Scientists thrive on “aha” moments— breakthroughs in knowledge that come from careful planning or perhaps fortuitous luck. For a team of researchers led by Josh Lawrimore, a fourth-year graduate student…
Continue ReadingStatistics. Ugh. Why force-feed such a dreary topic to countless innocent students across the globe? Well, statistics is actually an outrageously important field of study. People make graphs to summarize…
Continue ReadingValentine’s Day is today and it’s incredibly common to see public places decorated with paper hearts and store shelves packed with heart-shaped candy. Hearts are a universal representation of love, but…
Continue ReadingAs an avid New York sports fan, I love a good Tom Brady controversy. Many of these controversies are ridiculous and take up too much time during actual news broadcasts…
Continue ReadingWho hasn’t heard that dog is man’s best friend? One of my best buddies is my dog Frisco, who is shown in this picture. What you can see are our…
Continue ReadingOn December 12, 2015, a conference hall in Paris erupted with applause. In the middle of an unusually warm December, world leaders hashed out a climate deal some twenty years…
Continue ReadingIf you’re like most graduate students, you’ve probably thought to yourself at one time or another, “I really hope I’m doing this whole grad school thing right.” Let it be…
Continue ReadingHumans need to explore. Not because it is in our DNA – the gene for exploration hasn’t been discovered yet – but because it is essential to our survival and…
Continue ReadingThe coming of the New Year often brings about feelings of nostalgia as we reminisce about the previous calendar year. Looking back at 2015, we as humans have quite a…
Continue ReadingRecently, I read an article in The Atlantic by Ed Yong, an experienced science writer whom I admire. In this article, Mr. Yong describes a study commissioned by the Wellcome…
Continue ReadingGraduate school preliminary exams are dreaded, anticipated, and for me, thankfully over. In the days before taking my second preliminary exam, my oral qualifying exam, I self-evaluated and determined that…
Continue ReadingWith the recent release of Pixar’s latest movie, The Good Dinosaur, I thought I would revisit their previous film, Inside Out. Inside Out follows the five main emotions (Joy, Sadness, Disgust,…
Continue ReadingMost readers are probably familiar with some of the implications of climate change: sea level rise; more frequent extreme weather events; habitat loss for arctic species. Other implications are equally…
Continue ReadingDuring the winter season, our bodies endure a substantial amount of stress. As temperatures drop, our immune systems can suffer. But staying happy and healthy throughout the cold and flu…
Continue ReadingIt’s easy to assume that important chemical compounds are complex. However, some of the most remarkable substances are composed of simple repeating units. Here are four carbon-based structures that, while…
Continue ReadingWomen are largely underrepresented in STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). To tackle this problem, groups around the University of North Carolina’s campus, throughout the Research Triangle, and across…
Continue ReadingA couple of years ago, I read what was easily the best work of nonfiction that I had ever read. As I am an avid consumer of nonfiction books and…
Continue ReadingLife requires balance. We spend a large part of our existence balancing our careers and our personal lives, our family and work obligations, and our own personal health. If something…
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