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The Power of Poop: Fecal Transplants

Everyone poops; it is a fact of life. It is something we do behind closed doors, and rarely discuss in civilized conversation. We refer to it as “waste” to be flushed away and forgotten, but for some people your poop could be a precious medical commodity. Poop is a tool that can help in fighting bacteria that are antibiotic resistant. Individuals dealing with these resistant infections may be looking for someone just like you to aid in a fecal transplant. You heard me right, a poop transplant from one person to another to treat a medical condition.

athenssciencecafe September 21, 2017

America's Greatest Idea – The National Park Service

“ The mountains are calling and I must go.” – John Muir Most days I feel a lot like  John Muir, only I think it would be frowned upon if I dropped all my responsibilities to visit mountains and live amongst the trees. While I can't become a mountain man and live in a treehouse,

athenssciencecafe September 20, 2017

The bizarre world of insect sex

Insects: tiny, alien. We tend to treat them like little machines, little nuisances, little scurrying things we call “It.” Swat It! Catch It! Don't let the dog eat It! But we really should cry, Swat Him, Swat Her! – because insects, just like other animals, are biologically and genetically gendered as males or females. Insect

athenssciencecafe September 15, 2017

Bird Flu Finds Fido

Seriously, don't come to work if you're sick. How many times have we all heard this mantra? When people bring their infectious illness to work, it spreads like wildfire. Especially in the case of influenza (flu), a sick person can spread their tiny infectious droplets to other people up to 6 feet away. The same

athenssciencecafe August 20, 2017

The Science of Awe

When I was very little, I asked my dad how long it would take to get from Earth to the Sun.

I was wondering because I was attempting to pay a visit via a well-timed leap off the swingset. After he initially shattered my travel plans with the reminder that, to avoid a fiery death, I'd have to go at night (which, unfortunately, was past my bedtime), he proceeded to shatter my fragile 4-year-old notion of the universe with the fact that the sun is 93 million miles away.

athenssciencecafe August 17, 2017

Addictive Poppies: A Brief History of Morphine

You may have heard of opioids as the drug that killed Prince, Janice Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and (controversially) Elvis Presley. But my interest came after constantly seeing articles about overdoses all around the country. From that, my perception of opioids as the drugs of the rich and famous started to fade. These drugs affect parents,

athenssciencecafe August 16, 2017

Its Common Name is Satan

On October 27, 2016, Mike Wallace, a cotton and soybean farmer from Arkansas, met with Allan Jones, also a farmer and Mike's neighbor. They met along a quiet road between their two farms. Their discussion began civil, but it quickly escalated. Then, suddenly, Jones drew his gun and shot Wallace. The farmer died before paramedics could arrive.

athenssciencecafe August 10, 2017

Symmetry and Physics

If you are interested in trying to understand physics, either at a technical level or at an amateur level, at some point you will inevitably hear a physicist waxing on about the beauty of the physical laws. This might sound very strange if your view of physics is tedious calculations and horrible professors tricking you

athenssciencecafe August 3, 2017

Origami: The Ancient Art of Designing New Things

When thinking of origami you may imagine brightly-colored squares of paper folded into cranes and flowers. But did you know that origami has inspired the design of many everyday objects including take-out boxes and airbags? The art of transforming flat sheets into 3D objects can be used to design many devices in our modern day world.

athenssciencecafe August 3, 2017

Stressed Out: The Addiction You Might Not Know You Have

Stress is a daily occurrence in all of our lives, and often comes in waves. Take college finals week, for example. A week where students all over the country lock themselves in the library, their dorm room, or favorite coffee shop to go over every topic learned throughout the semester in hopes of walking away

athenssciencecafe August 3, 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,

athenssciencecafe July 30, 2017

“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.

athenssciencecafe July 27, 2017

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