The plight of 2020 has shaken our lives as we knew them, and understanding and adapting to our current situation is certainly no easy task. The burden of figuring out the rest of your life as a young adult was seemingly not hard enough on its own. Searching for guidance myself, I turned to my […]
NEU’s declassified school survival guide Read More »
For centuries, alchemists, ancient forerunners of chemists, set out to transmute one element into another. This prospect attracted people of a variety of different professions from miners to natural philosophers to goldsmiths. Even physicians of ancient times grew interested in alchemy, as many saw the biochemical reactions within the human body as transmutational processes. Today,
The search for the Midas touch 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 »
In 1895, Swedish scientist and industrialist Alfred Nobel drafted a will stating that most of his fortune be reserved as prizes “to those who, during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind.” Presented within the categories of Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, Peace, and Economics, the Nobel Prizes have come
I have a joke about the Nobel Prize, but only white men will get it Read More »
One of the tenets of quantum physics is the concept of superposition, which, like in the oft-lectured case of Schrödinger’s cat, occurs when a particle exists in multiple states and locations at once. A common misinterpretation of the phenomenon remains that particles seemingly maintain this dual existence until observed. In fact, the particle’s collapse of
Re-envisioning quantum physics: The curious saga between gravity and superposition Read More »
A symphony resounds, stirring feelings of peace and fear, sadness and joy, all in one piece and all without words. This absence of words in a classical symphony, or any instrumental piece, leaves just musical properties as the cause of an emotional response. Intuitively, most would say that fast tempos and loud dynamics create energy
Music, math, and the mind: Why do we perceive musical chords as good or bad? Read More »
In the blockbuster hit “Jurassic Park,” fan-favorite Jeff Goldblum stars as the eccentric Ian Malcolm. As a critic of the magnificent park, Malcolm often claims that nature is best in its most primal form, untouched, as even small artificial changes can have dire consequences. This notion is known as the butterfly effect, a small piece
A method to madness: The mathematical basis for the butterfly effect Read More »
This article continues a series on anti-racism in STEM co-authored by Northeastern alum Claire Williams. A fully collaborative effort, see the list of authors, contributors, as well as the series in its entirety at the following website: https://antiracisminstem.wordpress.com/ See other installments in this series: [ 1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6 ] 6. “Diversity initiatives are unfair to non-minority students/faculty; it’s reverse discrimination.”
STEM for BLM, Part 4: Diversity in Academia Read More »
This article continues a series on anti-racism in STEM co-authored by Northeastern alum Claire Williams. A fully collaborative effort, see the list of authors, contributors, as well as the series in its entirety at the following website: https://antiracisminstem.wordpress.com/ See other installments in this series: [ 1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6 ] 4. “I only hire/award/cite based on merit; I
STEM for BLM, Part 3: The Myth of “Merit” Read More »