Nanomaterials are fast becoming the materials of the future. Just this year three scientists were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their work in understanding Molecular Machines. Each time period in human history has been defined by the materials that we are able to harness–the Stone Age, the Bronze Age, and now, the Nanomaterial… Read more »
Scientific Methods and Techniques
“Freedom of thought is best promoted by the gradual illumination of men’s minds”[1]: Topic modeling Darwin’s reading at Indiana University.
In our December 27th post “On On the Origin of Species: An ode to science writers”, Clara Boothby explored how clear, compelling science writing can increase circulation of scientists’ ideas among the general public. While our previous post saw the Origin of Species as a model for scientific writing, here we explore how researchers at IU… Read more »
Teaching an old dog new tricks: Neuroscience research at IU combines centuries-old methods with modern technology
This post is the second installment in a two part series. Check out last week’s post here. Thanks to modern technology, the field of cellular neuroscience has become illuminated with brightly colored images – tissue samples, cells, and individual molecules have been stained, photographed, colorized, and even reconstructed in three dimensions. A Google Image search… Read more »
On On the Origin of Species: An ode to scientist-writers
Sometimes, when we read about science in textbooks or newspaper articles, it can be easy to slip into thinking that after the scientists make their discovery, the writing is someone else’s job. Not so! In addition to being researchers and experimenters, scientists must also be writers if they wish to share their findings with the… Read more »
Biological Venn diagrams: Where do math and biology intersect?
Think back to some of the core materials you learned from a biology course, either in college or high school. What do you remember? Maybe you remember something about human anatomy, or the carbon cycle, the structure of cells, or how DNA is replicated? But do you ever immediately think about how math and biology… Read more »
Branching out with interdisciplinary science
A theoretical chemist and a biochemist walk into a bar. They both speak the same language, yet it’s difficult for them to have a conversation about each other’s research. They’re both intelligent, educated scientists who have at least a basic understanding of the other’s field, so what’s the problem? The first post from the ScIU… Read more »
Hands, tools, and words, oh my!
It is relatively easy to list things that make our species, Homo sapiens, unique. From modest biological traits like hairless bodies and walking on two feet, to amazing things like culture, technology, and language, it is quite clear that we became some pretty quirky animals over the course of our evolution. Exactly how and why… Read more »
Math on a clock: Exploration in mathematics
I want to give you a sense of what it’s like doing math “in the wild”. Doing mathematics is not just about learning what other people have already done: it’s about exploring and playing around with a system to figure out what’s going on. Let’s give it a go! We are all familiar with the… Read more »
Catching brainwaves
If your family is anything like mine, you have that one crazy uncle with his tin foil hat, purportedly to prevent the aliens from electromagnetically manipulating his brain or to prevent his precious brain waves from being read by the government. While few take such fears seriously, significant confusion persists regarding ‘brain waves.’ What are… Read more »
Measuring the mass of Goldilocks molecules: not too big, but not too small
Finding out how much you weigh is simple–just step on a scale and see the answer within seconds. Weighing ourselves is easy, but how do we weigh the microscopic things in our world that are too small to see? By using mass spectrometry. Mass spectrometry has been around since the early 20th century, and researchers… Read more »