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Entries by Guest Contributor

Do chameleons change their color to match their environment?

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[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.]

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

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[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.]

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

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[Scrabble tiles spell the word anxiety.]

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

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[A photograph of a young woman looking in the mirror. Her reflection shows that she is smiling, with her hands cupping her face.]

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)…

Particle physics goes virtual through pandemic difficulties

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[A scientist in white clothes on a lift surveys the inside of a gold-coated and box-shaped detector for neutrinos.]

Phineas and Ferb (in the funny Disney cartoon) had it right when they wondered what could be done over a 104-day summer vacation. There is a lot to do, such as go on a trip, get ice cream, spend weeks on end floating in a pool, or doing particle physics research. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has shifted everything in life, resulting in many of these plans being canceled this past summer. Wait! Go back! Why would any student want to spend their summer, their solitary free time during the year, doing particle physics research? Moreover, how would that work during a pandemic, when the university is completely shut down?

The beneficial attributes of vaccines

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[This image shows three pathogens, including measles, chicken pox, and the flu respectively, with their existing antibodies that have built up due to exposure of disease within our bodies. The last antigen shown is a new pathogen with no antibody near it because it is a new exposure.]

Vaccines remain a hot topic in this country, especially due to the COVID-19 pandemic. To understand the importance of why we should be vaccinated, we first must understand how the immune system responds to an infection. When a disease-causing microorganism, called a pathogen, is introduced into our bodies, our immune system is signaled to initiate an attack on this intruder. Specifically, our immune system will try to stop the pathogen from multiplying, which will prevent the pathogen from spreading and decrease the infection.

Diversity in Sciences Libraries

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[A woman sits at a laptop with books spread around her.]

In 2019, Inside Higher Ed used federal data to show that Latinx and black students switched out of STEM majors at rates of 8% and 11% higher than their white counterparts. This led to people in higher education trying to figure out why BIPOC students did not feel supported enough to stay in STEM fields. The truth is that higher education is white-centric and reinforces many of the same layers of systemic racism that are more widely acknowledged in government, courts, policing, prisons, and beyond. To ensure that all students feel welcome and secure in STEM spaces, collegiate science libraries have launched many initiatives to support BIPOC students in tangible ways…

The Beginnings of Cryptozoology

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[A medieval map with a giant, green sea serpent entangled around a ship as it’s crossing the ocean.]

Cryptozoology is the “study of the unknown, legendary, or extinct animals whose existence or survival to the present day is disputed or unsubstantiated.” It was made a field of study in 1955, however, cryptozoology has been around since the 15th century BC. There’s significant misinformation concerning the field, with the majority of individuals not understanding what cryptozoology is or it’s beginnings. Cryptozoology isn’t people running around trying to catch vampires and werewolves, but rather one where scientists analyze both folklore and biological data to understand the phenomena of our world…

Clean Water, Healthy Town: The importance of the Monroe Watershed

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[A retention pool covered in grass sits in a large parking lot.]

Lake Monroe is one of the best spots in Bloomington: trails, water skiing, boating, what more could you ask for? But little did you know, Lake Monroe is a lot more than just a leisure activity. It is the main water source for Bloomington and the surrounding areas. Each day the Monroe Water Treatment Plant pumps an average of 15 million gallons of water for people to use. We bath in this water and even drink it. But where is all of this water coming from? It turns out the answer is all around us…

Dog Therapy

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[A service dog, with yellow lab features, stands at the side of a pool with it's harness on while sniffing the forehead of it's handler who is in the pool.]

Mental health awareness in the United States has become less taboo throughout the decade, as people young and old, become more comfortable talking about their mental health. Since 40 million adults in the US are diagnosed with anxiety disorder and 18 million adults suffer from depression, those who are dealing with their diagnosis are trying new approaches for coping with their disorders. While the traditional route of therapy and prescription medication to manage a mental health disorder works for many, the use of therapy dogs has proven as an effective method to improve mental health…

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