At the premier screening of the new NOVA series Human, I got to meet paleoanthropologist and series host Ella Al-Shamahi. Human airs on NOVA for five consecutive Wednesdays starting September 17, and is also available at https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/

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The brain is so tightly packed with neurons that it’s impossible to see what’s connected to what. In the journal Nature, scientists describe a new technique that embeds brain tissue in absorbent plastic matrices that expand in water, pulling apart the nerves enough that they can be examined with a light microscope.
Original Journal Article:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-08985-1

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The humble cotton tampon, coupled with a black light flashlight, reveals the presence of raw sewage in waterways through a technique known as “tampling.” Scout troops and community groups are tampling their streams to monitor bacteria levels and track down sewage leaks. Learn how you can tample at https://scistarter.org/tampling-optical-brightener-water-quality-sampling

NOTE: When tampling, use organic cotton tampons that don’t themselves contain optical brighteners. You can test one with the black light flashlight; if they glow blue right out of the package, they already have optical brighteners present and can’t be used for tampling.

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Did you know that a group of moths is called an "eclipse?" I sure didn't, which is too bad, because I would have included that fact in this MOTHAPALOOZA video. Learn more about our fuzzy butterflies in this YouTube short, and visit https://nationaltoday.com/national-moth-week/ to participate in an entire eclipse of moth activities and citizen science geared around National Moth Week (July 19 – 27, 2025, but really, shouldn’t every week moth week?)

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Check out this killer swarm of bee information, and learn how you can help bee researchers studying and protecting bees.

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Learn how to keep disease-carrying mosquitoes at bay with these tips, and help NASA monitor mosquito populations by joining the Mosquito Habitat Mapper project!

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Who wins the Ultimate Fighting Challenge between squirrel and rattlesnake?

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With NASA's GLOBE Observer app on your phone, you can measure the height of trees around you, and share your data with NASA. That will help them monitor forest health and track climate change. Hugging is optional.

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