Latest news with #northern China
New York Times
2 days ago
- Science
- New York Times
Citizen Scientists Are Accelerating Ecology Research, Study Suggests
In the spring of 2019, a nature photographer hiking in the mountains of northern China snapped an image of an unusual insect: a fly that appeared to be disguised as a bumblebee, down to its fuzzy black-and-yellow stripes. The photographer uploaded the image to iNaturalist, a citizen science platform, where it attracted the attention of an entomologist. The following year, the entomologist published a paper describing the bumblebee mimic as a new species, now known as the mountain ghost stiletto fly. It's a testament to the power of citizen science — and it's not an isolated occurrence, according to a new study, which documents how scientists are harnessing iNaturalist data. Since iNaturalist was founded in 2008, observations submitted to the platform have been incorporated into more than 5,000 peer-reviewed papers, with references exploding in recent years, the scientists found. More than 1,400 such articles were published in 2022 alone — 10 times as many as just five years earlier and a publication rate of nearly four studies per day. The data has helped scientists identify new species, track the spread of invasive organisms, pinpoint critical habitats, predict the effects of climate change and explore animal behavior, among other things. 'iNaturalist is really pervasive throughout the biodiversity research,' said Corey Callaghan, an ecologist at the University of Florida and an author of the paper, which was published in BioScience on Monday. 'It is fundamentally shaping the way that scientists think about research and think about designing studies and think about answering questions about biodiversity.' iNaturalist users submit photos or audio recordings of the plants and animals they observe, along with the date, time and location. Anyone in the iNaturalist community can suggest an identification for the organism in the observation. If two-thirds of these suggestions agree, and the submission passes the platform's data quality review, the observation is classified as 'research grade,' and sent to a global biodiversity database available to scientists. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
South China Morning Post
19-07-2025
- Lifestyle
- South China Morning Post
Quirky China trend shows kids, pets hugging giant winter melons to stay cool at night
The scorching summer heat in China has sparked a trend where people hug a giant winter melon while sleeping to find relief from the sweltering temperatures. The topic 'sleeping with a winter melon is cooler than using an air conditioner' has gone viral on mainland social media, with one Chinese platform alone garnering 4.4 million views. Many individuals shared photos of themselves slumbering while clutching these large vegetables, which are comparable in size to a toddler, highlighting their remarkable cooling effects. A resident of northern China's Tianjin municipality, known as Longma, claimed to be among the first to introduce this effective cooling method that ignited the trend. She purchased a 14kg winter melon from the local market for her child, who complained that the summer heat was making it difficult for him to sleep at night. A resident from northern China's Tianjin municipality is reported to be one of the first to popularise this effective cooling technique that sparked the trend. Photo: RedNote Longma noted that she refrained from using air conditioning in the bedrooms to avoid catching a cold, and saw the 'ancient method' of hugging a winter melon as a viable alternative.
