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Category: Science

Hope Jahren’s lecture educates and inspires

Hope Jahren’s lecture educates and inspires

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Vassar always seems like a place that brings different fields together or highlights the diversity within a certain field. As a college that began as a women’s college, Vassar always seemed like a place that welcomed intellectual exploration in different fields regardless of what the social norms and expectations are for people. This week I had the privilege of listening to Hope Jahren, a woman who studies plants, while she shared some of how she came to be in her…

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In Which a Neuro Major Dispels Some Stereotypes About Anorexia

In Which a Neuro Major Dispels Some Stereotypes About Anorexia

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(Trigger warning for eating disorders) When the topic of eating disorders inevitably comes up in a psychology class, it usually tends to be just a few pages in a textbook or a few slides in a PowerPoint, usually about how anorexia is a disorder in which the individual has an obsessive desire to lose weight by refusing to eat. These descriptions are almost always framed in a way that makes it seem as though “Losing Weight” and “Being Skinny” have suddenly become…

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What’s That Smell?

What’s That Smell?

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Have you ever wondered what it means when you see the word “fragrance” as an ingredient in a product like shampoo, body wash, or deodorant? When the term “fragrance” (also listed as “parfum”) is applied to a product, what it means is a mix of ingredients that can include any of over 5,000 different chemicals, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Obviously, fragrance is added to products to make them smell better or to cover up…

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Musings on Moon—Space, Man, and the Pursuit of Meaning

Musings on Moon—Space, Man, and the Pursuit of Meaning

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When we think of space, we often think of grandeur. We think of a new frontier of unexplored dark. We think of the Hubble Deep Field and the infiniteness and peace of space time. Even our stars and planets, often referred to as celestial bodies with their almost-holy names, evoke a sense of divinity and ever-presence. However, in just 97 minutes, Moon overturns that notion. Set on a lunar energy base on the far side of the moon, Duncan Jones’…

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Quantum Physics and Multiverse Theories

Quantum Physics and Multiverse Theories

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In the words of famed theoretical physicist Richard Feynman, “I think I can safely say that nobody understands quantum mechanics.” Indeed, the field of quantum mechanics—also referred to as “quantum physics” or “quantum theory”—encapsulates what are possibly the most abstract and seemingly illogical scientific theories to date. But what, exactly, is quantum mechanics? Quantum mechanics attempts to describe the behavior of particles on the atomic and sub-atomic levels. Prior to the start of the 20th century, the existing laws of…

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Our Planet, Our Health, Our Future

Our Planet, Our Health, Our Future

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On September 21, 2014, hundreds of thousands gathered in New York City, and in various locales around the world, to march together in a peaceful demonstration for climate justice. On September 23, 2014, politicians, celebrities, and corporate moguls alike convened at the United Nations headquarters to discuss preliminary strategy for addressing the causes and effects of climate change on local, national, and international scales. As demonstrated by these impressive showings in recent weeks, it is clear that the issue of…

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Building for the Future: Green Construction Standards and the Fight Against Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals

Building for the Future: Green Construction Standards and the Fight Against Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals

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Over the past 50 years, chemicals—both synthetic and natural—have become an intractable element of our society. Indeed, advances in chemical technology have enabled us to enjoy vast improvements in quality of life by enhancing agricultural production, lengthening food shelf life, increasing the efficiency of pharmaceutical drugs, and improving sanitation standards. Currently, the chemical output of the United States is valued at $674 billion per year—approximately 20% of total global chemical production. Estimates place the domestic contribution of the chemical industry…

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Erin Brokovich, Take Two: A Case of Negligent Industrial Carcinogenicity in Asheville, NC

Erin Brokovich, Take Two: A Case of Negligent Industrial Carcinogenicity in Asheville, NC

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Imagine: you’ve just learned that the water you drink daily is laced with carcinogenic chemicals at levels over four thousand times the legal limit set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). You’ve spent years watching an endless stream of neighbors, friends, and family members from your small community be diagnosed with cancer at abnormally high rates. And finally, you’ve discovered that the federal government has been aware of the contamination of your water and the state of your community’s health…

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Why You Can Have Your Coconut and Eat it Too: Reevaluating Dietary Saturated Fats

Why You Can Have Your Coconut and Eat it Too: Reevaluating Dietary Saturated Fats

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Twenty years ago, one need only mention the word “coconut” to elicit gasps, shakes of the head, and wagging fingers from one’s acquaintances. It seemed like every dietary association, physician, and health magazine across the country had framed the tropical fruit as a ticking time-bomb of heart disease—after all, coconut contains more of the purported “artery-clogging” saturated fat (at 90% of its total fatty acid content) than is contained in butter, lard, or even beef tallow. Accordingly, the US Dietary…

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The Neuroscience of Partisanship: Do Differences in Brain Activity and Anatomy Relate to Political Party Preference?

The Neuroscience of Partisanship: Do Differences in Brain Activity and Anatomy Relate to Political Party Preference?

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Jon Stewart versus Sean Hannity, the Occupy movement versus the Tea Party, MSNBC versus FOX News–it doesn’t take an expert to appreciate the vast ideological split in our society’s political structure. From abortion to gun control, how is it possible for one country to be so polarized in its beliefs? A recent study at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) suggests that biology may underlie such extreme differences in opinion. Darren Schreiber, Ph.D is a ‘neuropolitical’ researcher at the…

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