At first glance, the mushrooms we see popping up on the forest floor may appear pretty insignificant. They’re lovely, sure, but most are small and rubbery, and they disappear pretty quickly during dry periods.As it happens though, these little nubbins are crucial to our forests’ very SURVIVAL. How is this possible? Let’s dig a bit deeper. There are thousands of mushroom species, which are part of the Kingdom Fungi. Most live in the soil or…

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 The Twelfth Dredge of Biomassby Raymond K. NakamuraFor these taxing times, I tried a taxonomic take on an old favourite. Here is an annotated list of animal phyla, chosen for matching the number of syllables in the gifts mentioned in the song The Twelve Days of Christmas.On the twelfth dredge of biomass, my true love gave to me —This is supposing that you and your true love are fans of invertebrate zoology.12 AnnelidaAnnelids are segmented…

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by Paula Johanson Part of learning about science is talking and thinking about science. And singing about it too, if you're someone who appreciates the humour of Tom Lehrer. Not every family will laugh at every one of his songs, but most families will find something funny in at least one of his songs about science or math. There's a Tom Lehrer song listing the elements from the Periodic Table of the elements, which is…

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 by Yolanda RidgeAfter a year of bad news stories, there’s finally some good news on the horizon when it comes to COVID-19: a vaccine! So how do vaccines work? Here’s a step-by-step guide on how vaccines—also known as immunizations—prevent people from getting disease like the measles, the flu and (hopefully soon) COVID-19. For the simplicity, I’ll refer to the disease as “YUCK” and the germ that causes it as “Y”. Scientists modify Y so it…

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 by Paula JohansonA high school student from Fort MacMurray, Alberta, has just won an international science competition called Breakthrough Junior Challenge. Maryam Tsegaye has won a $500,000 award which includes a scholarship, a new science lab for her school, and a prize for her teacher. The challenge was to submit a video that explains a scientific principle.Maryam explained quantum tunnelling, in a three-minute video.If you haven't gotten around to learning new science during quarantine and…

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 by Jan Thornhill[Today's post is based on some images and captions by Jan Thornhill. Her studies of fungus lead her to make photographs with surprising colours and textures! There are spores and bracket fungus and more.]   I found a new hen-of-the-woods (Grifola frondosa) fungus growing at the base of a tree, and took a quick location pic so I'd be able to find the same tree again next year. (My criteria for this location pic…

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 Video by Joan Marie Galat 

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 In 2011 Daryl Bem proved that precognition exists! People can know something before it happens. Specifically, he ran an experiment which went like this: students were shown a computer screen displaying two curtains. They were told that a picture would appear behind one of the curtains and they had to predict which curtain. The computer then used a random number generator to choose which side the picture would appear. If the subjects had no ability…

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That white and grey bird with yellow legs, squawking for your French fries? Not a seagull.The patch of birds on the pier, chiming "Mine! Mine!" Not seagulls.The majestic bird, diving head first for a fish: not a seagull.If you aren't near the sea, you might as well call them baygulls because even though everyone talks about "seagulls," they're not a type of bird—not a genus, family, order, or class of birds—they simply don't exist. What we're…

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By Claire EamerI don't have a lot of heroes (of any gender), but in the field of science communication, David Attenborough definitely qualifies. For almost 70 years, the British naturalist and broadcaster has been observing, filming, and interpreting the natural world for audiences of all kinds and all ages.That bit -- "all ages" -- is one of the reasons he's my hero. He doesn't talk down to his audience. Nor does he oversimplify. He speaks…

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