The Japanese Beetle in Vancouver

July 8, 2022July 24, 2022 Sci/Why Communication, Education and Outreach, General Science

By Raymond K. Nakamura The first I heard of the Japanese beetle (Popillia japonica) was on signs in my neighbourhood calling for its eradication. In its native Japan, the green and copper member species of scarab beetle is called “mame-ko-gane” in Japanese, which means “bean yellow gold” or “mini gold money.” Natural predators keep it...

Fiction with science elements

July 2, 2022 Sci/Why Communication, Education and Outreach, General Science

Our own Joan Marie Galat shared on Facebook the news of her soon-to-be released book, Mortimer: Rat Race to Space -- which you can tell from the title and the cover image is a work of fiction with a lot of science elements! Joan says:Cover reveal! Scheduled for release in September 2022 by Cormorant Books....

Stink Bug Citizen Science!

June 28, 2022June 28, 2022 Sci/Why Communication, Education and Outreach, General Science

Looking for a summer science project? Here's a note for volunteers and citizen scientists in British Columbia, Canada! There are stink bugs native to this region that are doing just fine, but in addition to them are new stink bugs. New to BC are Brown marmorated stink bugs ( BMSBs) from Asia. Invasive species of stink...

Woolly Bears in the Mountains

May 6, 2022July 5, 2022 Sci/Why Communication, Education and Outreach, General Science

By Claire Eamer No! Not those bears! I'm talking caterpillars.Woolly bears are those fluffy, hairy caterpillars that look a bit like tiny plush toys. They're common from Mexico to northern Canada. You might have seen a woolly bear trundling along a warm sidewalk in summer or climbing a plant stem to munch on leaves. Eventually, the...

Can rivers, lakes and trees be granted their own rights, just like people?

April 24, 2022July 24, 2022 Sci/Why Communication, Education and Outreach, General Science

By Megan ClendenanApril 22nd is Earth Day – a great opportunity to consider how we are caring for our home planet. Are we using the golden rule? Are we treating our planet how we ourselves would like to be treated?A different perspective shows us how everything on Earth is connected. The right to life. Freedom from...

Tasty Rocks: salt and friends

April 22, 2022 Sci/Why Communication, Education and Outreach, General Science

Salt — that stuff that melts the ice on sidewalks and makes popcorn taste so yummy — salt is a rock! Well, the kind in your salt shaker is rock-y. There's also salt dissolved in the oceans. It is dissolved rock! A mineral, actually. Salt is mined just like rocks too! It takes huge mining equipment...

When Ice Plays the Frazil Jam

April 9, 2022July 25, 2022 Sci/Why Communication, Education and Outreach, General Science

by Nina MunteanuI’m a limnologist (someone who studies water and water systems); I’m also a Canadian, living in the north. That means that the water and waterways I study are often covered in ice and snow. Since moving to Peterborough a few years ago, I’ve been walking daily along the shores of the Otonabee River,...

Millipedes

March 25, 2022July 25, 2022 Sci/Why Communication, Education and Outreach, General Science

by Kim Woolcock It’s spring, and all kinds of creatures are crawling out from under the leaf litter. Including millipedes.Their name means “thousand legs” (even though only one millipede, Eumillipes persephone, has more than a thousand legs, and it was just discovered in December 2021). Despite their many legs, they are not fast runners, and...

Why Do Kids Play?

March 15, 2022July 25, 2022 Sci/Why Communication, Education and Outreach, General Science

by Anne Munier Kids doing what kids do best! Children are playful creatures. This holds true all over the world- whether that’s playing 4-square in the schoolyard, engaging in some shadow tag if you happen to be in Ireland, or maybe partaking in a bit of luksong-baka if you’re in the Philippines (it translates to...

Antelope Island and Its Famous Residents—the Bison

March 13, 2022July 25, 2022 Sci/Why Communication, Education and Outreach, General Science

by Elaine KachalaPhoto by Michael Kachala It might surprise you to learn that one of the largest free-roaming herds of bison lives in a state park! Recently, I had the incredible experience of visiting Antelope Island State Park. Located in Utah, United States, it’s the largest island in the middle of Great Salt Lake and...

Author: Sci/Why