an Zoos, aquariums, and animal sanctuaries are really important because they support animal conservation, species survival, insightful animal research, and educational programs. However, there’s a lot of misinformation and misconceptions about zoos and animal sanctuaries that animal activists, such as PETA, use in order to deter people from enjoying, learning from, and supporting facilities that house wild animals. Fortunately, there are some easy ways to spot whether a facility that houses and cares for animals is a legitimate source for conservation, research, and animal care, or, if the animals are being exploited for money.
Heart rate variability: What it is and how it relates to mental health
A healthy heart is not a metronome. Even though most of us can follow our heartbeat with ease, in between each heartbeat is a period of time that varies in duration from one beat to the next. This difference in time between any consecutive heartbeat is known as heart rate variability (HRV), and researchers are increasingly using it as a tool to understand mental health.
HRV reflects the delicate balance between two branches of our nervous system, the sympathetic (“fight-or-flight”) and parasympathetic (“rest-and-digest”) arms. These branches operate largely outside of conscious control and function to maintain balance within our body. The interaction between these systems is what keeps us from sweating when we are relaxed, for example, or causes us to sweat when our internal temperature gets too high. In both cases we aren’t consciously deciding whether to sweat or not. Instead, our nervous system is responding appropriately to our environments. (more…)
The hunt for continuous gravitational waves
This post was written by Jorge Morales.
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, which are the densest astrophysical bodies known in the universe, so dense that even light can’t escape their gravitational pull. Two black holes with a total mass of 65 solar masses (or 22 million Earth masses) danced around each other, until they collided to form a new black hole of 62 solar masses. The mass of approximately three solar masses was converted into the enormous energy that these gravitational waves carried. These waves traveled through space for more than a billion years, until the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) was able to catch them on September 14, 2015. (more…)
Using art to teach chemistry
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. Specific chemical reactions have been involved historically in the creation of paints, dyes, clays, and metals used for artwork. More recently, it has also played a role in forgery detection and authentication.
Accounting for inflation, the original Mona Lisa painted by Leonardo da Vinci is valued at well over $834 million dollars. It is believed that there are at least four authentic versions of this world-renowned painting. Replicas have been sold at a fraction of the cost and one recently sold for $3.4 million at an auction in Paris. Using analytical testing, scientists can help reveal if paintings are authentic or forgeries. Just imagine spending all your hard-earned dollars on a gorgeous piece of artwork that you think is authentic, only to have it later tested and find out it is a fake. This is where the wonders of chemistry and science become your allies.
The perils of outdoor cats
Outdoor cats have gained a reputation. In Disney movies, they’re charismatic. To humans, they’re curious and lovable. Some countries, like Turkey, have made cats a huge part of daily life. Istanbul alone has 125,000 free-roaming cats, fed and taken care of by residents. But to conservationists, they are a massive threat.
In the US, there are about 86 million cats. Although it is harder to measure, it is estimated that there are 32 million feral or “community” cats. (more…)
Kratom: More than a simple plant
Does the word kratom [kra-tm] mean anything to you? Well, if you were me a few months ago, the word kratom was abstract and had very little meaning. I had no idea how popular kratom was in both Southeast Asia and (more recently) Western countries as a medicinal remedy for many ailments. However, after doing some personal research, I have a newfound appreciation for kratom and its use as an alternative pain-relieving substance. I hope that once you finish reading this post, you will too.
What exactly is kratom? Well, for starters, it is a plant, but more specifically it is a tall tropical tree (standing anywhere between 4-16 meters tall) that is genetically close to the coffee plant in the Rubiaceae family. When people mention kratom, they can either be referring to mitragyna speciosa, which is the plant itself, or to the botanical products derived from its broad leaves.
Racial biases in neuroscience research methods: Electroencephalography (EEG) & black hair
This post was written by J Wolny and Alisha Cayce.
The lyrics “Don’t touch my hair, when it’s the feelings I wear,” sung by the widely acclaimed musician Solange, express how hair can be an extension of one’s identity for many in the Black community. However important hair is to many Black individuals, cultural sensitivity in working with Black clients and research participants is often absent from basic neuroscience research training. This blog aims to discuss how hair biases and hair discrimination impact Black individuals’ representation in neuroscience research, with a particular focus on one neuroscience method known as Electroencephalography (or EEG, for short). (more…)
Winning at Wordle with machine learning
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. There are 2,315 secret words with 12,972 possible words as a guess. The game lets you know how you’re doing after each guess by color coding the letters in the word you guessed. A green letter = the letter and position are correct, yellow = correct letter but incorrect position, and gray = letter is not in that word.
Once the game grew in popularity, friendly competition began. “I got today’s word in 5 guesses!” I told my partner excitedly. “Hah, I got it in 4,” he smugly replied. (more…)
Biases of the fossil record
As scientists, we strive to reduce error and bias as much as possible. But as a paleontologist, I need to be aware of the biases I can’t reduce. The fossil record is inherently biased. Not everything that dies becomes a fossil. Not every fossil has been found. Not every fossil stays intact well enough to study. These biases in the fossil record come in many forms and are studied under the branch of paleontology known as taphonomy.
What becomes a fossil? Animals are more likely to fossilize if their bodies are made of hard material (such as calcium carbonate or bone) than if they’re a soft-bodied organism, such as a slug. When a slug dies it decomposes and leaves nothing behind. Therefore, nothing is left to fossilize. These animals only get preserved in particular, rare environments. One example of this are conodonts – basically aquatic slugs with teeth from the Paleozoic Era (498-298 million years ago). Paleontologists found the teeth but could not figure out what they were from–until an imprint of the animal was found, with its teeth in place. The fossils were found in what used to be a quiet lake where the mud at the bottom of the lake encased the animals and preserved impressions of their bodies. (more…)
Graduating ScIU Writers 2022
Our blog would be nothing without our writers. Unfortunately they can’t stay here forever; they must go on to their next great adventures in life. So, we wanted to take a moment to recognize a few of our authors who have recently left or are preparing to leave soon. We wish you all the very best in your careers!