Health & Medicine
GLOBE at Night
Six out of 10 people in the US have never seen our Milky Way Galaxy arch across their night sky from where they live. And the problem of light pollution is quickly getting worse. Within a couple of generations in the U.S., only the national parks will have dark enough skies to see the Milky Way.
Too much outdoor lighting not only affects being able to see the stars, but also wastes energy and money, about 2 to 10 billion dollars a year. And it has been shown to cause sleep disorders in people and to disrupt the habits of animals like newly hatched sea turtles that try to find their way back into the ocean but are disoriented by streetlights.
Light pollution may be a global problem, but the solutions are local. To help people “see the light”, an international star-hunting program for students, teachers, and the general public was created called GLOBE at Night. GLOBE at Night is now in its 6th year and is hosted by the U.S. National Optical Astronomy Observatory.
For 2014 we are collecting your observations during all 12 months of the year! See the dates below and plan to get involved.
Through this program, children and adults are encouraged to reconnect with the night sky and learn about light pollution and in doing so, become citizen scientists inspired to protect this natural resource. Teachers like the GLOBE at Night program, because it lends itself to cross-curricular learning: astronomy, geography, history, literature, and writing. The possibilities are great.
Project MERCCURI! Microbes in Space!
Project MERCCURI: Space Station Microbiome and Microbes in Space
Project MERCCURI is a collaboration of UC Davis/microBEnet with the Science Cheerleaders, Space Florida, Nanoracks, NASA, and SciStarter.com. There are three components to the project:
1) Space Station Microbiome. Collecting microbial swab samples from the International Space Station (ISS) and examining the microbial communities therein (via 16S sequencing)
2) Swabbing Sports and Space Events. Collecting swab samples around the country at sporting and other public events from cell phones, shoes, and various surfaces (e.g. keyboards, screens, railings etc.) These will be used for comparison to the ISS samples and for a look at microbial biogeography across a national scale. In collaboration with Jack Gilbert at the Earth Microbiome Project and the Science Cheerleaders who will be organizing and leading the sampling events.
3) Microbial Playoffs. A microbial growth competition on the ISS. A subset of samples collected at public events will be cultured at UC Davis and the “best” microbe from each environment will be sent to the ISS for a “microbial playoffs” competition via Space X on February 22, 2014. A duplicate of this experiment will be conducted on earth and the results compared.
Penn Defibrillator Design Challenge
The Social Media and Health Innovation Lab at the University of Pennsylvania is currently holding a contest called the Penn Defibrillator Design Challenge (www.defibdesignchallenge.com). This project is an initiative at the intersection of public health and public art and is engaging the public to submit designs to surround an AED (Automated External Defibrillator). AEDs are life-saving devices used to shock the heart back to life during cardiac arrest, yet often go unnoticed by passers-by or are misunderstood as only being able to be used by medical professionals. In fact, the devices can be used by anyone and often make the difference between life and death for the cardiac arrest victim.
The first AED design installation launched the contest and is featured now in Philadelphia's iconic 30th Street Station. This design uses "Twitter furniture" spelling #AED to create a conversation space around the AED as well as a conversation space on social media. The below stories show more about the first installation.
Our Radioactive Ocean
The release of radioactive contaminants from Fukushima remains an unprecedented event for the people of Japan and the Pacific Ocean. Help scientists at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institu