EurekAlert: Smartphones prove to be time-saving analytical tools. “Seemingly everyone has a smartphone in their pocket, and we find new uses for them every day. They can help us avoid traffic jams or connect us to family from afar. They can even translate languages on the fly. Now, scientists have figured out a new trick. Using a regular smartphone camera and some 3D-printed tools, they’ve developed an easier way to measure soil density.”
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Scientific American: How to Evaluate COVID-19 News without Freaking Out
Scientific American: How to Evaluate COVID-19 News without Freaking Out. “Carl Bergstrom, a professor of biology at the University of Washington, is an expert on how information flows in science and society. He and his University of Washington colleague Jevin West teach a course on data reasoning in the digital world (its materials are available online). They have also written a book based on the course, Calling Bullshit: The Art of Skepticism in a Data-Driven World, which is set to be published this Tuesday. Bergstrom has monitored the pandemic closely, sharing frequent updates on Twitter and countering disinformation. Scientific American spoke with him about his tool kit for navigating the daily deluge of news about the novel coronavirus, from finding reliable sources to interpreting reporting about preprint research.”
Phys .org: High time to open up ecological research
Phys .org: High time to open up ecological research. “Share the code and data behind the research please. It’s easy, but it will have a major positive impact on progress and trust in science. That is the clear message from a new paper in PLOS Biology. An international team of ecologists found that currently, only about a quarter of the scientific papers in their field publicly shares computer code for analyses. ‘To make the science of ecology more transparent and reproducible, sharing is urgently needed.'”
MobiHealthNews: Doctors tweet swimsuit photos in rebuke of critical journal article
MobiHealthNews: Doctors tweet swimsuit photos in rebuke of critical journal article. “A new twitter movement dubbed #MedBikini has emerged after a research article published in the Journal of Vascular Surgery concluded that half of the recent and soon-to-be graduates in vascular surgery has social media accounts with ‘unprofessional content.'”
Bloomberg: Dogs Can Sniff Out Coronavirus Infections, German Study Shows
Bloomberg: Dogs Can Sniff Out Coronavirus Infections, German Study Shows. “Dogs with a few days of training are capable of identifying people infected with the coronavirus, according to a study by a German veterinary university. Eight dogs from Germany’s armed forces were trained for only a week and were able to accurately identify the virus with a 94% success rate, according to a pilot project led by the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover. Researchers challenged the dogs to sniff out Covid-19 in the saliva of more than 1,000 healthy and infected people.”
DOE unveils blueprint for quantum internet at ‘Launch To The Future: Quantum Internet’ (EurekAlert)
EurekAlert: DOE unveils blueprint for quantum internet at ‘Launch To The Future: Quantum Internet’. “In a press conference today at the University of Chicago, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) unveiled a report that lays out a blueprint strategy for the development of a national quantum internet, bringing the United States to the forefront of the global quantum race and ushering in a new era of communications. This report provides a pathway to ensure the development of the National Quantum Initiative Act, which was signed into law by President Trump in December 2018.”
GlobeNewswire: New investments in major science initiatives to keep Canada at the forefront (PRESS RELEASE)
GlobeNewswire: New investments in major science initiatives to keep Canada at the forefront (PRESS RELEASE). “As the Government of Canada responds to the challenges of COVID-19, it is clear why investments in research are important. Canadian researchers from all disciplines play a key role in finding solutions to the challenges we face now and in the future. Today, the Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, announced close to $230 million in funding through the Canada Foundation for Innovation’s (CFI) Major Science Initiatives (MSI) Fund to continue to support the operating costs of 14 national research facilities at 10 universities.”
EurekAlert: Concordian co-leads effort to see future of AI from an Indigenous perspective
EurekAlert: Concordian co-leads effort to see future of AI from an Indigenous perspective. “The 205-page [Indigenous Protocol and Artificial Intelligence Position Paper] is a collection of scholarly articles, essays, short stories, poems and tech prototypes, each offering a unique perspective on what AI means and offers to Indigenous peoples. Topics are as diverse as the workshops’ participants: one essay asks us to imagine ways to design AI that align with Indigenous values and ethics. Another questions data sovereignty and appropriation. Others ask how AI can be incorporated into and become a part of creation stories or how blockchain technology combined with AI can be used to manage Indigenous communities’ business affairs.”
Phys .org: An open-source data platform for researchers studying archaea
Phys .org: An open-source data platform for researchers studying archaea. “To foster scientific exchange and to advance discovery, biologists in the School of Arts & Sciences led by postdoc Stefan Schulze and professor Mecky Pohlschroder have launched the Archaeal Proteome Project (ArcPP), a web-based database to collect and make available datasets to further the work of all scientists interested in archaea, a domain of life composed of microorganisms that can dwell anywhere from deep-sea vents to the human gut.”
Regina Leader-Post: Canadian researchers to develop first national database on effectiveness of medical cannabis
Regina Leader-Post: Canadian researchers to develop first national database on effectiveness of medical cannabis. “Canadian researchers are hoping to fill in the gaps regarding how effective medicinal marijuana is in treating adults with chronic pain, sleep, anxiety and depression issues as part of a new six-month study. There’s been plenty of anecdotal evidence on what cannabis can do, but the idea is to flesh out the details and develop what is being touted as the first national database for medical cannabis products.”
University of Texas at Dallas: Professor Helps Launch Platform for Online Developmental Psychology Studies
University of Texas at Dallas: Professor Helps Launch Platform for Online Developmental Psychology Studies. “University of Texas at Dallas psychologist Dr. Candice Mills is one of six scientists from six U.S. universities coast to coast who joined forces to launch the Children Helping Science project, which is designed to increase participation in online developmental psychology studies. Mills, an associate professor in the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, described the website as a venue where families can view a large database of ongoing research projects from universities around the world to find studies about child development that they can do from home.”
Weaving Indigenous knowledge with scientific research: A balanced approach (Phys .org)
Phys .org: Weaving Indigenous knowledge with scientific research: A balanced approach. “Indigenous knowledge, including oral histories, mythologies, place names and classification schemes, can span many generations, preserving information that has helped native communities adapt to natural hazards as well as gradually changing conditions. Although Western scientists have historically deemed such information unreliable, during the past decade there has been increasing recognition of the advantages of bicultural approaches to scientific research, including demonstration of reliability.”
Horizon Magazine: Six innovations to tackle coronavirus
Horizon Magazine: Six innovations to tackle coronavirus. “From bioluminescent testing kits to disinfecting robots, Horizon examines six innovations and technologies currently being developed to tackle the coronavirus.”
University of Oregon: New research examines the societal effects of COVID-19
University of Oregon: New research examines the societal effects of COVID-19. “UO researchers trying to learn more about how the coronavirus pandemic has affected daily life are teaming up to explore how people get groceries and household provisions and how that is changing travel and transportation. Rebecca Lewis, a professor in the School of Planning, Public Policy, and Management in the College of Design, is a key member of two research teams taking on a pair of projects. The studies look at both personal lifestyles and public infrastructure.”
EcoWatch: 7 Outdoor Citizen Science Projects to Join This Summer
EcoWatch: 7 Outdoor Citizen Science Projects to Join This Summer. “Summer and fall are great seasons to enjoy the outdoors. But if you’re already spending extra time outside because of the COVID-19 pandemic, you may be out of ideas on how to make fresh-air activities feel special. Here are a few suggestions to keep both adults and children entertained and educated in the months ahead, many of which can be done from the comfort of one’s home or backyard.”
