Fossil fuels are ingrained in American history. If you have ever driven a car, flown in an airplane, or heated your home, you have used fossil fuels. These fuels (coal, oil and natural gas) account for 85% of fuel use in the United States, and our dependence on them has become an increasingly important issue.
Perhaps it's my tendency to root for the underdog, but I love to see researchers challenge long-standing scientific dogma. Some of my favorite underdogs of this variety include Copernicus who determined we live in a heliocentric solar system rather than a geocentric one and Marshall and Warren who discovered that ulcers are caused by Heliobacter
Let's pretend we're back in the fourth grade. We shuffle into the science classroom toting our keychain laden backpacks, and then suddenly we're filled with excitement! We've spotted the boxy TV monitor and VCR player, and as of July 2016, this dates me as “old.†Yes! It's Video Day which means no quizzes or worksheets,
In today's society, the words college and drinking have almost become synonymous. College drinking is incredibly prevalent, with four out of five college students admitting to drinking. Obviously there are many risks associated with drinking alcohol, but one of the more common ones among college students is called “blacking out.†One study at Duke University
In the womb, a fetus's digestive system is squeaky clean. After birth, a baby is exposed to microbes which quickly colonize its gut. After only one year of age, a baby has already attained a complex community of intestinal flora comparable to that of a full-grown adult. A long-standing relationship Research in recent years has
I have recurring nightmares where I can't speak. The dream situation changes – I'm in an argument and can't defend myself or I'm up on a stage and suddenly can't say my lines – but when I open my mouth nothing comes out. The terror of this dream comes from how important language is to
Imagine a future where procreation happens in a laboratory, and not in the bedroom. Scientists derive embryos from a simple skin sample. Children are screened prenatally for any number of traits that their parents deem desirable. Things as simple as eye color and hair color could be discovered before parents even decide on a name.
Anyone who knows me knows my love for blueberries. Besides being a nutrient-packed super fruit, blueberries are also a major agricultural commodity for Georgia. Our state recently beat out Michigan to become number 1 in blueberry production in the nation. Because of this, I decided to take a part time job helping an ongoing study
Some of the most powerful things are quite small: a microscopic virus can defeat an elephant; Giant Redwoods grow from tiny seeds; a computer chip the size of your fingernail can send us to Jupiter and back; and just one minuscule sperm cell can fertilize an egg and start new life. In most animals, sperm
The long-awaited sequel to Pixar's Finding Nemo, Finding Dory, features a new major character named Hank, an octopus who helps Dory in her journey home. Hank's creation took longer than any other character because octopus tentacle movement and behavior is so difficult to mimic. Animators needed two years to animate just one scene with Hank!
Victims were pale and frail, blood stained their mouths, and after their death, their family members wasted away too, as if they were being fed upon. In the 18th and 19th centuries, if someone had those symptoms they may have been a vampire… or they may have just been infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB), the
We're familiar with ants as picnic-skimming and foot-biting pests, but just below the soil's surface, ants live surprisingly complex and intricate lives. The leaf cutting ants, or leaf cutters, live in a way that's particularly alien to us, as the dominant herbivore (or perhaps “fungivoreâ€) of South American rainforests. Ant colonies as superorganisms Rather than
