Dawn of the Planet of the… Mice? By Ronan Talty, Behavioral Neuroscience, 2017 Every thought, action, memory, feeling, and experience that you perform or possess is the result of your brain. At the root of all of those phenomena, are the brain’s most fundamental cells: neurons and glial cells. Neurons are the brain’s functional cells that […]

The Vegetarian’s Dilemma: Do Plants Feel Pain? By Elizabeth Olson, Environmental Science, 2018 As a long-time vegetarian, I am quite used to the reactions I get after telling people about my dietary choices. “Where do you get your protein?!” asks the hot dog-eating skeptic. “How can you live without bacon?” asks the devil’s advocate. There is

How Safe Are Supplements? By Joe Zimo, Mechanical Engineering, 2015 From gym-goers gulping down protein shakes to daily vitamin devotees, supplement users have become ubiquitous in modern society. But how safe are these supposedly miraculous compounds? In 1994, the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) became law. This act removed the requirement for products

Genetic Engineering Gone Wrong? By Asa M. Budnick Evolution is dumb. Which is to say that evolution is utterly blind and acts with no intention. Evolution is just trial and error: some DNA gets bumped around here, a little bit of shuffling happens there, and one time in a billion it results in a change in

Water So Pure it Will Kill You Often seen as synonymous with life, one type of water defies the stereotype. By Joshua Timmons Contaminated water has long been recognized for its association with disease, but there’s water that exists on the other side of the spectrum. It’s ‘ultrapure’ water and drinking enough of it will end

The Right to End a Life By Sage Wesenberg, Biochemistry, 2019 Dr. Jack Kevorkian was a doctor famous for performing acts of euthanasia on approximately 130 patients. He spent 25 years in prison for his actions that he called patholysis, or the destruction of suffering. Kevorkian developed machines that enabled his patients to commit suicide and

Massachusetts Superfund Sites: Too Close and Too Toxic for Comfort By Alexa Soares, Psychology, 2018 About 30 miles outside of Boston is the quiet town of Billerica, Massachusetts. On the surface, it seems like the perfect place to raise a family — it is home to many parks, playgrounds, and even a lake with a public beach. However,

Real Life Iron Man: The Feasibility of Exoskeletons In 2014, exoskeletons conjure up the image of heroes in Hollywood blockbusters performing feats of Herculean strength. Iron Man may make this technology seem like a sci-fi pipe dream; however, with self-driving cars and virtual reality just around the corner, it is worth asking, are they feasible?

Rocks and How they Roll- Or in this Case, How they Slide By Matthew Tyler, Marine Biology & Environmental Science, 2017 The ‘sailing stones,’ a phenomenon exclusive to Death Valley, has defied definitive explanation since the 1940s. These stones are a number of rocks on a dry lake bed that occasionally move, carving long trails into