The dreaded question for this graduate student: “What do you do?†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
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
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.
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
‘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
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
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
The way our language forces us to speak has profound implications on our culture and way of thinking. There are many different types of languages around the world derived from various parent languages. For example, English is a type of Germanic Language which is a branch of the Indo-European language family. It is split into
I love nothing more than waking on a summer's day to the sound of bird songs outside my window. If you read my last post on bird language, this should be no surprise. The piercing sirens of mated cardinal pairs, the churring of chickadees, the sweet murmurs of cedar waxwings—all of these are music to
Let's face it, we all love our oil. In fact, “addicted†may be a more appropriate word than “love.†The stuff practically runs through our veins alongside the caffeine and nicotine. We use oil, directly or indirectly, every single day. It heats our homes. It fuels our cars. It is our consumer lifeblood. To the
Mohammed Hafizur Rahmen is a Bangladeshi eggplant farmer who owns a single acre north of the country's capital Dhaka. Until recently, he spent two days a week every growing season spraying his crops with a toxic pesticide to ward off the “fruit and shoot borerâ€, a caterpillar-like pest that decimates crops throughout Asia. Despite frequent
It's Monday morning. About 15 minutes into my 9AM evolution class, I'm starting to nod off. C'mon, wake up, I tell myself. I look down at my notes and they're totally incoherent. I reach for my tea. Ah yes, caffeine. What time is it? Only 9:26? How can that be?! For me, the worst part
