Life Science

Growing plants in space: not just an academic adventure

On December 15, 2017, Alexander â€œAlâ€ Meyers waited patiently at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station to hear the deafening roar of a Falcon 9 rocket signifying the start of the launch. Delayed over a month for technical issues, the successful launch of the SpaceX CRS-13 mission was essential for Al Meyers, as nestled inside were seeds that are potentially critical to the future of space exploration.

athenssciencecafe May 5, 2018

Tired â€˜Round the (Circadian) Clock

Everyone knows what it's like to feel tired. If you're a student, you probably know what it means to feel completely exhausted. You likely could also pinpoint exactly why you are exhausted â€“ you stayed up cramming all night for that big test, or just couldn't turn off Netflix even though you had class early

athenssciencecafe April 15, 2018

Detoxifying the mystery of an underrated organ

We're a few months into the new year now, so how's that â€œNew Year, New Youâ€ 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

athenssciencecafe April 9, 2018

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

athenssciencecafe April 5, 2018

Captive breeding and reintroduction programs: the last-ditch effort in conservation

George had a problem. He was at least 100 years old and had been living in the same place for 40 years. He led a relatively simple life, though was somewhat overweight and had not left his confining compound since 1972. What was the most unusual thing about George was that he was under enormous

athenssciencecafe February 24, 2018

Glyco-what?

The dreaded question for this graduate student: â€œWhat do you do?â€ Ugh. Must I really talk about my research at the dinner table or in this dimly lit bar? Perhaps it's my leaning towards introversion, but this really is my least favorite question to answer outside of a strict research setting. It's inevitable though. Here's

athenssciencecafe February 16, 2018

It's the Little Things: Finding Inspiration in a Snail

Nature influences us every day. Not only can we find beauty in the natural world, but scientists and engineers can also draw inspiration from animals and plants to solve problems. Bioinspiration, a term for taking biological principles and applying them to non-biological science and technology, has long been a driving force behind invention and the

athenssciencecafe January 27, 2018

A Matter of Milkweed

The Real Ultra-marathoners Pause for a minute and think about how far you travel in a day. The average American walks around 2.5 miles each day. If you are an ultra-marathoner you might cover up to 100 at most. As a runner myself, the furthest I've run at one time is somewhere around 16 miles.

athenssciencecafe December 25, 2016

Disaster Strikes and Disease Follows

When disasters strike we see images of destroyed buildings, injured individuals, and the far-reaching devastation that accompanies the forces of Mother Nature. The media covers the aftermath for a few weeks, but then coverage slowly dissipates and people watching from afar forget about the struggle still facing those affected. But for these individuals, devastation and

athenssciencecafe December 23, 2016

Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree – How Threatened Are Thy Branches

â€˜Tis the season for one of my favorite holiday traditions: selecting and decorating a Christmas tree. This annual holiday festivity became popular and widely adopted worldwide in the late 18th century as people started displaying ornately decorated evergreen conifer species (i.e. pines, spruces, firs) in their homes. Although the Christmas tree tradition now includes fake

athenssciencecafe December 21, 2016

Pickled Pools: Briney Ecosystems

Often the ocean can look idyllic and inviting on the surface. Exploration of the sea floor, however, shows a harsh and unforgiving place. The Gulf of Mexico brine pools investigated by Erik Cordes and his colleagues are a model example. Subject to salinity more than four times the amount of normal seawater, and full of

athenssciencecafe December 15, 2016

Speciation & the Mimulus Story

Ever wonder how new species begin? Join director and narrator Nick Batora and animator Rishi Masalia as they explore the evolutionary processes of speciation and how the genus Mimulus has been used to study it. This video was made for students at the University of Georgia in BIOL 1107, an introductory biology lab, but is

athenssciencecafe December 2, 2016