Elizabeth Fernandez
@SparkDialog
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A freelance science writer writing science and society, with a mix of culture, history, ethics, philosophy, religion, and the future!
Joined May 2013
It turns out that our inhospitable neighbor Venus can teach us a lot about where not to find life. I talk about how those lessons can be extended to #exoplanets in my first article in @NautilusMag #astronomy
https://t.co/ssjMslOnkX
nautil.us
How our inhospitable neighbor can help us find life elsewhere.
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Love playing with #LEGOs? These scientists do too, and they have used them to do high quality science in their labs! I covered four different groups using LEGOs to do science in my recent article in MIT Technology Review.
technologyreview.com
Scientists use the iconic colorful bricks to build everything from bioprinters to microscopes—increasing the accessibility of science in the process.
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Water drops can gain an electric charge as they roll down surfaces. Such an effect is important in various places, like in cleaning semiconductors. I discuss the physics of how this happens in Physics Magazine. https://t.co/cgZMh7WAbC
physics.aps.org
Experiments and theory explain how charge builds up in a moving water drop and why the effect requires a water-repelling surface.
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We've landed on, descended into the atmosphere, or crashed into all of the planets except two - Uranus and Neptune. Scientists simulate what it would be like to visit these two windy and cold ice giants!
space.com
Wind tunnels show what a probe descending into the atmosphere of an ice giant may have to contend with.
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A new method using a mashup of #datascience and #astronomy is helping astronomers correlate objects from different telescopes, wavelengths, and time. My latest on https://t.co/Lb3bBiFKez.
space.com
"Researchers can extract more knowledge from the same data, contributing to a deeper understanding of the cosmos"
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What's happening with the volcanoes and earthquakes in @Iceland, and why it may mark a period of centuries of volcanic activity. My latest in @bigthink
bigthink.com
This new geologic activity could be part of a thousand-year cycle, ushering in a new era of volcanism on the island.
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Halloween is also international #DarkMatterDay! In Latin America, it is celebrated with puzzles, Marvel Superheroes (and their apparent tie to dark matter), and dark matter ice cream! Find out more in my article in @symmetrymag.
symmetrymagazine.org
Scientists, artists, communicators and physics fans find creative ways to mark the unofficial holiday devoted to dark matter.
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I was so happy to receive the second place in the journalism category for the annual Science Communicators of North Carolina awards and stand among some truly impressive competition. Thanks @sconc!
Congratulations to our second place winner in the Journalism category, Elizabeth Fernandez @SparkDialog, for her piece, Earth's Magnetic Field Supports Biblical Stories of Destruction of Ancient Cities!
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It's important to share science with your children - even for people of faith. If you are unsure on how to do this, perhaps take a look at a letter I wrote to my own children on the topic on BioLogos.
biologos.org
For astronomer Elizabeth Fernandez teaching our children about science and talking to them about God are some of the most beautiful gifts we can give to them.
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Minerals and rocks come in a dazzling array of colors. But what you may not know is that these colors demonstrate how light acts as both a wave and a particle. I talk about what makes the colors of rocks so fascinating in @bigthink. https://t.co/3zIpUMdkHi
bigthink.com
Rocks and minerals don’t simply reflect light. They play with it and interact with light as both a wave and a particle.
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#Quantumphysics is happening everywhere within the biological world - from bird's eyes to your DNA to even what's happening within your nose! I explore quantum entanglement, tunneling, and other phenomenon in my latest in Big Think.
bigthink.com
Quantum physics is starting to show up in unexpected places. Indeed, it is at work in animals, plants, and our own bodies.
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Scientists recently found that what happens in a leaf is similar to a Bose-Einstein Condensate (which we normally see at very low temperatures). This happens on a normal spring day, and shows us how nature still can surprise us! My latest in @bigthink . https://t.co/GgjGC7pYoI
bigthink.com
Plants pass energy along paths similar to those of a Bose-Einstein condensate, showing quantum properties at macroscopic scales.
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This absolutely boggles my mind! Six million years ago, the Mediterranean was dried up. Then, in what is possibly the world's largest flood, it was refilled again in as little as a few months to a couple of years! I talk about it in the @bigthink.
bigthink.com
About six million years ago, the Mediterranean was sealed off from the Atlantic, and over centuries it ran dry. One megaflood reversed that.
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What would happen if we discovered an asteroid heading to Earth? What if it wasn't a single rock, but a "pile" of rocks? These "rubble pile" asteroids might be tougher than we originally thought. My latest on @bigthink
https://t.co/AelVXLbViO
bigthink.com
Rubble pile asteroids can survive billions of years in the wilds of the Solar System. Redirecting one if needed would be a daunting task.
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How can you predict events that are ultra-rare but devastating, like a massive earthquake, rogue wave, or bridge collapse? By using #AI and #machinelearning! Scientists at #MIT show how.
bigthink.com
Catastrophes are difficult to predict because they are so rare. But AI using active learning can make predictions from very small data sets.
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Space travel will change our spirituality, our religion, our myths, and how we see ourselves as human. I explore these ideas in my latest article on Big Think.
bigthink.com
We are traveling in a realm that once exclusively belonged to the gods. Space travel will force humanity to rethink everything.
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Are we alone in the Universe? Should we try to send a message to whoever may be listening - or is that a really bad idea? My latest in @bigthink.
bigthink.com
A conversation with an advanced alien species is likely to be simple and to take 1,000 years. It might also be dangerous.
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with @BrianaPobiner @gregorysimpson @carlorovelli @jorgemlg @ackermanmaya @SethShostak Eiichiro Komatsu, Lekelia Jenkins, Brian Green, and Guy Consolmagno
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Science changes how you think - here is how several scientists responded to how their research changed what they believed, thought, and felt about the world. https://t.co/BWbeJrX1WC
bigthink.com
Scientific research reveals much about the world but also much about ourselves. A group of researchers share what science means to them.
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