“How much do we have to pay you to lighten it up?” a nurse asked Psyche Loui, who was flooding a nursing home cafeteria with the dark tones of a Beethoven sonata. Loui had been volunteering at the nursing home after her high school classes and only moments before discovered they had a piano. Challenged […]
The hidden harmonies of the brain: Highlighting Psyche Loui’s story Read More »
Popular culture has birthed an archetype of the crazy cat lady: a middle-aged woman with more cats than people in her life, unable to properly care for them and her home. Seen as both offensive and humorously affectionate, this often disheveled or reclusive image has brought into question the legitimacy of these behavioral patterns. As
Toxoplasmosis: Can you catch crazy cat lady syndrome? Read More »
When getting out of bed means preparing for an icy plunge into a winter morning, it is tempting to retreat to a blanket of warmth and return to peaceful slumber. To a shivering early riser, the ability to hibernate is one to envy. A multitude of animal species undergo torpor, any hibernation-like state in which
Hibernation: When the past becomes the future Read More »
On September 7th, 1978, Georgi Markov, a Bulgarian dissident of his country’s communist regime, was assassinated on a London street. His thigh was injected by a specially modified umbrella with an engineered pellet containing a lethal dose of the poison ricin. He died without a final diagnosis a few days later, and the murderer remains
Pick your poison: It’s easier than you think Read More »
What if “male” and “female” were only temporary states? In the worlds of fish, snails, and slugs, animals can have sexual plasticity: the ability to shift between sexes throughout their lives. Also known as sequential hermaphroditism, the advantages and costs of this reproductive strategy remain debated. There are two main types of sequential hermaphroditism: protogyny,
“Supermales” and social groups: What we know about sex-changing organisms Read More »
Despite the seemingly inconsequential nature of information behind a screen, the ubiquity of social media allows it to seep into the reality of many adolescents. The culture of likes, comments, shares, and followers is widely known to seem superficial, but it has a very real connection with the mental health of developing minds. The ways
When social media becomes social reality: How network use may predict mental health Read More »
As more time is spent inside, creating an environment of comfort and productivity indoors has become a significant hurdle. The extra stressors of lifestyle changes and online work are some of the new barriers for staying motivated. Optimizing workspaces within the home has become especially important, as even small changes can reduce the stress and
Keep your friends close, and your plants closer: How flora can help mitigate stress Read More »
Running into a friend looks very different during the COVID-19 pandemic: both parties pause and take extra moments to scan for familiar cues on their mask-wearing counterpart. When trying to recognize masked neighbors or peers, people must rely more on clothes, hair, mannerisms, and other elements to identify the person in front of them. The
Facial blindness and mask wearing: A look into prosopagnosia Read More »
Telepathy may no longer be pseudoscience. New technological frontiers are pushing the boundaries of human capability, edging scientific fiction closer to scientific reality. One such feasible experience is direct brain-to-brain collaboration. In 2015, researchers at the University of Washington explored such information exchange but were limited by the need for physical interaction with interfaces (taking
Telepathy may be a reality: Brain-to-brain collaboration Read More »