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Can science tell us what makes Stradivarius Top Notch?

by Alex Pilote, Athens Science Café When discussing string instruments, the name Stradivarius is synonymous with excellence and superior craftsmanship. But why is this? Are the violins bearing this name crafted with a more skilled hand? Do they outperform all others? Or perhaps there's a scientific explanation behind this? The question of the superior reputation

Fighting Poaching with Science

by Sonny Thakur, Athens Science Café One of the more direct and disturbing ways that humans are causing environmental damage is poaching, or illegally hunting wild animals for commercial reasons. The two most highly valued items that are obtained from poaching are rhinoceros horns and ivory from elephant tusks. The worst part about it is

BINGO, Dino DNA: Can we create a dinosaur?

By: Rishi R. Masalia, Athens Science Café   On June 12th “Jurassic World”, the 4th installment of the Jurassic Park series, is set to hit theaters. Now, I love dinosaurs and I know I'm not alone. Our fascination with them has permeated across pop culture, generating movies, songs, chicken nugget shapes, and even a list

The Shadow Biosphere and the Idea of Hidden Life Forms

  by Nick Batora, Athens Science Café There is incredible and beautiful diversity of life all around you.  No, I'm not talking about the wildlife at your local botanical garden or park, but rather all of the tiny life that you cannot easily see.  Microorganisms are everywhere.  They are all over you and everything you touch

The Little Engineer That Could

by Suzie Henderson, Athens Science Café What is an ecosystem engineer? Every ecosystem, even arctic ice [2], is subject to the influence of ecosystem engineers [3]. An ecosystem engineer alters habitat and consequently changes resource availability to other organisms [2]. Even though all organisms play a role in resource cycling to varying degrees, not all

Far From G-M-Over

By: Patrick Griffin, Athens Science Café   A couple of weeks ago, as I walked through the charming town of Broad Ripple, Indiana, I stumbled upon a behemoth three-story Chipotle. Recently erected to satiate the growing popularity of the Mexican-themed grill, the building was sporting a sign that piqued my interest as a scientist and

Dark Matter and Dark Energy

By: Paige Copenhaver, Athens Science Café Most people have heard of dark matter and dark energy in the news or in the media. For example, in Star Trek: The Next Generation, the Enterprise encounters a dark matter cloud. In Futurama, dark matter is used to fuel starships. Though many people are familiar with the terms,

Spring Ephemerals in Your Backyard: A Webcomic

Written and Illustrated by Uma Nagendra Uma Nagendra is a PhD Candidate at the University of Georgia and became interested in studying natural disasters since Hurricane Katrina hit her hometown of New Orleans.  She enjoys finding creative ways to demonstrate complicated ecological concepts—preferably if it involves running around outside or drawing pictures.  When not crawling over downed

Lightsabers: Science fiction, or scientific possibility?

“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic” Arthur C. Clarke SciFi is one of the most popular genres of storytelling out there. Greats like Lucas, Asimov, and Shelley have inspired generations to think weirder and imagine bigger. In the last 15 years alone, we have developed prototypes for jetpacks, driverless cars and organ printing

On thin ice: polar bear conservation in the midst of climate change

Everyone has seen it: a panning video showing thousands of miles of Arctic ice. This is usually followed by that same area now enveloped in water with the obligatory polar bear floating on a miniscule ice float. As polar bears rely heavily on sea ice as protective cover to hunt seals, their main food source,

Why is a Nigerian Prince sending me money? The economics of email scams

A few months ago, a good friend of mine fell victim to a pervasive phone scam where he lost nearly $4,000 in a single afternoon. Despite being a smart guy he fell hook, line, and sinker for this scam. To his credit, this was not your typical internet scam but actually quite an elaborate one

Editing the Human Genome: With Great Power There Must Also Come Great Responsibility

In 1963, at the dawn of the molecular biology age, Dr. Joshua Lederberg predicted that this nascent biotechnology would eventually allow direct control of human DNA, including the ability to change specific genes. [1] He recognized the potential of molecular biology to bring about gene therapy to cure human disease and to be misused for

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