Katie Pieper

Cult of personality quizzes

Hi, my name's Katie and I'm addicted to personality quizzes. Nothing would make me happier than to know what kind of pizza I am, or which Hogwarts House I belong in. Bring me your quizzes, I will take them all. And most of the time, I will take that quiz, read the result, go “well

Your Genome is a Jungle

SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST. Are you picturing a desperate struggle for life in the depths of the darkest jungle? Two tigers are chasing an antelope, all three of them fighting to survive and reproduce. But only one tiger gets the prize, leaving the other hungry. Natural selection is the most prominent force of evolutionary change.

The Force is Strong with this … Fruit Fly??

Welcome to Star Wars week here at the Athens Science Observer. To help celebrate May the 4th – Star Wars Day –  we wanted to take a look at the real life science of that galaxy far far away. “Midi-chlorians.” For many Star Wars fans, this word alone can set off rage-induced rants. The Prequel

Electricity in their Genes: Fishy Innovations & the Birth of New Genes

Imagine swimming in a muddy river with water so murky it was impossible to see. You'd have to depend on smell or hearing to find food while avoiding predators. Some fish in this situation have gained a leg up by evolving an extra sense – they produce electrical fields and use them to sense other

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

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