When it comes to Art and Chemistry, we typically see these two subjects as lying on opposite ends of a spectrum. Chemistry is typically associated with someone in a lab coat, mixing up some chemicals in the hopes of not blowing anything up. In contrast, art is often viewed as a form of expression crafted in some type of studio, using creative juices to design a masterpiece. But there is, in fact, a notable overlap between these two subjects…
General Science
The perils of outdoor cats
Outdoor cats have gained a reputation. In Disney movies, they’re charismatic. To humans, they’re curious and lovable. Some countries, like Turkey, have made cats a huge part of daily life. Istanbul alone has 125,000 free-roaming cats, fed and taken care of by residents. But to conservationists, they are a massive threat…
Kratom: More than a simple plant
Does the word kratom [kra-tm] mean anything to you? Well, if you were me a few months ago, the word kratom was just this abstract word with very little meaning. I had no idea how popular kratom was in both Southeast Asia and (more recently) Western countries as a medicinal remedy for many ailments. However, after doing some personal research, I have a newfound appreciation for kratom and its use as an alternative pain-relieving substance. I hope that once you finish reading this post, you will too…
Winning at Wordle with machine learning
You may have seen tweets, received texts, and noticed social media posts. One daily word. Five letters. Six guesses. Wordle took the world by storm at the beginning of 2022. If you aren’t familiar, Wordle challenges people to guess a five-letter word in six guesses, with a new word refreshing every single day…
Biases of the fossil record
As scientists, we strive to reduce error and bias as much as possible. But as a paleontologist, I need to be aware of the biases I can’t reduce. The fossil record is inherently biased. Not everything that dies becomes a fossil. Not every fossil has been found. Not every fossil stays intact well enough to study. These biases in the fossil record come in many forms and are studied under the branch of paleontology known as taphonomy…
30 years of Hubble: Images and discoveries that shaped astronomy
April 24th, 2020 was the 30th anniversary of the launch of perhaps the most famous telescope: the Hubble Space Telescope. Orbiting the earth, this telescope has changed the way astronomers and the public alike view the universe. With over 1.4 million observations, providing data for more than 16,000 peer-reviewed scientific papers, Hubble has exceeded expectations…
Familial DNA as a method of identifying serial killers
In 1992, an 84-year-old grandmother was brutally assaulted and killed in California. For 25 years, the mystery of her death went unsolved — and her killer unapprehended — due to the lack of physical evidence to tie him to the crime. Twenty-five years later, police paid a visit to a pizza party where they found sufficient evidence to arrest her murder. At first glance, the murder and the pizza party seem unrelated. However, there is a link: familial DNA…
Deciphering geographers’ lingo
Every academic discipline has its own special words and phrases. However, it is hard to match geography in terms of words that are just curious. Did you know that “space” and “place” mean very different things? That the “Annals” is the hallmark of a geographer’s career? And the “First Law of Geography” is extremely important, but does not always hold true? To decipher the meanings of these words and phrases, we first must come to terms with the most ambiguous word of them all: “geographer”…
The power of quantum computing: Parallelism
Tech companies are going big in a microscopic way, pouring millions of dollars into a new form of computing: quantum computing. Quantum computers will revolutionize drug research, material discovery, and artificial intelligence by solving complex problems in a new way. To understand this, let’s review how normal computers solve problems and compare this to how a quantum computer would do it…
A beginner’s guide to Bloomington birds
Step outside in Southern Indiana and you’ll be greeted by a symphony of chirps, calls, and songs from a myriad of local birds. Home to over 400 species, Indiana is a birder’s paradise. Warblers, eagles, and owls alike call Bloomington home and are frequently spotted on the campus of IU Bloomington. Birds are a vibrant part of Bloomington culture, so it’s worth getting to know a few…