Stories about "Science and technology"
Bates bio students join greenhouse-gas project to help squelch the bovine belch

Tuesday, June 8, 2021 2:14 pm

In partnership with a Maine research lab, an innovative Bates biology course gives students up-close experience with cows and dung — all in service to a project to reduce greenhouse gas.

Hi altitude and balloon clubHi Altitude Weather Balloon Launch on Garclon Field on Saturday, May 15, 2021IDs:tara ellard white shirtMax bartley grey tshirtJackson donahue tan collar shirtTucker barber long hairLoren Andrews green mask white tshirtMatt clayton garnetChristopher barker ë21 at the helmPeter Riley droneChristopher talks about Elon Musk after the ìfailedî launch:ìBefore the launches with SpaceX, he usually lays out a goal. And that goal is usually about some part in the launch sequence. So then, they will do the full launch; the thing will eventually come down and crash land and explode. And then everyone thinks itís a failure. But then he goes, ëNo, thatís fantastic. We got these beautiful stats that we needed, that weíre looking for in our iterative process of making a spaceship that works.íìSo today we got a full crew of members of the club to get to the 10th hour of the launch, and that was fantastic. I think everyone learned so much today, and for me to do that with the group is really rewarding because personally I know that Iím the only one thatís done it fully through. So to be able to pass down as much knowledge as I did today so that the club continues is just a thrill.î Members of the High Altitude Ballooning Club lay out their gear on May 15 in preparation for a launch from Garcelon Field.IDs for students launching the weather balloon on Garcelon Field on Saturday, May 15, 2021.tara ellard white shirtMax bartley grey tshirtJackson donahue tan collar shirtTucker barber long hairLoren Andrews green mask white tshirtMatt clayton garnetHi altitude and balloon clubChristopher barkerPeter riley drone
At Garcelon Field, a failed balloon launch in name only

Friday, May 21, 2021 10:32 am

A student club's high-altitude balloon launch — minus its payload — offers a chance for some Commencement-season ruminations on the value of failure.

Campus Construction Update: May 20, 2021

Wednesday, May 19, 2021 2:37 pm

In yet another sign that Bonney Science Center construction is winding down, much of the construction-site fence is gone — notably, the stretch obscuring the Campus Avenue facade, the new building's visual calling card.

Clay play: Learn about the stubborn and slick earth beneath Bates

Wednesday, February 24, 2021 4:45 pm

Bates and Maine have a historic love-hate relationship with marine clay, aka the Presumpscot Formation.

PHOTO DATE: November 05, 2018LOCATION: NBL - Pool TopsideSUBJECT: 2017 ASCAN class members Warren Hoburg and Loral O'Hara (Blue Team) during ASCAN EVQ NBL 3 training.PHOTOGRAPHER: Josh Valcarcel
Here’s what the NASA astronaut said to the Bates sophomore STEM students

Wednesday, December 9, 2020 4:36 pm

NASA astronaut Loral O'Hara joined a sophomore science class as part of program that seeks to disrupt the "weed-out" approach to STEM education.

Notorious (but harmless) pathogens preserved in Bates professor’s new-found World War I slides

Friday, November 13, 2020 11:13 am

A trove of wartime microscope slides include specimens of gonorrhea, diphtheria, tuberculosis, meningitis.

2019 Commencement speaker Jennifer Doudna wins 2020 Nobel Prize

Friday, October 9, 2020 12:16 pm

Doudna, Bates' 2019 Commencement speaker, won the Nobel for co-discovering CRISPR-Cas9 technology, now in use in Bates classrooms.

Zoe Knauss '23 of Buffalo, N.Y., who will declare as an ES major, and ES major Sam Gilman '22 of Mendham, N.J., , dig for soil in a field.Prof of Environmental Studies and Christian A. Johnson Prof of Interdisc Studies Holly Ewing and Lecturer in Environmental Studies & Learning Associate in Environmental Studies Camille Parrish take students in the Soils/Lab course for a field trip to Pettengill Farm in Freeport, Maine. A nineteenth century salt-water farm on the estuary of the Harraseeket River, the farm is owned by Freeport Historical Society(FHS). It includes a saltbox house (ca. 1800) on 140 acres of fields, woods, antique apple orchards and salt marsh. Most interesting are the etchings (sgraffitti) found on the plaster walls in the upper chambers of ships, sea monsters, longboats and animals. The farmhouse remains without plumbing, central heat and electricity and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Mildred Pettengill was its last resident and lived in the house until 1970.The students are digging up soil and making observations (soil profiles) before putting it back where it came from.ENVR 310 - Soils/LabDepending on one's point of view, soils are geological units, ecosystems, the foundation of plant life, a place for microbes to live, building material, or just dirt. This course takes a scientific perspective and explores the genesis of soils, their distribution and characteristics, and their interaction with plants. Field studies emphasize description of soils, inferences about soil formation, and placement within a landscape context. Labs investigate the chemistry of soils and their role in forestry and agriculture.
Picture story: “Thankful to get off campus and my hands dirty”

Thursday, October 8, 2020 4:01 pm

Follow along as Bates environmental studies students go off campus and dig into the science of dirt at a stunning coastal Maine site.

Bates biologist April Hill is part of first genome sequencing of a freshwater sponge

Friday, September 25, 2020 10:42 am

However lowly, or low in the water, freshwater sponges are "biomedically relevant,” says Bates biologist April Hill "They are important organisms for us to pay attention to.”

Meet new faculty: Tyler Harper and science fiction that goes beyond just beach reading

Friday, September 18, 2020 9:13 am

Harper researches how science fiction depicts human extinction while asking, "Who gets to live in new worlds?"

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