If we evolved from apes, why are there still apes?

Posted on September 26, 2017 by Fabio Mendes

When I am on Twitter, every now and then a witty or funny tweet catches my attention. I laugh, and sometimes re-tweet. More often, however, I read tweets that cause anxiety and make me frown at my computer screen with the countenance of a distraught fish. I am talking about tweets like this one (Fig. 1):

A screenshot of a tweet Tim Allen posted on August 16th, 2017. It reads "If we evolved from apes, why are there still apes?" — Figure 1: A tweet by Tim Allen.

Here is what Mr. Allen most likely imagines when he thinks about evolution: At some point in the past, this monkey-like creature with long limbs that you can see at the zoo – what Mr. Allen calls an “ape” – had a baby that looked less “ape-ish” and more “human-ish”. Over many generations, this process culminated in us (Fig. 2). The small-scale equivalent (if you “zoomed in”) would be the linear genealogical chain from grandparent to grandchild.

This figure shows a series of hominoid primates, going from smaller, less bipedal ones on the left to more erect, human-like on the right. The leftmost primate is circled and reads "ape". An arrow at the bottom gives the time scale, with the past on the left and present on the right. — Figure 2: A (terrible) cartoon representing how many people imagine evolution happens. According to the cartoon, evolution is strictly linear, with more “primitive” creatures evolving into “less primitive” ones. Modified from original, CC BY-SA 2.0

Mr. Allen’s question could be a publicity stunt, or maybe he is just a provocateur, but many of the 50,000 “likes” his tweet has at the moment are probably genuine. This gives me cold sweats. Why? (more…)

A new method of addressing mental health and crime

Posted on September 19, 2017 by Brittany Hood

a black and white photograph of a prison cell through the bars — Source: https://pixabay.com/en/prison-prison-cell-jail-crime-553836/

Imagine your friend, Alex, has bipolar disorder. Alex feels like the medication he has been taking gives him headaches and that getting high on pills works better, and he chooses to stop taking it as a result. Very soon, Alex’s symptoms begin to come back. To you he seems anxious and maybe even impulsive, but maybe that is just the spontaneous Alex you’ve always known. One night, after a lot of push from his friends, he decides to get high and go out with them to blow off some steam from the stressful week he has had. Alex gets into a fight, and is arrested and charged with aggravated assault after the fight ended with the other person going to the hospital.

This is where criminal justice diversion programs, like problem-solving courts, can come into play. Problem-solving courts are becoming more and more prevalent, with almost 4,000 courts [1] dedicated to deferring specific populations of offenders with mental illness or substance abuse problems, veterans, those with domestic abuse charges, prostitutes, and many more. While there are many types of problem-solving courts, they share one overarching goal, to treat the underlying causes of criminal behavior and foster desistance from crime. Mental illness itself doesn’t cause crime, but untreated symptoms such as anger and impulsivity can exhibit themselves as criminal behavior, resulting in involvement with law enforcement or even conviction and incarceration [3][4]. The structure of problem-solving courts allow time for defendants to talk directly with their judge on a weekly basis, live in the community, have a job, and receive treatment. (more…)

What happens when protesters and counter-protesters meet? Research explores judgments of mixed crowds

Posted on September 12, 2017 by Sara Driskell

Imagine you’re out around town and see a protest down the street. Within the first two seconds, you’re making judgments about the crowd of people you see. You may evaluate the crowd and their cause as being justified and join their protest. Or you may evaluate them as being unjustified and stop to argue with the protesters or join a counter-protest to make sure your views are heard, too. When people view protests, however, they do more than just evaluate how much they agree or disagree with the opinions being raised: they may also evaluate the emotions they see among the protesters. This may be especially important to observers as it helps them figure out if a protest may become violent or dangerous, in which case they may choose to leave the area. Even the police may not be immune to these rapid perceptual judgments, which could then influence when and how much force they choose to use against those protesters.

A crowd of mostly black protesters carrying signs march down a city street as photographers and others look on. This march is in support of Black Lives Matter. — Protesters march in support for Black Lives Matter. Photo by: Creative Commons (CCBY) Image cc:Bruce Emmerling-https://pixabay.com/en/demonstration-protest-1989945/

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Oxygen: An unsuspecting greenhouse gas

Posted on September 5, 2017 by Josey E. Topolski

Many of us probably remember learning about greenhouse gases in middle school. The one that first comes to mind is likely carbon dioxide. But it is only one of several primary greenhouse gases. Water vapor, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone are all on the list as well.

But what is the determining factor of whether a gas is a greenhouse gas? A greenhouse gas is a gas in the atmosphere that absorbs and emits radiation within the thermal infrared range. In other words, first it must be able to absorb radiation. Traditionally, to absorb radiation a molecule must have a dipole moment; this means that the positive and negative charges are not equally balanced in the molecule. For example, water consists of a negatively charged oxygen and two positively charged hydrogens, and like a magnet, it has a negative end and a positive end. As a counter example, hydrogen gas, H₂, has no dipole moment because the charge distribution is symmetric, with an equal number of positive and negative charges between the two identical atoms. (more…)

Dark laboratories of the universe

Posted on August 29, 2017 by Jennifer Sieben

Although only our neighboring galaxy, Andromeda, is visible with the unaided eye in the Northern hemisphere, there is a wide variety of galaxies in our universe. Grand spirals dominate the covers of many textbooks and irregular galaxies are the subject of many motivational posters, but the universe is dominated by small dwarf galaxies.

Two images for side by side comparison. In the left image, against a black background with faint stars, the center of the image is dominated by a red spiral galaxy. It has two main arms spiralling out from a hot white center. The galaxy is also surrounded by a halo of blue gas. In the right image, a black background against which two galaxies are colliding. The center is a red glow of gas and blue wisps form an arc to the left. On the right, a blue spiral galaxy is merging into the red center, the arms of the spiral being pulled away from the structure. — LEFT: An example of a grand spiral galaxy. This is galaxy M100. RIGHT: An example of an irregular galaxy. This galaxy is collectively known as II Zw 096 and is the merger of two galaxies. Image courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech/STScI

To study dwarf galaxies, astronomers first had to develop telescopes that could detect them. Unlike the Milky Way’s 200-400 billion stars, a typical dwarf galaxy only contains about 100 million stars, meaning it is much more dim in the night sky. Most telescopes rely on the visible matter–mainly stars–in a galaxy and the light it emits to detect the presence of a galaxy. This means that the bigger and brighter an object appears, the easier it is to detect; a dwarf galaxy is neither of these. We knew these small galaxies existed, but their abundance wasn’t known until modern powerful telescopes were built. (more…)

How to get the best instruction for you

Posted on August 22, 2017 by Sara Driskell

A stack of books lay on a desk in front of a blackboard. On top of the books are three apples. Next to the books are a pair of scissors and many pieces of chalk. — It’s time to head back to school! Photo by: Creative Commons (CCBY) Image cc: Steve Buissinne –
https://pixabay.com/en/school-books-apples-blackboard-2276269/

There is a dizzying array of things to think about when signing up for classes and again later when you’re thinking about what to keep the first week of classes. You may have to consider requirements for your major or for the Common Ground and Shared Goals curricula at IU. You may try to sign up for classes that your friends are taking, especially if there might be group projects. And you may even look for which classes or instructors have given out the best grades in the past.

One thing you might not have thought much about yet is how your instructors view their students: specifically, their lay theories of intelligence. Lay theories of intelligence refer to how instructors (and even students themselves) think about the nature of intelligence. There are two lay theories of intelligence: entity and incremental. The entity theory of intelligence means you think that intellectual abilities are set and cannot be changed, or in other words, thinking that you either have the innate intellectual abilities for a certain topic or you don’t. For example, some people may think they are innately talented in business and marketing but believe they just don’t have it for physics. (more…)

Get ready for the Great American Eclipse of 2017!

Posted on August 18, 2017 by Maria Tiongco

An image of the Sun blocked out by the Moon. Rays of light from the Sun's corona shine outwards from behind the Moon. — The totality phase of a solar eclipse that occurred in March 2016 off the coast of Indonesia. Seeing the Sun completely blocked by the Moon and only its corona visible will be the main event for many Americans this month. Image Credit: Rick Fienberg / TravelQuest International / Wilderness Travel (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License)

Are you one of the lucky ones who has seen a total solar eclipse in person? Whether you are a solar eclipse veteran or have yet to see your first one, the Great American Eclipse is coming Monday, August 21, 2017! All of North America will be able to see the Moon cover at least part of the Sun for 2-3 hours. But, the best part of the show will occur for only a couple minutes, reserved for viewers in the narrow path between Oregon and South Carolina, when the Moon will completely cover the Sun’s face! The skies will darken to twilight levels with sunset colors on the horizon, and Sun’s magnificent corona will be visible. For many Americans, this will be a once in a lifetime opportunity to see a total solar eclipse from just a day’s drive away. If you live here in Bloomington, Indiana, you’ll have to drive to either Kentucky or Illinois to be within the path of totality (the links here show the major cities in each state that are in this path).

An image of the Sun being partially blocked by the Moon, where the Sun appears crescent-shaped. — A partial phase of a solar eclipse, where the Moon covers only part of the Sun’s face. Most of the United States will only be able to see a partial solar eclipse, including Bloomington, IN, so head to a site within the path of totality if you can. **Don’t look at a partial eclipse without protection for your eyes!** Image Credit: Rick Fienberg / TravelQuest International / Wilderness Travel (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License)

To be able to view a total solar eclipse, when the Sun is fully blocked out, you have to be at the location within the darkest part of the moon’s shadow, the “umbra.” The map below shows the path of the total solar eclipse, which is only roughly 70 miles wide, and also shows at what local times totality will occur. The moon’s shadow will hit the United States on the West Coast in Oregon at about 10:15 am Pacific Time, and make its way across the United States, passing over Carbondale, Illinois at 1:21 pm Central Time, and then Hopkinsville, Kentucky at 1:25 pm Central Time, reaching South Carolina at 2:45 pm Eastern Time. At each location the total solar eclipse will last for just a little more than two minutes, so don’t be late! (more…)

Climate change: Adapt or die

Posted on August 15, 2017 by Abby Kimmitt

My research is dependent on migratory birds being present on their wintering grounds in the Appalachian Mountains in the month of March. But this year it was an unseasonably warm winter, and it was not possible to know when migrants would depart for their breeding grounds. Luckily, the temperatures dropped again and the migrants hung around these wintering grounds for another month.

It is becoming more common that organisms are changing where they live and when they migrate in response to climate change. Climate change affects ecosystems and climate zones by disrupting weather and temperature patterns and by producing catastrophic storms (IPCC 2013). Almost all plants and animals need stable environmental patterns in order to survive. Once unstable, species must find a new suitable habitat or will be unable to survive. This map (courtesy of Dan Majka) shows projected paths taken by organisms relocating to more suitable habitats. But what if some species are just not able to adjust? Plant and animal diversity may consequently decline at an alarming rate as organisms succumb to changing environments. (more…)

Who’s eating who? Predators that cause disease epidemics & Predators that improve human health

Posted on August 8, 2017 by Briana K. Whitaker

A women sits in a blue boat (kayak) holding a double-sided paddle in the middle of a lake. Trees and cloudy background. — Fig. 1 – Maja Šljivar, a research student in IU’s Department of Biology, kayaks around University Lake in Bloomington, collecting samples for her research on Daphnia disease. (Photo courtesy of Maja Šljivar.)

Pathogens and parasites are the hidden players of many of nature’s most bizarre and beautiful patterns and processes. For example, the extraordinary levels of plant animal biodiversity we find in the tropics is thought to be due, at least in part to the high levels of disease and natural enemies we find in those environments. Similarly, the medical community and casual observers are often fascinated by the boom and bust cycles seen in disease epidemics. How does disease spread so quickly through some populations but not others? What about certain habitats keeps the rate of new infections low? Well, PhD student Maja Šljivar (Figure 1) and her advisor, Dr. Spencer Hall (see Lab website), are interested in these types of questions, but maybe from an angle you haven’t thought of before. (more…)

The smell of chemistry

Posted on August 1, 2017 by Victoria Kohout

Chocolate chip cookies fresh from the oven. Your grandmother’s perfume. Newly cut grass. Each of the listed descriptions is extremely different but can be linked together by one fundamental thread–smell. Smell or olfaction is an essential sense in everyday life that helps guide what we eat and how we perceive the world around us. It has even been predicted that humans may be able to distinctly discriminate more than one trillion different scents!¹

Although nearly everyone is familiar with the common scents like vinegar or rancid meat, only a handful of people are acquainted with the common chemical names associated with these smells, and even less are able to identify their molecular structure. Acetic acid–vinegar–or (R)-(-)-carvone–spearmint–can sound misleading or even strike fear in those that are not familiar with what they are. Demystifying these names and what these molecules look like could help the general public better understand the chemicals in their everyday lives, and possibly open the door to more in-depth discussions about chemistry. (more…)

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