Science News

Collaborations with various media allow us to create a bank of science news of relevance to the Puerto Rican and Hispanic communities and give a venue that our scientific members can use to keep their communities informed and engaged with science.

Also, the news archive can be used as a resource for students and educators

In this section you can find: news written by members of the CienciaPR team and written by other news media and which are reproduced with permission from the original source.

If you want to collaborate with CienciaPR in writing an article, please read this writing and editorial guide and then contact us.

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Urgently needed documentation of our caves

Submitted on 27 February 2007 - 1:53pm

This article is reproduced by CienciaPR with permission from the original source.

It is estimated that there are several thousand caves in Puerto Rico, but only 700 are known and of those just 30 are formally documented. Julio Rodríguez Planell, president of the Speleological Society of Puerto Rico understands that the documentation process is expensive, dangerous and hard but extremely necessary for the scientific world and the conservation of caves.

Nothing to fear of in caves

Submitted on 27 February 2007 - 12:56pm

This article is reproduced by CienciaPR with permission from the original source.

There are many fears in our collective imagination associated to the popular concept of caves that drive us to have a natural instinct of staying away from them. These fears are founded in the fact that caves can be a hostile environment for humans because they are dark, humid, cold, have a high relative heat, they are like labyrinths, have multiple levels and irregular floors; they can be enclosed and have water currents, vertical drops and unstable surfaces,” explained Julio Rodriguez Planell, president of the Speleological Society of Puerto Rico. Also people are fearful of many of the creatures that live in this environment like bats, rats, spiders, crickets, scorpions and roaches. Unfortunately, because of these myths and fears, caves are the most underestimated and scorned natural resource in the Island.

UPR's microbiologist recieves award

Submitted on 27 February 2007 - 9:57am

This article is reproduced by CienciaPR with permission from the original source.

Dr. Adelfa Serrano, researcher and professor at the Medical Sciences Campus of the University of Puerto Rico gave the “Dr. Arturo L. Carrión Honorary Lecture”, instituted by Puerto Rican Society of Microbiology. The invitation to the conference was in recognition to her work in microbiology, specifically the study of malaria.

Urgent the conservation of a lagoon in Ponce

Submitted on 27 February 2007 - 9:42am

This article is reproduced by CienciaPR with permission from the original source.

The natural richness of the Salinas lagoon in Ponce and the wetland surrounding it could be affected by the expansion of a racing track in this city. This place in Ponce is rich in species of high environmental value that do not exist anywhere else in the Island, like the dwarf forest mangrove, and apparently there are underground currents where salt and fresh water combine. Senator Maria de Lourdes Santiago announced the creation of a group formed by scientists, students, fishermen and other citizens to raise awareness of this issue, and requested the intervention of Ponce’s mayor, Francisco Zayas Seijo, to support the conservation of this resource.

The RUM's Institute for Water has a new home

Submitted on 27 February 2007 - 9:32am

This article is reproduced by CienciaPR with permission from the original source.

The Institute for Water and Environmental Resources of Puerto Rico at the University of Puerto Rico Mayagüez will continue its mission of providing and promoting research and educational initiatives, services and technology transfer for the preservation and sustainable management of natural resources, especially water, from a new home.

Fellowships in Science and Technology doubled at the UPR

Submitted on 27 February 2007 - 9:26am

This article is reproduced by CienciaPR with permission from the original source.

The University of Puerto Rico anticipated that it will distribute this year, for the first time, around $12 million to talented students in sciences and technology, subjects crucial for the economical development of the country. This amount doubles the original estimate of the UPR in the new programs: Academic Competitiveness Grant (ACG) and the Science, Mathematics and Research for Transformation (SMART) fellowship. This was possible given the large amount of outstanding students in mathematics and sciences studying at the UPR, according to the Associate Vice-presidents of Students, Dr. Jose Luis Cruz Rivera.

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A big galaxy wreck

Submitted on 27 February 2007 - 9:16am

This article is reproduced by CienciaPR with permission from the original source.

Astronomers have known for a long time now that the Andrómeda galaxy is in a collision course with the Milky Way. In approximately 3 thousand million years, these two big stellar systems will collide. The Earth will be in the middle of the biggest wreck in the history of our part of the Universe. But, according to astronomer John Hibbard, “galaxy collisions are not that bad.” A typical galaxy has a spiral containing 100 billion stars, but when two giants of this kind find each other, “very few stars collide. Stars are like pin heads with a lot of space between them. The probability of a direct collision, star with star, is very low.” Hibbard knows this because he studies galaxy collisions, particularly of a near-by pair known as the Antennas. He believes that the Antennas are giving us a preliminary look to what will happen in our own galaxy.

Impact to our beaches

Submitted on 27 February 2007 - 9:04am

This article is reproduced by CienciaPR with permission from the original source.

According to Alida Ortiz, marine biologist, the attitude of thinking that what occurs in the interior of the Island doesn’t affect our coasts has been decisive in the continuous loss of sandy beaches in Puerto Rico. “In marine processes, sand is constantly moving, between the water and the shore. Heavy waves take the sand to the ocean floor and this returns extending towards the shore, especially in the summer. If these natural processes are obstructed, they will affect what is known as the beach profile,” she explained. Sand grains can be rounded, fine or angular. These forms and sizes can offer valuable geologic information that contributes to the study and conservation of sandy beaches.

The flower guardian

Submitted on 25 February 2007 - 7:28pm

This article is reproduced by CienciaPR with permission from the original source.

Hummingbirds are birds that are recognized for their agile flight, their iridescent feathers and their small size. In Puerto Rico there are seven hummingbird species, two of which are endemic: the Puerto Rican hummingbird (Chlorostilbon maugaeus) and the green hummingbird (Anthracothorax viridis).

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