Life Science

Methods to the Madness: One Anthropologist's Quest for the Perfect Interview Question

One purpose of anthropology is to understand human cultural diversity, and therefore the methods to understand this diversity must delve into human experience. Cultural anthropology research design requires that researchers spend long hours in the field with participants, learning behaviors, beliefs, experiences, relationships, and myriad other aspects of human life. And the research can seem

athenssciencecafe February 10, 2016

Why are some species so invasive? [Invasive Species, Part 1]

If you drive longer than five miles in the South, you'll undoubtedly see an abandoned lot covered in kudzu. Up until the 1950s, farmers transplanted the fast-growing vine from Asia to the U.S. to stop soil erosion along roads. Individual kudzu vines can grow more than 100 feet per growing season, easily spreading over the

athenssciencecafe January 26, 2015

Killer Chromosomes

There's a killer lurking in the woods of North America, hiding in a place you would never suspect: the testes of a tiny fruit fly called Drosophila neotestacea. The testes are where sperm are produced, and each developing sperm cell contains exactly half the number of chromosomes as the father. This killer is chromosome, and

athenssciencecafe January 12, 2015

Restoration with Goats: Ruminating on the Reasons

I will attempt to graze over a topic ubiquitous in the southeast: invasive plants. With over 5,000 nonnative plant species in the U.S., you could say that this is no small problem, whether it is in our hands or not. You may ask yourself: Why should I care about the spread of some obnoxious, ugly

athenssciencecafe November 16, 2014

The Mark of a Bad Parent: How Parental Epigenetic Marks Influence Offspring Development

When I was a kid, I used to travel to my local mall with all of my friends. At the mall, one of the coolest stores to visit was called Sharper Image. This store covered the market of overpriced knick-knacks and anything that was the newest craze. On one mall adventure at Sharper Image, I

athenssciencecafe September 8, 2014

Are all forest fires bad?

Around mid-summer each year, stories about wildfires, especially in the Western United States begin to dominate the news. Since 2000, there have been between 40,000 to 100,000 wildfires in the U.S. each year that are responsible for an average of 19 fatalities and 7 million burned acres (about the size of Massachusetts). When humans live

athenssciencecafe September 1, 2014