News + Facts

   As the forefathers wrote in the Declaration of Independence, the unalienable rights endowed to men (and women) of this country are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. Fast forward 242 years and we are seriously messing with those rights as we clamor for a...

By Liz Pyshnik and Tom McKeon The Grand Canyon is known for its spectacular views and strenuous hikes through earth’s geologic time capsule. The trails are made up of switchbacks and sharp elevation changes — often powdered with mule feces. The mules carry...

Are you listening? “Yes, Sir”               You’re on a beach. It’s hot. You’re thirsty and you pull a handy plastic bottle from your cooler, take a big swig. You know better than to try the water from the lake, and surely not the ocean ..It’s happy hour time;...

            To me, Leonardo da Vinci is the greatest example of a Renaissance Man, a polymath with expertise in a wide variety of subject matter; a humanist (a person who values human beings and the autonomous, free-thinking self), supportive of critical thinking; and...

In light of World Toilet Day, Pam Lazos discusses the accessibility of toilets in cities such as New York, Paris, and others around the world.

By Tom McKeon Benthic macroinvertebrates (macros) are spineless bugs, visible to the naked eye. They are often the nymph and larvae forms of many familiar creatures buzzing and crawling around you every day. Creatures like adult dragonflies, mosquitoes, crane flies,...

by P.J. Lazos   It’s a tenet of the modern age that if you are alive and thriving on our planet, walking around in a “meat suit” — to steal a term from the TV show, “Supernatural” — you are likely composed of a cornucopia of pharmaceuticals, some of which you ingested...

by Tom McKeon & Liz Pyshnik (N.B. This blog is posted together with the slideshow that was presented at the workshop) Educators, lab scientists, and researchers from universities around the United States came together to run a 4-hour workshop on incorporating...

by P.J. Lazos The woman behind the podium said: “Who controls water controls life.”   At the International House on Chestnut Street near the University of Penn’s campus in Philadelphia, we had just watched a short film, part documentary, part drama, “A Drop...

by P.J. Lazos             When our kids were growing up, the rule was no potty talk at the table. Of course, that just emphasized their need to tell fart jokes, their favorite topic, and then laugh hysterically. Now, in a strange twist of events, I talk about poop and...