By: Christian Elliott A shorter version of this story ran in Sierra Magazine on December 4, 2022. Dennis Whigham closes the car door, straightens his blue baseball cap and squints into the woodland before him. A maze of planks crisscrosses a forest floor covered with cables and hoses. Little yellow flags wave in the breeze […]
Graduate student Matthew Verosloff, hangs by one arm off a dirt ledge as he leans his body over the edge of a river. His free arm is reaching down with a test tube to collect a sample of water. He’s in Costa Rica escaping the frigid cold of winter in Chicago …
Using cryoEM, amorphous ice allows scientists to observe specimens in a near-natural state Ice often evokes images of cold drinks on a summer’s day, icicles dripping off a roof in winter, or frost spreading on a windowpane. Its appearance and…
Contemporary painter and photographer Chuck Close has displayed artwork at famed galleries around the world. He has published several books of his paintings and was an acting member of the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities. Some of his works have even …
Established pillars were under attack across the Western world. It was the late 1700s, and the United States had just declared independence. France was rapidly heading towards a bloody revolution. Industrialization was beginning to reshape society. And, amidst the chaos …
The 2016 Summer Olympic Games were a chance to celebrate the world’s greatest athletes, who strive to constantly push the boundaries of what the human body is capable. As a biomedical engineer, I can fully appreciate the pinnacle of fitness these athletes have …
I grew up in a rural town in the middle of Missouri, where the most interesting thing to do at night was to go to the local park and watch the stars. One night as a teenager, on my way back home, I noticed a police car and truck stopped by the side of the road …
If you watch television at all, you’ve seen advertisements suggesting that some new medicine is the best remedy for a particular disease. In stark contrast to a montage of agile women practicing yoga in a field of flowers and a pain-free granddad tossing a football to …
In the 1790s, smallpox infection was a serious threat to public health. Many died, and those who survived were frequently disfigured with body-covering scars. As the public threat grew, doctors experimented with transferring scab material from a person with a …
I woke freezing like a popsicle inside my 20ºF sleeping bag. Yes, it is typically cold at high altitude, but usually this bag keeps me a bit too toasty. Now, the moist air chilled my bones, so I curled myself up to conserve body heat. Why was it so cold and what was …
As of now, I’m two-thirds of the way toward one of my life goals: making (and eating) an entirely homegrown Caprese. Popular in Italian-American eateries, Caprese (cuh-pray-say) salad – affectionately known as “tomato-mozz” in my family – is actually devoid of any true …
I recently helped polish silver for a fancy dinner party. While I rubbed purple-gray paste over the tines of the forks, feeling a little like a maid in Downton Abbey, I pondered silver’s chemistry. After all, I research the chemistry of silver released into the …
Spring is here. In the forests of the Midwest, frogs are waking from their hibernation. Many of these frogs, including the spring peeper (Pseudaris crucifer) and the wood frog (Rana sylvatica), hibernate below the bark of trees or beneath leaf litter on the forest …
My father’s voice faltered as my family sat around the kitchen table. He was young for such a diagnosis. No one expected prostate cancer. I was speechless. At first, time seemed to slow down while I tried to process the news. As a daughter, my heart …
How much time do you spend thinking about bees? I’m guessing any attention they do get is relegated to those occasions when a buzz, and the associated threat of pain, disrupts a summer picnic or a tranquil lounge by the pool. Would you be surprised …
My interest in biology stems from the level of complexity and organization found within a single cell. I was astonished to learn that if every DNA molecule in the human body was unwrapped, it would stretch to Pluto and back. Being the inquisitive student that I was, …
Even though I’ve lived here for two years, I still have conversations with friends in which I admit that I haven’t yet seen many of the attractions Chicago has to offer. As something of a homebody, sightseeing takes extra energy for me, but recently I visited …
For my nephew’s birthday, I got him a kit of experiments based on the science of glowing. He loved it and I think his mother was probably happy I opted for this one over the “gross science” kit (complete with toilet bowl shaped mixing device) that would have …
About 20 years ago, Miller and Coen published “The Case for Music in the Schools.” In this article, they noted that 66 percent of music major applicants were accepted into medical schools, whereas only 44 percent of biochemistry majors got in. The authors speculated …
I have a love-hate relationship with my hair. It’s been that way ever since I can remember because I was born with curly hair. I know what you must be thinking: curly hair is beautiful and interesting! That may be so but it can also be incredibly temperamental, frizzy …
Plants are all around us. It is easy to become accustomed to their presence. But, imagine a world without lush green grasses and trees – a planet blanketed in desert. Could we survive? Plants are an integral part of our environment, and provide …
Whether you are for or against genetically modified (GM) food, it’s likely inevitable that you’ll consume it. Why? Soybean and corn seeds that have been genetically modified make up 90% and 80% respectively of the total seeds on the market! Large percentages of sugar …
In Aldous Huxley’s futuristic novel Brave New World (1932), human beings are selectively bred to be genetically perfect. Based on their genes, they are sorted into a caste system that defines their social hierarchy. While capturing the scientifically misguided notions …
For many, dogs are man’s best friends. But for people with pet allergies, dogs and cats can be their worst enemies.
Still, many individuals whose noses resemble Old Faithful whenever Fido walks into the room are still able to keep pets in their homes …
By: Christian Elliott A shorter version of this story ran in Sierra Magazine on December 4, 2022. Dennis Whigham closes the car door, straightens his blue baseball cap and squints into the woodland before him. A maze of planks crisscrosses a forest floor covered with cables and hoses. Little yellow flags wave in the breeze […]
Graduate student Matthew Verosloff, hangs by one arm off a dirt ledge as he leans his body over the edge of a river. His free arm is reaching down with a test tube to collect a sample of water. He’s in Costa Rica escaping the frigid cold of winter in Chicago …
Using cryoEM, amorphous ice allows scientists to observe specimens in a near-natural state Ice often evokes images of cold drinks on a summer’s day, icicles dripping off a roof in winter, or frost spreading on a windowpane. Its appearance and…
Contemporary painter and photographer Chuck Close has displayed artwork at famed galleries around the world. He has published several books of his paintings and was an acting member of the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities. Some of his works have even …
Established pillars were under attack across the Western world. It was the late 1700s, and the United States had just declared independence. France was rapidly heading towards a bloody revolution. Industrialization was beginning to reshape society. And, amidst the chaos …
The 2016 Summer Olympic Games were a chance to celebrate the world’s greatest athletes, who strive to constantly push the boundaries of what the human body is capable. As a biomedical engineer, I can fully appreciate the pinnacle of fitness these athletes have …
I grew up in a rural town in the middle of Missouri, where the most interesting thing to do at night was to go to the local park and watch the stars. One night as a teenager, on my way back home, I noticed a police car and truck stopped by the side of the road …
If you watch television at all, you’ve seen advertisements suggesting that some new medicine is the best remedy for a particular disease. In stark contrast to a montage of agile women practicing yoga in a field of flowers and a pain-free granddad tossing a football to …
In the 1790s, smallpox infection was a serious threat to public health. Many died, and those who survived were frequently disfigured with body-covering scars. As the public threat grew, doctors experimented with transferring scab material from a person with a …
I woke freezing like a popsicle inside my 20ºF sleeping bag. Yes, it is typically cold at high altitude, but usually this bag keeps me a bit too toasty. Now, the moist air chilled my bones, so I curled myself up to conserve body heat. Why was it so cold and what was …
As of now, I’m two-thirds of the way toward one of my life goals: making (and eating) an entirely homegrown Caprese. Popular in Italian-American eateries, Caprese (cuh-pray-say) salad – affectionately known as “tomato-mozz” in my family – is actually devoid of any true …
I recently helped polish silver for a fancy dinner party. While I rubbed purple-gray paste over the tines of the forks, feeling a little like a maid in Downton Abbey, I pondered silver’s chemistry. After all, I research the chemistry of silver released into the …
Spring is here. In the forests of the Midwest, frogs are waking from their hibernation. Many of these frogs, including the spring peeper (Pseudaris crucifer) and the wood frog (Rana sylvatica), hibernate below the bark of trees or beneath leaf litter on the forest …
My father’s voice faltered as my family sat around the kitchen table. He was young for such a diagnosis. No one expected prostate cancer. I was speechless. At first, time seemed to slow down while I tried to process the news. As a daughter, my heart …
How much time do you spend thinking about bees? I’m guessing any attention they do get is relegated to those occasions when a buzz, and the associated threat of pain, disrupts a summer picnic or a tranquil lounge by the pool. Would you be surprised …
My interest in biology stems from the level of complexity and organization found within a single cell. I was astonished to learn that if every DNA molecule in the human body was unwrapped, it would stretch to Pluto and back. Being the inquisitive student that I was, …
Even though I’ve lived here for two years, I still have conversations with friends in which I admit that I haven’t yet seen many of the attractions Chicago has to offer. As something of a homebody, sightseeing takes extra energy for me, but recently I visited …
For my nephew’s birthday, I got him a kit of experiments based on the science of glowing. He loved it and I think his mother was probably happy I opted for this one over the “gross science” kit (complete with toilet bowl shaped mixing device) that would have …
About 20 years ago, Miller and Coen published “The Case for Music in the Schools.” In this article, they noted that 66 percent of music major applicants were accepted into medical schools, whereas only 44 percent of biochemistry majors got in. The authors speculated …
I have a love-hate relationship with my hair. It’s been that way ever since I can remember because I was born with curly hair. I know what you must be thinking: curly hair is beautiful and interesting! That may be so but it can also be incredibly temperamental, frizzy …
Plants are all around us. It is easy to become accustomed to their presence. But, imagine a world without lush green grasses and trees – a planet blanketed in desert. Could we survive? Plants are an integral part of our environment, and provide …
Whether you are for or against genetically modified (GM) food, it’s likely inevitable that you’ll consume it. Why? Soybean and corn seeds that have been genetically modified make up 90% and 80% respectively of the total seeds on the market! Large percentages of sugar …
In Aldous Huxley’s futuristic novel Brave New World (1932), human beings are selectively bred to be genetically perfect. Based on their genes, they are sorted into a caste system that defines their social hierarchy. While capturing the scientifically misguided notions …
For many, dogs are man’s best friends. But for people with pet allergies, dogs and cats can be their worst enemies. Still, many individuals whose noses resemble Old Faithful whenever Fido walks into the room are still able to keep pets in their homes …