Technology

Structuring the Next Generation of Vaccines

COVID-19. Flu. AIDS. Pathogens like these have had a profound impact on our lives, whether it’s prolonging quarantine or causing annual pandemics that kill thousands of people every year. In response, we’ve developed vaccines against them. Still, how do modern vaccines work? And what’s next in the pipeline? A history of vaccines Vaccines have been

Air conditioning units, Rose Street North Lane

Cooling just got cooler

As we head into Georgia’s hot and humid summers, you might find yourself chilling in an air-conditioned room, or reaching out to your fridge for a cold beverage. But have you ever thought about how these appliances might be heating up our planet?  Refrigeration is integral to our modern lives, affecting everything from household food

Planet 9: Where no man has gone before, if it exists….

What do you mean “if Planet 9 exists?” We know it exists; Pluto is still within our solar system! Well yes, this is true. Though, as of 2006, Pluto was redefined as a dwarf planet instead of a planet, which is how we classify the Earth, Mars, and others within our solar system.   Speed Running

mule deer in a field

Machine Learning for Ecologists and Other Interesting People

Every spring, graduate students at the Odum School of Ecology at the University of Georgia organize a short weekly seminar around an interesting theme. This year, the theme is “Machine Learning for Ecologists”. At first glance, machine learning may not seem very related to a discipline mostly concerned with the distribution and abundance of organisms,

Embryonic development from ancient myth to present day

In writing this piece, I wanted to interview someone on the often overlooked inclusion of creation myth in developmental biology. I reached out to my former professor, Dr. Wolkow, because he was passionate about ancient mythology and effective at engaging his students. Dr. Wolkow is a senior lecturer at UGA who teaches classical mythology from

How private companies light up our night sky

In late 2019, astronomers across the U.S. began to notice mysterious streaks of light passing through their images—clusters of the private company SpaceX's Starlink satellites. With 955 of these satellites launched so far, founder Elon Musk aims to create a “mega-constellation” of satellites in the low Earth orbit (LEO), designed to provide global broadband Internet

Does Your Multitasking Spark Joy?

As a graduate student, I'm fortunate enough to dictate my own work hours. However, with this freedom comes expectations of productivity; I must juggle writing manuscripts, mentoring students, applying for grants and conducting my research. Amidst these tasks, I inevitably find the time to toggle between the 30-something tabs on my internet browser, scroll through social

Littering 2.0

Like many kids, I dreamt of becoming an astronaut; exploring distant planets and making contact with aliens. With a huge number of planets out there, it's hard to think we're all alone in this vast universe. But, as I grew as a scientist, my curiosity focused on a specific question: How can we find alien

Your Latest [Artificial] Intelligence Report

With the technology introduction of the personal assistant Siri and the promise of a completely self-driving car from Tesla soon, artificial intelligence (AI) is radically changing the modern world. AI is an umbrella term to describe advancements that allow machines to learn from experience, adjust to new inputs, and perform human-like tasks. AI learns and

Innovation in Education: How Virtual Reality is Transforming the Classroom

It is a blazing hot summer day in August of 2014, and I am a bright-eyed, bushy-tailed freshman at the University of Georgia about to attend my very first college class. The class is Introductory Physics, a fundamental course for an engineering major such as myself. Fast forward to a month later, however, and I

Computers Detecting Sarcasm? Great!

Ahh sarcasm. Whether you love it or hate it, sarcastic comments have become quite common on the Internet. This is especially true on sites where people are more likely to express their opinions, such as blog posts, product reviews, social media, message boards, etc. By its very nature, sarcasm can be pretty ambiguous which makes

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