Noticias CienciaPR

Quebradillas - On the beaches of this municipality, hermit crabs face a silent dilemma: there are not enough shells to protect their soft bodies. Faced with scarcity, many resort to pieces of trash as shelter. Now, a scientific and community initiative is turning to an unexpected tool to address the crisis: shells made with 3D printers.

San Juan, May 20, 2024 - Lorena Pachiardi, a ninth-grade student, created and developed a prototype of a low-cost prosthetic hand on a three-dimensional (3D) printer. The project was carried out as part of the “Seeds of Success” program of the non-profit organization Ciencia Puerto Rico (CienciaPR), which promotes STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education for girls in seventh through ninth grades in public, private and homeschoolers' schools around the island.

Forest fires, torrential rains, droughts and extreme heat affect the countries that supply the archipelago, forcing an increase in local production, according to experts.

On an island that imports 85% of what it consumes, seeing the shelves full of products in supermarkets, despite the fact that the last natural disaster was a year ago with Hurricane Fiona, does not hide an irrefutable fact: Puerto Rico is at the mercy of the ravages of climate change in the countries that supply it with food, agreed multiple voices consulted by El Nuevo Día.

"It was an accumulation of many things that lead one to find oneself in that black hole where one falls." This is how Juan Ortiz described his battle against depression during the COVID-19 pandemic. "The thing is that you are slowly falling and you don't realize that you are there," he added.

Es evidente que el consumo global de energía continúa aumentando de manera exponencial. Muchos científicos recomiendan explorar alternativas renovables de energía y reducir el consumo lo más posible.

Executives from Ponce Health Sciences University and the Puerto Rico Public Health Trust explain how the COVID-19 Epidemiological Surveillance System can help save lives on the Island

Due to the warming ocean temperatures, coral reefs around Puerto Rico have been under stress for more than 7 weeks in a row, which could provoke a massive bleaching event after October 27. If this bleaching occurs there could be negative effects of unknown magnitude to fishing, recreational and tourism industries. 

You can read the full version of this article in Spanish by clicking on ESPAÑOL at the top right of your screen.

A team of scientists and students at the University of Puerto Rico in Mayagüez developed a material with magnetic properties that is able to remove components found in sunscreen that can be harmful to coral reefs and marine life.

You can read the full version of this article in Spanish by clicking on ESPAÑOL at the top right of your screen.

By: Dr. Wilson Gonzalez-Espada, Ciencia Puerto Rico

At first look, history and microbiology may seem disciplines with nothing in common. However, two Latina faculty members at the College of the Holy Cross, in Worcester MA, vehemently shattered the perceived boundaries between these disciplines to provide their students with a unique and long-lasting learning experience.