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Demystifying Artificial Intelligence: A crash course in machine learning

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[An image of a human head; through the head are a series of orange wires forming a network reminiscent of the circuits on a computer chip.]

Artificial intelligence continues to make the news, especially with technologies like ChatGPT – an AI Chatbot – and DALL-E – an image-generating software – becoming increasingly accessible to the public. Reports of modified syllabi in colleges and universities and sentient chatbots may have piqued your interest recently, and for a good reason! AI has gradually become embedded in our daily lives as an influential tool for COVID-19 contact tracing, national security, healthcare, and much more…

Switching it up: Using sneaker culture to teach chemistry to PEERs

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[Jakyra Simpson Posing with Sneakers and Chemistry Props.]

When you look at the statistics of the amount of underrepresented, underserved, and marginalized students pursuing Chemistry degrees. As it’s been said, “The Math ain’t Mathin’,” and there is, therefore, a need to incorporate new teaching styles (pedagogies) that are inclusive and culturally relevant…

Increasing inclusivity one element at a time

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[Prof. Mona Minkara at the completed accessible, tactile 3D-printed Periodic Table in the exhibition hall at the National ACS meeting in San Diego, CA.]

Achieving full inclusion for people with disabilities in science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics – STEAM – has become a global matter. People with disabilities in STEAM are underrepresented in postsecondary academic environments and the job market…

Miss Understanding: Debunking misconceptions about vaping

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[A hand holding 2 vapes, one in each hand, and the vapes resemble a USB flash drive. One is pink and the other is black.]

“This isn’t nicotine, it’s just a vape!” Have you heard this before? Well, if you have, you’re probably not the only one. The real question is, is it true? There is so much information online, it’s hard to really know! Turns out, there is also a lot of misinformation about vaping. Lucky for you, kind reader, Miss Understanding (that’s me – hi) is here to debunk a few of the misconceptions surrounding vaping…

Wakanda Forever: The chemistry of Vibranium

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[T'Challa from the Black Panther Movie.]

Proceed with caution as there are some movie spoilers here for those who haven’t already seen the Wakanda Forever: Black Panther movie. If you have seen the movie or even read the Marvel comics, then you should be familiar with the powerful element, Vibranium. Vibranium is an element that possesses astonishing chemical and physical properties…

Using art to teach chemistry

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[Portrait of a Mona Lisa]

 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… 

Winning at Wordle with machine learning

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[A screenshot of the Wordle website, with four guesses and varying yellow, green, and gray tiles. Word guesses include slaty, faugh, larks, and larva with larva being the correct response.]

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…

30 years of Hubble: Images and discoveries that shaped astronomy

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A bright spiral galaxy with two prominent arms of red with a blue glow of stars. The center is bright white.

[A bright spiral galaxy with two prominent arms of red with a blue glow of stars. The center is bright white.]

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…

Grey wolves can be black? Recent trail camera footage shows a pack of black wolves in Minnesota

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[A black wolf stands in snow, facing left. It is looking at the camera. There is snow on its muzzle and back leg.]

Recently, a trail camera in northern Minnesota caught video of a pack of all-black wolves. The video has been viewed more than 950,000 times since it was uploaded in late December 2021. A greyish-brown wolf crosses the meadow in the shot, followed by three all-black wolves. People are fascinated. So, what affects animal coloration? And why are these wolves black?

Familial DNA as a method of identifying serial killers

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[Slice of pizza on a white plate next to a drink and condiments.]

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…

College of Arts + Sciences

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