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Know how to read cursive? The National Archives wants you | Popular Science
Help transcribe over 200 years of historical documents. By Laura Baisas, Posted on Jan 16, 2025 The National Archives needs help from people with a special set of skills–reading cursive. The archival bureau is seeking volunteer citizen archivists to help them classify and/or transcribe more than 200 years worth of hand-written historical documents. Most of…
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Do we still need to save the bees? | Popular Science
Yes, and no, and yes. By Philip Kiefer | Published Apr 18, 2022 6:00 AM Around 15 years ago, a slogan began to appear on bumper stickers, license plate holders, and tote bags: Save the bees. The sense that these pollinators—and the food system they support—were in critical condition was all-pervasive. In 2014, an online…
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The West is historically dry. Desalination could help. | Popular Science
A historic drought calls for new ideas. By Thor Benson, Published Apr 3, 2022 5:00 PM California and the rest of the American West are facing the worst drought in over 1,200 years. This drought is devastating the agricultural industry and creating conditions that lead to massive wildfires. According to the IPCC, climate change makes…
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Did food taste better 50 years ago? | Popular Science
We can’t go back in time, but some things have definitely changed. By Claire Maldarelli | Published Oct 14, 2021 8:00 AM This is probably a question that you might have heard once or twice in conversations: Did food taste better in the past? It’s one of those things that just kind of gets tossed…
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How much water should you drink in a day? | Popular Science
The answer isn’t as simple as you might think. By Claire Maldarelli | Published Sep 21, 2021 8:00 AM There are many luxuries in life, but water is decidedly not one of them. Most of us are aware that we all need the liquid to survive, but exactly how much of it is necessary is…
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Cornell’s Merlin app can identify birds by sight and sound | Popular Science
The app’s new ‘Shazam for birds’ feature was made possible through citizen science. Here’s how it all works—and why you should download it. By Charlotte Hu | Updated Jul 28, 2021 8:20 AM Last year, as pandemic lockdown restrictions hit the US, new bird enthusiasts flocked to the free Merlin Bird ID app. The app,…
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Monarch butterflies are beloved—and declining for this sad reason | Popular Science
Scientists trawled thousands of volunteer surveys over 25 years to understand what imperils the insects. By Kate Baggaley | Updated Jul 21, 2021 12:00 PM For the past three decades, monarch butterflies have been dwindling. The iconic bugs face a number of threats in North America, from weed killers to climate change, but it hasn’t…
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The world needs dark skies more than ever. Here’s why. | Popular Science
Dark Sky Places help us imagine a world where we can all see the night sky. By Nikita Amir, April 16, 2021 Most people on planet Earth right now don’t live under truly dark night skies. Though you might be aware that you can’t see the stars in Tokyo or New York City, you might…
