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2 weeks ago | 
whoi.edu | Alison Pearce Stevens
Harmful algal blooms (HABs) can pose a threat to people, pets, and livestock, as well as aquatic and marine life. WHOI researchers in the Anderson and Brosnahan Labs are investigating what drives HABs; their efforts to track blooms are leading to innovative new ways to relay real-time warnings to communities to prevent illness and death from HAB toxins. Researchers Don Anderson, Mindy Richlen, and Evie Fachon weigh in on some common misconceptions about HABs and human health.
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1 month ago | 
slj.com | Alison Pearce Stevens |Rachel Joiner
. (Books for a Better Earth). Aug. 2025. 64p. Tr $20.99. ISBN 9780823455645. COPY ISBN Gr 4-8–Stevens has crafted an engaging, accessible book about conservation dogs—working canines trained to locate insects, mussels, and plants that threaten natural environments. These dogs make conservation work more efficient for humans, and play a crucial role in protecting delicate ecosystems.
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2 months ago | 
snexplores.org | Alison Pearce Stevens
Circumnutation describes the slow, circular movements the growing tips of young plants make throughout the day. Although it usually can’t be seen with the naked eye, all plants move. These are movements powered by the plants themselves, not movement due to wind. Plants slowly sway from side to side, a process called nutation (noo-TAY-shun). Circumnutation is a type of nutation in which plants move in a circle or ellipse.
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Mar 27, 2025 | 
snexplores.org | Aaron Tremper |Alison Pearce Stevens
Across the river from Washington, D.C., sits Potomac Overlook Regional Park. Hiking paths wind through acres of forest and cultivated land. Peer into the thick woods and you may glimpse a chipmunk or even a deer. And at the visitor center, there are real-life dinosaurs. One of these is Twiggy. Sitting on her caretaker’s arm, her massive brown eyes blink in the afternoon sunlight. Ribbons of brown and white streak her chest. This mimics sunlight hitting speckled tree bark.
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Mar 21, 2025 | 
snexplores.org | Alison Pearce Stevens
biology: The study of living things. The scientists who study them are known as biologists. cancer: Any of more than 100 different diseases, each characterized by the rapid, uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells. The development and growth of cancers, also known as malignancies, can lead to tumors, pain and death. develop: To emerge or to make come into being.
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Mar 13, 2025 | 
whoi.edu | Alison Pearce Stevens
Plastic pollution is a serious—and growing—environmental problem, with millions of tons of bags, bottles, fishing gear and more piling up on land and floating out to sea. But just how long does it last—and how can we innovate new materials to address the problem moving forward? WHOI scientists are investigating both issues. It’s easy to think the sole problem with plastic lies in its long life. Some estimates put the lifespan of some kinds of plastic as high as 1,000 years.
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Feb 3, 2025 | 
snexplores.org | Alison Pearce Stevens
angle: The space (usually measured in degrees) between two intersecting lines or surfaces at or close to the point where they meet. ash: (in geology) Small, lightweight fragments of rock and glass spewed by volcanic eruptions. atmosphere: The envelope of gases surrounding Earth, another planet or a moon. core: Something — usually round-shaped — in the center of an object. (in geology) Earth’s innermost layer. Or, a long, tube-like sample drilled down into ice, soil or rock.
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Jan 21, 2025 | 
snexplores.org | Carolyn Wilke |Alison Pearce Stevens |Kathiann M. Kowalski |Jennifer Weeks
In The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Frodo Baggins travels through the Dead Marshes on his way to fulfill his quest: to destroy a very powerful ring. As Frodo plods along, sidestepping eerie flames that burn on the ground, he stares into pools of murky water. The faces of the dead, killed in a long-past battle, gaze back. Frodo falls in and the ghostly specters reach to claim him. Free educator resources are available for this article.
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Jan 6, 2025 | 
snexplores.org | Alison Pearce Stevens
Arctic: A region that falls within the Arctic Circle. The edge of that circle is defined as the northernmost point at which the sun is visible on the northern winter solstice and the southernmost point at which the midnight sun can be seen on the northern summer solstice. The high Arctic is that most northerly third of this region. It’s a region dominated by snow cover much of the year. crystal: (adj.
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Dec 16, 2024 | 
snexplores.org | Alison Pearce Stevens
3-D printing: A means of producing physical items — including toys, foods and even body parts — using a machine that takes instructions from a computer program. That program tells the machine how and where to lay down successive layers of some raw material (the “ink”) to create a three-dimensional object. angle: The space (usually measured in degrees) between two intersecting lines or surfaces at or close to the point where they meet.
