The environmentalism movement is currently experiencing an injection of perhaps well-needed popularity. Celebrities who own multiple homes that could each comfortably house the inhabitants of small villages, and who regularly circumnavigate the globe in private jets that have a maximum capacity of seven, routinely remind us to do such environmentally responsible things as turn the lights off when leaving a room lest we become wasteful. Manufacturers of products ranging from toilet cleaners to sport utility vehicles advertise their wares as being earth- friendly by arbitrarily adding prefixes like “eco”, “bio”, or “green” to product names in hopes of capitalizing on…
The Science Creative Quarterly
The Science Creative Quarterly (SCQ) is not a quarterly, but instead publishes new material at a non-linear rate. Currently, it is sleeping and in a sort of stasis (turpor?) It used to seek science writing of any genre, and your contribution would have involved checking out our submissions guidelines.
The Science Creative Quarterly (SCQ) has a single print edition so far (half SCQ pieces, and half fake science journal – see here for more details). Also, badges?
Stay safe everyone!
BUILDING A “SUSTAINABLE” GINGERBREAD HOUSE: THE CONTEST
(image source) O.K. So the deal is that it’s the holidays – and soon the whole merriment parade will be kicking into high gear. This includes a number of things that I bet many households end up going through. Things such as: 1. the strategic maneuvering of the mistletoe locale. 2. watching the antics of nasally sounding claymation elves, 3. arguing over the relative merits of putting raisins in the stuffing, 4. real tree, fake tree, or no tree. 5. debating the necessity of the feature length Grinch movie, 6. figuring out what did “my true love give to me”…
SCIENCE FICTION VS FANTASY: AN OPINIONATED GUIDE
I Fanboy: Hey gang! Did you read The Sword of Shanara? The characters traveled hundreds of miles described in excruciating detail for hundreds of pages, until they reached the ultimate battle between good and evil! Cool huh? Scientist: Whatever. The characters in Red Planet traveled 48 million miles to Mars, while those in 2001 traveled 369 million miles to Jupiter. Characters in Asimov’s Foundation books travel millions of light-years all over the Milky Way galaxy in routine manner. Isn’t it amazing what people can accomplish when they don’t have to walk everywhere? Thank a scientist for your planes, trains, automobiles,…
FLORAL KALEIDESCOPE
White Agapanthus Some years ago I began photographing exotic tropical hibiscus blooms to catalog my collection. Part of the appeal in growing these beauties is cross pollinating to create new cultivars. I wanted a catalog of my collection so that I could keep a record of which blooms were crossed and what offspring they produced. In that way I could have an idea of whether specific colored flower parents would produce a certain color offspring. You see exotic tropical hibiscus are not true breeders. Even if you were to pollinate a bloom with its own pollen you would not get…
DISPATCH FROM THE E.R.
I sat down on the folding chair in front of the emergency room admitting nurse and explained what had happened: “I’ve had an accident in my laboratory.” I was expecting a dramatic reaction. Instead I got barely a raised eyebrow. It must take a lot to surprise an emergency room nurse but still, hadn’t she heard about all the superheroes that have emerged from lab experimentation gone awry (Did she not know about Spiderman, who was bitten by a radioactive spider, or The Incredible Hulk, who was irradiated by gamma rays?) Was she not curious as to what superhuman feats…
RISKING THE BATTERY
surge protector hook up shook up and bypassed straight to the outlet at logic’s upheaval to sacrifice security for a higher rate of retrieval, buying the power sight unseen– is it safe, is it clean? the generator gleans every cell for total objectification… warning bells drown out by praises of connection signaling perfection though a wall still subsides, separates, divides. the fuse might blow in a dignified sublimation, cremation… scattering sparks of anticipation, elation, total emancipation…
AS WE UNDERSTAND IT: MORE MOLES ON YOUR BODY MIGHT MEAN INCREASED LONGEVITY.
Nevus (def): The commonly used medical term for a mole or birthmark. TITLE: Nevus Size and Number Are Associated with Telomere Length and Represent Potential Markers of a Decreased Senescence In vivo (2007) Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2007;16(7):1499–502 In which authors propose that individuals with longer telomeres express a delayed cell senescence (i.e. increased cell longevity) that is reflected in the skin by increased nevus size and numbers. – – – ABSTRACT: Nevus counts represent one of the strongest risk factors for melanoma. They appear in childhood and adolescence and involute from middle age onwards. Recent evidence has shown that…
STRESS, CORTISOL, AND THE IMMUNE SYSTEM: WHAT MAKES US GET SICK?
The Case of the Poor Student: Sick after Exams It’s happened to all of us. Tom was staying up late for the last two weeks cramming for his barrage of final exams, and finally his last exam was over. After one more late night—this time partying—he woke up with that all-too-familiar soreness in his throat, along with that annoying stuffy nose. “Great,” he thought. “I’m sick in time just for Christmas shopping. Must be that pesky cold bug going around again.” What is Psychoneuroimmunology? Just how exactly stress affects our immune system has long been debated, but the field of…
VH1 PRESENTS “I LOVE THE 90S, MOLECULAR BIOLOGY EDITION”
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