The California Floristic Province is a region encompassing the entire coast of California and is known and studied for its incredible biodiversity. This Mediterranean-like ecosystem is home to almost 3,500 different vascular plant species — 61 percent of which cannot be found anywhere in the world. This biodiversity hotspot, along with other hotspot regions around […]
As you walk across campus on a warm fall day, you pass by what looks like a small, bright-yellow chunk of coral rising up from under some mulch. A few days later as you walk the same route — do you remember it correctly, or did that yellow mushroom-like blob move? That blob is no
Slime mold: the cell that’s smarter than you Read More »
There’s a reason why some are naturally gifted artists and others are born mathematicians, some are social butterflies while others recharge with solitude, and some study using repetition while others can take a mental photo. When it comes to brain structure, everyone is different. An individual’s traits have much to do with upbringing, context, and
Dyslexia: Disadvantage or advantage? Read More »
Most people would turn to unnatural explanations when water and animals illuminate the night. In reality, organisms can chemically produce this light on their own. This phenomenon, called bioluminescence, occurs in organisms such as bacteria, algae, plankton, crustaceans, and even fish. But what generates the ethereal glow and why? Bioluminescence occurs when a light-emitting molecule
What causes bioluminescence to illuminate our waters and where we can apply it Read More »
Rhythm, melody, and harmony. Each genre of music has its unique combination of pitch, tempo, and texture. Each person’s taste in music is extremely subjective, evoking different emotions and feelings. With so many moving parts, however, it is amazing how a single song can have universal effects on people. Often dubbed the “Mozart Effect,” Mozart’s
Music, mozart, and masking epilepsy Read More »
When you think of glowing space entities, your mind might jump to the Sun, but what if I told you that our very own planet emits its own mysterious red light? You might be puzzled, and so were researchers in 2009 when a satellite detected shades of red light scattered throughout the planet. The root
The science behind earth’s red glow Read More »
Everyone knows the color wheel; red, yellow, and blue combine to make orange, green, and purple, all of which combine to make the spectrum. While this system works well for understanding pigments, it breaks down when considering mixtures of light, where red and green make yellow and white is a tertiary color. To explain these
Color: The most beautiful lie ever told Read More »
Including President Joe Biden, Emily Blunt, and James Earl Jones, stuttering affects over 70 million people, including 3 million Americans. Denoted by continuous interruptions in the starting and timing of syllabi, stuttering can have dramatic effects. About five percent of children stutter, but approximately 80 percent recover from stuttering by the time they reach adulthood,
The neurological glitches behind stuttering: Causes and arising treatments Read More »
After an amputation, it is quite common that patients experience a vivid perception that their limb is still present. In fact, roughly 80 percent of patients report pain from the phantom limb. According to neurologist Dr. Vilayanur Ramachandran of the University of California, San Diego, within the first few weeks status-post an amputation, many patients
How to amputate a phantom limb Read More »