today i learned (til)
What’s Making That Smell? The Chemistry Behind Common Scents
The Science of Smell
Of the five senses, scientists understand the least about smell. We recognize scents when small airborne molecules stimulate receptors in the...
The Science of Sharing Information: The A, B, Ts of Storytelling
And, the explosion of information across scientific and technical fields over the past few decades has created a world overflowing with data. Scientific publications,...
Genetic Engineering: Woolld you, or woolldn’t you?
Imagine a tiny mouse with long, golden-brown fur that looks like it belongs on a woolly mammoth! As of a couple months ago, you...
Vertigo: Living like you’re on a perpetual rollercoaster
From ages 6-10, my uncle took my cousin and I to Navy Pier every summer. It’s July, school is out, the sun is shining,...
Exploring Medieval University Science Education
Ever wonder what your undergraduate science education would have been like if you attended university during the Middle Ages?
We can understand this by exploring...
AI and VR: A New Reality
Reality is defined by the world we live in and the rules it is bound by. Physics, time, societal norms—these are all things that...
“When” to Do Things by Daniel H. Pink
Nowadays, I "read" books mostly by listening to them. When you have to read textbooks and research papers all day, it's easier on the...
Janna Levin’s Black Hole Survival Guide
What would happen if you fell into a black hole? It’s a question that you want answered fast. After reading verbose academic articles all...
Penitentes
If you wander over to the high-altitude regions of the Andes, you might spot fields of white figures, kneeling as if in prayer. Known...
The Magic of Shrinky Dinks and My ASF After Dark Experience
My first semester at StemCOMM VIP offered both excitement and trepidation when I learned about the ASF After Dark event. Since high school, I...