Party Life
Margaret S. Collins, the first black female entomologist in the US to earn his PhD, overcomes racism and sexism and becomes a field biologist and termite expert, reporting in Termite Pioneer I did.
“I had the honor of knowing [Margaret S. Collins] When I was hired by the USDA at the National Museum of Natural History in the early 1990s,” wrote research entomologist Dr. M. Alma Solis. “I have many stories about her as a museum scientist, but one story I’ve never heard of anyone is the ability to capture the attention and imagination of a scientist at a party. Someone. If there were groups of people around you, you knew it was reading margarets! She was very good at reading people and was very interesting.”
Dive deep
Marine cyanobacteriums called “Chonkus” are rich in carbon and sink rapidly in liquids. These properties hold the promise to sequester carbon in the ocean to combat climate change. Earth and Climate Author Carolyn Gramling reports that “mutant cyanobacterium has an appetite for carbon.”
Reader Deborah Strod asked how long it would take this bacteria to return to the atmosphere for the sequestered carbon.
The timescale of carbon cycling in the ocean may vary depending on many factors, including water depth. In general, “If organic carbon is submerged deep enough, it is expected to remain separated from the atmosphere for thousands of years,” says Max Schubert, a microbiologist previously at the WYSS Institute at Harvard University. “This remains a scientific question of how deep this deep biomass sinks,” he says.
Scientists are trying to measure this through a model of marine iron fertilization, a practice of fertilizing the ocean surface to increase phytoplankton growth. These organisms capture carbon throughout their lifetimes and eventually sink to the seabed upon their deaths.
Marine iron fertilization helps to remove atmospheric carbon, but poses several risks. This process can deprive the environment of valuable nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus, causing certain marine ecosystems to destroy. “We were excited to see it [Chonkus] We’ve accumulated a large amount of carbon-rich polymers,” Schubert says.
About redesign
Science NewsThe January 2025 issue unveiled a new look with more pages and visual elements, science-themed puzzles, and regular comprehensive, detailed science coverage.
Some readers shared their first impressions.
“I love it,” wrote Mark Waltz. “I’ve subscribed to most of my adult life, and it’s great to see your efforts in providing scientific news that I believe will continue to be a challenging news ecosystem.”
Joel Thanet wrote: Acrostics, a type of word puzzle that reveals coded messages, “gives more opportunities to incorporate science into cues and may cite them in a bit of information from famous scientists and science,” says Sunet. added.
