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<p>For animals in Mozambique’s Gorongosa National Park, the normal balance of competition and predation was upended when a war wiped out the top predators. The remaining animals didn’t simply grow in numbers—they began behaving in unusual ways, veering outside their typical territories and feeding patterns. Could it be that it’s not just predators’ kills that keep other populations in check, but also the fear they inspire? NOVA joins a team of scientists as they reintroduce wild dogs to Gorongosa to find out if restoring the park’s “landscape of fear” can restore balance to an entire ecosystem. (Premiered October 14, 2020)</p>

<p>Can bringing predators—and fear—back into an ecosystem help restore its natural balance?</p>

Nature's Fear Factor

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Cristina Mittermeier on-assignment in the Yucatán Peninsula. Image Credit: Jenny Nichols

<p>In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, world-renowned photographer Cristina Mittermeier explains her philosophy behind conservation photography, mentorship, and the increased diversity she would like to see within the environmental movement.</p>

Interview: National Geographic marine life photographer Cristina Mittermeier

A sculpture of James Marion Sims. Often “portrayed as a champion of women’s health,” this 19th-century “father of modern gynecology” developed many of his techniques by conducting unethical research and experiments on enslaved Black women. Image Credit: Matt Green/Flickr/CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

<p>Join NOVA Education for three virtual events dedicated to the intersection of STEM education and social justice.</p>

Where Science and Social Justice Meet

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Confiscated wildlife ends up in the National Wildlife Property Repository, a 22,000 square foot warehouse near Denver, Colorado that houses wildlife items that have been forfeited or abandoned to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Image Credit: Ryan Moehring / USFWS National Digital Library

<p>The growth and accessibility of the internet has transformed the illegal wildlife trade.</p>

The 21st Century Threat to Wildlife is "Cyberpoaching"

The Secret Lives of Hackers

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<p>Learn how quantum physics is used to secure electronic communications and could be applied to electronic voting systems, in this video from NOVA Digital.</p>

Using Quantum Physics to Prevent Voter Fraud

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<p>NOVA Education tailors NOVA&#x27;s digital resources for educators in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Our free educator library is produced according to teaching standards and includes videos, audio segments, lesson plans, and interactives designed to facilitate effective classroom integration. Please let us know how we&#x27;re doing and what you might like to see. NOVA Education is committed to creating digital learning resources that work for you.</p>

NOVA Education supports STEM education and engagement nationwide through the creation of resources from NOVA's broadcast and digital productions.

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<p>NOVA Education supports STEM education and engagement nationwide through the creation of resources from NOVA&#x27;s broadcast and digital productions.</p>





  
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      <p>In July 2013, Krishnamurthy Ramesh, head of the monitoring program at Panna Tiger Reserve in central India, received a security alert. Someone was attempting to access his email account from a location more than<a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/10/131010-poaching-technology-tigers-endangered-animals-science/"> 600 miles away from his office</a>. Sitting in Ramesh’s inbox was an email reporting the encrypted coordinates of an endangered Bengal tiger.</p>
  

  
      <p>Tigers are considered “walking gold” on the black market. Although leading Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) organizations have <a href="https://bit.ly/3jGDvgg">banned the use of tiger parts</a>, a robust illegal market that values tigers as luxury items—particularly their bones and pelts—still exists.</p>
  

  
      <p>However, the demand for wildlife products is not limited to tigers. Elephants, rhinos, pangolins, sharks, and many other species are part of this massive illicit trade. The world of wildlife trafficking and poaching is orchestrated by highly organized crime syndicates which rake in profits<a href="https://www.interpol.int/en/Crimes/Environmental-crime/Wildlife-crime"> exceeding $20 billion</a> per year. It is the fourth most profitable illegal enterprise behind<a href="https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/corruption/wildlife-and-forest-crime.html"> narcotics, weapons, and human trafficking</a>, and is considered a significant contributor to the<a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/117/24/13596"> sixth mass extinction</a>.</p>
  

  
      <p></p>
            <figure class="richtext-image full-width"><img alt="Tiger_Ranthambhore_May2015_Rupa Gandhi_WTI (4).jpg" class="richtext-image full-width" height="535" width="800"
            src="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/media/images/Tiger_Ranthambhore_May2015_Rupa_Gandhi_WTI_4.width-800.jpg"/><figcaption><p>Less than 4,000 tigers remain in the wild. Image courtesy of the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) </p><div class="credit"></div></figcaption>
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      <p>Although the suspicious log-in attempt was thwarted by Ramesh’s server, and the tiger’s exact location was encrypted, the cybersecurity breach exposed the threat of an endangered animal’s GPS coordinates falling into the wrong hands.</p>
  

  
      <p>Today, emails are encrypted by <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6FanLhvsEs">coded email programs</a> to prevent others from reading them. However,<a href="https://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/nvcy-sci-cybercodes/cyber-codes/"> not all online activity is encrypted</a> and in some cases browsing history, text messages, and data from apps can be intercepted. Emails are normally encrypted when they are sent, but can sometimes be decrypted before they reach their recipient. Cybersecurity news often focuses on how hackers access personal information, bank accounts, social media, and government data. But what if “cyberpoachers” started targeting information on the locations of endangered species through their animal tracking data?</p>
  

  
      <h2><b>The Rise of Wildlife Cybercrime</b></h2>
  

  
      <p>The illegal wildlife trade has transformed with the growth and accessibility of the internet. Animals that used to be sold in physical markets are now sold by <a href="https://www.ifaw.org/press-releases/tech-companies-wildlife-trafficking-online">anonymous online vendors</a>. As a result, a largely<a href="https://www.ifaw.org/journal/hot-on-the-trail-of-cyber-enabled-wildlife-traffickers"> unregulated online market</a> allows criminal enterprises to sell illegally acquired wildlife products, and transport them around the world. The consumer-to-consumer marketplace has made buying shark fins, pangolin scales, and rhino horns as easy as click, pay, ship.</p>
  

  
      <p></p>
            <figure class="richtext-image full-width"><img alt="Pangolin postcard back.png" class="richtext-image full-width" height="619" width="800"
            src="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/media/images/Pangolin_postcard_back.width-800.png"/><figcaption><p>Infographic courtesy of IFAW</p><div class="credit"></div></figcaption>
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      <p>The 2018 International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) report <a href="https://www.ifaw.org/resources/disrupt-wildlife-cybercrime">Disrupt: Wildlife Cybercrime</a> identified more than 5,000 advertisements spread across more than 100 online marketplaces and social media platforms, cataloguing close to 12,000 endangered and threatened specimens worth almost $4 million. These items were completely accessible to the public; the report did not include items advertised in closed or private Facebook groups, password-protected websites, or the hidden part of the internet—the <a href="https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2019/09/the-truth-about-the-dark-web-kumar.htm">dark web</a>.</p>
  

  
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      <p>“Many of the species preyed upon by wildlife criminals are in danger of approaching a tipping point where their diminishing numbers can no longer sustain their populations,” described Rikkert Reijnen, program director of wildlife crime at IFAW, in the Disrupt report. “Some, such as rhinos, may have already reached that point. Disrupting wildlife cybercrime is a critical component of ensuring the welfare, safety and survival of endangered and threatened animals.”</p>
  

  
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            <figure class="richtext-image full-width"><img alt="Illegal ivory burned - IFAW.jpg" class="richtext-image full-width" height="719" width="800"
            src="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/media/images/Illegal_ivory_burned_-_IFAW.width-800.jpg"/><figcaption><p>A wildlife ranger stands guard as towers of confiscated ivory go up in smoke in Kenya&#x27;s Nairobi National Park. The country burned 105 tons of ivory in 2016 to send a stern message: Ivory is worthless unless it is on elephants. Image courtesy of IFAW</p><div class="credit"></div></figcaption>
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      <p>Unfortunately, illegal online markets aren’t the only “digital threat” to endangered wildlife. In recent years, hackers have exploited the very systems designed to monitor and protect these animals. By decrypting location data from radio tags and GPS collars, hackers can track down animals or reveal their whereabouts to those who would harm them. (Hacking by nature is not good or bad—it is essentially solving problems in creative and innovative ways. Some hackers use questionable methods of acquiring information, whether with intent to help or harm, while others use hackathons to improve existing security protocols by collaborating as a community to solve complex problems.)</p>
  

  
      <p>“Being able to put on a map exactly where animals are in space in time, that’s what one needs to exploit them,” wrote Steven J. Cooke, a biology professor at Carleton University in Canada, in an article in the journal <a href="http://www.fecpl.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Cooke_et_al-2017-Conservation_Biology-1.pdf">Conservation Biology</a>.</p>
  

  
      <p>Cooke pointed out that the animal-tracking data scientists use to safeguard animals could potentially be used to harm them by poachers, commercial fishermen, and even nature lovers looking to photograph them.</p>
  

  
      <p>Some of the troubling ways radio tags and collars have been used to “locate, disturb, capture, harm, or kill tagged animals,” Cooke pointed out, include<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jan/14/researcher-threatens-withhold-information-wa-killing-tagged-sharks"> great white sharks</a> that were killed in Western Australia by individuals who had tracked their radio signals to “reduce human-wildlife conflict,” as well as efforts by “wolf persecution” groups to decrypt data on radio collars to allow them to<a href="https://www.outsideonline.com/1913831/out-bounds-death-832f-yellowstones-most-famous-wolf#close"> hunt down and kill wolves</a> in Yellowstone National Park.</p>
  

  
      <p></p>
            <figure class="richtext-image full-width"><img alt="Wolf watches biologists in Yellowstone National Park - Campbell, William:USFWS.jpg" class="richtext-image full-width" height="553" width="800"
            src="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/media/images/Wolf_watches_biologists_in_Yellowstone_Nationa.width-800.jpg"/><figcaption><p>A wolf watches biologists in Yellowstone National Park after being captured and fitted with a radio collar. Image Credit: William Campbell / USFWS National Digital Library </p><div class="credit"></div></figcaption>
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      <p>According to wildlife criminologist Monique Sosnowski, there are two primary ways poachers can attempt to access animal tracking data.</p>
  

  
      <p>“First, they can attempt to bribe corrupt individuals such as anti-poaching entities or game guides charged with locating and protecting these species,” Sosnowski says.</p>
  

  
      <p>When it comes to infiltrating the tracking systems themselves, Sosnowski notes that this requires more technical skill and is thus more likely attempted by organized criminal networks.</p>
  

  
      <p>“Cases of this have been reported around the world as poachers have attempted to gain access to GPS data, or capitalize on VHF radio signals,” she says.</p>
  

  
      <p>Tarah Wheeler, an international security fellow at New America, highlighted a third way “cyberpoachers” can track wild animals. If the location setting on your cell phone is switched on when snapping a photo of an animal, that data is embedded in the photo you post on social media, creating a<a href="https://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/nvcy-sci-parable/a-cyber-privacy-parable/"> digital roadmap</a> for poachers to track wildlife.</p>
  

  
      <p>“Because of the way cell phones track your location now, you don’t need to critique someone’s photograph to find out where they were at a given time,” Wheeler told <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/your-safari-selfies-are-cute-they-re-road-map-poachers-n1016031">NBC News</a>. “Metadata, including exact longitude and latitude, is stuck to the background of the photo.”</p>
  

  
      <h2><b>Hack the Poacher</b></h2>
  

  
      <p>Just as poachers might access animal tracking data through vacation selfies posted from a smartphone, <a href="https://hack-the-planet.io/">Hack the Planet</a> software engineers Tim van Deursen and Thijs Suijten have leveraged mobile phones to create a detection system to turn the tables on poachers.</p>
  

  
      <p>Van Deursen and Suijten designed the <a href="https://www.hackthepoacher.com/">Hack the Poacher</a> system with the intent to deter poachers from protected areas and aid rangers in their ongoing fight against wildlife crime. The system uses sensors placed throughout the target area to detect poacher’s GSM cell phone signals as well as radio frequencies so rangers that patrol poaching hotspots can be alerted to their presence. Hack the Poacher works with individual parks to tailor their technology to the issues that rangers are seeing on the ground in specific poaching hotspots.</p>
  

  
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            <figure class="richtext-image full-width"><img alt="Hack the Poacher.png" class="richtext-image full-width" height="565" width="800"
            src="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/media/images/Hack_the_Poacher.width-800.png"/><figcaption><p>In Zambia, where the Hack the Poacher system has been tested, poachers rely heavily on their mobile phones and radios for navigation and communication with each other to coordinate and organize extraction of ivory. Illustration courtesy of Hack the Poacher.</p><div class="credit"></div></figcaption>
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      <p>“When your cell phone is on, it&#x27;s always searching for GSM towers,” Suijten says. “The rangers at the park we are working with in Zambia told us that poachers always have a phone on them. Even if there is no GSM coverage, if their cell phone is on, it will always be searching for a cell phone tower and transmitting a strong signal to connect to service.”</p>
  

  
      <p>The Hack the Poacher system can monitor up to 300 square kilometers (115 square miles) with just 30-40 sensors. The founders believe this system could eventually work in tandem with other tech tools like automated camera traps, machine learning, and satellite imagery, sending rangers alerts in real time and keeping them steps ahead of poachers.</p>
  

  
      <p>“Many initiatives in the past focused on optimizing detection of poachers by trying to get eyes on the poacher with, for example, the use of drones, night vision cameras, radar, and satellites,” van Deursen says. “While these techniques can be effective, the costs are often too high to implement on a large scale, or too technologically advanced to be operated by people other than the tech team behind the product.”</p>
  

  
      <p>Hack the Poacher is powered by three agencies:<a href="https://hack-the-planet.io/"> Hack the Planet</a>,<a href="https://www.q42.nl/en"> Q42</a>, and<a href="https://www.twtg.io/"> TWTG</a>. These strategic technology companies work on creating and implementing pragmatic technologies to tackle humanitarian and sustainability challenges. The Hack the Poacher project has also received support from World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Google, Green Safaris, No Wildlife Crime (NWC), and Smart Parks.</p>
  

  
      <h2><b>Using Radical Collaboration to Save Wildlife</b></h2>
  

  
      <p>Just as Hack the Poacher is working to stop poaching at its source, IFAW is working alongside the world’s largest e-commerce, technology, and social media companies to shut down online marketplaces that deal in the trade of illegal wildlife.</p>
  

  
      <p>“Within IFAW, we have a lot of innovative and unique partnerships that we leverage to address cybercrime and analyze data related to wildlife trafficking,” says Danielle Kessler, acting US director of IFAW. “We are working through the <a href="https://www.worldwildlife.org/pages/coalition-to-end-wildlife-trafficking-online">Coalition to End Wildlife Trafficking Online</a> to collaborate with 36 tech companies across continents, such as eBay, Google, Microsoft and Tencent, to unite the industry and maximize impact for reducing wildlife trafficking online.”</p>
  

  
      <p></p>
            <figure class="richtext-image full-width"><img alt="African elephant.png" class="richtext-image full-width" height="721" width="800"
            src="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/media/images/Screen_Shot_2020-10-27_at_5.39.36_PM.width-800.png"/><figcaption><p>African elephants are the largest land animals on Earth and could be extinct in the next decade. Poachers kill an estimated 55 elephants a day. Image courtesy of IFAW</p><div class="credit"></div></figcaption>
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      <p>When it comes to finding solutions at the nexus of wildlife crime and cybersecurity, hackathons provide opportunities for students to invent and innovate new technology for the good of the planet. This November, the Department of State is co-hosting<a href="http://www.zoohackathon.com/"> Zoohackathon</a> 2020, a global competition bringing together university students, coders, developers, and wildlife trafficking experts to create innovative solutions that address on-the-ground wildlife trafficking issues. Over the course of two and a half days, participants from five regional areas across the globe will compete virtually to address wildlife trafficking challenges, analyze the connections between wildlife trafficking and zoonotic disease in each region, and discuss locally focused case studies.</p>
  

  
      <p>For Suijten, a focus on hard skills such as software engineering are critical, but relationship building and the ability to adapt and respond to circumstances in the field have proven to be invaluable to Hack the Poacher’s success.</p>
  

  
      <p>“It’s amazing how much impact we can have with smart engineers, pragmatic tech, and a bit of duct tape,” Suijten says.</p>
  

  
      <p>As people’s lives become more intertwined with the internet, the opportunities in cybersecurity continue to expand. To learn more about this growing field, visit the <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/labs/lab/cyber/">NOVA Cybersecurity Lab</a> to explore stories of real-word cyber attacks, profiles of cybersecurity experts, and short animated videos that explain the need for cybersecurity, privacy versus security, cryptography (cyber code), and the nature of hacking.</p>
  

  
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      <p>As communities across the country grapple with the legacy of institutional racism, many educators are evaluating the role they can play in addressing systemic racism. One way to begin doing this is by making a conscious effort to become educated about the history that has shaped this country — including the history of science — and acknowledging the ways in which racial inequities continue to exist and shape society. NOVA is committed to providing educators with resources to address the racial inequities that impact students. This fall, NOVA Education has organized a three-part speaker series dedicated to discussing the intersection of STEM education and social justice.</p>
  

  
      <h3><b>The History of Scientific Racism (and Why it Matters for STEM Educators)</b></h3>
  

  
      <p><b>Tuesday, October 20, 2020<br/>6PM ET / 3PM PT</b><br/><b>Watch Here:</b> <a href="https://youtu.be/-XptxJoE7mU"><b>NOVA Education YouTube</b></a></p>
  

  
      <p>Historically, science has been conceptualized as objective, neutral, and apolitical. In reality, however, it is not. Science is carried out by real people and, thus, can be shaped by their beliefs, social values, and biases. In this talk, <a href="http://udodiriokwandu.com/">Udodiri R. Okwandu</a> discusses the histories of unethical medical and scientific practices used in America from the 19th century to the present to demonstrate how science has and continues to perpetuate racism and inequality in society. In tracing this history, we hope that this webinar will empower STEM educators to account for gaps in science education in order to engage in more equitable and anti-racist pedagogy.</p><p></p><p>To learn more about the history of scientific racism and how to talk about it with your students, check out <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uNA24QfbTWlQ0T4rACgk_tOgj4I7wr08fZDVad-3B08/edit?usp=sharing"><b>this list of resources</b></a>.</p>
  

  
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      <h3><b>History Reconsidered</b></h3>
  

  
      <p><b>Wednesday, October 28, 2020<br/>6PM ET / 3PM PT</b><br/><a href="https://bit.ly/2FQrxmt"><b>Register Here</b></a></p><p></p>
  

  
      <p>The second installment of the webinar series will feature a talk from <a href="https://www.clintsmithiii.com/about"><b>Dr. Clint Smith</b></a>, a writer, poet and scholar who will help educators wrestle with the complicated truths about the country we live in. In many K-12 education settings, the United States is lauded as a country of great opportunity and economic mobility. However, to engage US history truthfully and accurately means we must interrogate how the US history of violence and exploitation helped generate its economic foundations. These realities shape the lives of our students, and the landscapes of our schools. In this talk, combining poetry and history, Dr. Clint Smith will help crystalize how this history has shaped the contemporary social, political, and cultural context of our world today — specifically our schools — and how to talk about it with your students.</p><p></p><p></p><div>
    <iframe width="480" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/c1K44BwdhrE?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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      <h3><b>Bringing a Justice Orientation to K-12 STEM Teaching &amp; Learning</b></h3>
  

  
      <p><b>Tuesday, November 10, 2020<br/>6PM ET / 3PM PT<br/></b><a href="https://wgbh.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_if6yymZjS5OZfW0X7ZQJRw"><b>Register Here</b></a></p>
  

  
      <p>The final science and social justice webinar will include a presentation from <a href="https://soe.uncg.edu/directory/faculty-and-staff/bio-ednatan/"><b>Dr. Edna Tan</b></a>, professor of science education at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and <a href="https://soe.umich.edu/directory/faculty-staff/angela-calabrese-barton"><b>Dr. Angie Calabrese Barton</b></a>, professor in the Educational Studies Department at the University of Michigan. Calls to increase equity in teaching and learning are often framed only around inclusion — ensuring that learning opportunities are available for all students. Unfortunately, this perspective of equity is limiting and does not adequately address how systemic injustices manifest in classroom practice and impact student learning. In this workshop, Dr. Edna Tan and Dr. Angela Calabrese Barton will share a justice-oriented framework that highlights how STEM educators can make connections to the realities and issues that guide students’ lives, sharing case studies drawn from formal and informal STEM teaching and learning.</p><p></p>
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      <p><i>Are we alone?</i> It’s one of those tantalizing mysteries we can’t help but ponder. Earth is teeming with life, including humans intelligent enough to ask such questions. But it seems to be the exception in our cosmic neighborhood, the solar system. Sure, scientists are searching for microbial life on Mars, in the salty liquid water oceans beneath the icy crust of Saturn’s moon Enceladus, <a href="https://bit.ly/360W6k1">and now in the clouds of Venus</a>. But when it comes to <i>intelligent</i> life, the odds of finding it close to home seem pretty slim.</p><p>Does that mean there’s no chance we’ll ever find aliens to exchange recipes or swap stories with? Not necessarily – we just might need to look a little farther out. And that’s exactly what scientists have been doing for decades: searching for <b>exoplanets</b>, worlds orbiting faraway stars. They’ve had tremendous success: So far, <a href="https://go.nasa.gov/3bHIdbl">NASA’s official count</a> of these alien worlds is well over 4,000, with more than 5,000 more candidates waiting to be analyzed and possibly added to the list. While most of them are <i>very</i> different from Earth and unlikely to be hospitable to creatures anything like us, many others could very well be conducive to life as we know it.</p>
  

  
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      <p>And this is just the start. The story of how we’ve accomplished this feat is pretty amazing, a tale of thousands of scientists and engineers working together across a wide range of disciplines for decades. In our latest <a href="http://pbs.org/nova/labs">NOVA Lab</a>-- <b>coming soon in November 2020</b>-- we’ve created a game that invites students to join in the fun, and trains them to use the very same techniques that scientists use every day in the hunt for exoplanets. Here’s a quick preview:</p><p>To start, players watch a brief <b>Mission Intro video</b> that sets the scene for the game: They’ve been selected to be the lead scientist for the NOVA Space Center’s Galactic Resettlement team, with the job of finding suitable exoplanets for displaced aliens desperately seeking new homes.</p><p>Now players are ready for <b>Mission 1,</b> where they meet a representative of the Plantae, sentient photosynthetic creatures looking for a new, CO2-rich world to call home. To help them, players must work through a series of steps modeled on the work of real-word scientists:</p><p><b>Step 1</b></p><p>After learning about the different methods used to find exoplanets, players use the <b>transit method</b> to identify stars that seem to have planets orbiting them. This method allows them to calculate each planet’s volume, based on how much of the star’s light it blocks from reaching our telescopes when crossing in front.</p><p><b>Step 2</b></p><p>Next, players use the <b>radial velocity method</b> to measure how much the planets are tugging gravitationally on their stars, causing them to wobble. This gives an estimation of their mass, which, combined with the volume derived from the transit method, allows the player to calculate each planet’s density. Less dense planets are likely to be gas giants, while denser planets tend to have rocky surfaces</p><p><b>Step 3</b></p><p>The third step is to <b>identify the atmospheric composition</b> of each planet they’ve discovered by analyzing the unique absorption spectrum of the star’s light after passing through it. Knowing what molecules are present can tell us how many heat-absorbing greenhouse gases are present – another clue to the planet’s temperature – and whether there are any biosignature gases which might indicate whether life is already there.</p><p><b>Step 4</b></p><p>The final step is to put all this information together by placing <b>Habi-tags</b> on each planet that summarize its likely conditions. Now they’re ready to make a decision about where to send the Plantae, who will report back on how they fare once they arrive at their new home.</p><p></p>
            <figure class="richtext-image full-width"><img alt="lab aliens 2.png" class="richtext-image full-width" height="533" width="800"
            src="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/media/images/lab_aliens_2.width-800.png"/><figcaption><p>The Plantae, Cala Mari, and Daysiders are just a few of the aliens you&#x27;ll be helping to relocate.</p><div class="credit"></div></figcaption>
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            <p></p><p>Once they’ve sent the Plantae on their way, players are ready to apply the same tools and techniques to relocate other alien friends, ones with needs very different from the Plantae. In <b>Mission 2,</b> the clients are <b>Daysiders and Nightsiders</b>, aliens who share a tidally-locked planet – a world where one side always faces its star, while the other always faces away, towards darkness. In <b>Mission 3, Earth’s cats are seeking another Earth-like planet</b> they can dominate, one without annoying humans and dogs. Players having too much fun to stop can work their way through two more <b>Bonus Missions</b>, featuring the<b> Cala Mari</b>, squid-like creatures looking for a water world, the <b>Flatuencie,</b> whose manta ray-like bodies are adapted to flying through the atmospheres of gaseous “Hot Jupiters,” and the sloth-like <b>Li Chen</b> who need a planet with very little oxygen in its atmosphere.</p><p>The Exoplanet Lab is part of the NSF-funded WHIMC project (<b>W</b>hat-If <b>H</b>ypothetical <b>I</b>mplementations in <b>M</b>ine<b>c</b>raft), based at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. WHIMC uses Minecraft as a creative sandbox where kids can explore alternative versions of Earth – like “What if Earth had no Moon?” – allowing researchers to study how “What If?” hypothetical scenarios might trigger engagement and learning in STEM. Exoplanets provide another fantastic playground for this kind of creative learning, a chance for students not just to ponder what alien worlds and their inhabitants might be like, but to use proven scientific methods to find answers.</p><p><b>LAUNCH IS SCHEDULED FOR NOVEMBER 2020</b>! Keep your ears open and your eyes to the sky. You may hear a distress signal coming in…</p>
  

  
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In the NOVA Exoplanet Lab, you'll meet a variety of alien creatures that need your help in finding a new planet to call home.

<p>You&#x27;ve been selected to be the lead scientist for the NOVA Space Center’s Galactic Resettlement team, with the job of finding suitable exoplanets for displaced aliens desperately seeking new homes. Are you up to the challenge?</p>

Search for Exoplanets with the NOVA Exoplanet Lab

<p>Explore the factors that have driven a change in fire policy—from an all-out effort to eliminate fires in forests to the strategic use of fire to meet land-management objectives and reduce long-term wildfire risk—in this video from NOVA: <i>Inside the Megafire</i>.</p>

How Prescribed Burns Help Wildfire Management

<p>Explore the chemistry and physics phenomena that contribute to intensifying large wildfires, like the one that devastated the California town of Paradise in 2018, in this video from NOVA: <i>Inside the Megafire</i>.</p>

The Physics of Large Wildfires





  
      <p>With Covid-19 forcing families to stay home, many are turning to their backyards for valuable time outdoors and a new, home-based hobby. An increasing number of people are using this time to turn over their long dormant vegetable gardens, build raised beds, and try their hand at growing their own food.</p><p>Whether you have a green thumb or no idea where to start, NOVA Education invites you to join us this August for a three part virtual field trip series about at-home agriculture. We will review the ins and outs of vegetable gardening, from setting up your space to the science behind some of the most popular summer flavors. Find out more about each episode below.</p>
  

  
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      <p></p><h3><b>Setting Up Your Backyard Garden</b></h3><p>Tuesday, August 4<br/> 11 a.m. ET / 8 a.m. PT<br/> Watch the recording here: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/NOVAeducation/posts/3317590208284459">NOVA Education Facebook</a> or <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsjZeRwS5Wc">NOVA Education YouTube</a></p><p>Are you interested in starting your own vegetable garden but don&#x27;t know where to start? Join Nataka S. Crayton-Walker and Bobby Walker from <a href="http://urbanfarminginstitute.org/">Urban Farming Institute</a> to learn the ins and outs of what you need to have a successful garden, whether you&#x27;re working in an established plot, building a raised bed, or curating a collection of containers on a porch or windowsill. Nataka &amp; Bobby will broadcast live from the <a href="http://urbanfarminginstitute.org/">Urban Farming Institute</a> headquarters at the Fowler Clark Epstein Farm in Mattapan, MA to show you hot to get the most use out of your backyard space.</p><p></p><div>
    <iframe width="480" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JsjZeRwS5Wc?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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      <h3><b>From Seed to Fork</b></h3><p>Wednesday, August 12<br/> 2 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. PT<br/>Watch live here: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/NOVAeducation/posts/3337990372911109">NOVA Education Facebook</a> or <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wktoyZ_ZLyw">NOVA Education YouTube</a></p><p>Join Omar Carranza, Youth Development Specialist at <a href="https://thefoodproject.org/">The Food Project</a>, in an engaging conversation about the importance of growing food sustainably and locally. You will learn about different food systems-- from seed to fork-- and how they impact people and communities. Tune in for an exciting discussion about something we all enjoy every day... food!</p><p>The Food Project envisions a world where youth are active leaders, diverse communities feel connected to the land and each other, and everyone has access to fresh, local, healthy, affordable food. To learn more, visit: <a href="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thefoodproject.org%2F%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR1ODrPa3JccKVWD7TB23IU2jPLO_o_Kxj3_J6Mh1wwIYAksFMBvtn_uwzQ&amp;h=AT0J3sfcky8aFP55u5kI3PdPHEcJ9SRen4yjMoWMVP-Z6aRn3qYp51v12V2QVU2Pot2IkC0ifgvDKgkw63MInwKrcRiLCee8VybD_Mw7r_bgkV8kPTYLJIgmv2ZNBeA0eOaX1PkgrK6OPJnaCMVcUdZYxORtUZE6Q8QPv8Lnb2EuaSqGjg0mZGJtzCe-mld8gEu2ipoMTNrVnOdS2NV7RR3UHgQ2x2f5oafZQsctGx7Vd21rK0eBdvsL9GUg8-zpB-IZE4Ht6hvWF2u9dP6RCLS7zV1qxaoqEynISuD3X2FQQL69Qw28vRB5MlAa0USKtcA9bwc8SffOymGpWk1fcXEa-EXrWAcVirVoF9RF5dwAft4L9sujEo33L5M_YNbUEM_tFzaaJNSIyH2g0UQmJP26LGTwd37bJlx9nZPocu0KN5Ho5ur_jHO9vBmQZLbHLHddjFWaSJb4M0oy0WVm2DLHPjxfnzfsydpWZy3qaarJwCAolELOCEfutnf74pcpxFAWdQK1U9bs2VkeNncuXIpA1o7eVp48SYV-baMMTpgScqAtFFPxwFwq45-ziJqZEX6EwzhKDsLWt-myGp7w7W98rsktsDEyyucrsOWQU_EUKM5wT0W64S2jYPdJZaqtai_HeeXzvo8Fw3SHdxBNFqqASksVXASn_JjG7dloPL4PKQ6D">www.thefoodproject.org.</a></p><p></p><div>
    <iframe width="480" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wktoyZ_ZLyw?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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      <h3><b>The Science of Summer Flavors</b></h3><p>Thursday, August 20<br/>1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT<br/>Watch live here: NOVA Education Facebook or <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4IHeMOwXy4">NOVA Education YouTube</a></p><p>  </p><p>Whether our produce comes from the garden, farmer&#x27;s market, or grocery store, we all want to coax the most flavor from every bite. Does refrigeration ruin ripe tomatoes? Do you know the best way to boil corn? Join Lan Lam, Senior Editor at <a href="https://www.cooksillustrated.com/">Cook&#x27;s Illustrated</a> for answers to these questions and more. </p><p></p><div>
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Join NOVA Education to learn about the ins and outs of vegetable gardening, from setting up your space toe explore the science behind some of the most popular summer flavors.

<p>Join NOVA Education for our &quot;Backyard Farm to Table&quot; virtual field trip series about at-home agriculture.</p>

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