New Miniseries! And 5 Ingenious TEDTalks

This summer, I really wanted to make sure that I didn't just lounge around lazily and regress to being about as smart as a potato with eyes (OITNB reference!). Most summers, I feel like I happily laze around the beach and watch TV--which is great...until classes start back up. Then I realize that I can't remember how to long divide or spell 'embarrass'. 

So this summer, I took a more strategic approach to my activities. To use an annoying phrase, I wanted to "train my brain". This meant that I read books, listened to podcasts, read science journals + watched lectures and educational videos. Surprisingly (or maybe not, if you know anything about my nerdy self), it was super fun for me! I felt smart and at the top of my brain-game (annoying phrase number two) and actually enjoyed learning new things! 

As a new mini-series, I want to share more about these ways I stay mentally active over summer and outside of classes. Also--if anyone can come up with a name for this miniseries, I'll gladly credit you + send you a really nice piece of snail mail. Give me ideas in the comments!!

Today, I'm sharing my favorite TEDtalks. If you don't know, TEDtalks are lectures given by people in all sorts of fields about new ideas, projects, or perspectives. They're short--often 10 minutes or less!

PRO TIP: Watch with subtitles so you don't miss anything!

1. A shark-deterrant wetsuit (and it's not what you think)

2. Six ways mushrooms can save the world.

3. How we found the giant squid (Edith Widder)

4. The sore problem of prosthetic limbs

5. How healthy living almost killed me

And, another pro tip: the topics section. Sort videos by topics that interest you--for me that means productivity, marine life, music, etc. For you, that could be something totally different! 

Missing Links: immortal jellyfish + fireflies + printing a human heart

(photo by Matthew James Fox, graphics and editing by me)

Pssst...if you haven't taken my super-short blog reader survey already, I would love if you would! Like really. :)

Wow, it's been like a month and a half since my last edition of Missing Links! Missing Links is all about links, articles, infographics and resources, written in common English for normal people interested in the sciences. I'm thinking I'm going to make this a monthlyish post since I know it might now be all of your favorite post, but I still want to post it! Even though it's summer and I'm not in class, I'm still trying to keep my brain going (more on that soon). Part of that means reading articles and science journals regularly, which is something I already like to do. Soooo, here are a few of my recent faves!

+ 5 small creatures capable of causing massive amounts of pain. Okay, I'll admit, I've never sat around and wondered which small animals/insects can cause the most pain, but this is still a super fascinating article. Also, that box jellyfish is actually gorgeous. I kind of want to cuddle with it but apparently I shouldn't want that.

+ There was once a woman who had immortal cells. I reviewed the book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks awhile ago, but in case you haven't/don't want to read a long book about cells, here's a short recap. It's one of my favorite books of all time.

+ Scientists are trying to use 3D printers to manufacture a human heart. Yeah, seriously. Even more surprising, they have already successfully created splint, valves and a human ear. A team from University of Louisville estimates that they may succeed at creating a human heart within 3-5 years!

+ Holy weird. There's a kind of jellyfish that can actually age backwards. As it grows old, it can change its method of producing cells so that it actually becomes physiologically younger. In theory (aka without the threat of predators), these jellies could live forever. Tell me that's not freaking amazing.

+ Just sort of randomly interesting, here's an article with really cool photos where you can find out how cork is made. It's apparently a very technical and precise process. Who knew? 

+ And just for fun, long exposure photographs of fireflies.

P.S. Want more? Missing Links, more Missing Links, and How DNA Fingerprinting Works.

Cool Science: DNA Fingerprinting

It's kind of weird, but one of my dream jobs (I have many, ranging from stationery designer to CEO. #casual.) would be to work as a medical examiner. Okay, just hold up a sec and actually think about it. Just ignore the dead bodies for a minute and it's actually a super cool job. You get to work with crime and the police department, you get to work with the justice system, you get to work with science. A perfect fit for me! Plus I probably would have a bad bedside manner because I'm grumpy in the mornings. No need for a good bedside manner with dead people! Too far? Sorry.

But I do think the crossroads of science and justice can be really, really interesting, especially for a casual scientist. One common scientific procedure in crime (at least according to Law & Order SVU, which may or may not be my main source for this post) is DNA fingerprinting. 

The science of fingerprinting and classifying finger prints is called dactyloscopy, and I'm really only telling you that because it's a cool word and you can feel intellectual if you casually mention it in conversation. But the actual process of connecting a fingerprint with DNA (your genetic ID) is called electrophoresis. 

Electrophoresis takes place in a bunch of steps. First, DNA is isolated and basically cut in half. Then, little chemicals called restriction enzymes cut up the DNA at certain spots, making a bunch of segments of different sizes. The restriction enzymes cut every person's DNA at different places, making the lengths of segments different in every person.

These segments of DNA are called RFLPs (restriction fragment length polymorphisms)...but they are pronounced like "riff-flips", which is sort of fun. So these RFLPs are put in a gel and a charge is sent through the gel, which makes the RFLPs sort themselves by size. Once dyed, these give a display that can be compared against someone's DNA in a data base. It looks like this.

This chart can also be used to tell someone's maternity or paternity. Each of a person's lines (which represent a RFLP, a segment of DNA) is identical to either their mother's or father's. 

If you're interested in learning more about DNA fingerprinting, here are a few resources:

• DNA Fingerprinting
• A game where you can simulate gel electrophoresis
• More basic info on how it works + applications.

How interesting is forensic science?! And how will you use dactyloscopy and RFLPs in a conversation today?

P.S. My favorite recent science articles and why science means we might replace streetlamps with glowing trees #nbd.

Missing Links [Science Links]

Hello nerd-monkeys! I hope you've been having a lovely Wednesday so far! Today's post is the second in my new series Missing Links, which is all about links, articles, infographics and resources for normal people interested in the sciences. I also try to share only articles that use (mostly) common English...so as long as you understand what the Schwarzchild radius of active galactic nuclei are, you'll be good. (Also, I'm kidding. I have no idea what those are.) Anyways, I really hope you enjoy this series because I feel like it really fits in with what I want for this blog. :)

+ This is so cool! Slide right and left to see how different animals see the same picture differently and learn how it works!

+ This article on the bacteria and fungi in aged cheeses is interesting! Kinda gross if you like stinky cheese though. Spoiler, there might be mites in your cheese. Sorry.

+ If you are on tumblr, you probably have seen a post about "petrichor"--the smell of the ground after a rain. Turns out, the petrichor smell comes from bacteria in the soil and oil from plants.

+ This cool video of the Mimosa pudice (called "Touch-Me-Nots") curling up after human touch really reminds me how alive and responsive plants are.

+ The collection of images from the American Journal of Botany is amazing! Just pick a category and view pictures that correspond with the topic (don't worry about the other blanks). I picked Plant Defense Mechanisms (ooh, poison and thorns!) and looked through pictures of trichomes (hairs on plant stems) and read about a plant that literally shakes when a bug is on it to shake them off!Also, the carnivorous plant section is interesting (duh).

+ This article about the differences between male and female immune systems.

Okay, so obviously my science interests are in the realms of microbiology, mycology (fungi) and botany (plants). What areas of science most interest you?!

Cool Science: Bioluminescence

Guysssss let's be nerdy! 

Today, we're gonna chat about bioluminescence, aka stuff that glows. So these organisms--fungi, marine invertebrates like jellies and insects--glow by doing fancy little chemical reactions inside their cute glowy little bodies. The organism creates luciferin, a pigment. It will also create an enzyme (something that makes chemical reactions happen faster) called luciferase. The awesome glowiness you see in the pictures above come from a chemical reaction of luciferin and oxygen, that is sped up by luciferase.

On a similarly weird note, a Kickstarter campaign called The Glowing Plant Project (creative) has raised more than $500,00 to genetically engineer (you guessed it) plants that glow. But what's really cool is their actual goal in creating glowing plants: bioluminescent trees to replace street lights. Whoa. 

Also: in case you missed, my new series Missing Links = lotssss more science. If you're into that. (You should be).

Missing Links: a big dose of science

First off, thanks to Amanda for the title inspiration! (She's helped me with two posts in a row, which is quite impressive!) 

So I've been thinking (A dangerous pastime, I know). The truth is, I am just way too nerdy to limit myself to a science bit on the bottom of a post every once in awhile. I just love all things science, and I'm especially passionate about making science available and understandable for everyone. So I'm starting Missing Links, a series of science articles, videos and photos to inspire you and stretch your brain a bit. It may also be an excuse to use a science pun. 

Here we gooooo:

+ A little info on this video. The Pilobolus (pih-LOW-bow-luss) fungi is a super ordinary poop-loving barnyard fungus. Its sporangium (basically, a baby fungus) hangs out in grasses in farmlands. A cow comes along and munches on the grass, eating the sporangium as well. It digests it along with the grass and poops it out, because that's what cows do, and the fungus grows into stalks inside manure (ewww). But the fungus has to somehow get its sporangium to the grass so it will survive + get eaten again, so it moves towards the light + shoots out the sporangium (black cap) super fast towards the grass. Cool, huh? It should also be noted that there is a dance company called Pilobolus. Why? I don't know.

+ Take a 30-second online test to check your reaction time. Mine is .38359 seconds (and I have no idea if that's awesome or terrible). What's yours?!

+ I'm always a big believer in the fact that science can be beautiful. What better than the winners of a microscopy photography contest to prove that?! 

+ Alnwick Gardens in England (created by the Duchess of Northumberland--that's my kinda lady!) are dedicated to exhibiting all sorts of deadly plants, from hemlock to nightshade to strychnine.

+ 10 (Actually) Fascinating Facts about the Human Body. Explains why you only breathe through one nostril at a time and why your nose gets runny when it's cold out.

+ Since we were just on the topic of super deadly things in nature, this list of the 10 Most Deadly Proteins is fascinating! The most poisonous is Botulinum toxin, which can kill you with a dose of just 100 nanograms (which is really, really little!). Oh and surprise! It's also in Botox. Love your faces the way they are, ladies.

That's all my "missing links" for this week! Peace out, nerdballs.

Weekly Goals #27

(Death to the Stock Photo)

What. a. week. Let me tell you, this has been one of those weeks that I'm just ready to be done with + forget about. As someone who occasionally-borderline-obsesses over getting things done, it's hard for me to acknowledge that sometimes there are weeks when things just don't come together. But I'm learning to accept that + it's okay. 

I'm committing myself to making this week the exact opposite. I'm gonna get stuff done + I'm gonna be ready for my trip to Breckenridge, CO (!!) + I'm going to be happy + calm + all sorts of good things.

How did I do last week?

Sucky. I'll just say it. I mean, I could totally get out here and make all sorts of excuses why I basically did nothing all week, but I'm not even going to. I didn't run. Not even once. I think I need to admit to myself that I can choose not to run + still exercise. I have this thing where I don't accept a workout unless it includes running. But I hate running. So I just don't work out at all. But I actually like doing other workout-y things, it's just running that psychs me out. So whatever. I've got that to work on.

BUTTTTTTT I did manage to finish my website for a drunk driving prevention campaign. It's not public but I just needed to tell y'all that I finished it because that's some exciting stuff.

My goals for this week:

Get all ready for my trip to Breckenridge! I think I've all but forgotten to mention my trip but I'm leaving on Saturday for Colorado to get me some mountain air! I'll have posts planned out + I'll be responding to comments + emails (a little more slowly), but I don't plan on writing any posts while I'm there. I've got a few more posts to write and my bag to pack but then I'm ready to go!

Try a few new ways to exercise. Maybe not "new" exactly, but not running. I'm thinking about at-home conditioning, maybe a Jillian Michaels DVD, a bike ride if the ice all melts, and kickboxing if I can get someone to go with me. I'd love your input on this--how do you workout, especially outside of a traditional gym? 

Aaaaand, I've got a science bit for today!! Yay! I don't know how many of you actually read/like this section, but I know I really enjoy sharing the bits with you + hopefully you find yourself learning new things along with me, even if you're not a "science person". This one is totally cool + even you non-science people might find it interesting! 

What does sand look like when you magnify it 250x? This magical picture. 

Isn't that the coolest? Just consider this the next time you're walking on a beach...you're walking on billions of teeny-tiny gems just like these!! Please tell me someone else thinks this is cool. Anyways, if you're interested, you can see the whole collection of images of sand under a microscope. It makes me wonder what other cool things there are in the world that we're totally unaware of!

Alright, that's it. Take care, polar bears!

Playlist #21

The worst thing happened to me the other day. Like, the worst possible thing EVER. So remember how I said my computer just up and died on me last Thursday, only to go all Lazarus + come back the next day? And of course, I was pumped! I still had all my designs, all my schoolwork, all my blog notes. But you know what I lost? MY ITUNES LIBRARY. (Sorry, but caps lock was definitely necessary right there.) I know. I might actually be dying, thankyouverymuch. 

So I tried to reinstall it but I'm a little bit computer-impaired + I still haven't figured it out. Sigh. But I refuse to believe that I won't get my music back. That'd just be too much to handle. 

Anywayyys, here are a few songs that I've been listening to lately, though I confess I'm still very much in my Elvis phase. These songs are just chill + non-distracting kind of songs that would be great for laying outside in a hammock (unless you live in the north, #suckstosuck) or reading.

Today, we're talking about sexual selection (yay). So you've all heard of natural selection right? It's a mechanism of evolution where only the strongest animals (or insects or plants or whatever) survive to mate + have babies + their strength gets passed on. Sexual selection is one kind of natural selection. Sexual selection means that an organism is more likely to survive because of some characteristic that makes it more likely to find a mate. This is why male frigatebirds have that huge icky red pouch under their beaks (hey...the ladies like it) and male peacocks have all their fancy plumage. Somehow, those features help those males out-seduce the other males, meaning they get to have sexy-time and have more red-pouched/plumed babies.

However, I think it's kind of funny what great lengths even animals will go to in order to have sex. With some animals, especially birds, the elaborate features they have to attract a mate can also attract predators, which obviously aren't too helpful in getting the animal to survive.

 

What have you been listening to lately?