowed by …

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CO2 to the Rescue: Transforming Pollution into a Resource

Sarada Sripada — Wed, 14 Oct 2020 14:07:12 +0000

We are at the brink of a severe climate crisis caused by rising greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), including carbon dioxide (CO2), methane, and nitrous oxide. Anthropogenic activities such as burning fossil fuels have significantly elevated the carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. As a matter of fact, the global CO2 average has hit a new …

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Wall of Destruction: The impact of the US-Mexico Border wall on wildlife

gabbiesandstedt — Tue, 05 May 2020 16:17:00 +0000

Growing up in Arizona, we were told that people could go to jail for damaging a Saguaro cactus. Saguaros are a protected symbol of the Southwest. Yet in 2019, videos shot by Kevin Dahl, the Arizona Senior Program manager for the National Parks Conservation Association, recorded bulldozers uprooting Saguaro cacti and other desert shrubs at …

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Taking Research Outside

Inam Jameel — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 15:23:48 +0000

After two days of driving, our U-haul rounded the final corner of the gravel road leading to our destination, The Rocky Mountain Biological Station, affectionately known as RMBL. We were in Gothic, Colorado, which is four hours of windy mountain roads up from the nearest city, Colorado Springs. My labmate and I were transporting over …

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Fanning the flames

Simone Lim-Hing — Wed, 01 Apr 2020 18:32:34 +0000

In recent years, it feels like we have watched parts of the world be swallowed whole by fire, painting a very apocalyptic picture of the future. Nearly 40,000 square miles in Australia were decimated by bushfires last year. California's Camp Fire displaced about 50,000 residents, and Indonesia saw over 2 million acres of land consumed …

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The Dilution Effect: Placebo or Panacea?

Megan Tomamichel — Thu, 26 Mar 2020 18:43:51 +0000

For a long time, ecologists have asked: why are there so many species? How is it possible that there can be so many species of, for example, phytoplankton that exist at the same time? They all use the same resources, like light, carbon and nitrogen, and all are prey to the same types of animals, …

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Salty soils: a â€˜growing' issue for agriculture

John Spiekerman — Wed, 18 Mar 2020 20:28:03 +0000

When you think of salt, your mind likely wanders to the last bit of food you seasoned. We all know salt improves the taste of food. However, most probably don't recognize its importance in human history or its role in agriculture. It was once lauded for economic value (hence the phrase â€œworth one's saltâ€), as …

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The undead ghost forests of Georgia

Rebecca Atkins — Thu, 20 Feb 2020 18:53:09 +0000

The US Atlantic coast is a dynamic, living landscape. Georgia in particular displays a picturesque mosaic of barrier islands, salt marsh meadows, maritime forests, brackish marsh and river networks snaking up the Coastal Plain. Together, coastal habitats form a dynamic ecosystem capable of protecting the coastline, storing carbon, filtering water and providing coastal regions with …

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Plastic tips: a more sustainable science

Kathy Bui — Fri, 07 Feb 2020 14:50:52 +0000

Alternatively, this post could have been titled, My Guilty Conscience Series: Plastics. This blog post has been a long time coming â€“ given the fact that I (and many others) have been conditioned to â€œreduce, reuse, and recycleâ€ before we could even multiply. Yet, as I continue to diligently organize my empty jars and cans …

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Deadly realism, science communication, and dropping out of high school: an interview with Dr. Diana Six

Simone Lim-Hing — Thu, 02 Jan 2020 18:01:54 +0000

Dr. Diana Six is a professor of Forest Entomology and Pathology at the University of Montana. Dr. Six's work focuses on bark beetles, their symbiotic fungi, climate change, and what these factors mean for forest health. Her work has received the attention of the media and she has presented at TedX and has been featured on …

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A not so familiar face: How a transferrable cancer could be the end for an Australian mammal

athenssciencecafe — Mon, 25 Nov 2019 02:05:44 +0000

Cancer, a complex disease caused by an accumulation of mutations in our DNA, affects millions of individuals each year. Cancer poses a very serious threat, but is it contagious? The short answer is â€œnoâ€, at least for us humans. In humans, the only way to truly transfer cancer from one person to the next is …

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Divide and Conquer! A parasitic worm's key to survival

Megan Tomamichel — Mon, 18 Nov 2019 12:57:23 +0000

You may have already forgotten about Halloween, but the recent discovery of a new social organization of body-snatching parasites might be enough to send shivers down your spine! Trematodes are a clade of worms that are almost exclusively parasites of snails and mollusks (with the notable exception of schistosomes); one species is the cause of …

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Fossilized Ebola is Hiding in Your Pet Hamster's DNA!

Max Barnhart — Sat, 19 Oct 2019 21:10:43 +0000

Ebolavirus is one of the most infamous disease causing pathogens of the modern era. The 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa was the largest outbreak of ebolavirus to date, with over 28,000 suspected cases and 11,000 deaths. Ebolavirus is just one member of the Filoviridae virus family. These viruses are colloquially referred to as Filoviruses …

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You can't Wishcycle your Plastics Away

athenssciencecafe — Mon, 07 Oct 2019 01:49:25 +0000

We've all chucked the occasional to-go container or small plastic item with a recycling code in the recycling bin without thinking about its fate. Surely even if a few of these items can't be recycled, it wouldn't take much for the facility to just remove them, right? Just ask one recycling plant in central Florida, …

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How do plants sense their surroundings?

Simone Lim-Hing — Wed, 10 Jul 2019 19:30:59 +0000

When laying the most essential foundation of biological sciences to a bunch of first graders, educators often start with a lima bean. Between two layers of a wet paper towel, a lima bean takes root and then sprouts its first two leaves. In a mere eight days, what was once a dry bean is a …

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Lost in Translation

athenssciencecafe — Fri, 31 May 2019 15:24:19 +0000

The year is 2019; the place, your local grocery store. You, the unwary consumer, wander the aisles on your weekly shopping excursion. Reaching for the milk, you hesitate; “non-GMO” is emblazoned across one milk carton. Meanwhile another label holds no such distinction. It does not assure you, the consumer, that its contents are free of …

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Cleaning up Chernobyl with Sunflowers

Max Barnhart — Thu, 16 May 2019 11:12:35 +0000

On April 26, 1986, in the city of Pripyat, Ukraine, a group of engineers working on the No. 4 Reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant accidentally caused one of the greatest environmental disasters known to mankind. 50 tons of radioactive material were released into the atmosphere and dozens of lives were lost. Pripyat was …

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Blinded by the Blue Light

athenssciencecafe — Thu, 09 May 2019 10:42:34 +0000

â€Don't stare at your phone/computer too much, you will hurt your eyesâ€ – we've probably all heard this at some point in our lives. Is this true? Does staring at a screen really â€œhurtâ€ your eyes? What other effects does it have on the body, and is it something that will impact our health as …

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The Secret World of Plant Chemistry: Plant Communication

Simone Lim-Hing — Thu, 25 Apr 2019 11:16:13 +0000

Part II of the series exploring plant chemistry through different lenses. Plants are the perfect embodiments of natural selection â€“ they can't just get up and move; so whatever adversity they face, they generally have to stick it out. It leaves the strongest individuals to survive while the weaker ones perish. This situation warrants some …

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When Wild Avocados Roamed the Earth

athenssciencecafe — Sun, 21 Apr 2019 20:29:31 +0000

If you've ventured outdoors in the southeast over the last couple weeks, then you may have noticed that things are looking distinctlyâ€¦yellow. Everywhere you turn, cars and sidewalks are covered in a fine layer of yellow â€˜dust'. The hazy quality to the air, as any sufferer of seasonal allergies will be happy to inform you, …

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Pooper Snooper: Four-legged conservation heroes at work

athenssciencecafe — Thu, 18 Apr 2019 12:41:18 +0000

From hunting to detection of drugs and bombs to search and rescue, it seems there is no limit to the ways we can take advantage of the keen sense of smell possessed by man’s best friend. What is less known is that the same qualities that enable dogs to find drugs and track down animals …

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Not so Flushable Wipes

athenssciencecafe — Thu, 21 Mar 2019 12:31:28 +0000

Today, we live in a world of convenience where we have manufactured products to make everyday tasks easier. I save a lot of time using a washing machine, buying premade clothing, and traveling in a car. But, the world has begun to realize that convenience comes with economic and environmental costs. Using wash cloths to …

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Oil Wells in the River of Grass

athenssciencecafe — Sun, 03 Mar 2019 19:43:28 +0000

“Here are no lofty peaks seeking the sky, no mighty glaciers or rushing streams wearing away the uplifted land. Here is land, tranquil in its quiet beauty, serving not as the source of water, but as the last receiver of it. To its natural abundance we owe the spectacular plant and animal life that distinguishes …

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The Secret World of Plant Chemistry

Simone Lim-Hing — Mon, 11 Feb 2019 12:44:44 +0000

Sometimes plants make it seem like nature was intended for our benefit. From the wood in our coffee tables to the rubber in our erasers – plants are so entwined with our lives that we often forget that our products were once towering elms and flowering poppies. The relationship we have with plants seems more …

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Frosty the Microbe

athenssciencecafe — Mon, 10 Dec 2018 03:15:36 +0000

â€˜Tis the season for stories of wintery magic. From Elsa and Frozone to their mythical grandfather, Jack Frost, there's no cooler gift than the power to let it snow at will, or shock a pond skate-worthy with a single touch. Little do we realize that these chilly abilities aren't limited to the realm of holiday …

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Thermophiles: Hot Microbes on the Biofuel Frontier

athenssciencecafe — Mon, 19 Nov 2018 22:52:16 +0000

If you've ever been lucky enough to visit Yellowstone National Park (or looked at pictures), then you have probably seen the colorful, steaming mats that surround many of the park's famous geysers and geothermal pools. While they may not look it, these mats are actually living creatures. They form a special class of organisms called …

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Push and Pull: a Greener Way

athenssciencecafe — Wed, 07 Nov 2018 12:54:28 +0000

Modernization and significant advancements in agricultural practices have led to the increased application of pesticides for enhancing crop yields. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, pesticides are chemicals meant to prevent, destroy, repel, or mitigate a pest, and encompass insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, and other substances that control unwanted organisms. However, when applied to the target …

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Life on the Edge: The Fascinating World of Marine Fungi

athenssciencecafe — Tue, 30 Oct 2018 10:58:39 +0000

When you think about fungi, where do you imagine they are found? Do you think of cute little red mushrooms on the forest floor, complete with frolicking gnomes? Maybe you are reminded of the bright blue mold that makes blue cheese so odiferous yet delicious or the yeasts that make the beer, wine, or kombucha …

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One Health: Leveraging the connection between humans, animals, and the environment

athenssciencecafe — Mon, 29 Oct 2018 03:14:48 +0000

Don't forget!! One Health Day is coming!! https://t.co/dUmFU7SPOt pic.twitter.com/FWLmKg1taO — OneHealth Commission (@OneHealthCom) October 12, 2018 What is One Health? One Health is an approach that acknowledges the interactions between human and animal health are inextricably linked, and interdependent to the health of the surrounding ecosystem. These interactions offer opportunities for the emergence and spread …

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Crowd-funded Dams

athenssciencecafe — Wed, 17 Oct 2018 17:04:16 +0000

Infrastructure development is a major issue in many countries of the developing world. Countries with developing economies often suffer from a negative balance of trade and weak institutions, making lenders unwilling to lend. Governments of these countries are forced to borrow with heavy interest rates, further increasing budget deficits. This cyclical economic problem …

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A Warmer Climate Means Stronger Hurricanes

Max Barnhart — Thu, 11 Oct 2018 19:48:20 +0000

The start of the 2018 hurricane season and recent presidential controversy have brought hurricanes back into the public eye. The first major hurricane of the 2018 season, Hurricane Florence, made landfall the morning of Friday, September 14th on the Atlantic coast of the Carolinas. To date, Florence has caused an estimated $38 to $50 billion …

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Swimming the ladder

athenssciencecafe — Tue, 09 Oct 2018 11:45:24 +0000

The annual upstream migration of salmons to their spring spawning habitat is fairly well-known. However, most people may not know that this behavior is common among other fish species as well, including sturgeons, American shad, and American eels. The distance that fish travel during migration can vary widely – some fish do not need to …

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Oh, Deer: Conserving Georgia's Jewel

athenssciencecafe — Wed, 03 Oct 2018 12:07:51 +0000

I lived in Brunswick, Georgia for three years before moving up to the University of Georgia for grad school. Every chance I got, I would make the short drive to Jekyll Island to hike around the park's maritime forests and spend time on the beach. Fittingly called Georgia's Jewel, it truly is an amazing spot. …

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The Last Sandcastle

athenssciencecafe — Mon, 24 Sep 2018 03:45:37 +0000

Famous astronomer and science communicator Carl Sagan said â€œThe total number of stars in the universe is greater than all the grains of sand on all the beaches of the planet Earth.â€ As it turns out, not only was he right, but we are also running out of sand. Lack of Necessary Resource How do …

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Major Red Tide Hits Florida Beaches

athenssciencecafe — Tue, 18 Sep 2018 19:35:54 +0000

Red Tide: Swimming not recommended. Shellfish harvest closed. Signs, such as in the associated picture, can be seen at many of Florida’s Gulf Coast Beaches due to a red tide. An excess of toxic microscopic algae in the water is causing a hazard to wildlife, human health, and local businesses. While the current bloom of …

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Double Take of Ban the Bottle: FOR

athenssciencecafe — Mon, 10 Sep 2018 13:01:08 +0000

This piece is part of a â€œDouble Takeâ€, where two parties argue on either side of a premise. A writer does not necessarily share the view they are arguing; instead, this is an exercise to fully flesh out a discussion. The premise: â€œSingle-serve, plastic water bottles should be banned in the United States.â€ I am …

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Double Take of Ban the Bottle: AGAINST

athenssciencecafe — Mon, 10 Sep 2018 13:00:06 +0000

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The Power of Pollinators – More than Just Honey

athenssciencecafe — Sun, 26 Aug 2018 17:23:17 +0000

One would be hard pressed to take a walk through the Athens Farmers' Market in mid-summer, and not be struck by the bounty offered by Georgia farmers and producers. The wide variety of fruits and vegetables on display hold the promise of delicious meals to be had and flavors to be enjoyed. However, if not …

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Coffee and sustainability Part II: Have your coffee and drink it too

athenssciencecafe — Sun, 19 Aug 2018 21:46:14 +0000

In the previous post of this series, I pointed out how some current coffee farming practices often lead to clear-cut of rainforests, leaving less habitat for wildlife populations and thus threatening their persistence. â€œWell, that sounds pretty terrible,â€ you say, â€œbut I'm not willing to give up the one thing that gets me out of …

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Dead Zones… Are They a Problem?

athenssciencecafe — Sun, 05 Aug 2018 20:21:40 +0000

Continuing from my previous post, I want to talk about real life examples of climate change and its effects on the world around us. The idea for this particular post came to me when I was scrolling through Facebook and saw a video about a dead zone near the coast of Oman. It made me …

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Insect Riddles

athenssciencecafe — Sun, 29 Jul 2018 23:38:46 +0000

Any true Athenian knows that summer means sweat, more sweat and (best of all) insects! Though summers filled with no-see-ums, mosquitoes, gnats and flies may cause you to despair of their class altogether, don't forget all the fascinating, beautiful and seemingly magical insects that make our existence possible. Whether you're an entomologist or not you …

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Coffee and sustainability Part I: The caffeinated inconvenient truth

athenssciencecafe — Mon, 09 Jul 2018 00:46:47 +0000

For my Master's research, I was fortunate to study avian ecology in Costa Rica where I developed a deep appreciation for the incredible bird diversity observed there. Other things that also stayed with me from the experience was the scenic coffee farms and the friendly farmers who not only let me work on their properties …

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The two-sided tail of the Peacock

athenssciencecafe — Tue, 03 Jul 2018 18:14:17 +0000

Have you ever encountered the Indian Peafowl? It is notoriously famous for a showy, elaborate dance to lure its female, the peahen. The male peacock adorns himself with an ornate appearance. Just observing one is breathtaking. A fan-shaped crest sits on top like a jeweled crown, a brilliant blue glistening neck making way for an …

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Georgia: The Former Peach State?

athenssciencecafe — Tue, 26 Jun 2018 20:24:16 +0000

As I was making plans for my spring garden this year, I decided to include fruit trees and began researching various species of native Georgia fruit trees. I came across an article projecting that certain species of banana trees will soon be able to flourish right here, in our own Georgia backyards. Bananas are not …

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When water becomes dangerous: pollution in the Smokies and beyond

athenssciencecafe — Wed, 06 Jun 2018 15:30:53 +0000

During the summer, I love to visit the Smoky Mountains to enjoy the fresh mountain air and to get away from the pressures of life. However, on a recent trip, I ran into a surprising fact on a small placard: the Smokies have the highest deposits of sulfur and nitrogen of any monitored national park. …

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Microplastics: A Macro Problem for Our Oceans

athenssciencecafe — Thu, 17 May 2018 01:25:56 +0000

Ever wonder where those little plastic beads in your face wash end up? Or what happens to all the plastic bottles that don't wash up on your local beach? Well, they may end up in one of the five oceanic garbage gyres, or they may just wander about in the water column or on the …

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Could oysters be the new corals of climate conservation?

athenssciencecafe — Mon, 30 Apr 2018 21:22:17 +0000

â€œScientists Announce That The Great Barrier Reef Is Officially Terminal.â€ This is the jarring headline for a recent article citing some of Australia's top coral researchers on the realities of one of the world's most coveted natural systems. This type of prognosis has become eerily familiar in recent years as we've learned about the resounding …

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W(H+)AT’S IN YOUR WATER, ATHENS?

athenssciencecafe — Sat, 21 Apr 2018 15:11:27 +0000

Cover photo: https://www.flickr.com/photos/121935927@N06/13579500953/ Water is something we all use every day in Athens. We shower with it, brush our teeth with it, water our gardens with it, and of course, we drink our tap water, too. Most of us don’t even think twice about taking a drink from our taps, but at the same time, …

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2017-2018 Monarch Numbers Down: A Battle on Two Fronts

athenssciencecafe — Sat, 14 Apr 2018 23:28:48 +0000

This year's overwintering monarch butterfly population experienced a 14.77% decrease from the previous winter, following the trend of steady decline observed over the past two decades. These overwintering monarchs represent the individuals that survived the long-distance migration from as far north as Canada all the way down to Mexico. Causes of Decline There are several …

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Texan Panthers to the (Genetic) Rescue

athenssciencecafe — Thu, 05 Apr 2018 15:27:57 +0000

Once upon a time, thousands of panthers roamed throughout the North American continent. Puma concolor are a highly adaptive species that inhabited a variety of habitat types. However, within 200 years after European colonization, they were eliminated from the entire eastern half of North America due to hunting and habitat loss. All that remained was …

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When Climate Change Becomes â€˜Real'

athenssciencecafe — Fri, 30 Mar 2018 19:56:47 +0000

Sometimes, in the debate around climate change, we forget that it has a real impact on real people who we care about. Sometimes, we forget about the effect it can have on us, such as I did when I opened the news one summer morning in 2015. It was a real shock for me to …

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You are Here, Chapter 1: A guide to latitude and longitude

athenssciencecafe — Mon, 05 Mar 2018 19:06:28 +0000

â€œStand in the place where you live. Now face north. Think about direction, wonder why you haven't before.â€ Standâ€”R.E.M. Did you know that everyone with a smartphone carries around a small homing device in his or her pocket? Once the height of top secret military technology, global positioning systems (GPS) are embedded into a lot …

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Your Friendly Neighborhood Waxwings

athenssciencecafe — Thu, 01 Mar 2018 22:43:20 +0000

Birds are typically known for their grace and elegance. They emerge from the lingering chill of winter to soar gracefully overhead, surprise us with brilliant plumage, wake us at ungodly hours with their joyful pre-dawn chorusâ€¦ And then there's the waxwings.

Captive breeding and reintroduction programs: the last-ditch effort in conservation

athenssciencecafe — Sat, 24 Feb 2018 22:53:27 +0000

George had a problem. He was at least 100 years old and had been living in the same place for 40 years. He led a relatively simple life, though was somewhat overweight and had not left his confining compound since 1972. What was the most unusual thing about George was that he was under enormous …

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Someone Call an Exterminator

athenssciencecafe — Thu, 08 Feb 2018 16:33:10 +0000

You turn on your television, and the news anchors are talking about it: â€œ2016 was the hottest year on record.â€ You're sitting in traffic and you hear it again: â€œThe outbreak of hurricanes this year is a direct result of climate change.â€ The causes of these phenomena are always the same. Coal-fired power plants, internal-combustion cars, manufacturing plants. You've heard all of these a thousand times over, but has anyone ever told you that a global warming contributor could be the termites crawling around in your backyard, and you didn't even know it?

Rumble Down on the Farm

athenssciencecafe — Thu, 25 Jan 2018 22:00:30 +0000

Will Harris is the fourth-generation owner of White Oak Pastures, his family's 2500-acre farm near Bluffton, Georgia. When he took over the farm from his father in 1995, it was solely a cattle ranch, utilizing modern, industrial methods to raise livestock. However, Harris wanted a more â€˜natural' enterprise, and so began the transition from a modern cattle ranch to an organic, food-producing ecosystem. Today, White Oak Pastures raises cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, rabbits, chickens, turkeys, guinea fowl, ducks, and geese in a system that emphasizes animal welfare and environmental stewardship. Unfortunately, his earth-friendly ambitions have also turned his farm into a gory battlefield between Bald Eagle and chicken.

Plastic Waters

athenssciencecafe — Thu, 18 Jan 2018 15:41:52 +0000

Living in the modern world, we are completely surrounded by plastics. I have a plastic water filter, a plastic travel mug, a plastic phone, a plastic water bottle, I am currently typing on a plastic keyboard, and there is even plastic in the material my sweater is made out of.

America's Greatest Idea – The National Park Service

athenssciencecafe — Thu, 21 Sep 2017 00:27:29 +0000

â€œ The mountains are calling and I must go.â€ – John Muir Most days I feel a lot like John Muir, only I think it would be frowned upon if I dropped all my responsibilities to visit mountains and live amongst the trees. While I can't become a mountain man and live in a treehouse, …

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Addictive Poppies: A Brief History of Morphine

athenssciencecafe — Wed, 16 Aug 2017 13:26:39 +0000

You may have heard of opioids as the drug that killed Prince, Janice Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and (controversially) Elvis Presley. But my interest came after constantly seeing articles about overdoses all around the country. From that, my perception of opioids as the drugs of the rich and famous started to fade. These drugs affect parents, …

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A Bad Year for Bugs – The Importance of Cold Winters for Insect Control

athenssciencecafe — Sun, 30 Jul 2017 17:56:48 +0000

â€œIt's going to be a bad year for bugs.â€ Last month, I was frequently reminded of this expression as a seemingly endless supply of caterpillars feasted happily on the sunflowers from our most recent study. We were in a month-long, losing battle against these numerous and voracious critters! For the past year and a half, …

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Of Perils and Pearls: The Raw Scoop on Oysters

athenssciencecafe — Wed, 19 Jul 2017 21:53:54 +0000

Here is my confession: I have a weakness for raw oysters. Cooked they're tasty, but raw they're sublime. There's just something about that briny, gooey goodness (with just a hint of lemon juice and cocktail sauce, thankyouverymuch) that I can't get enough of. You may have heard the old adage that says never to eat …

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Help the Earth: Let Lawns be Free

athenssciencecafe — Thu, 15 Jun 2017 16:55:18 +0000

On every flight, there is a point when you sink below the clouds and a miniature version of the world unfurls before you. This is my favorite part about flying. Right before you land, the plane glides lower and lower and you get to see the world you experience every day from a different angle. …

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Adaptation: a much longer version of Acclimatization

athenssciencecafe — Mon, 15 May 2017 12:46:00 +0000

As my avid followers will recall, I ended my previous blog post with a brief discussion on the important distinction between acclimatization and adaptation. That blog post featured an in-depth look at acclimatization using my recent trip to Nepal as an example. For this blog post, I will focus on adaptation. Adaptation has quite a …

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There’s a Mastodon in My Pond

athenssciencecafe — Sat, 29 Apr 2017 20:05:27 +0000

Large, mysterious bones began to emerge amongst the backhoes and mud caked boots. Construction workers were told to continue digging the reservoir. The development finally halted when a massive, warped tusk confirmed that this was no rancher's bovine cemetery. Reputable scientists flocked to the scene, eager to get their hands dirty. Time was of the …

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All-You-Can-Eat Activism

athenssciencecafe — Fri, 28 Apr 2017 15:32:58 +0000

Sustainable eating has been working its way into the mainstream for decades now, but what does it actually mean to eat sustainably? Wikipedia defines a sustainable diet as â€œone that promotes food sustainability and ecological well-being.â€ With that vague of a definition, it's no surprise that people are implementing sustainability in their lives in very …

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The Science of Acclimatization (aka How to Survive at 17,000 feet)

athenssciencecafe — Wed, 22 Mar 2017 16:58:24 +0000

This past November two friends and I embarked on the Three Passes Trek, a hiking trail through Nepal that crosses, you guessed it, three mountain passes. The trail experiences drastic elevation changes, ranging anywhere from 9,000 to 17,500 feet. On Day 12 of our travels, I was struggling to fall asleep in Gorakshep, a small …

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Monarch Winter Numbers Released: Reinforcing a Historically Disappointing Trend

athenssciencecafe — Sat, 18 Mar 2017 20:03:05 +0000

Banner photo credit: Hayley Schroeder As visitors wander through the Georgia State Botanical Garden, a flurry of life swells up to say â€œWelcome!â€ Daffodils greet you by the hundreds, insects buzz around your head and cherry blossoms come blushing into bloom. One might call this the perfect spring day…if it wasn't February. While we box …

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Tiny Microbes with a Titanic Impact

athenssciencecafe — Sun, 12 Mar 2017 21:50:18 +0000

Whether you heard about it in your third grade history class or watched the iconic 1997 James Cameron film, almost everyone knows the story of the doomed luxury liner, Titanic. Trapped in a Murphy's Law situation, the ship sank on the night of April 15, 1912 after hitting an iceberg in the middle of the …

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Backyard Birds and Their Turds

athenssciencecafe — Wed, 22 Feb 2017 14:36:41 +0000

Just when you thought the biggest philosophical debate about poultry was whether the chicken or the egg came first, a new urban and suburban trend of raising backyard chickens has exploded in popularity over the past few years. After all, who doesn't want an animal that makes your breakfast? However, the rise in popularity of …

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For the Love of Meat

athenssciencecafe — Fri, 17 Feb 2017 22:31:45 +0000

To Be or Not To Be a Vegetarian: That is the Question. Or is it? Most people see a documentary about the meat industry and then they become a vegetarian for a week. – Jason Reitman Guilty. as. charged. After seeing Food, Inc. in college, I gave up meat for idealistic reasons. A week later, …

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The Ocean: A new frontier of exploration

athenssciencecafe — Fri, 10 Feb 2017 17:41:33 +0000

Space! It is an amazing place to study and explore, but the ocean is equally fascinating. They are both vast realms of mystery that call out for us to explore the unimaginable. Throughout history we find ourselves seeking adventure, whether it is shooting into the black space above the clouds or sailing around the world, …

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Read Between the Layers

athenssciencecafe — Thu, 09 Feb 2017 03:05:58 +0000

The world's greatest library lies centimeters below the surface of the Earth. We would know the planet's best-kept secrets if we could understand the text in which its stories are written. PhD Candidate, Danielle Haskett, has dedicated the last six years learning to interpret this earthly code, written in the form of fossilized bug heads. …

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A Matter of Milkweed

athenssciencecafe — Sun, 25 Dec 2016 12:00:38 +0000

The Real Ultra-marathoners Pause for a minute and think about how far you travel in a day. The average American walks around 2.5 miles each day. If you are an ultra-marathoner you might cover up to 100 at most. As a runner myself, the furthest I've run at one time is somewhere around 16 miles. …

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Disaster Strikes and Disease Follows

athenssciencecafe — Fri, 23 Dec 2016 20:17:11 +0000

When disasters strike we see images of destroyed buildings, injured individuals, and the far-reaching devastation that accompanies the forces of Mother Nature. The media covers the aftermath for a few weeks, but then coverage slowly dissipates and people watching from afar forget about the struggle still facing those affected. But for these individuals, devastation and …

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Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree – How Threatened Are Thy Branches

athenssciencecafe — Wed, 21 Dec 2016 17:56:10 +0000

â€˜Tis the season for one of my favorite holiday traditions: selecting and decorating a Christmas tree. This annual holiday festivity became popular and widely adopted worldwide in the late 18th century as people started displaying ornately decorated evergreen conifer species (i.e. pines, spruces, firs) in their homes. Although the Christmas tree tradition now includes fake …

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A trip to the Great â€œSmokyâ€ Mountains

athenssciencecafe — Sun, 18 Dec 2016 04:40:53 +0000

Fall foliage, hoarfrost, and smoke, oh my! This Thanksgiving, my family and I journeyed through part of the Southern Appalachians we frequent most often: the Great Smoky Mountains. It was like any other trip through the mountains this time of year, except we saw colorful leaves still hanging on to the trees in late November …

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Pickled Pools: Briney Ecosystems

athenssciencecafe — Thu, 15 Dec 2016 21:12:45 +0000

Often the ocean can look idyllic and inviting on the surface. Exploration of the sea floor, however, shows a harsh and unforgiving place. The Gulf of Mexico brine pools investigated by Erik Cordes and his colleagues are a model example. Subject to salinity more than four times the amount of normal seawater, and full of …

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In Defense of Mr. Grinch – Sleigh bells ring, are you listening?

athenssciencecafe — Wed, 14 Dec 2016 14:58:36 +0000

It's the 50th anniversary of the cave creature we love to hate, infamous for stealing candy from children, lying to a toddler, and burglarizing an entire village (on Christmas Eve, no less)- all over a little noise. But maybe Mr. Grinch's dream of a quiet Christmas isn't so ridiculous after all. The holidays are perhaps …

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Bangladesh's Battle with Arsenic

athenssciencecafe — Thu, 08 Dec 2016 17:06:01 +0000

Arsenic was a favorite poison among murderers for a long time because of its lack of odor and taste, and until the mid-19th century it could not be detected in corpses. Large quantities of arsenic can kill a person very quickly. However, a risk faced by millions of people every day is the slow and …

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Speciation & the Mimulus Story

athenssciencecafe — Fri, 02 Dec 2016 15:30:46 +0000

Ever wonder how new species begin? Join director and narrator Nick Batora and animator Rishi Masalia as they explore the evolutionary processes of speciation and how the genus Mimulus has been used to study it. This video was made for students at the University of Georgia in BIOL 1107, an introductory biology lab, but is …

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How Language Affects Thought And Culture

athenssciencecafe — Thu, 01 Dec 2016 15:16:12 +0000

The way our language forces us to speak has profound implications on our culture and way of thinking. There are many different types of languages around the world derived from various parent languages. For example, English is a type of Germanic Language which is a branch of the Indo-European language family. It is split into …

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Where have all the songbirds gone?

athenssciencecafe — Wed, 30 Nov 2016 15:30:23 +0000

I love nothing more than waking on a summer's day to the sound of bird songs outside my window. If you read my last post on bird language, this should be no surprise. The piercing sirens of mated cardinal pairs, the churring of chickadees, the sweet murmurs of cedar waxwingsâ€”all of these are music to …

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Pipe Dreams

athenssciencecafe — Tue, 29 Nov 2016 22:26:44 +0000

Let's face it, we all love our oil. In fact, â€œaddictedâ€ may be a more appropriate word than â€œlove.â€ The stuff practically runs through our veins alongside the caffeine and nicotine. We use oil, directly or indirectly, every single day. It heats our homes. It fuels our cars. It is our consumer lifeblood. To the …

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Can we SCIENCE! our way out of climate change?

athenssciencecafe — Fri, 04 Nov 2016 19:02:27 +0000

Climate change is happening. What should we do about it? With climate change, we can expect serious consequences, including destruction of coastal communities by sea level rise, increased frequency of deadly heat waves, and worsening of crop-decimating draughts. Many of us have been hearing the same story for years: we need to cut carbon emissions …

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Holy mackerel! Pollution has startling effects on nearby wildlife

athenssciencecafe — Fri, 28 Oct 2016 18:10:21 +0000

If you've ever watched an episode of the X-Files (or you're a self-proclaimed super fan, like myself) you might have been intrigued by the idea of spooky biological abnormalities creeping into cheesy 90's culture. The show often features frightening hybrid creatures born out of profound human error such as the â€œFlukeman,â€ a human/worm monster, a …

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There’s a Fungus Among Us! And Not in a Good Way…

athenssciencecafe — Wed, 12 Oct 2016 14:04:53 +0000

For years a microscopic killer has been sweeping through amphibian populations, taking them down one species at a time. Scientists have been at a loss for how this bite-sized butcher has unleashed a plague of biblical proportions across many ecosystems. Is there any hope for our four-legged friends? Or will they simply croak? While some …

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It’s good to be different

athenssciencecafe — Tue, 04 Oct 2016 01:45:01 +0000

Evolution runs on the principle of â€œsurvival of the fittestâ€- individuals that are better suited to their environment will be able to survive and reproduce more successfully. Following this logic, one would think that only the â€˜good' (advantageous) genes are passed on through generations, and the â€˜bad' (disadvantageous) genes are eventually eradicated. Thus, it is …

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The Fungal Connection – They come in peace to all plantkind

athenssciencecafe — Sun, 02 Oct 2016 12:00:18 +0000

The Lorax isn't the only one who speaks for the trees. In the shadow of virtually all earthly plants, an unlikely organism has woven its way into inter-species harmony, and in the process constructed a vast community more cooperative than some human societies. This microscopic diplomat is none other than the humble fungus. Contrary to …

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Shake a Leg! Or a Branch…The Movement of Trees Under Climate Change

athenssciencecafe — Sun, 25 Sep 2016 19:43:48 +0000

Florida torreya's (Torreya taxifolia) current habitats are threatened by climate change. The Torreya Guardians, a self-organized group of scientists and informed citizens, took it upon themselves in 2008 to move this tree species to new, suitable habitats north of its native range. This was the first assisted migration of an endangered species in the United …

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The World's Largest Lake is at Stake

athenssciencecafe — Sun, 25 Sep 2016 16:00:00 +0000

Why is the world's largest body of freshwater (by volume), Lake Baikal, currently in danger and why does it matter so much? It is known for its unmatched biodiversity and happens to hold 20% of the world's freshwater. This impressive combination certainly makes it worthy of global attention. To better understand what's at stake, let's …

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More Than Just a Pretty Song

athenssciencecafe — Wed, 21 Sep 2016 12:00:59 +0000

Birds the world over greet the morning with their songs. Some are hauntingly melodic, like that of the hermit thrush. Others sound liquid and alien, like brown headed cow-birds, who as brood parasites are raised in the nests of other birds. Whether bird songs lighten your spirits or simply wake you from peaceful slumber (blue …

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Sorry, Peter Parker: Why Radiation Isn't as Cool as You Thought

athenssciencecafe — Wed, 21 Sep 2016 12:00:20 +0000

In the sci-fi world, radiation is synonymous with super powers. Peter Parker became Spider Man thanks to an overzealous radioactive spider, and when a group of scientists were bombarded by radiation in space, they became the Fantastic Four. In the real world, however, radiation is viewed a bit differently. If radiation means â€œsuper powersâ€ in …

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The Beauty Behind Ugly Food

athenssciencecafe — Sun, 18 Sep 2016 16:41:09 +0000

We live in a society that is obsessed with perfection. We expect perfection in our own bodies, faces, jobs and even in our food. We are all guilty of it. Imagine you are in the grocery store faced with the choice of organic or regular apples. Upon closer inspection you find the organic apples are …

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Inbreeding in the Animal Kingdom: What's the big deal?

athenssciencecafe — Mon, 12 Sep 2016 20:19:34 +0000

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/282604981″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”450″ iframe=”true” /] References: Source 1, Source 2, Source 3, Source 4, Source 5 The music in this podcast was provided by https://soundcloud.com/maverick_xander. About the Author Tyus Williams is an Undergraduate student at UGA studying in Wildlife Biology. He has a passion in Wildlife Conservation with goals to focus on the preservation of …

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Combating Climate Change with Photosynthesis

athenssciencecafe — Wed, 31 Aug 2016 14:36:32 +0000

Fossil fuels are ingrained in American history. If you have ever driven a car, flown in an airplane, or heated your home, you have used fossil fuels. These fuels (coal, oil and natural gas) account for 85% of fuel use in the United States, and our dependence on them has become an increasingly important issue. …

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Three's aâ€¦ Lichen?

athenssciencecafe — Mon, 29 Aug 2016 20:51:23 +0000

Perhaps it's my tendency to root for the underdog, but I love to see researchers challenge long-standing scientific dogma. Some of my favorite underdogs of this variety include Copernicus who determined we live in a heliocentric solar system rather than a geocentric one and Marshall and Warren who discovered that ulcers are caused by Heliobacter …

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What's the buzz on bees?

athenssciencecafe — Wed, 22 Jun 2016 14:00:18 +0000

Earlier this spring, Buzz the Bee disappeared from Honey Nut Cheerios boxes in Canada. Burt's Bees dropped the letter B from its lip balm products. Are these clever marketing ploys? Perhaps, but they were designed with a more noble purpose in mind: to raise awareness of disappearing honeybees. And, it's not just companies with apian …

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Innocents Lost: Mitigating severe malaria in children & pregnant women through anticoagulation

athenssciencecafe — Mon, 20 Jun 2016 22:21:44 +0000

Will my baby be healthy? How can I protect it? Is my child safe? For the 125 million pregnant women at risk of contracting malaria there is no need to imagine, this is the reality they face everyday — Tara Bracken Winner of the 2016 University of Georgia 3 Minute Thesis, Tara Bracken speaks about …

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Them Old Sweet Ones: Remembering and Reintroducing the American Chestnut

athenssciencecafe — Thu, 16 Jun 2016 19:01:25 +0000

â€œWhen you turned off Chestnut Grove Road towards the school, you went up another little road, and there were chestnut trees all up that road,â€ then 87-year-old Margaret Miller tells me while we sit sipping ice tea at her formica kitchen table in Meat Camp, North Carolina. â€œIn the fall, if you got along first …

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Arctic Camels: An Origin Story

athenssciencecafe — Thu, 02 Jun 2016 02:25:10 +0000

Camels are rightfully known as â€œthe ships of the desertâ€ because of their impressive ability to carry up to 500 lbs on their back! While camels seem to conjure up images of pyramids and arid, desolate seas of sand dunes, they weren't always the quintessential desert-dwelling beasts that they are today. Camels actually originated in …

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The science behind fighting elephant poaching

athenssciencecafe — Thu, 12 May 2016 23:11:44 +0000

I was always dimly aware of elephant poaching for ivory, but it didn't alarm me until I spent a year working as a tropical ecology research assistant in central Africa. I was in Gabon, a heavily forested small country in the heart of the Congo basin on Africa's west coast. Gabon is home to roughly …

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The Storms We Wield:

athenssciencecafe — Tue, 10 May 2016 14:55:25 +0000

The Storms We Wield: The human superpower to change the weather Her eyes turn white. Winds pick up. Lightning engulfs the sky. Marvel's Storm is brewing; you'd better hope she's fighting for you. Storm's abilities to control the weather are among the most impressive and versatile powers in the comic universe. By manipulating thermal, electric, …

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The Ripple Effect

athenssciencecafe — Sat, 07 May 2016 13:00:00 +0000

How do you feed the world when the world doesn’t have the water to feed itself? — Rishi R. Masalia A finalist for the 2016 University of Georgia 3 Minute Thesis competition, Rishi R. Masalia talks about global water scarcity and how his PhD dissertation can help! If you’re interested in this topic and want …

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Food Waste in the 21st Century

athenssciencecafe — Fri, 29 Apr 2016 18:22:39 +0000

In 2012, food waste was the most abundant kind of waste produced in America (see chart below), beating even plastic and paper. This has led the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to choose food recovery as their theme for this year's Earth Week. Food waste affects multiple areas of the environment. Wasting food means wasting our …

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Nuclear fallout or nuclear bailout: could nuclear power help save us from climate change?

athenssciencecafe — Fri, 22 Apr 2016 14:00:35 +0000

In December, the US and 194 other countries signed the Paris Agreement, vowing to work together to prevent worldwide temperatures from rising 2 degrees C (3.6 °F) above pre-industrial levels. Temperatures have already risen 0.8 °C (1.4 °F), and the planet is warming at approximately 0.15 – 0.20 °C per decade. Preventing further rises in …

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Tragedy of the Commons in the America West

athenssciencecafe — Wed, 23 Mar 2016 12:21:00 +0000

In the American West, clear skies look down on a bountiful expanse of land. The rumble of bison herds is now replaced with the soft lowing of cattle and a rising dissatisfaction from those that tend them. The recent armed occupation of a wildlife refuge in Oregon brought issues of public land management to national …

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Degradable Polymers: Plastics our Future Can Depend On

athenssciencecafe — Tue, 22 Mar 2016 16:57:35 +0000

Consumer plastics is an immense industry, with over 200 million tons produced annually. Of these plastics, 22-43% end up in a landfill, where they sit, inert, slowly breaking down into small particles that enter the environment and interfere in the life cycles of many animals, especially aquatic creatures like fish and zooplankton. This negatively impacts …

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The Most Deadly Animals on Earth

athenssciencecafe — Thu, 17 Mar 2016 16:28:22 +0000

It's almost summer time. That means it's about to be mosquito season! These masters of annoyance happen to be the world's most deadly animal. No other animal species is responsible for as many human deaths as mosquitoes are. Humans murder about 475,000 other people each year. You know those creepy slithering snakes you fear so …

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The Life and Lies of Kudzu

athenssciencecafe — Tue, 15 Mar 2016 16:38:33 +0000

Southerners see it everywhere: green tentacles snaking up the road signs, vines suffocating vast green meadows of trees. The infestation has become a trademark of the south: kudzu. Many Americans grow up hearing that kudzu was imported for erosion control, but the true story is more complex. For the celebration of the hundredth year since the …

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What's the cost? Predicting the consequences of climate change

athenssciencecafe — Tue, 01 Mar 2016 17:49:38 +0000

If you're wondering whether Earth's temperatures are rising, or whether people are responsible for global warming, then check out Hilde’s previous posts on climate change. Would global warming be really all that bad? We associate wintertime weather with unpleasantries like halting the agricultural growing season, overflowing of homeless shelters, and imperiling drivers. What will happen if …

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From lead to climate change: a long tradition of denialism

athenssciencecafe — Thu, 25 Feb 2016 02:31:16 +0000

Despite the overwhelming scientific evidence (see previous ASO blogs on the subject, like the ones found here and here), climate change is still regularly denied by a rather large proportion of the U.S. population. Much of this denial may be traced back to certain groups and interests that benefit from the government and other players …

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Shark Attack! Should we actually fear the kings of the sea?

athenssciencecafe — Tue, 16 Feb 2016 17:00:54 +0000

Jaws, the 1975 American thriller film directed by the great Steven Spielberg has been hailed as one of the greatest classic movies of all time. The movie begins with a teenaged girl enjoying a swim at a supposedly carefree late night beach party, only to be suddenly pulled underwater to her horrific and untimely demise. …

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Food Security in the 21st Century

athenssciencecafe — Mon, 25 Jan 2016 23:06:58 +0000

We need to do more, faster. The food crisis is permanently harming millions of children. They need our help. This is about even more than alleviating human suffering; it is about global peace and stability. –Ban-Ki Moon, UN Secretary General, 2009 Globally, we are food insecure. Rampant food waste, coupled with climate change and unrestricted …

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The Costs of Color: Why leaves change in Fall

athenssciencecafe — Wed, 02 Dec 2015 13:00:00 +0000

by Uma Nagendra It's a big move, turning on the heater. I can ignore the chilly mornings and shrinking daylight for a while, but once the heater is on, I'm no longer in denial that winter is just a calendar page away. For people and creatures alike, winter is a notoriously harsh season. Everyone has …

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Water in the 21st Century

athenssciencecafe — Tue, 24 Nov 2015 16:32:39 +0000

Water holds the key to sustainable development. We need it for health, food security, and economic progress. Yet, each year brings new pressures. — Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary-General, 2013 The distribution and availability of water are defining features of life. As populations increase and global temperatures rise due to human-induced climate change, we will see …

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Common Sense Conservation

athenssciencecafe — Thu, 19 Nov 2015 13:00:36 +0000

Which Species Should We Save? Situated near the center of Jekyll Island is one of Georgia's most well-known and celebrated conservation programs, the Georgia Sea Turtle Center (GSTC). Since opening in 2007, the GSTC has taken in over 300 injured sea turtles as patients and, impressively, most of them have been released back into the …

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It's All Upstream From Here

athenssciencecafe — Wed, 18 Nov 2015 15:00:46 +0000

We cannot talk about streams without first discussing a very important concept: the watershed [1]. A watershed, or drainage basin, is an area between ridges where precipitation collects in creeks and streams, eventually coalescing to form rivers. The way precipitation moves across land is analogous to the way water from a faucet pools in the …

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â€œGreenâ€ Pesticides: Can Fungi Fix Agriculture?

athenssciencecafe — Thu, 12 Nov 2015 14:00:16 +0000

Farmers today face a number of challenges, old and new. Global climate change is exacerbating harsh growing conditions, invasive species are devastating crops, and consumer demands are shifting toward sustainable farming practices. Farmers also have to balance the increasing cost of fertilizers and pesticides with a need for high crop yield. An estimated 877 million …

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Butchery on Wings

athenssciencecafe — Tue, 10 Nov 2015 14:00:30 +0000

Anyone that has seen Alfred Hitchcock's â€œThe Birdsâ€ should have a healthy fear of crows. Even to someone who has never enjoyed the glorious spectacle of crows pecking people's eyes out in black and white, crows are unsettling. They are a large menacing black bird with a blood-curdling caw; add the fact that a group …

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Burning down the house: Are humans causing climate change?

athenssciencecafe — Tue, 20 Oct 2015 15:41:16 +0000

This is the second part of a three-part series on climate change. For information concerning whether or not the climate is changing, see part one. Part three will deal with the consequences we face from climate change. We can agree that the global climate is actually warming, so who or what do we have to blame …

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Why do we believe that the Earth is warming?

athenssciencecafe — Thu, 15 Oct 2015 14:00:08 +0000

This is the first of a three-part series on common questions about climate change: This first article will address the question of whether the climate really changing. Subsequent articles will look more closely at human's role in climate change and the effects can we expect from climate change. It's no secret that there's a crisis …

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