2023年AAASカヴリ科学ジャーナリズム賞受賞者
関連する概念動画
The scientific method is a detailed, empirical problem-solving process used by biologists and other scientists. This iterative approach involves formulating a question based on observation, developing a testable potential explanation for the observation (called a hypothesis), making and testing predictions based on the hypothesis, and using the findings to create new hypotheses and predictions.
Generally, predictions are tested using carefully-designed experiments. Based on the outcome of these...
Overview
Vaccination is the administration of antigenic material from pathogens to confer immunity against a specific microorganism. Vaccination primes the immune system to recognize and mount an immune response faster and more effectively if the real pathogen is encountered. Vaccinations are one of the most efficient ways to protect both individual humans and the general public from disease. A growing anti-vaccination skepticism risks the successes of vaccination programs that helped reduce...
The energy required to carry out photosynthesis is light— typically electromagnetic radiation from the sun. The range of all possible wavelengths is known as the electromagnetic spectrum.
Photons
A photon is a discrete electromagnetic particle or bundle of energy. Photons are characterized by their frequency, wavelength, and amplitude, similar to the properties of a wave. Waves with higher frequencies transmit more energy and have shorter wavelengths than longer wavelengths that transmit...
Measures of species biodiversity, such as richness (i.e., the number of species present) and evenness (i.e., their relative abundance), describe an ecological community’s structure. Many factors affect community structure, including abiotic factors (e.g., sunlight and nutrients), disturbances (e.g., fire or flood), species interactions (e.g., predation or competition), and chance events (e.g., foreign species invasion). Certain species—such as keystone species—also play a...
Overview
All matter is composed of atoms, the smallest individual units of elements. Each atom is made up of three subatomic particles: protons, neutrons, and electrons. Together, these three particles account for the mass and the charge of an atom.
The History of Atomic Theory
The first person to propose that everything on Earth is made up of tiny particles was the Greek philosopher Democritus, around 450 B.C. He used the term atomos, Greek for “indivisible,” from which the...
Altruistic behaviors are “unselfish” behaviors—those that help another individual at the expense of the individual carrying out the behavior. Despite the negative consequences for the altruistic animal, these behaviors are thought to have evolved for several reasons.
Reasons for Altruistic Behaviors
First, most altruistic behavior occurs between individuals that are related. Altruism is particularly pronounced in animals that live in colonies with one reproductively capable...

