misciwriterseditors blog

Genetics and the Illusion of Objectivity

Written by: Christa Ventresca

Edited by: Christina Del Greco, Andres Rivera Ruiz, Kate Giffin, and Jennifer Baker

Illustrated by: Saaj Chattopadhyay

This is part one of a three-part blog series on genetic testing and its impacts on personal identity. Parts two and three are coming soon!

If you are curious about what information is hidden in your DNA, the technology exists to start exploring your genetics. Maybe your family always told a story about where your ancestors come from that you want to verify, or maybe there is a history of genetic disease in your family. To find out more, you decide to send a spit swab to the popular DNA testing company 23andMe for analysis. What comes back is a lot of information, numbers, and statistics all centering around your DNA. How do you make sense of the results? How much of the results do you even believe are accurate?

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misciwriterseditors blog

Blood-to-Stem Cell Transplants & Lab-Grown Mini Eyeballs: How scientists are helping us see the future of vision science

Written by: Gabrielle Rozumek

Edited by: Jennifer Baker, Will Dana, and Claire Shudde

Illustrated by: Paola Medina-Cabrera

Imagine that, over the years, your vision has become blurry and it’s not what it used to be. You wake up a few days after your 70th birthday, and though you’re usually greeted by the bright morning sun, today it’s not so bright – there is a dark spot in your vision. You blink a couple times to try and get rid of the spot and quickly realize it’s not going anywhere. Shortly after, your doctor diagnoses you with age-related macular degeneration (AMD). There are temporary treatment options but no cure. Ultimately, your vision loss is permanent and that dark spot in your vision will likely grow larger until you can’t see at all. 

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misciwriterseditors blog, Uncategorized

When you move, I move: How parents can influence children’s physical activity and motor skill development

Written and Illustrated by: Stephanie Palmer

Edited by: Chloe Rybicki-Kler, Emily L. Eberhardt, Sarah Bassiouni, and Jennifer Baker

Hey there, reader! This is the second blog post in a two part series about children’s physical activity decisions and behaviors. This post explores practical steps caregivers can take to influence children’s fundamental motor skill development and physical activity behaviors. To learn more about developmental factors that influence children’s physical activity decisions, read part 1 here! 

I want you to reminisce about your childhood physical activity experiences. Did you have a place to play in your house or backyard? Did you play in the driveway or on the street? Did your parents encourage you to play outside, or occupy you with a TV show? Did you rush home for dinner on your bike after playing at the park with friends, or was it unsafe to play outside in your neighborhood? Your recollections, similar or different, positive or negative, reflect the influence of your home environment on physical activity. The home environment for physical activity plays an important role in supporting children’s physical activity decisions and behaviors, and the development of motor skills for physical activity.  

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misciwriterseditors blog, Uncategorized

When you move, I move: Exploring the science behind childhood physical activity

Written by: Stephanie Palmer

Edited by: Chloe Rybicki-Kler, Emily L. Eberhardt, Sarah Bassiouni, and Jennifer Baker

Hey there, reader! This is the first blog post in a two-part series about factors influencing children’s physical activity decisions and behaviors. This post will explore the developmental factors that influence children’s physical activity decisions. To learn more about practical steps caregivers can take to support children’s physical activity behaviors, read part 2 here! 

As I write, my three year old niece and five year old nephew are outside madly chasing chickens while wearing cardboard boxes that they have fashioned into robot armor. The vigor and stamina on display–by both the children and the chickens–are impressive and remind me of my childhood escapades. Once, I hosed down my family’s garage with two inches of water to make a more difficult (i.e., dangerous) rollerblade obstacle course for myself and my siblings. Another time, my sister and I duct-taped large exercise balls to our bodies so that we could run into each other repeatedly. 

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misciwriterseditors blog

The 60-hour crunch: realities and possibilities of working with X-ray free electron lasers

Written by: Eilidh McClain

Edited by: Olivia Pifer Alge, Mena Davidson, Kristen Loesel, and Jennifer Baker 

Illustrated by: Jacquelyn Roberts

Start of experiment. Shift one. 3 hours in.

Cuckoo! “Scan finished.”

We hear the announcement that a scan is finished, sitting in a control room at Hamburg’s European X-ray Free Electron Laser. I wasn’t expecting it the first time; it’s such a silly little sound to use in a serious scientific lab. I began to associate it with success in the experiment we were conducting—another successful data collection scan under our belts. The sound of people typing diligently on computers and the gentle hum of discussion between the roughly ten scientists in the small room provides a rather calming backdrop to the experience. With each experiment, I am amazed at all that goes into setting up measurement scans. The control room computer screen is littered with endless computer screens, each monitoring important parameters of the experimental setup in the other room. The decisions are made by the visiting scientists, coming from multiple labs all over the world, but the equipment is monitored and handled by the three to four resident scientists at the facility.

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misciwriterseditors blog

Scientist Spotlight: Henry Paulson, M.D., Ph.D.

Written by: Isha Verma, Ph.D.

Edited by: Jennifer Baker

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease that causes the shrinkage of the brain and the death of the brain cells resulting in dementia, disorientation, mood swings, and other behavioral issues. These changes result in the loss of the person’s ability to function properly, ultimately resulting in death. About 6.5 million people in the United States age 65 and older live with AD. AD is associated with extracellular deposits of amyloid beta proteins (amyloid plaques), hyperphosphorylated Tau protein aggregates (neurofibrillary tangles), and loss of neuronal connections in the brain. Other risk factors include head injury, clinical depression, and high blood pressure.

Dr. Henry Paulson

In honor of Alzheimer’s and Brain Awareness Month (June), we talked to Dr. Henry Paulson, M.D., Ph.D., one of the leading AD researchers. Dr. Paulson is Lucile Groff Professor of Neurology at the University of Michigan and Director of Michigan Alzheimer’s Disease Center.

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misciwriterseditors blog, Spanish

¿Cómo los bioplásticos pueden reducir nuestra dependencia de los plásticos en el laboratorio?

Autor: Devon Hucek

Editores: Ryan Schildcrout, Sarah Bassiouni & Will Dana

Ilustrador: Saaj Chattopadhyay

Traductor: Andrés Rivera

Editor de traducción: Juan Blume La Torre

Nuevos artículos de investigación son publicados a diario, reportando avances en todos los campos de la ciencia. Sin embargo, la ciencia no puede ocurrir sin el equipamiento y materiales apropiados, muchos de los cuales están hechos de plástico. ¿Por qué? El plástico es usualmente el material disponible más barato y es más seguro que la cristalería, la cual tiene una mucha más alta probabilidad de romperse. Un estudio realizado en la Universidad de California – Santa Bárbara encontró que el 80% de los desechos plásticos de laboratorios en MIT consiste solamente de cajas de puntas de pipetas. Un laboratorio de microbiología en Edimburgo, Reino Unido, encontró que en el plazo de cuatro semanas, produjeron 97 kg (213.8 lbs) de desechos plásticos. Utilizar plástico no es inherentemente malo, especialmente debido a que existen muchos recursos disponibles y regulaciones (tanto locales como estatales) para el reciclaje y el reuso de desechos plásticos. Sin embargo, el volumen de los desechos plásticos que no se pueden reciclar generado en laboratorios alrededor del mundo es masivo, y pareciera un problema imposible de resolver. Es aquí donde entran los bioplásticos. 

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misciwriterseditors blog

植物会学习吗？一场神奇的学界辩论

Can plants learn? A surprising academic debate

Author: Kate Giffin

原文作者：凯特·吉芬

Editors: Henry Ertl, Sarah Bassiouni, Sophie Hill and Jennifer Baker

原文编辑：亨利·埃特尔、莎拉·巴西奥尼、苏菲·希尔、詹妮弗·贝克

Translator: Zhiying Yang

中文翻译：杨知颖

Editor: Tao Zhang

中文编辑：张涛

时值1633年，天文学家伽利略·伽利莱由于他的异端思想“地球围绕着太阳公转”而被软禁在家。虽然今天的伽利略被视为现代科学之父之一， 但在当时的罗马天主教会裁决中他被认为是“极其可疑的异端”（即认定其支持异端学说）。

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misciwriterseditors blog, Uncategorized

The neuroscientific study of consciousness: How did we get here?

Written by: Rachel Wahlberg

Edited by: Olivia Pifer Alge, Austin Shannon, Andrés Rivera Ruiz, and Jennifer Baker 

Illustrated by: Hana Paz Harbman 

This blog post is part 1 of a multi-piece series on the neuroscientific study of consciousness. Stay tuned for parts 2 and 3 coming soon! 

If I were to walk up to you on the street and ask you if you were conscious, what would you say? My guess is you would answer with a “well, yes?” – and if you’re anything like me, with a nervous laugh added, wondering what sort of conversation you’ve just walked into.

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misciwriterseditors blog, Ecology

The Pesticide Paradox: How Modern Agriculture is Both Feeding and Poisoning the World

Written and illustrated by: Nia Johnson

Edited by: Sophie Hill, Henry Ertl, Jessica Li, and Jennifer Baker

Have you ever wondered how we are able to feed nearly 8 billion people globally? Presently, agricultural lands make up the world’s largest biome, covering over 1/3 of the ice-free land area. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, these 5 billion hectares of land produce around 550 billion tons of crops annually. This is equivalent in weight to 110,000 Empire State Buildings each year! Agriculture is not only a major source of income for 40% of the world’s population, but it also makes up 30% of GDP in low-income countries. While technological advances and agricultural expansion are projected to keep up with the rising pressures of human population growth (about 10 billion people by 2050), the unintended impacts of modern agriculture have advocacy groups and scientists alike concerned about the long-term consequences.

Continue reading “The Pesticide Paradox: How Modern Agriculture is Both Feeding and Poisoning the World” →