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Ask Dr. Universe: Why are bears called bears when they can be called anything else, not just a bear?

You’ve noticed something very important: there’s no natural reason for the words humans use. Any sound could be used to describe a big mammal that eats berries and salmon.

But people who speak English choose “bear.” People who speak Spanish use “oso.” People who speak Maricopa say “maxwet.” They’re all different, but they’re all correct.

Lynn Gordon.
Gordon

That’s what I learned from my friend Lynn Gordon, an associate professor emeritus of linguistics in the English department at Washington State University.

“Why do we call bears ‘bears’?” she said. “Because we’ve agreed to.”

Humans have a unique knack for speech. They talk about things in the past or future. They make up new words. They even say things they’ve never said before (like you did with your excellent question).

To be understood, speakers of a language agree about its rules. This happens very early, when a baby is first learning to talk.

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Dr. Universe

WSU experts explain the origins of the Leap Year

While regarded as one of the world’s most powerful and influential historical figures, Julius Caesar wasn’t an expert on math or the stars above.

With 2020 being a Leap Year—a once-every-four-years manifestation created to deal with our imprecise notion of a year being 365 days—WSU experts looked back on the development of the modern calendar to demonstrate just how far humanity has come in its quest.

Michael Allen.
Allen

Ancient civilizations depended on the cosmos above to guide their decisions, said Michael Allen, a senior instructor in physics and astronomy at WSU.

The need to be prepared for changing seasons and related weather events led to the development of the first calendars, which typically were either solar or lunar-based. Ancient Greeks made a tremendous breakthrough some 2,500 years ago when they calculated the length of a year at 365.25 days.

Nikolaus Overtoom.
Overtoom

Meanwhile, during the Roman Republic, the development of the calendar was a process fraught with upheaval, said Nikolaus Overtoom, a clinical assistant professor in Ancient History at WSU.

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WSU Insider

To help wildlife move, researchers map both natural and legal boundaries

Wildlife need to move to survive: to find food, reproduce and escape wildfires and other hazards. Yet as soon as they leave protected areas like national forests or parks, they often wind up on a landscape that is very fragmented in terms of natural boundaries and human ones.

To help create more corridors for wildlife movement, a team led by Washington State University environmental studies graduate student Amanda Stahl has developed a way to map not only the vegetation but also the types of legal authority governing the landscape. In a paper published online in the journal Conservation Biology on Feb. 14, the researchers apply their new mapping system to the areas next to streams in Okanogan County in northeastern Washington.

Alex Fremier.
Fremier
Amanda Stahl.
Stahl

Stahl and her co-authors, Alexander Fremier, WSU associate professor for the School of the Environment, and University of Idaho Law Professor Barbara Cosens, studied habitat maps and dozens of legal documents applying to Okanogan County stream areas. They developed two weighted scales for each area of land, giving them a rating based on the naturalness and another based on the strength of the legal authority governing it. For example, if there were only voluntary recommendations in place to restore the habitat next to the stream that would be a weaker legal authority rating in comparison to wetlands that are protected through mandatory permitting and reporting under the Clean Water Act.

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Phys.org
WSU Insider
The Daily Evergreen

Science & Technology Scientists look to public to help migratory monarch butterflies bounce back

Researchers are recruiting members of the public to help recover the western monarch butterfly, whose migratory populations have plummeted to less than 30,000 in recent years, about 1% of their levels in the 1980s.

During the Western Monarch Mystery Challenge, which starts on Feb. 14, Valentine’s Day, and runs through April 22, Earth Day, California residents are asked to report sightings of monarchs. The data they collect will give much-needed insight into the butterflies’ habitat needs during the spring months, so researchers can better target conservation efforts.

Cheryl Schulz.
Schulz

“We are already receiving sighting reports, which is very exciting,” said Cheryl Schultz, a Washington State University biology professor and a lead researcher on the project. “The reports show the enthusiastic interest by our community, and their deep connection to western monarchs.”

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Santa Cruz Sentinel
Better Homes & Gardens
WSU Insider
KSBW
KEYT
Smithsonian Magazine
YubaNet

CAFE 541: Avantika Bawa’s unambivalent art now showing at Ditch Projects in Springfield

Avantika Bawa.
Bawa

In this week’s edition of “Five Questions With …,” CAFE 541 sits down with Portland artist Avantika Bawa, associate professor of fine arts at Washington State University Vancouver, who is currently showing ”#FFFFF,” part of her “Scaffold Series,” at Springfield’s Ditch Projects gallery. Bawa’s utilitarian structures, appearing in Mumbai and the White Salt Desert in India and in Astoria lose their function to become strange, stark elements of what are often already strange, stark settings.

You have been a contemporary artist for many years. I’m curious what or who inspired you to follow the path of becoming a contemporary artist?

It just happened! I cannot pinpoint exactly when it started but working with drawing tools was always part of my life. I recall one day, when I snuck into my father’s office at age 6 and began to draw with staples. I wondered how many other non-art materials I could draw with. From there, my curiosity and explorations only grew. The inspirations have been many, ranging from an endless number of artists, filmmakers, musicians and friends to traveling to new and obscure places. The list is endless. We would need a longer interview for this!

As a contemporary artist, is there a tool or a material component that you couldn’t imagine going without? Why is this so integral to your work?

Yes and no. I like the challenge of landing in a site and working with the materials I find there. I embrace the “locally sourced” and “fabricated” materials and see how far I can go with just that.

Having said that, I do like a box of 2B pencils, a 12- to 16-inch straight edge and a mechanical sharpener that won’t suddenly die. That’s technically three tools, but I see them as related. I use a lot of graphite lines in my work, and I need my lines to be sharp and straight! Although ”#FFFFFF” does not use any of these, the aesthetic is still evident. You can observe a lot of sharp straight lines in the scaffolds and its shadows.

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The Register-Guard