Global Forest Watch

We probably all know that world’s forests are under a serious threat. And most of us probably intuit that something should be done about it. But do we know why, when or where this is happening? Do we even know who exactly is responsible for all of this? Did any of you know that the world lost 500 million acres of forest between 2000 and 2012?

Sometimes, we don’t know the answers to these questions not because we aren’t interested, but because we lack a reliable source. However, this has now changed with the creation of Global Forest Watch, a mapping application that monitors forests around the world on a monthly basis. The information provided by it is current and trustworthy. It’s got an extraordinary amount of data, including protected areas, logging, mining, deforestation, oil palm, intact forest landscapes, biodiversity hotspots and a lot more.

Another feature of the website is the option to view data for a specific selected area (icon on the left), which can be extremely useful if you are doing an environmental study on the place, for example. What’s more, you can even set up alerts to receive an email when there are signs of deforestation in a specific region.

All in all, this is a great website, full of fascinating information and that is worth visiting. I hope that all of you who decide to give it a look enjoy it!   

Check it out here!!!

This article was written for the blog by Adriana Cavanaugh from 3rd ESO. 

Watch out for this name in the world of Science!

We may have been eating Horse meat for years!!!

L’Alba Southern, alumna de 1r de batxillerat ciències , aquest curs inicia el seu Treball de Recerca i atreta per algunes notícies que parlen de com la indústria alimentària no sempre juga net , ha decidit centrar la recerca en una cadena de  restaurants de menjar ràpid de molt èxit entre la gent jove per tal de comprovar si utilitza carn de vedella per fer les seves hamburgueses.Us preguntareu com podrà aconseguir aquest objectiu . Gràcies a la col·laboració existent entre el nostre centre i el Centre de Regulació Genòmica , aquest estiu podrà portar a terme la part experimental del seu treball als seus laboratoris .L’Alba està impacient per començar el treball de camp. La recollida de mostres serà la primera etapa.Es mostraran participatius o contràriament posaran dificultats a l ´ hora de fer aquest estudi ?Esperem  tenir els resultats després de l’estiu .

Vols descobrir planetes extraterrestres?

Vols ajudar a la NASA a trobar nous planetes al voltant d'estrelles llunyanes? Doncs es pot fer des de casa, o des del mòbil. De fet la NASA està demanant ajuda a tots aquells que estiguin interessats.

Com? Fàcil, s'ha de mirar imatges captades per un dels seus telescopis i dir si hi ha un núvol planetari o no. És una feina que a nosaltres ens resulta fàcil, però a un programa informàtic li costa de fer.

On? A Disk Detective un projecte més de Zooniverse, una iniciativa que intenta aprofitar la curiositat que tenim tots per ajudar a les investigacions científiques o d'humanitats, en temes tan diversos com la vida dels antics grecs, o el dia a dia dels soldats a la Primera Guerra Mundial, o estudiant galàxies, identificant animals al serengueti, explorar Mart, ...

Si tens curiositat científica, i vols col·laborar en la investigació de primer nivell, Zooniverse és el teu lloc.

Recommended Science Apps for your phone or tablet

Most of us have access to smartphones or tablets of some shape, size, form and power. Besides the myriad of activities available to us on these, there are also lots of Science Apps that can help to feed that hunger for information that we all have.

The following are some of the Apps that have been recommended by Adriana Cavanaugh 3º ESO Red

For the latest news Adriana likes to look at:

Science from the AAAS

others include:

How stuff works

The Scientist Daily

and finally....
Science Hub

I have tried some of these myself but as time is in short supply for me at the moment  I get most of my Science news from the podcasts (mentioned previously) and from BBC News App.

What Apps would you recommend? Let us know?