By Mike Sha Let’s take a quick trip through the groundbreaking theory of statistical mechanics and use it to smash our current understanding of the universe to pieces. Around the late 1800s, Ludwig Boltzmann (Figure 2) started thinking about order, disorder, and atoms, a line of thought that led him to become the father of … Continue reading We’re All Just Boltzmann Brains, Living in a Boltzmann Universe: A Crash Course in Statistical Mechanics

By Ian Hayman Bird Flu. Ebola. Hantavirus. Dengue. Zika. SARS-CoV2. Bubonic Plague. West Nile. Malaria. These pathogens are often cast as the central antagonist, the great evil in many books, movies, and in real life. Even hearing their names can produce a visceral response, a sense of dread in the back of the head about … Continue reading Controlling Outbreaks Before They Happen – Targeting Emerging Diseases at the Source

By Carson Purnell Early in 2020, the tone around the Covid-19 pandemic quickly changed from a ‘bad flu’ to a worldwide catastrophe, to be compared to the 1918 flu pandemic’s 50-100 million deaths1. Nobody in the world had specific immunity to this pathogen, and it was clear the novel coronavirus was highly contagious and had … Continue reading Recycling Pseudoscience for the Coronavirus Pandemic

Thank you to everyone who voted for Lions Talk Science’s Best Blog Post of the Spring 2021 semester! The results are all in, and your favorite LTS article from the Spring semester was "From Blood to Bone: What it Means to Donate Your Body to Science" written by Ellie Lesko. For her winning article, Ellie will receive a $25 gift card. Additionally, our randomly … Continue reading Winner of Spring 2021 LTS Best Blog Post

By Victoria Silvis From childhood we are taught to eat plenty of fruits and vegetables while taking it easy on the sweets. Everyone knows these healthy foods are rich in important vitamins and nutrients, whereas sugary foods are often labeled as “empty calories” as they have no nutritional benefit. I find that while most are … Continue reading Buffet for Bacteria: How Diet Can Affect Your Microbiome

By Hannah Johnson Photo Credit: Rebecca Robbins, Mars Wrigley Global Innovation Center from https://www.ucdavis.edu/news/new-natural-blue-food-coloring Have you ever wondered about the industry behind the color of your food? So much of what we eat is transformed into more vibrant and distinguishable colors and this is especially true for manufactured foods, such as candy, cereal, and jelly. … Continue reading The Search for Blue No. 1

By Savanna Ledford and Gail D'Souza Photo Credit: David Miller, Goalcast1 Monday morning, we meet again. As you grab that delicious cup of coffee you walk in dismay to your workspace thinking, “I truly hope Jo isn’t at the meeting today.” You are already dreading the negative comments, bullying, gossiping, and clique-y behavior that will … Continue reading See That Toxic Person? Remedy the Situation to Improve Your Productivity

By Julia Simpson Adventures exploring the Final Frontier make for entertaining television – the enduring success of Star Trek since the original series’ airing (1966-1969)1 testifies to that – but for the characters navigating often tumultuous interspecies politics, adventure can be a dangerous business. Fortunately for those characters, by the time Star Trek: The Next … Continue reading Chasing the Dream of the Dermal Regenerator

By Elizabeth Lesko With warm weather and sunny days occurring with increasing frequency, I thought it might be a good time to discuss a topic that is near and dear to my research: ultraviolet radiation (UVR) and skin cancer. Throughout my tenure as a dermatology-focused graduate student I have come across a plethora of misinformation … Continue reading Sun Protection and Skin Cancer: Myths and Facts

By Rebecca Fleeman March Madness, the annual American college basketball tournament of the top 68 Division 1 teams, and arguably the best form of entertainment all year, came to a close on Monday. Full of single-elimination games that have fans jumping out of their seats, the seven-round tournament is laden with legendary athletes who will … Continue reading Natural Athleticism: Slam Dunk or Foul?