Our own Joan Marie Galat is a scholar of all things fungus. And she still knows how to enjoy just finding the odd mushroom here and there while out for a walk in the woods. Here are some photos she shared recently with friends. With compassion for those of us who can find it hard to figure out Latin names for various species of living things, she's captioned these photos in a more informal way. "Bite…

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“I hate holidays. Everyone always asks me how tall I am,” my son said, looking down at me. At only 13, he could already reach the top kitchen shelf without a step ladder.“Well why don’t you ask it back?” I said. â€œAsk if they’re taller than their mom.”We got great stories from the aunts and uncles that Christmas. And we discovered a surprising thing: even the shortest of the aunts and uncles were taller than their…

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Paula JohansonThere are a variety of stories from around the world, telling of young people using science to discover amazing and useful things! Many of their projects are of particular interest in a world facing climate change and resource emergencies.Check out the story of Fionn Ferriera, described as an eighteen-year-old wunderkind. At the 2019 Google Science Fair, he took the top prize. His invention? Creating a way to remove microplastics from ocean water. Click here…

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This summer I visited Newfoundland. I’d heard lots about its attractions - people, music, scenery, food, icebergs, whales, puffins. But I was surprised at what a world-class fascinating place it is for geology. Gros Morne National Park, on the west coast, is a case in point. One of the landmarks in the area is the Tablelands mountain range, a reddish lump of rock over 700 meters high, and totally barren of plant life. Part of the Tablelands…

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Many parents tell bedtime stories to their little children. One father, Jason Heeris, admitted on Twitter the other day that a few weeks earlier he set out to bore his three-year-old child to sleep by telling everything he knew about particle physics and nuclear physics. There was rather a lot to tell. And to his surprise, Jason said:Every night since then, as he's falling asleep, his little voice pipes up: "tell me about atoms daddy."Check…

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Ever wonder what it’s like to be a biologist? It is a truly rewarding career, but it might not be what you expect! Read on to learn about what a career in biology can be like, in a post from our guest writer Meghan Jacklin.My name is Meghan, and I am a biologist in Edmonton Alberta. I was first inspired to care about wildlife and natural areas from a young age through my love of…

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By Claire EamerNow there's a question that opens a can of worms!A couple of years ago, I wrote a short news article -- Archaeological Find Puts Humans in North America 10,000 Years Earlier Than Thought -- for Hakai Magazine. It was about a new analysis of bones found 40 years ago in the Bluefish Caves in the northern Yukon by Canadian anthropologist Jacques Cinq-Mars. The magazine followed it up with a lengthy and fascinating piece by…

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And, with fewer cookies:You're welcome.

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By Adrienne Montgomerie Windows, concrete, silicone chips, and even water filtration systems have one thing in common, and it’s getting harder and harder to find: it’s sand.Can you believe that? The stuff between your toes at the beach, in your bathing suit, in your bag… the stuff that is so hard to get rid of, that sticks everywhere. That sand is running out. It’s getting so hard to find that people are even stealing it,…

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Last weekend I had an unwelcome visitor. A carpenter bee decided that my deck would be a good place to raise a family. I disagreed. If you don’t know about these amazing insects, here goes: Carpenter bees are quite different from honey bees. Carpenters don't make honey and they don't live in communal hives. They seldom sting - only the female (queen) is capable of stinging. The males will buzz around you and try to intimidate…

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