The science behind fighting elephant poaching

I was always dimly aware of elephant poaching for ivory, but it didn't alarm me until I spent a year working as a tropical ecology research assistant in central Africa. I was in Gabon, a heavily forested small country in the heart of the Congo basin on Africa's west coast. Gabon is home to roughly

Internet Addiction: Fact or Fantasy?

As society continually moves towards an age in which its members become reliant upon the internet for a wide array of tasks, one industry has recently taken the world by storm: persistent online gaming. Persistent browser-based games are those that have no set time period on how long one can play. In turn, gaming companies

The Storms We Wield:

The Storms We Wield: The human superpower to change the weather Her eyes turn white. Winds pick up. Lightning engulfs the sky. Marvel's Storm is brewing; you'd better hope she's fighting for you. Storm's abilities to control the weather are among the most impressive and versatile powers in the comic universe. By manipulating thermal, electric,

Darwin’s Rathtars

Welcome to Star Wars week here at the Athens Science Observer. To help celebrate May the 4th – Star Wars Day –  we wanted to take a look at the real life science of that galaxy far far away. When Kanjiklub and the Guavian Death Gang boarded the Eravana, the three most beloved characters in

The Ripple Effect

How do you feed the world when the world doesn’t have the water to feed itself? — Rishi R. Masalia A finalist for the 2016 University of Georgia 3 Minute Thesis competition, Rishi R. Masalia talks about global water scarcity and how his PhD dissertation can help! If you’re interested in this topic and want

Getting around space, Star Wars style?

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/262628478″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”150″ iframe=”true” /] Normally the scientific community takes a stab at making science fiction a reality. But, science fiction took a page from science this time around. Learn about how the ion engines of Star Wars work in reality and how it is enabling space exploration, like never before. Links: CubeSat Podcast, Saturn

The Force is Strong with this … Fruit Fly??

Welcome to Star Wars week here at the Athens Science Observer. To help celebrate May the 4th – Star Wars Day –  we wanted to take a look at the real life science of that galaxy far far away. “Midi-chlorians.” For many Star Wars fans, this word alone can set off rage-induced rants. The Prequel

Everything is proceeding as I have foreseen…

Welcome to Star Wars week here at the Athens Science Observer. To help celebrate May the 4th – Star Wars Day –  we wanted to take a look at the real life science of that galaxy far far away. There's a scene in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace in which the Jedi

That’s No Moon…

Welcome to Star Wars week here at the Athens Science Observer. To help celebrate May the 4th – Star Wars Day –  we wanted to take a look at the real life science of that galaxy far far away. To start off, we'll dive into one of the most iconic pieces of Star Wars culture:

Food Waste in the 21st Century

In 2012, food waste was the most abundant kind of waste produced in America (see chart below), beating even plastic and paper. This has led the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to choose food recovery as their theme for this year's Earth Week. Food waste affects multiple areas of the environment.  Wasting food means wasting our

The Antibiotic Resistance Crisis

Alexander Fleming's discovery of penicillin in 1928 has been heralded as one of the most monumental medical discoveries of all time. Amazingly, this discovery was entirely accidental. After returning from a long vacation, Fleming noticed that a culture of Staphylococcus aureus was contaminated with mold. After observing the culture under a microscope, he found that

Open Arms and Stocked Fridge: The Evolutionary Strength of Grandmothers

I don't know where I would be without my abuela. As my mother's mother, she is so much more than just a convenient and free babysitter. Sure, abuela took care of me when mom had to work, but she also sang with me on our walks home after school. She's the one I call when

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