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Tag: methods

Science with Nemo: Ethics of Care in Animal Research

Posted December 19, 2020 by Chloe Holden, Lana Ruck and Jennifer Sieben

[animated GIF of seven tropical fish of various kinds, who are all in plastic bags, floating in the ocean. The image captions one fish, speaking, who asks the group, “Now what?”]

We are all familiar with the plot of Finding Nemo: a scuba-diving dentist takes a small clownfish, Nemo, from a reef, keeps him in a fish tank in his office, and Marlin (Nemo’s father) goes on a whirlwind adventure to rescue his son. Obviously, Disney’s creative fiction is just that — fiction. However, many millions of fish are kept in tanks in the real world, for both recreation and research. Although we cannot know the fate of home-kept fish, for fish used in scientific research, there are specific rules for ethical treatment and proper care for fish of all kinds. How and why do scientists use fish in research anyways? 

Ethics in Research: What is the IACUC?

Posted May 16, 2020 by Chloe Holden

[Picture is Kanzi, a male bonobo, participating in a touchscreen research task investigating syntax processing in great apes]

The Animal Welfare Act of 1966 was brought about by two major media publications. In Sports Illustrated, Pepper, the Dalmatian, had disappeared from her family’s front yard, only to have been found at an east coast hospital and after having been euthanized, following an experimental medical research study involving an early model of a pacemaker. Pepper had been snatched from her owner’s front yard, and then sold for use in medical research, all without their knowledge…

Ethics in Research: What is the IRB?

Posted May 9, 2020 by Lana Ruck

[A human silhouette made of small data points.]

Across many fields, scientific research involving humans has a dark history, and many studies conducted in the past are completely unethical both in their original contexts and now. In America, examples include the Tuskegee Study on syphilis, which ran for over 40 years, and Henrietta Lacks’  ovarian cancer cells which were used in scientific research for decades without her or her family’s knowledge…

Science without a Degree: What is Citizen Science and How to Get Involved

Posted April 11, 2020 by Jennifer Sieben

repeating illustrations of a laptop showing a bar graph, a microscope, and a magnifying glass.

[repeating illustrations of a laptop showing a bar graph, a microscope, and a magnifying glass.]

Louis Pasteur once said, “Science knows no country, because knowledge belongs to humanity, and is the torch which illuminates the world.” The act of doing science should not, and cannot, be confined to people in lab coats with multiple degrees squinting at computer screens and scribbling on whiteboards. Exploring the natural world around us should be something everyone can take part in, and that’s what citizen science is…

Groundhog Day 2020: Probability in perspective

Posted February 1, 2020 by ScIU Editorial Team

Cartoon depicting reporters with a news van, cameras, and microphones all surrounding Punxsutawney Phil. Text on image says “Can spring be far behind? Groundhog day -- February 2nd.”

This post is from ScIU’s archives. It was originally published by Lana Ruck in February 2018 and has been lightly edited to reflect current events.  Tomorrow will be the 134th official Groundhog Day in the United States. Celebrated in Canada, Germany, and the U.S., the holiday derives from a long-standing German-Dutch tradition, which we’ve been… Read more »

A skeptic’s guide to statistical significance

Posted March 24, 2019 by Evan Arnet

A meme about statistical significance. "The media" is looking past "Statistics" and focusing on a "new scientific study" instead.

“There’s no safe amount of alcohol,” CNN reported. This year the largest ever study on the health risks of alcohol was released, attracting mass media attention and igniting a science journalism furor over its interpretation. In the study, researchers found a significant increased in risk of death for individuals who consume even one drink a day…. Read more »

The Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) initiative: A brief look

Posted January 1, 2019 by Alexandra Moussa-Tooks

Image depicting the RDoC framework including 5 current domains of research which can be analyzed across neural and behaviorally based units of analysis. An arrow spanning the graphic indicates the importance on neurodevelopment, from conception, across all levels of research. Moreover, a green sphere encompassing the units of analysis represents the importance of environmental factors in our understanding and measurement of these constructs.

Even for non-researchers, it is important to be informed about the various initiatives that change the way we do science and, ultimately, the way scientists choose to spend government dollars. In the wake of the 10-year anniversary of RDoC’s inception [1], I would like to unpack this commonly misunderstood acronym that is popping up in… Read more »

Obstacles to the Stars

Posted October 9, 2018 by Jennifer Sieben

Starry sky above a dome of an observatory. A bright clouds of stars and dust stretches across the sky on a diagonal.

Taking astronomical images can be a very rewarding process—in part because of the gorgeous images you take, but also in part because of all the obstacles that can prevent you from observing the skies. We can protect our telescopes in buildings during the day to keep them clean and dry, but when night comes and… Read more »

Blood, sweat and fingerprints: the science behind crime scene investigation

Posted September 11, 2018 by Lana Ruck

Fingerprint in blue and green pigment on a white background.

We’ve all seen it on a TV crime series – fingerprints taken from a crime scene are put into a computer, instantaneously matched to a person of interest, and “Voila!” The crime is solved. As with many aspects of TV crime drama, however, fingerprint analysis is more complicated in real life. The reason? According to… Read more »

Feeling stressed? Researchers at IU are studying how stress reshapes the brain

Posted June 19, 2018 by ScIU Editorial Team

An illustration of the brain surrounded by a pattern of multicolored squares

This post is from ScIU’s archives. It was originally published by Rachel Skipper in January 2017, and has been lightly edited to reflect current events. This post is also part 1 of a two part series. Check out part 2 here! Imagine it’s 9:45 am. You have a meeting across town in 15 minutes and you… Read more »

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