Month: June 2008
Pulse of the Planet Daily Audio
Science Diary: Mims – Noisy Insects
A chorus of katydids can be as loud as a vacuum cleaner. Add cicadas to the mix, and you’re in for some serious noise!
June 27, 2008Melting Polar Ice Cap: Future
The North Pole is melting, and scientists tell us it will effect everything from polar bears to international politics.
June 26, 2008Melting Polar: Antarctica
Global warming seems to be melting the North Pole, but the earth’s rising temperature is expected to have a very different effect on the South Pole.
June 25, 2008Melting Polar Ice Cap: Intro
The Arctic icecap appears to be melting, and some scientists say that within a century, the North Pole will be an open sea during the summer months.
June 24, 2008Science Diary: Grayling – Tagging
The populations of Arctic Graylings can vary greatly from year to year, and researchers are monitoring them to find out why.
June 23, 2008Science Diary: Grayling – Weir
Scientists use a river fence to help monitor Arctic Graylings, the only fish found in Alaska’s Kuparik River.
June 20, 2008Astrobiology: Microbe Siesta
At a NASA lab in California, scientists are exploring outer space by looking through microscopes.
June 19, 2008Astrobiology – Moving to Mars
If human beings ever live on Mars, the first colonists on the Red Planet will likely be farmers.
June 18, 2008Astrobiology – Genesis
The first life forms to arrive on Earth may have “hitchhiked” here on a meteor from Mars.
June 17, 2008Science Diary: Beach Sand – Results
After heat sealing and incubating samples of ocean water, counting bacteria is a numbers game.
June 16, 2008Science Diary: Beach Sand – Testing
Two resourceful middle school students use a household iron and a homemade incubator to conduct bacterial research.
June 13, 2008Insects and Plant Diversity-Applications
Predatory insects actually help maintain the diversity of the rainforest.
June 12, 2008Insects and Plant Diversity-Defense Strategies
Different plants have developed different strategies for defending themselves against insects, and those strategies are based on the kind of soil the plant grows in.
June 11, 2008Insects and Plant Diversity-Soil
The reason why different plants thrive in different types of soil is a riddle that scientists have only recently been able to unravel.
June 10, 2008Science Diary: Beach Sand – Sand
A school science fair project has caught the attention of an oceanographer, who is helping to guide some significant research.
June 9, 2008Science Diary: Beach Sand – Beach
Could bacteria in beach sand be contaminating ocean water? Two middle school students are attempting to find out.
June 6, 2008Sunspots: Butterfly Diagram
Just what is a sunspot, really?
June 5, 2008Owl Feathers: Barred
These stealthy predators are named after the pattern on their feathers, which offers them near-perfect camouflage.
June 4, 2008Science Diary: Insect Defense – Food Chain
Want to study beetle larva? You’d better grow some tobacco.
June 3, 2008Science Diary: Redwoods – Too Tall
Is there a limit to how tall trees can grow?
June 2, 2008Science Diary: Redwoods – Tallest Tree
Amidst a clearcut forest and host to a pesky woodpecker, the world’s tallest tree is a remarkable specimen.