Boston Flora

Tag: Mosquito

  • Sunday, June 26, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm – Should We Engineer the Mosquito?

    Mosquitoes are more than annoying pests — they’re carriers of the deadly malaria parasite. Every year, hundreds of millions of people are infected with malaria, causing hundreds of thousands of deaths. Insecticide resistance is increasing, and the drugs used to treat malaria are becoming less effective. Scientists have developed a way to alter mosquito DNA to reduce their ability to transmit malaria. Releasing genetically modified mosquitoes into affected environments could bring us closer to eradicating these diseases, but may also cause unforeseen consequences. Should we tinker with the mosquito?  Come to the Museum of Science on Sunday, June 26 beginning at 6 pm to discuss the potential benefits and trade offs. What would you do? Advance registration begins at 9:00 am, Saturday, June 11 (Thursday, June 9 for Museum members) at http://www.mos.org/public-events/should-we-engineer-the-mosquito. Image from www.ted.com.

  • Saturday & Sunday, July 25 & 26, 12:30 – 1:30 pm – History Underfoot: Walking the Fruitlands Landscape

    The trails at Fruitlands Museum in Harvard, Massachusetts traverse over 210 acres of forest, swamp and meadows plus thousands of years of history. There are many stories to uncover, such as: the location of a long ago beach, why there was a brick factory here, where to spot wildlife and how we know a certain area was used by Native peoples for over 10,000 years.

    Join Fruitlands’ Curator, Mike Volmar, on this series of walks to discover these and other stories through the geology, ecology, wildlife habitat and archaeology of the Fruitlands’ landscape.

    Visitors to our trails should wear appropriate footwear and be able to negotiate surfaces typical of woodland trails. Be aware that poison ivy, mosquitoes, deer flies and ticks may be encountered by people walking the trails, so we highly recommend the use of mosquito and tick repellent.  Members Free, non-members $6 (included with regular free museum admission.  Limited to 10, purchase tickets at Museum Shop.  The tour repeats on  August 8, September 5, October 3, and November 15.  For more information log on to www.fruitlands.org.