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Detoxifying the mystery of an underrated organ

We're a few months into the new year now, so how's that “New Year, New You” life plan going? More specifically, how about those detoxes or cleanses? You may have noticed a few detox trends on the covers of magazines while buying organic veggies for your vegan meals (which may or may not have turned

Texan Panthers to the (Genetic) Rescue

Once upon a time, thousands of panthers roamed throughout the North American continent. Puma concolor are a highly adaptive species that inhabited a variety of habitat types. However, within 200 years after European colonization, they were eliminated from the entire eastern half of North America due to hunting and habitat loss. All that remained was

Innovation in Education: How Virtual Reality is Transforming the Classroom

It is a blazing hot summer day in August of 2014, and I am a bright-eyed, bushy-tailed freshman at the University of Georgia about to attend my very first college class. The class is Introductory Physics, a fundamental course for an engineering major such as myself. Fast forward to a month later, however, and I

The Story of Neglected Tropical Diseases

Warning: There are images within this article that may be disturbing to some. Like many Americans, when I think of the problems associated with living in poverty, the first thing to come to mind are issues of material wealth. Not having access to things like cell phones, the internet, and a car, but being impoverished

When Climate Change Becomes ‘Real'

Sometimes, in the debate around climate change, we forget that it has a real impact on real people who we care about. Sometimes, we forget about the effect it can have on us, such as I did when I opened the news one summer morning in 2015. It was a real shock for me to

Egg Freezing: Are Silicon Valley Companies Entering the Ice Age?

In 2014, Facebook was the first tech company to announce it would pay for egg freezing—both for female staff and the spouses of its employees. Soon after, Apple and Google started offering egg freezing as a benefit too. We all know that a gender gap exists in the workplace; and STEM industries, especially tech companies,

So You Say You Like Carrots

The next time you're in the check-out line at the grocery store, take a long, hard look at your cart. Is it full of vibrantly colored veggies? Kale, peppers, and carrots? If so, go ahead and call your mom up and say thank you.

Modern Day Eugenics

Throughout all of my training as a geneticist, I've never been taught about the original Eugenics Movement. What is Eugenics and why does it sound so familiar? The definition that I've found that best describes Eugenics is by Edward Larson in his book, Sex, Race, and Science:  â€œEugenics is that science which studies the inborn

My Favorite Allergen

I spent most of my life breathing easy and smelling the roses, then I moved to the state of Georgia. I acquired a feline roommate for the first time and spent lots of time outside inhaling the Georgia pollen.

You are Here, Chapter 1: A guide to latitude and longitude

“Stand in the place where you live. Now face north. Think about direction, wonder why you haven't before.” Stand—R.E.M. Did you know that everyone with a smartphone carries around a small homing device in his or her pocket? Once the height of top secret military technology, global positioning systems (GPS) are embedded into a lot

So… I Got Herpes

Well, maybe I should clarify. I did get infected with a virus, but it's probably not the one that comes to mind when one hears the term “herpes.” There are actually eight different herpes viruses that commonly infect humans, and only two of them are categorized as sexually transmitted diseases. I caught one of the

Your Friendly Neighborhood Waxwings

Birds are typically known for their grace and elegance. They emerge from the lingering chill of winter to soar gracefully overhead, surprise us with brilliant plumage, wake us at ungodly hours with their joyful pre-dawn chorus…

And then there's the waxwings.

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