October 2018

Life on the Edge: The Fascinating World of Marine Fungi

When you think about fungi, where do you imagine they are found? Do you think of cute little red mushrooms on the forest floor, complete with frolicking gnomes? Maybe you are reminded of the bright blue mold that makes blue cheese so odiferous yet delicious or the yeasts that make the beer, wine, or kombucha

One Health: Leveraging the connection between humans, animals, and the environment

Don't forget!! One Health Day is coming!! https://t.co/dUmFU7SPOt pic.twitter.com/FWLmKg1taO — OneHealth Commission (@OneHealthCom) October 12, 2018 What is One Health? One Health is an approach that acknowledges the interactions between human and animal health are inextricably linked, and interdependent to the health of the surrounding ecosystem. These interactions offer opportunities for the emergence and spread

Genetic Privacy

As dust settles in the wake of the Facebook and Cambridge Analytica scandal, people around the world are rapidly awakening to the power and value of their personal data. Information collected through social media about your favorite music or your choices on an online quiz contributes to an ever-growing mass of data about you that

CSI Athens: Crime Scene Science

Every contact leaves a trace. ‘Locard's Exchange Principle', the underlying premise of modern forensic science, describes a perpetrator's involuntary act of leaving traces behind in a crime scene in exchange for taking some sort of trackable evidence with him. Traces, including blood, saliva, fabric, dirt, prints, and weapons, are meticulously collected by the crime scene

Raising the Dead: The Science of Frankenstein

It's that time of year again. The weather is starting to get a little cooler, the leaves are changing color, and flannel shirts are now socially acceptable to wear. It is finally Fall and Halloween is right around the corner. One of the most iconic stars of Halloween parties and the horror fiction genre is

Bright and Bedazzled… Camouflage?

Have you ever looked at the shimmer of a peacock's feathers or the metallic shine of a green June beetle and thought, “I bet those bright colors help that animal blend in with its natural habitat.” No? Well, you wouldn't be alone. When artist and naturalist Abbot Thayler first proposed that iridescence could be a

Redeeming Typhoid Mary

Typhoid Mary – the woman still infamous in our culture for wantonly spreading typhoid fever in the early 1900's. Newspapers of the time painted her as a villain. However, Mary Mallon, the woman behind the headlines, was more the victim of the circumstances of her birth, her biology, and the culture of medical science. The

Crowd-funded Dams

     Infrastructure development is a major issue in many countries of the developing world. Countries with developing economies often suffer from a negative balance of trade and weak institutions, making lenders unwilling to lend. Governments of these countries are forced to borrow with heavy interest rates, further increasing budget deficits. This cyclical economic problem

Living Fossils – Extinct or Extant?

Does serendipity exist? Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer was the curator of a tiny museum in East London, South Africa, when she received a phone call from a local dockman. It was Christmas eve in 1938, and Marjorie was asked to inspect the latest catch of Captain Hendrik Goosen.   As it turned out, it would be a

The Biology of Mental Illness

There is a mental health crisis in the STEM graduate community. In this series, “Mental Wellness,” we will highlight not only the mental state of graduate students all over the world, but also the likely causes for these conditions, how to know when what you're feeling is too much, and how to deal with it

A Warmer Climate Means Stronger Hurricanes

The start of the 2018 hurricane season and recent presidential controversy have brought hurricanes back into the public eye. The first major hurricane of the 2018 season, Hurricane Florence, made landfall the morning of Friday, September 14th on the Atlantic coast of the Carolinas. To date, Florence has caused an estimated $38 to $50 billion

Porn is Changing Your Brain

Porn is changing your brain. Even with occasional use, porn begins to physically and functionally alter your brain, decreasing its volume and normal activity. A Startling Trend: Erectile Dysfunction (ED) In the past decade, there has been a sharp increase in men suffering from erectile dysfunction (ED) during partnered sex. Researchers have also found sharp

Scroll to Top