Science & Pop. Culture

The Science of Fashion

This Valentine's day, whether you're settled with a significant other, swiping on dating apps, or single in sweatpants, you're probably going to post about it on social media. If you plan on posing with your boyfriend, best friends, or box of chocolates you'll need a perfectly Instagram-able outfit. On a graduate student budget, fast-fashion retailers like H&M, Forever21, and Topshop are the go-to for recreating the looks of fashion accounts at a low price. However, it turns out that the small price tag on cheaply made garments comes with a huge environmental cost.

athenssciencecafe February 13, 2018

The Science of Tangled Christmas Lights

It just isn't Christmas until you've spent four hours untangling your 250 strands of 25,000 imported Italian twinkle lights.

Christmas lights spend all year in a stationary box. How do they manage to arrange themselves into such spectacular snarls? Evil elves? Christmas dark magic?

athenssciencecafe December 23, 2017

Finding Your Way Home

They say there's no place like home for the holidays… but how do you get there? If you're a bird, turtle, lobster, or even a bacteria, chances are you'll be relying on the earth's magnetic field.

athenssciencecafe December 21, 2017

Catchy Carols (Why Holiday Songs Get Stuck in our Heads)

Christmas music: it's hard to escape this time of year. Whether you love it or hate it, you've probably had a holiday tune or two echoing in your head lately. Turns out, psychologists have an official name for this phenomenon: Involuntary Musical Imagery (INMI). While less formal terms range from “sticky music” to “melodymania,” songs that get stuck in our heads are usually referred to as earworms.

athenssciencecafe December 20, 2017

Frogsicles

Fur coats and thick layers of blubber might be the adaptational standards for icy climates. But when it comes to braving the frosty air, the humble wood frog is simply too cool to be bothered.

athenssciencecafe December 18, 2017

How Astronauts Celebrate the Holidays

They may not be home for Christmas, but the men and women orbiting hundreds of miles apart from the rest of humanity aren't letting that dampen their holiday spirit.

athenssciencecafe December 17, 2017

Gift Advice From a Bird Brain

Gift-giving isn't just a human phenomenon. Our feathered friends are some of the most generous (and romantic) members of the animal kingdom, offering choice food, nests, and shiny objects to their beloved mates (or even their favorite humans).

athenssciencecafe December 16, 2017

A Computer-Generated Christmas Carol

To celebrate the holiday season, ASO is bringing you a science-filled 12 Days of ASO Christmas! This will be a series of ‘mini-blogs’, by Rosemary Wills, centered on the science of some of our most cherished traditions. This is the first in the series.  Step aside, Bing Crosby. Computer scientists from the University of Toronto

athenssciencecafe December 14, 2017

The Art in Science

When I was little, my favorite thing to do was draw pictures. Crisp white printer paper and a mega box of crayons were all I needed for endless hours of entertainment. My love for artistic endeavors remained with me throughout my adolescence in the form of music lessons and sketchbooks, but in elementary school, I

athenssciencecafe December 13, 2017

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