The tradition of treating travelers with respect has been a long-held one, spanning many cultures and periods. As early as the Greeks and Romans, townspeople were hospitable to any and every stranger in the hopes that one may be a god in human form testing them. However, it isn’t hard to find winged travelers that […]
City lights and bird flights: How human activity affects migration Read More »
The monarch butterfly exhibits perhaps the most advanced migration pattern of any insect. Their migration pattern is equivalent in complexity to that of birds, demonstrating a two-way migration. This consists of migrating from point A to point B multiple times. Point A refers to the location the butterflies reside from late March to early October.
Monarch migration: A trip of a lifetime Read More »
As food availability in the Northern Hemisphere decrease in the fall, many birds travel southward. This seasonal trend of mass travel is known as migration. To prepare for a large migration, birds often stock up on fruits and other food sources. But with invasive plant species overtaking their native counterparts, birds are struggling to obtain
Back to Basics: A Bird’s Preference for Native Species over Their Invasive Counterparts Read More »
This past summer, I worked at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), a marine science research institute with a variety of labs and facilities. In the middle of the summer, a lab I was involved with found out that some members would be taking a trip to Antarctica to collect samples. One of my good friends
The Drake Passage: The final barrier to Antarctica Read More »
Glow sticks are part of a happy childhood memory for many. Beneath your fingertips, you snap the plastic stick in half, revealing a beautiful vibrant color show in the dark. While glowing colors may remind us of nostalgic times, fluorescing corals are a sign of a last-ditch effort to survive bleaching in the battle against
A fluorescent cry for help: How corals use “sunscreen” to stay cool Read More »
Sustainability has always been a nonsense noun for the fashion industry. Used to market pieces from brands, the word “sustainable” no longer serves a purpose. When, why, or how to use it has become difficult and in a way, purposeless. What is truly sustainable; what is simply for the sake of the brand; and what
The innovation of fabric and its properties Read More »
Snow falls 24 hours a day in the depths of the oceanic twilight zone. White flurries saturate the marine landscape, appearing in all different shapes and sizes. Unlike crystallized water droplets that fall from the sky, marine snow is made from a variety of different organic compounds. It sustains life in the deep ocean where
Marine snow: How deep-sea snow storms cool the planet Read More »
As we grapple with the consequences of anthropogenic climate change, some scientists and researchers have tried to nominalize the cause of today’s environmental degradation. The term “Anthropocene” has been used to emphasize humanity’s impact on the environment, suggesting that humans are the major force of environmental change in this geological epoch. In 2016, the Anthropocene
Opinion: Climate change, the Anthropocene, and the Plantationocene Read More »
Glitter embellishes anything it touches. It turns any mundane and dull poster, project, or Halloween costume into an eye-catcher. That sparkly and glistening glitter, though, ends up as litter in the environment. Although a nostalgic childhood activity, dumping excess glitter that did not stick to your mother’s birthday card’s glue ultimately adds up to be
Ditch the plastic: Eco-friendly glitter made possible Read More »