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Contents contributed and discussions participated by Sean Nash

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Sean Nash

Red algae reduces methane emissions from cow poop - 1 views

www.sciencenews.org/...mate-warming-methane-red-algae

potential research idea biology engineering environmental science HSR HSR-2023 algae methane climatechange

shared by Sean Nash on 04 Aug 23 - No Cached
  • Adding the algae to decomposing feces might reduce methane emission from cow agriculture
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 04 Aug 23
       
      Here's a bit of an engineering problem..... but one with a biological/ecological frame. The article presents promise, but many challenges. Could you imagine a way to sidestep any of the challenges presented here? What other ways could the methane production issue be strategically mitigated?
Sean Nash

Health Effects from Swimming Training in Chlorinated Pools and the Corresponding Metabo... - 4 views

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/...PMC4351252

swimming chlorine mice-experimenting HSR2023 blood liver pools

shared by Sean Nash on 13 Jul 23 - No Cached
  • Sean Nash on 13 Jul 23
     
    A really cool article about how chlorine can affect the bodies of mice. (An article I will never be able to forget about due to it being similar to my situation.)
Sean Nash

E-learning courses - GrowNextGen - 2 views

grownextgen.org/elearning

agriculture food foodscience courses SCI-I topicselection resources learning research ideas environmental science botany biology HSR HSR-2023

shared by Sean Nash on 23 Jun 23 - No Cached
  • These self-guided digital resources allow students to work independently. Pre- and posttests can be used to check knowledge gains.
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 23 Jun 23
       
      An interesting set of open online courses to take your learning to the next level in some area... These might be interesting early on in the problem-finding phase, but also once a topic is chosen... you need to get up to speed in an area of science much more quickly than in traditional teacher-led courses. Perhaps one of these can help you build early background expertise in some area?
Sean Nash

Low-dose radiation from A-bombs elongated lifespan and reduced cancer mortality relativ... - 1 views

genesenvironment.biomedcentral.com/...s41021-018-0114-3

radiation cancer genes environment fulltext research paper SCI-I potential research idea biology chemistry physics statistical analysis questions HSR HSR-2023 environmental

shared by Sean Nash on 23 Jun 23 - No Cached
  • individuals
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 23 Jun 23
       
      These "individuals" could just as easily be plants of lower invertebrates (as model organisms at this level). This is fascinating to me. There is no doubt that we would be limited in our ability to work with ionizing radiation, but that's not to say a project couldn't be developed along these lines. I never cease to be amazed at what a motivated student can resourcefully come up with when their passion for a particular line of research is so high.
Sean Nash

Large Data Sets - Society for Science - 1 views

www.societyforscience.org/...large-data-sets

resources HSRTC SFS research data sets society SCI-I projectdevelopment questioning statistical analysis HSR-2023 HSR science

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  • Locate a data set that interests you, see how others students have used large data sets in their research, and learn about current scientific studies fueled by big data.
  • Sean Nash on 23 Jun 23
     
    Another really solid pathway into project development is the examination and study of already existing large data sets. I have seen excellent projects that didn't even require students to generate their own data. Instead, they utilize already existing data to answer questions others may not have posed before in relation to that data set. At the very least, becoming familiar with these lines of research can help you discover a line of research that is most compelling to you!
Sean Nash

"I Wonder...": Reconnecting with Our Natural Curiosity - YouTube - 0 views

www.youtube.com/watch

projectdevelopment curiosity wonder nature of science science SCI-I questioning HSRTC SFS potential research idea biology chemistry physics engineering computer science mathematics statistical analysis questions botany environmental HSR HSR-2023

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  • Reconnecting with Our Natural Curiosity
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 23 Jun 23
       
      This is Caitlyn with the Society for Science (the group that sponsors the ISEF & RTS. I saw her give this talk in person last October. she gives some really good suggestions for reconnecting to the curiosity and wonder of your childhood. It is THIS skill that separates the typical student from the creative mind of a scientist. Will YOU try out any of her suggestions??
Sean Nash

Study shows experimental evidence of an altruistic nature in small convict cichlid fish - 0 views

phys.org/...e-altruistic-nature-small.html

ethology behavior behavioralscience convictcichlid cichlid fish research SCI-I model organism study nature science potential research idea biology HSR HSR-2023

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  • Study shows experimental evidence of an altruistic nature in small convict cichlid fish
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 23 Jun 23
       
      This is a big favorite model organism for me and for a handful of former students. They are fascinating little fish with complex behaviors. However, the struggle is always: studies with vertebrate model organisms are always subject to far more scrutiny and paperwork. You have to prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that your study is not invasive, and you have a proper plan for their care before/during/after experimentation. I am actually switching out the back aquarium (that previously had African Cichlids) for these in August.
Sean Nash

Learning in Plants: Lessons from Mimosa pudica - 4 views

www.frontiersin.org/...full

Mimosa learning plants botany research SCI-I science student lab potential research idea biology HSR HSR-2023

shared by Sean Nash on 23 Jun 23 - No Cached
  • there is a lack of observational data on the behavior of plants
  • Observational research allows the researcher to establish baseline activity and response levels of the subject
  • Perhaps the first study of learning in plants was a habituation experiment reported by Pfeffer (1873) using the sensitive plant Mimosa. In this experiment, repeated mechanical stimulation of leaflets led to a decrease in sensitivity
  • ...12 more annotations...
  • the question naturally arises as to whether Mimosa can discriminate between stimuli. This was answered in the affirmative by Holmes and Gruenberg (1965) whose experimental design included a drop of water and finger touch as stimuli
  • the results suggest that Mimosa can discriminate between stimuli
  • Thomas performed an experiment on classical conditioning in Mimosa that took advantage of the finding that, under field conditions, the leaflets of Mimosa slowly drop as dusk approaches and slowly rise at dawn (personal communication). In the experiment, the CS was turning on the light in the growth chamber and the US was touching selected leaflets. Thomas found that leaflets in the paired condition showed conditioning compared to a light only or alternating stimulation condition. This finding should be replicated with controls for pseudoconditioning.
  • Given the importance of the Gagliano et al. (2014) experiment and the failure to replicate some previous experimental results it is critical that the Gagliano et al. (2014) results be repeated by an independent laboratory.
  • In addition to Mimosa, habituation has been found in the carnivorous plant Drosera (sundew
  • Applewhite (1975) cites an experiment by Darwin reportedly showing habituation in the passion flower (Passiflora gracilis). During this experiment, when Darwin mechanically stimulated the passion flower tendrils, the tendrils no longer responded after 54 h of training.
  • Abramson et al. (2002) investigated the use of bioelectrical potentials as a method to explore plant behavior.
  • In an interesting article, Karpinski and Szechynska-Hebda (2010) discuss the intellect of plants from memory to intelligence. By studying recall, the researcher investigates a host of independent variables and that are solidly anchored to a set of dependent variables. This study focused on recall at the cellular level rather than as an externally observable behavior. The discussion of plant learning at various levels, from cellular to organismal and from different scientific fields is exactly what is advocated for in this article
  • There is also interest from behavioral scientists seeking to determine whether the similarities and differences in learning found among invertebrates and vertebrates could also be found in plants (Warden et al., 1940; Applewhite, 1975; Abramson et al., 2002; Guiguet, 2013).
  • The majority of early plant studies used the Sensitive plant (M. pudica). Mimosa has much to recommend it for learning studies. They are easy to maintain, much is known about its natural history, and they have a visible leaf closure response to external stimuli. However, there are drawbacks in the use of Mimosa, for example, it takes about 15 min for a leaf to recover (Holmes and Gruenberg, 1965) and not much is known about its genome in contrast to model species such as Arabidopsis thaliana whose entire genome is known.
  • In the following section we will focus on methods to develop studies utilizing habituation, sensitization, and classical conditioning techniques. Instrumental and operant conditioning will not be covered because at this time there are no Mimosa studies in these areas; although one can envision a situation where the opening and closing of a leaf can be detected electronically. Once detected, the response would produce a consequence such as an airpuff or changes in light intensity.
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 23 Jun 23
       
      The remainder of this comprehensive article is to outline the main lines of research in this area:
  • Learning in Plants: Lessons from Mimosa pudica
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 23 Jun 23
       
      This well-compiled article does a really nice job of outlining the history of study regarding plant behavior. It also suggests model organisms for study. Mimosa is a favorite of mine as their response is VERY rapid and quite visible for a plant! There are all sorts of feasible project ideas that could arise from this area of research.
Sean Nash

Satellite Monitoring of Biodiversity Moves Within Reach | Current Science Daily - 2 views

currentsciencedaily.com/...iodiversity-moves-within-reach

HSR-2023 HSR statistical analysis mathematics computer science botany environmental science biology satellite monitoring biodiversity current potential research idea

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  • Data for the study came from the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON). The network uses standardized methods to collect biodiversity and Earth observation data across the United States which are then made publicly available. NEON imaging spectrometer data collected from research flights have a pixel size of 1x1 meter.
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 15 Jun 23
       
      I wonder if any of the imagery they have is: 1. Accessible by us, and 2. Available for our area. If so, it might be as simple as doing plant diversity surveys to look for ground truth in our area (young forests & grasslands) between what is REALLY on the ground here, vs. what the satellite imagery shows.
  • Biodiversity monitoring from space possible via satellite
  • The reflectance of plants is determined by their chemical, anatomical and morphological characteristics, which are important for interactions among plants and with their environment. “Plants with similar traits, as well as closely related species, therefore tend to have similar reflectance spectra,” explains Schweiger.
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • Spectral diversity calculated in forests with closed canopies and large individual trees matched plant diversity determined on the ground better than spectral diversity calculated in open landscapes dominated by small herbaceous plants and grasses.
Sean Nash

Taurine slows aging in mice. Will it ever work for people? - 1 views

www.sciencenews.org/...slows-aging-mice-energy-drinks

potential research idea research biology chemistry science HSR HSR-2023 aging mice SCI-I people

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  • Sean Nash on 15 Jun 23
     
    Interesting bit on the potential benefits of taurine in the diet. Don't rush out and start an energy drink habit, but if you've had one, you likely know the unique taste of this chemical. There are a ton of things mentioned in this short article. Perhaps dig into what we already know about biochemical pathways of taurine...
Sean Nash

Camouflaging wheat with a wheat smell could be a new approach to pest control - 1 views

www.sciencenews.org/...aging-wheat-smell-pest-control

potential research idea biology science HSR HSR-2023 sensing research SCI-I olfactory agriculture farming

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  • Sean Nash on 15 Jun 23
     
    This is a simple concept I wanted to toss out there. A sort of "drowning sensory input" in order to "make finding less effective" sort of approach. I wonder if there are other things this concept might be applied to?
Sean Nash

Mysterious Underwater Acoustic World of British Ponds Revealed in New Study | Current S... - 3 views

currentsciencedaily.com/...sh-ponds-revealed-in-new-study

hydrophone sound survey pond potential research idea biology physics computer science environmental science HSR HSR-2023

shared by Sean Nash on 04 Jun 23 - No Cached
  • The previously hidden and diverse underwater acoustic world in British ponds has been revealed by a team of researchers at the University of Bristol.
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 04 Jun 23
       
      So... my immediate thought is: How cool would it be to do this here? One thing we DO have: PONDS. See if this *sounds* interesting. Get it? ;)
  • Acoustic monitoring has been shown to effectively survey birds and monkeys in rainforests, and marine mammals in the oceans. However, freshwater environments have remained largely unexplored despite their diverse soundscapes.
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 04 Jun 23
       
      BOOM. Again, "relatively unexplored" is super exciting verbiage to me. Acoustics. Hydrophones. Is this feasible? Is the equipment affordable? If not, could we borrow one? Dig into it. What are the possibilities?
  • analysis of the audio files revealed clear daily acoustic activity cycles in each pond
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 04 Jun 23
       
      Aside from the exploratory surveys you would do just to see "what's out there" and assess what we CAN learn from listening to a pond, you could make it experimental by comparing ponds you've assessed the health of by other means. In other words, do acoustic comparisons between two ponds correlate with what you find by doing a macroinvertebrate sampling? I really LIKE the possibilities in this one!
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • Typically, a nocturnal chorus is made by aquatic insects that compete to attract mates by producing strange scratching sounds as they rub their genitals against their abdomens. During the daytime, however, aquatic plants dominate the underwater orchestra with rhythmic whining and ticking sounds produced as tiny oxygen bubbles are released by plants respiring in the hot sun.
  • Using this acoustic method, the presence of species, and a determination of ecological health, can be inferred simply by listening to the natural world without disturbing the environment or harming the plants and animals within it.
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 04 Jun 23
       
      Here is the obvious value proposition if you could work this out.
  • Publication: Jack A. Greenhalgh, et al., Diel variation in insect-dominated temperate pond soundscapes and guidelines for survey design, Freshwater Biology (2023). DOI: 10.1111/fwb.14092.
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 04 Jun 23
       
      BEST THING YET: Here is the FULL TEXT of the actual research paper!
Sean Nash

Science Daily: News & Articles in Science, Health, Environment & Technology - 3 views

www.sciencedaily.com

science news technology research magazine sciencedaily SCII

shared by Sean Nash on 26 May 23 - No Cached
  • Your source for the latest research news
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 26 May 23
       
      You'll want this resource...
Sean Nash

Race car drivers tend to blink at the same places in each lap - 4 views

www.sciencenews.org/...ula-one-race-car-drivers-blink

ArduinoScienceJournal app driving blinking vision research potential research idea biology engineering HSR HSR-2023 science statistical analysis car auto safety civilengineering blink

shared by Sean Nash on 25 May 23 - No Cached
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  • The world goes dark for about one-fifth of a second every time you blink, a fraction of an instant that’s hardly noticeable to most people. But for a Formula One race car driver traveling up to 354 kilometers per hour, that one-fifth means almost 20 meters of lost vision
  • People are often thought to blink at random intervals, but researchers found that wasn’t the case for three Formula drivers.
  • the drivers tended to blink at the same parts of the course during each lap, cognitive neuroscientist Ryota Nishizono and colleagues report in the May 19 iScience
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 25 May 23
       
      Interesting. So, do we do the same thing while driving around town? Could you design a method to record eye blinks as people drive known routes around town? We could simultaneously use the Arduino Science Journal app on the iPhone to also correlate physical data in a moving car like acceleration/deceleration, motion in X, Y, Z directions, etc. I wonder if we could find a correlation in everyday driving that could help from a safety perspective?
  • ...5 more annotations...
  • He was surprised to find almost no literature on blinking behavior in active humans even though under extreme conditions like motor racing or cycling
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 25 May 23
       
      OK, now this SCREAMS: "potential research idea."
  • Nishizono and colleagues mounted eye trackers on the helmets of three drivers and had them drive three Formula circuits
  • Where the drivers blinked was surprisingly predictable, the team found. The drivers had a shared pattern of blinking that had a strong connection with acceleration, such that drivers tended not to blink while changing speed or direction — like while on a curve in the track — but did blink while on relatively safer straightaways.
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 25 May 23
       
      What sort of implications does this have for driving in key, known, busy interchanges in KC? Could we potentially provide data to show certain stretches of highway need more signage, etc? That could have civil engineering implications.
  • “We think of blinking as this nothing behavior,” he says, “but it’s not just wiping the eyes. Blinking is a part of our visual system.”
  • Nishizono next wants to explore what processes in the brain allow or inhibit blinking in a given moment, he says, and is also interested in how blinking behavior varies among the general population.
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 25 May 23
       
      While the "brain" part might move beyond our feasibility, the potential of finding real correlations to driving patterns or routes is a completely different spin-off and one that could have really practical suggestive applications for city planners, etc.
Sean Nash

Microwaving an insecticide restores its mosquito-killing power - 2 views

www.sciencenews.org/...to-microwave-insecticide-spray

deltamethrin pesticide mosquito insecticide DDT crystals crystalline structure biochemistry environment evolution ecology chemistry heat potential research idea biology engineering environmental science HSR HSR-2023 HSR-2025

shared by Sean Nash on 25 May 23 - No Cached
  • Heating an insecticide can give it new life.
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 25 May 23
       
      Wait, what? Do say more.....
  • Microwaving the insecticide deltamethrin rearranges its crystal structure but doesn’t change its chemical composition. The rearrangement renews deltamethrin’s ability to kill mosquitoes that have become resistant to the insecticide, researchers report April 21 in Malaria Journal.
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 25 May 23
       
      Hmmmm... something similar to this smells like: feasibility.
  • The microwave worked just as well, but Kahr cautions that people shouldn’t use the same microwave for heating food and insecticides.
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 25 May 23
       
      Ha! No kidding??
  • ...6 more annotations...
  • insecticide resistance is a growing problem
  • It is encouraging that heated insecticide killed highly resistant mosquitoes, says Hemingway, who directs the Infection Innovation Consortium, a public-private effort to find new ways to combat infectious diseases. But, she says, “this is not something we can take and use that tomorrow.”
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 25 May 23
       
      OK.... this is how you can find an opening (not saying THIS ONE is necessarily, but, when you see language like: "we can't really do it just yet," that is a screaming opportunity to see what we MIGHT be able to add to that.
  • It’s not certain that the heat-treated deltamethrin would retain its more potent crystal structure through the net-making process.
  • Kahr’s team is working on incorporating the heat-treated crystal into nets.
  • “There are all kinds of social and cultural things that you could propose from a scientific perspective that wouldn’t be welcomed by a community of homeowners.”
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 25 May 23
       
      Again... this reads: "potential research opportunity."
  • Kahr and colleagues previously discovered that heating deltamethrin changed its crystal structure, which let it work faster
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