![[A top view of the crystal structure of graphene. The carbon atoms occupy the vertices of the hexagons, which collectively form a honeycomb pattern.]](https://blogs.iu.edu/sciu/files/2023/09/Graphene.svg.png)
You’re likely familiar with graphite: the chalky gray material we often refer to as pencil lead. In recent years, graphite has been making headlines due to increased interest in its younger sibling: graphene, lauded as a supermaterial of the new age for properties that hold out the promise of novel technological feats. Graphene has the potential to replace silicon-based computer chips, improve the performance of touchscreens, realize ultra-sensitive biometric sensor devices, and even faster charging and increased storage capacity in batteries and capacitors…
Entries by Guest Contributor
How did we find out that an asteroid killed the dinosaurs?
![[A large fireball is being hurtled toward the earth as two small dinosaurs look on, possibly in fear.]](https://blogs.iu.edu/sciu/files/2023/02/dinosaur-ge5014d187_1920.jpg)
If you ask almost any kid today how the dinosaurs died, they’ll tell you an asteroid killed them, but this didn’t used to be the leading theory. When you look at key papers about the asteroid impact the kids are referring to, you’ll learn that it defined the transition from the Cretaceous to the Paleogene (K-Pg) boundary ~66 million years ago. Before the discovery of the asteroid, there wasn’t a single agreed upon theory on what caused the 5th global mass extinction…
The hunt for continuous gravitational waves
![[The collision of neutron stars produces a burst of gravitational waves.]](https://blogs.iu.edu/sciu/files/2022/09/jorge-picture.jpg)
In 1916, Einstein predicted there are ripples in the fabric of space that travel through the universe at the speed of light. Today we know those ripples as gravitational waves. A century after Einstein’s prediction, science gave Einstein one of his biggest victories: the detection of gravitational waves. The detection came from gravitational waves emitted by black holes…
How gender is conveyed through speech
![[Recording microphone with pop filter lit in soft purple light.]](https://blogs.iu.edu/sciu/files/2021/09/microphone.jpg)
When we hear a voice, the speaker’s gender is one of the first things we notice about them. Even if we’re asked to categorize speakers based on dialect or accent, we still gravitate toward grouping them based on how we perceive their gender. In my lab, we study which specific physical properties of speech (known as acoustic cues) control how gender identity is perceived. The acoustic cues we examine are voice pitch (controlled by how quickly the vocal folds vibrate), voice resonance (a result of the size and shape of the throat and mouth), articulation (how we produce the consonant and vowel sounds in our speech), and intonation (the melody we produce with our speech)…
A study on grammar and the bilingual brain
![[A cartoon of the brain, with pictures of a heart, a thought bubble, music notes, numbers, a molecule, and words.]](https://blogs.iu.edu/sciu/files/2021/09/brain-5662029_1920.jpg)
We humans have a unique capacity to acquire language, even as adults. However, if you have ever used Duolingo, you might have realized that children are more successful at acquiring languages than adults. This observation is puzzling; since adults are smarter than children, shouldn’t it be the other way around? One set of explanations for this paradox focuses on parsing — that is, applying our knowledge of grammar as sentences unfold incrementally…
Seeing science in a different light
![[Test tubes containing different fluorescent proteins being exposed to UV light, causing them to glow different colors.]](https://blogs.iu.edu/sciu/files/2021/05/thumbnail_Fluor_Proteins.jpg)
The first time I remember my malfunctioning eyes affecting my life was when I was younger than 5 years old. I was riding in my grandfather’s truck. We had reached a stop light, and my grandfather said we could go when the light turned green. I remember thinking “Green? That light is white.” This problem persisted all through K12 school, when a sea of classmates flashed colored pencils at me and asked, “What color is this?” I tried to explain that the issue isn’t interpreting a singular pencil of stark shade, but that it is distinguishing combinations like reds vs. greens that are close together, or greens vs. browns, or purples vs. pinks. This explanation often fell on deaf ears…
Do chameleons change their color to match their environment?
![[An animated GIF is shown featuring Pascal from Tangled, looking stressed and breathing deeply as he changes from his natural green state to match his background, a painted pot featuring flowers with a yellow center, teal petals, and green stems. His face becomes the yellow center or a flower, a teal petal in the center of his chest, and his tail is a green stem.]](https://blogs.iu.edu/sciu/files/2021/05/cham1.gif)
Hopefully, we’ve all seen Disney’s Tangled, featuring the cute little chameleon Pascal. Throughout the film, Pascal takes on a range of colors depending on his background as well as his emotions. We see him blending in with teal walls and purple flowers, but we also see him turning red with anger. We’ve grown up thinking chameleons are able to blend into any background, but you may be wondering, is this true? Do chameleons really change their color to match any background or emotion?
Until I collapse: Arecibo’s more than 50 years of discoveries
![[An overhead view of the massive Arecibo telescope built into a natural sinkhole. The green Puerto Rican forests can be seen surrounding the telescope dish.]](https://blogs.iu.edu/sciu/files/2021/05/cibo1.jpg)
Famous for its appearances in movies and television including GoldenEye (1995), Contact (1997) and an episode of The X-Files (“Little Green Men”), the Arecibo telescope is a massive 305m (1,000 ft) radio telescope. Built into a natural karst sinkhole on the island of Puerto Rico in 1963, it was in fact the largest single dish telescope in the world until China completed its Five-Hundred-Meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) in 2016. Unfortunately for the astronomical community, Arecibo suffered severe damages this year that led to its eventual collapse…
Five ways to reduce anxiety naturally
![[Scrabble tiles spell the word anxiety.]](https://blogs.iu.edu/sciu/files/2021/05/anx1.jpg)
According to the NASPA, 4 out of 5 college students felt overwhelmed at least once in the past year by the amount of anxiety that they have experienced. The usual stresses of school, life, and work were met with even more challenges due to COVID-19. Students had to switch their learning style, were kicked out of their dorms on campus, lost on-campus jobs, and some even lost family members. To top it off, quarantine has amplified feelings of isolation and loneliness. As quarantining persists, it’s important for everyone to take personal measures in order to reduce stress and anxiety as much as possible. Here are 5 everyday practices that have been proven by recent studies to reduce anxiety…
Five ways to stay positive during a pandemic
![[A photograph of a young woman looking in the mirror. Her reflection shows that she is smiling, with her hands cupping her face.]](https://blogs.iu.edu/sciu/files/2021/04/image5.jpg)
It’s been over a year since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, and staying positive this past year has not been the easiest. Despite what your greatest instincts say, going on your phone could be the cause of your blues. After a year of foregoing family and friends, we crave connection now more than ever. While social media may initially seem like a good way to engage with others when we’re apart, research has shown that social media can negatively impact our mental health and lead to a more sedentary lifestyle. Like social media, a sedentary lifestyle often harms your mental health. Luckily, researchers have discovered small hacks that you can do everyday to increase your levels of serotonin (the mood and happiness hormone)…