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December

  • Brain

    Can’t Switch Your Focus? Your Brain Might Not Be Wired for It

    December 19, 2017

    A new study suggests that the extent to which brain signals “stick” to white matter networks is associated with cognitive flexibility, or our ability to switch our focus from one concept to another.

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  • The Academy of Natural Sciences' watershed field crew heads downstream after collecting algae samples from the Upper Paulins Kill River in the New Jersey Highlands. Photo by Tess Hooper

    Dolan Fund for Innovative Water Research

    December 19, 2017

    Water scarcity is one of the greatest challenges of our time, according to the United Nations. For the Dolan family of Philadelphia, water runs deep and personal. Almost 90 years ago, Philadelphia-area naturalist/adventurist, Brooke Dolan II, led expeditions to western China and Tibet and collected the Asian mammals on exhibit in the dioramas of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University. He and his colleagues also brought back thousands of other specimens to study at a time when the world looked to natural history museums for information on countless little-known species.

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  • A wide view of a Barnegat Bay salt marsh

    Studies Show Barnegat Bay Salt Marshes Provide Millions of Dollars of Water Treatment for Free – For Now

    December 07, 2017

    A pair of studies led by Academy of Natural Sciences researchers show that salt marshes along New Jersey’s Barnegat Bay are invaluable for removing nutrients — but they’re threatened by climate change.

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  • A microscopic image of Fragilaria amicorum.

    Microscopic Algae Hold Key to New Jersey’s Nutrient Pollution Now and in the Past

    December 07, 2017

    An Academy of Natural Sciences-led study found that the presence of certain species of microscopic algae called diatoms can be reliable indicators of nitrogen pollutions in New Jersey’s bays.

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  • Drexel Biodiversity, Earth and Environmental Science Student Nick Barber in Yellowstone National Park

    Geoscience Major Completes Award-Winning Project in Seafloor Volcanology

    December 04, 2017

    It was a summer that would make any adventure blogger envious: 12 days at sea aboard a 273-foot vessel, treks through the wilds of Yellowstone National Park, nights beneath the stars on Oregon’s massive stratovolcano Mount Hood. Geoscience major Nick Barber ’18 did all of this — along with award-winning conference presentations and innovative research — in the name of science.

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