E169: How do lizards find food to eat? [SJK Audio Edition]
Read this article at: https://www.sciencejournalforkids.org/articles/how-do-lizards-find-food-to-eat/ or watch at: https://youtu.be/WzUBIZ_qGjESummary: Scientists watched lizards navigate a maze to learn more about how lizards use their senses to find food.Abstract: What is your hide-and-seek strategy? Maybe you search one area at a time, look for signs of movement, or even listen to see if you can hear your friends. Wild animals use lots of different strategies when they search for food. Guatemalan beaded lizards come from a desert valley surrounded by rugged mountains. They like to eat bird and lizard eggs, as well as insects, baby birds and small mammals. These can be hard to find! We wanted to know what strategies these lizards use when they are hunting for their next meal. We designed a maze experiment to help us figure it out. We placed food in a maze and watched how the lizards navigated the maze. We found that they were good at remembering where they’d already looked. They did best when there was a scent trail for them to follow. They did not do as well when they had to detect airborne scent from a distance. These experiments help us know more about the strategies these lizards use in the wild!You are one of half a million educators in the U.S. who use our articles and videos in class. All our content is FREE, no paywalls, no need to subscribe. But recent federal cuts have made it hard for us to win grants to fund our mission. We are a small non-profit, and without support, we may not make it.If you enjoy our content, please consider donating - https://www.sciencejournalforkids.org/support-us.html This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sciencejournalforkids.substack.com
--------
9:44
--------
9:44
E168: What do Egyptian mummies smell like?
Read this article at: https://www.sciencejournalforkids.org/articles/what-do-egyptian-mummies-smell-like/ or watch at: https://youtu.be/whGBDdaNJS8Summary: Researchers smelled ancient Egyptian mummified bodies to learn more about mummification materials, decomposition, and preservation practices.Abstract: There are lots of things to see in museums. Some museums even have things you can touch or hear. But not many museums have things you can smell. Smells from museum artifacts can provide a lot of information. They can tell us what artifacts are made of, how they are preserved, and what condition they are in. We wanted to know what ancient Egyptian mummified bodies smelled like. We analyzed air samples from nine ancient Egyptian mummified bodies. We used trained volunteers and chemical analyses to identify smells. We found that mummified bodies smell “woody”, “spicy”, and “sweet”. Smells were more intense for mummified bodies in display cases. We also saw similarities between mummified bodies from the Late Period (664–332 BCE). We can use this technique to help us conserve and preserve museum artifacts in the future.You are one of half a million educators in the U.S. who use our articles and videos in class. All our content is FREE, no paywalls, no need to subscribe. But recent federal cuts have made it hard for us to win grants to fund our mission. We are a small non-profit, and without support, we may not make it.If you enjoy our content, please consider donating - https://www.sciencejournalforkids.org/support-us.html This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sciencejournalforkids.substack.com
--------
10:28
--------
10:28
E167: How can rats help fight tuberculosis? [SJK Audio Edition]
Read this article at: https://www.sciencejournalforkids.org/articles/how-can-rats-help-fight-tuberculosis/ or watch at: https://youtu.be/aQSq5wYeH_4Summary: Researchers compared the ability of African giant pouched rats to identify tuberculosis in adults and children to standard microscope smear tests.Abstract: Can you imagine a rat sniffing out a disease? The African giant pouched rat can! Scientists trained these rats to identify if a person has tuberculosis (TB). TB is a bacterial disease that most commonly affects the lungs. It spreads easily and can be dangerous if untreated. When rats smell samples of mucus a person coughs up, they can smell if it has TB bacteria. We wanted to know if rats are better at identifying cases of TB compared to a standard microscope test. We also wanted to know if rats can better identify TB in children than in adults. We found that rats can identify TB in samples that the microscope test said were negative. We also learned that the rats are more likely to identify TB in children – even when they have low levels of bacteria. Using rats can help more people receive treatment for TB and reduce the spread. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sciencejournalforkids.substack.com
--------
11:17
--------
11:17
E166: Do some dog breeds have a better sense of smell? [SJK Audio Edition]
Read this article at: https://www.sciencejournalforkids.org/articles/do-some-dog-breeds-have-a-better-sense-of-smell/ or watch at: https://youtu.be/ydH_4wytXJYSummary: Researchers compared the smelling abilities of dogs across different breeds to see which types of dogs might make the best searchers.Abstract: Have you ever seen a search dog? What breed of dog was it? Search dogs are specially trained to detect explosives, drugs, or diseases. To be good at this job, search dogs must have a sharp sense of smell and the ability to cooperate with humans. Common breeds of search dogs include German and Belgian shepherds, Labradors, and border collies. But are these dogs better at smelling than other breeds? Or is it their training and cooperation that make them good at the job? We wanted to find out whether some dogs are naturally better at smelling than others. So we used a test called the Natural Detection Task to compare how well dogs can find food using their nose without any previous training. We tested all the dogs with the same setup. We then compared specific breed groups and different breeds. We found that some breeds were better at smelling than others. But dog breeds that humans have selectively bred for their ability to smell were not always the better performers. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sciencejournalforkids.substack.com
--------
9:06
--------
9:06
E165: How does climate change impact satellites? [SJK Audio Edition]
Read this article at: https://www.sciencejournalforkids.org/articles/how-does-climate-change-impact-satellites/ or watch at: https://youtu.be/lh3fpn3sIQ8Summary: Researchers used climate scenarios to estimate the future number of satellites that could safely fit in low Earth orbit. Abstract: There are a lot of satellites in low Earth orbit. We use them for things like communication and weather forecasting. Climate change is actually cooling this region of our atmosphere. This changes the density of air there. Changes in climate could impact these satellites. We wanted to know how much.We used a model to estimate air density changes in low Earth orbit in the future. Then we calculated how many satellites the region could safely hold. We did this for three climate change scenarios. We found that by 2100, climate change could reduce the number of satellites low Earth orbit can hold by 50–66%. This means we need to develop strategies to make low Earth orbit a more sustainable resource for the future. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sciencejournalforkids.substack.com
Listen to our kid-friendly scientific articles. All articles are available to download free on our website sciencejournalforkids.org
#read-aloud #text-to-speech sciencejournalforkids.substack.com
México