The US Atlantic coast is a dynamic, living landscape. Georgia in particular displays a picturesque mosaic of barrier islands, salt marsh meadows, maritime forests, brackish marsh and river networks snaking up the Coastal Plain. Together, coastal habitats form a dynamic ecosystem capable of protecting the coastline, storing carbon, filtering water and providing coastal regions with
Alternatively, this post could have been titled, My Guilty Conscience Series: Plastics. This blog post has been a long time coming – given the fact that I (and many others) have been conditioned to “reduce, reuse, and recycle†before we could even multiply. Yet, as I continue to diligently organize my empty jars and cans
Floriography, better known as the language of flowers, doesn't refer to a communication method between plants. Rather, it is the Victorian era practice of gifting arranged flowers to communicate a coded message: a red rose for love, a white tulip for forgiveness–things you may want to be familiar with this upcoming Valentine's Day. Long before
If we accept the idea that animal models are holding back drug development due to a potential inability to predict safety and efficacy in humans, what can be done to fix it? Increasingly, scientists are using human cells cultured in vitro to assess the safety and efficacy of new drug compounds. While in vitro cell
Many of us can recall a time where someone we knew (or even ourselves) threw a banana peel out a car window. They're biodegradable, so what's the harm? I'll never forget the time my mom did not dispose of that peel in a proper way… My family and I were driving through Yellowstone National Park,
You walk into the lunchroom, and all sorts of alarms go off in your head. While reaching for utensils you think “What if the last person used this for peanut butter and didn't wash it well.†You sit down at the table thinking “Someone ate nuts here last week, was the table cleaned since then?â€
One fact that was drilled into my head while studying biomedical science was how few experimental drugs ever make it past clinical trials. A failure rate of 90% is reported. This struck me as odd, but I chalked it up as an example of how difficult drug development is and didn't ask why. That changed
While coffee has seemingly had a cultural renaissance, with independent coffee roasters popping up all over the country, and even the naivest 7 year old being able to spout the difference between arabica and robusta, a far older, and ancient drink seems to remain in obscurity in the continental United States. The drink I'm referring
Dr. Diana Six is a professor of Forest Entomology and Pathology at the University of Montana. Dr. Six's work focuses on bark beetles, their symbiotic fungi, climate change, and what these factors mean for forest health. Her work has received the attention of the media and she has presented at TedX and has been featured on
Welcome back beer fans to the second to last article on the Science of Beer. We've covered water, grain, hops, and traditional fermentation, but now we'll focus on wild fermentation, a process as old as beer itself. A process in which wort is fermented using microbes found in the surrounding environment. These often include our
“Tweedly tweedly TWEEE“ “Badum dum dum†“That was good everyone, but can we do one more take?..†Working at a recording studio for a year was the dream job for a fledgling audiophile such as myself. One tidbit that stuck with me was the absolute genius, yet simplicity, in how the songs we recorded could
Dr. M. Cathie Aime is a Professor of Botany and Plant Pathology and Director of the Arthur Fungarium and Kriebel Herbaria at the University of Purdue. Her lab specializes on the biology of rust fungi as well as the biodiversity of tropical fungi, which has led her research to have an international focus. Interestingly enough,
