There is a huge gap between scientists and the public, but graduates of the Science Communication Masters Program at UCSC are working to bridge that gap. The Science Communication Masters Program at UCSC, also known as the Sci Comm program, has been training scientists in the art of science communication and journalism since 1981. The program is one academic year long, focusing entirely on practical training through rigorous coursework and diverse internships. It's the only graduate science writing program in the U.S. that requires a degree in science and experience in research. Graduates of the program work for newspapers, magazines, radio stations, museums, universities, and research institutions around the world. They report on science trends, discoveries, personalities, and policies, often from the lab or in the field. If you are passionate about science, storytelling, and making a difference, then the Sci Comm program might be for you. If you want to learn more, visit our website at https://scicom.ucsc.edu/about/index.html

Carnivorous plants have evolved all kinds of traps and tricks to capture their prey, from the snapping jaws of Venus flytraps to the slippery walls of pitcher plants. Although we often think of evolution as a process driven by strong selective pressure and big payoffs, researchers recently found that doesn’t always have to be the case. Biologists Ulrike Bauer and Guillaume Chomicki describe how a springboard-like lid evolved independently in two different pitcher plant species on opposite sides of the world through a process they call spontaneous coincidence. **Dr. Guillaume Chomicki's current affiliation is at Durham University. Read the research paper here: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ade0529 Read the Perspective here: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adm9239 Thumbnail Image Credit: Chien C. Lee

The new coronavirus packs a devastating punch. It penetrates deep into your lungs, causing our immune cells to go haywire and damage tiny air sacs – the alveoli – where oxygen normally flows into our blood. More COVID-19 Reporting and resources from KQED Science: https://www.kqed.org/science/1963200/how-covid-19-attacks-your-lungs Educators: Engage your students in an NGSS-aligned discussion about this video on KQED Learn: https://learn.kqed.org/discussions/68. KQED Learn is a safe online platform for middle and high school students to practice academic discourse. Please support us on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/deeplook DEEP LOOK is a ultra-HD (4K) short video series created by KQED San Francisco and presented by PBS Digital Studios. See the unseen at the very edge of our visible world. Explore big scientific mysteries by going incredibly small. --- The coronavirus has had an enormous impact on our lives: how we work, communicate and congregate. At this point, we’re familiar with how to protect ourselves from the virus – and the disease it causes, COVID-19 – by washing our hands thoroughly, wearing masks and social distancing. Most people who get the virus are mildly sick and will recover at home. For others, the virus can be severe, even fatal. One significant way the virus attacks is deep in our lungs. ---+ Read the entire article on KQED Science: https://www.kqed.org/science/1963200/how-covid-19-attacks-your-lungs --- What are the symptoms of the new coronavirus? The Center for Disease Control advises on its website that “symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure to the virus. People with these symptoms or combinations of symptoms may have COVID-19: Cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing. Or at least two of these symptoms: fever; chills; Repeated shaking with chills; muscle pain; headache; sore throat; new loss of taste or smell.” --- How can I protect myself from the coronavirus? The Center for Disease Control has a comprehensive list of guidelines at cdc.gov, but the main tips to remember are: wash your hands often; avoid close contact with other people; cover your mouth and nose with a cloth face cover (like a mask or bandanna) when around others; cover coughs and sneezes with a tissue or your elbow; regularly clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces in your home. --- If you’ve had the new coronavirus, are you now immune? The Center for Disease Control states on its website: “We do not know yet if having antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 can protect someone from getting infected with that virus again, or how long that protection might last. Scientists are doing studies to answer those questions.” ---+ For more information: KQED https://www.kqed.org/coronavirusliveupdates World Health Organization https://www.who.int/ Center for Disease Control https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/index.html ---+ More Great Deep Look episodes: Decompress with Deep Look https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdKlciEDdCQBNcPi8j3XEXuTOKW8CgRgD ---+ Thank you to our Top Patreon Supporters ($10+ per month)! Alex Alexandre Valdetaro Aurora Aurora Mitchell Bethany Bill Cass Blanca Vides Burt Humburg Caitlin McDonough Carlos Carrasco Chris B Emrick Chris Murphy Cindy McGill Companion Cube Daisuke Goto dane rosseter Daniel Weinstein David Deshpande Dean Skoglund Egg-Roll Elizabeth Ann Ditz Geidi Rodriguez Gerardo Alfaro Guillaume Morin Joao Ascensao Josh Kuroda Joshua Murallon Robertson Justin Bull Kallie Moore Karen Reynolds Kristy Freeman KW Laura Sanborn Laurel Przybylski Leonhardt Wille Levi Cai Louis O'Neill luna Mary Truland monoirre Nathan Wright Nicolette Ray Noreen Herrington Pamela Parker Richard Shalumov Rick Wong Robert Amling Robert Warner Roberta K Wright Sarah Khalida Mohamad Sayantan Dasgupta Sharon Merritt Shebastian Reyes Shelley Pearson Cranshaw Silvan Wendland Sonia Tanlimco Steven SueEllen McCann Supernovabetty Syniurge Tea Torvinen TierZoo Titania Juang WhatzGames ---+ Follow KQED Science and Deep Look: Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/deeplook Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kqedscience/ Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/kqedscience KQED Science on kqed.org: http://www.kqed.org/science Facebook Watch: https://www.facebook.com/DeepLookPBS/ ---+ About KQED KQED, an NPR and PBS affiliate in San Francisco, CA, serves Northern California and beyond with a public-supported alternative to commercial TV, Radio and web media. Funding for Deep Look is provided in part by PBS Digital Studios. Deep Look is a project of KQED Science, the largest science and environment reporting unit in California. KQED Science is supported by The National Science Foundation, the Dirk and Charlene Kabcenell Foundation, the Vadasz Family Foundation, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Campaign 21 and the members of KQED. #covid19 #coronavirus #deeplook

Parked a few thousand feet below the surface, two @OceanX submersibles are loaded with dead fish and waiting for giant shadows to emerge from the dark—bluntnose sixgills, the dominant predators of the deep, growing up to 20 feet long. While a team of scientists and filmers waits inside the subs for these graceful giants to pass by on their nightly migration, topside, aboard research vessel #OceanXplorer, a team of scientists, journalists, and marine technicians watches via a live feed. Featuring #OceanXplorers Melissa Cristina Márquez, OceanX sub-team leader Buck Taylor, and National Geographic correspondent Annie Roth. ➡ Subscribe: http://bit.ly/NatGeoSubscribe #NationalGeographic #Shark About National Geographic: National Geographic is the world's premium destination for science, exploration, and adventure. Through their world-class scientists, photographers, journalists, and filmmakers, Nat Geo gets you closer to the stories that matter and past the edge of what's possible. Get More National Geographic: Official Site: http://bit.ly/NatGeoOfficialSite Facebook: http://bit.ly/FBNatGeo Twitter: http://bit.ly/NatGeoTwitter Instagram: http://bit.ly/NatGeoInsta TikTok: http://www.tiktok.com/@natgeo Tenor: http://on.natgeo.com/31b3Koc Deep Sea Shark Stakeout | National Geographic https://youtu.be/H05h2MIvo7Y National Geographic https://www.youtube.com/natgeo

Ducks and geese spend *a lot* of time preening their all-weather feathers. This obsessive grooming – and a little styling wax from a hidden spot on their back side – maintains the microscopic feather structure that keeps them warm and dry in frigid waters. Please join our community on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/deeplook SUBSCRIBE to Deep Look! http://goo.gl/8NwXqt DEEP LOOK is a ultra-HD (4K) short video series created by KQED San Francisco and presented by PBS Digital Studios. See the unseen at the very edge of our visible world. Explore big scientific mysteries by going incredibly small. --- Summer is a great time to be a bird watcher in California. Ducks, geese, and many other species of aquatic birds come to California to breed, build nests and raise broods. If you go to your local pond right now, chances are good that you will see a mallard or Canada goose paddling along with a gaggle of its offspring in tow. But watch for too long and you might find yourself wondering “how do these birds stay warm and dry in the water?” It’s a question that Jack Dumbacher, curator of ornithology and mammalogy at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco has been asked many times. The secret to waterproof waterfowl, it turns out, lies in their feathers. “Aquatic bird feathers are really different than those of other birds,” Dumbacher said. --- What do ducks eat? Ducks eat a lot of different things, from snails and tadpoles to grass and fruit. Some ducks specialize in a certain food like fish, while others are more general in their appetites. Is it OK to feed bread to ducks? Bread is like junk food to ducks and geese because it doesn’t contain the nutrition they need from their typical diet in the wild. Foods like insects and aquatic plants contain more nutrients than carbohydrate-rich bread. How do ducks float? In addition to keeping them warm and helping them fly, ducks rely on their feathers to make them buoyant in water. Soft fuzzy down feathers keep a layer of warm air next to the bird’s skin. The larger vaned feathers create the contour of the duck and keep water out. ---+ Read the entire article on KQED Science: https://www.kqed.org/science/1968261/what-actually-makes-water-roll-off-a-ducks-back ---+ For more information: This 2016 study by scientists at the University of Debrecen in Hungary, shows that aquatic birds like ducks and geese not only have feathers with denser, more tightly knit microstructures than their terrestrial counterparts, but they also have more of them. https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2435.12820 ---+ More Great Deep Look episodes: What Makes Owls So Quiet and So Deadly? | Deep Look https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a68fIQzaDBY&t=39s You've Heard of a Murder of Crows. How About a Crow Funeral? | Deep Look https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixYVFZnNl6s&t=87s ---+ Shoutout! 🏆Congratulations🏆 to the following fans on our Deep Look Community Tab for being the first five to correctly identify the the tiny hooks that keep feathers from splitting apart - barbicels! Avi Harris Mariana C Pyxis Pinkeu Panda0914 geraete 01 ---+ Thank you to our Top Patreon Supporters ($10+ per month)! Alex Alexandre Valdetaro Aurora Aurora Mitchell Bill Cass Blanca Vides Burt Humburg Caitlin McDonough Carlos Carrasco Chris B Emrick Cindy McGill Companion Cube Cristen Rasmussen Daisuke Goto dane rosseter Daniel Pang Daniel Weinstein David Deshpande Dia Dogman Egg-Roll Elizabeth Ann Ditz Geidi Rodriguez Gerardo Alfaro Guillaume Morin Joao Ascensao Josh Kuroda Joshua Murallon Robertson Julie Smith Devous Justin Bull Kallie Moore Karen Reynolds Kelly Hong Kevin Judge Kristy Freeman KW Laura Sanborn Laurel Przybylski Leonhardt Wille Levi Cai Louis O'Neill luna Madhuri Yechuri Mary Truland Misia Clive monoirre Nathan Wright Nicolette Ray Noreen Herrington Pamela Parker Pauley Rick Wong Robert Amling Roberta K Wright Sayantan Dasgupta Sharon Merritt Shebastian Reyes Shelley Pearson Cranshaw Silvan Wendland Sonia Tanlimco Steven SueEllen McCann Supernovabetty Syniurge Tea Torvinen Teresa Lavell TierZoo Titania Juang ---+ Follow KQED Science and Deep Look: Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/deeplook Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kqedscience/ Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/kqedscience KQED Science on kqed.org: http://www.kqed.org/science Facebook Watch: https://www.facebook.com/DeepLookPBS/ ---+ About KQED KQED, an NPR and PBS affiliate in San Francisco, CA, serves Northern California and beyond with a public-supported alternative to commercial TV, Radio and web media. Funding for Deep Look is provided in part by PBS Digital Studios. Deep Look is a project of KQED Science, which is also supported by the National Science Foundation, the S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation, the Dirk and Charlene Kabcenell Foundation, the Vadasz Family Foundation, the Fuhs Family Foundation, Campaign 21 and the members of KQED.

Aquarists at the Monterey Bay Aquarium have spent years learning how to keep deep-sea animals alive in captivity for a new exhibit. In doing so, they’ve gleaned new insights about life in the abyss and our connection to it. The deep sea can sometimes feel like another planet. It’s cold, dark, largely unexplored, and inaccessible without sophisticated machinery. It is also home to a wide variety of other-worldly-looking creatures such as the vampire squid, barreleye, and salmon snailfish. However, the deep sea is no alien world, says Alicia Bitondo, a senior aquarist at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California and one of only a handful of aquarists specializing in deep-sea species. Over the past few years, Bitondo and her collaborators at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) have pulled dozens of deep-sea fish and invertebrates from the ocean’s abyss in preparation for the world’s first large-scale deep-sea exhibit—one that will show people how connected they are to the deep sea. Tending to those recruits back on land has been a challenge, especially since scientists knew next to nothing about the biology and behavior of many of them and had to learn how to keep them alive in captivity. Recently, Bitondo became the first aquarist to breed a salmon snailfish. One of her breeders was rescued by the aquarium after being caught unintentionally by a deep-sea trawler. OG (which stands for “original gangster,” since he was the aquarium’s first snailfish) initially refused to eat in his new home. After much trial and error, Bitondo determined she could stimulate his appetite by tickling his whisker-like pectoral fins, which are equipped with taste buds. Since then, OG has thrived and Bitondo has grown attached. “He might be my favorite,” she says. OG’s offspring will soon be on display as part of the exhibit, “Into the Deep: Exploring our Undiscovered Ocean,” along with several other species that have never been exhibited before, including the bloody belly comb jelly, pacific black dragon, and northern lampfish. Through the exhibit, which opens April 2022, the aquarium hopes to introduce people to the wonders of the deep sea and show them that the habitat isn’t as alien as they may have thought. “We don't want people to think of the deep sea as something that is inaccessible,” says Bitondo. “By bringing it to them, we hope to make that connection and have people realize that while [deep-sea animals] may look strange, they are still Earth creatures.” She adds, “Seeing these animals in person will create an experience that will hopefully be memorable and inspire people to want to conserve this kind of habitat.” Producers/Directors/Editors: Annie Roth and Alex Goetz Camera operators: Annie Roth, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Monterey Bay Aquarium, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Emily Harwitz, Brian Phan, Graycen Wheeler Hakai Magazine producer: Meigan Henry