July 2017

A Bad Year for Bugs – The Importance of Cold Winters for Insect Control

“It's going to be a bad year for bugs.” Last month, I was frequently reminded of this expression as a seemingly endless supply of caterpillars feasted happily on the sunflowers from our most recent study. We were in a month-long, losing battle against these numerous and voracious critters! For the past year and a half,

“Born to Die”: Genetically Modified Mosquitoes could be the answer to Zika Epidemic

When Lana Del Rey sang of  â€œSummertime Sadness”, I'm sure she was singing of summers in Georgia. Living in Athens, there are three things I can expect during the months of May through September: getting caught in a storm without an umbrella, sweating at 9 am walking into work, and being covered in hundreds of mosquito bites despite multiple coats of bug spray.

The Great Decide: Health Promotion in Our Everyday Choices

Our days are made up of thousands of decisions – both big and small, simple and complex. Generally we respond to these decisions by acting in our best interests. Yet have you ever decided to do something you knew would be bad for you? Chances are, you have. Usually,  these are small decisions of small

Seeking Greener Pastures: Gene Editing and Animal Welfare

Picture a dairy cow with the black and white spots we all know and love, mooing happily in a grassy field. Does this dairy cow have horns? In your mind's eye, it shouldn't. But that's only because the horns are removed when the cows are young, around four weeks old, with a procedure called disbudding.

Of Perils and Pearls: The Raw Scoop on Oysters

Here is my confession: I have a weakness for raw oysters. Cooked they're tasty, but raw they're sublime. There's just something about that briny, gooey goodness (with just a hint of lemon juice and cocktail sauce, thankyouverymuch) that I can't get enough of. You may have heard the old adage that says never to eat

An “American” Eclipse

Last fall, I got a pair of paper glasses in the mail. The flimsy plastic lenses were pitch black and the sides had eagles printed over an American flag. “What kind of propaganda is this?” I thought. Then I read the insert in the package. These were actually solar viewing glasses, to be used during

An Update on the Whales

Anyone lighting a lamp in 19th century America almost certainly used whale oil. Several products, from bows to baskets to corsets, were made of baleen, which are essentially plates in a whale's mouth used for filter feeding. As a result, more whales were killed during this century than the four centuries before it combined.

Mo’ Data, Mo’ Problems

Anyone who has read my previous post on “Why Computers Can't do Everything” knows the Information Technology industry has an uncanny ability to generate a variety of buzzwords to try to convince the public that their computing capability has no limits. In fact, these “buzzwords” have generated so much public interest that Gartner, Inc., a

What Does A Scientist Look Like?

Take a moment, locate a piece of paper, and then draw whatever comes to mind when you think of a scientist. Go ahead… I'll wait. Take a look at what you drew. Did you envision a man or a woman? What race or ethnicity are they? Did you draw a mad scientist like Dr. Frankenstein?

Dirty neighbors, healthier lives: The hygiene hypothesis and model species

Are you a fan of hand sanitizer? Clorox wipes? When it comes to household cleanliness, most Americans are of the opinion that the fewer germs present, the better. And despite increased warnings of potentially dangerous consequences such as antimicrobial resistance, antimicrobial soaps, gels, wipes, and sprays continue to make up a large portion of America's cleaning routine.

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