SYK Might Make You Sick: New Discovery Could Lead to Better Therapies for Diabetes Patients

By Esma Yerlikaya Diabetes is a pandemic affecting over 500 million people globally1. By its simplest definition, diabetes is a condition that disrupts the utilization of sugar in the bloodstream. Due to its inability to enter the cells, sugar accumulates in the blood. Type 1 and type 2 diabetes are two distinct forms of diabetes. … Continue reading SYK Might Make You Sick: New Discovery Could Lead to Better Therapies for Diabetes Patients

Sunshine State of Mind: How to Protect your Skin from UV Exposure

By Carli King Here comes the sun… and the sunburn! With the start of summer upon us, it is extra important to understand the benefits and risks of sunshine. A major physiological benefit of sunlight is it stimulates the production of vitamin D in the body, which is essential for the absorption of crucial minerals … Continue reading Sunshine State of Mind: How to Protect your Skin from UV Exposure

Getting It Off My Chest: What Gender-affirming Care Really Is

By Rachel Kang Gender-affirming care is defined by the World Health Organization as the implementation of any social, psychological, behavioral, or medical interventions designed to support and affirm a person’s gender identity. This form of care is essential for the mental well-being of transgender folks who experience gender dysphoria, which can appear in children as … Continue reading Getting It Off My Chest: What Gender-affirming Care Really Is

Pain – an itch you just can’t scratch?

By Victoria Vernail I was sitting on the couch, watching Season 8, episode 14 of ABC’s ‘Bachelor in Paradise’, when an important scientific question was raised. Contestant Aaron commented to his girlfriend Genevieve that he thinks pain and itch are fundamentally the same – to which Genevieve disagreed – and a fight ensued (Figure 1). … Continue reading Pain – an itch you just can’t scratch?

Running Up That (Fiery) Hill: A Profile of Denali Kincaid, Science Communicator and Volcano Researcher

By Julia Simpson Part 1: Snapshot of the Climb When the golf-ball-sized volcanic bomb struck the ground just ten feet from where Denali Kincaid stood, it set the grass on fire (Figure 1). “The fire didn’t spread,” Kincaid clarifies. “But it landed right there and I was like, ‘I should not be standing this close … Continue reading Running Up That (Fiery) Hill: A Profile of Denali Kincaid, Science Communicator and Volcano Researcher

The War Against the Spotted Lanternfly

By Coryn Hoffman The spotted lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula) is a planthopper that is native to China, India, and Vietnam (Figure 1). These insects have become invasive in northeast America over the past decade, causing significant environmental damage. The first sighting of spotted lanternflies in the United States was in Berks County, Pennsylvania in 2014. These … Continue reading The War Against the Spotted Lanternfly

This Article Might Put You to Sleep: The History of Modern Anesthesia and the Multifaceted Properties of These Surgical Medications

By Gaelyn Lyons At some point in our lives, we will get the dreaded news that we need to get an aching tooth filled, a suspicious mole biopsied, or a stoned gallbladder surgically removed. Thanks to modern medicine, we can get through all these procedures somewhat painlessly with the help of anesthesia. Contrary to popular … Continue reading This Article Might Put You to Sleep: The History of Modern Anesthesia and the Multifaceted Properties of These Surgical Medications

Get on the write track for an LTS blog post

By Mariam Melkumyan Scientific blogs, like the Lions Talk Science (LTS) blog, aim to get scientists and researchers to share their research with the lay audience and explain complex scientific findings in simple terms. As scientists, we are trained to write articles in specific ways, using complex scientific words and billions of acronyms, using passive … Continue reading Get on the write track for an LTS blog post

Winner of Spring 2023 LTS Best Blog Post

Thank you to everyone who voted for Lions Talk Science’s Best Blog Post of Spring 2023! This semester’s competition was close, but the results are in, and your favorite LTS article was "Biosensing Tattoos Your Mother Would Approve Of" written by our senior editor, Stephanie Baringer! For her winning article, Stephanie will receive a $25 gift … Continue reading Winner of Spring 2023 LTS Best Blog Post

Finding the missing piece of the puzzle: the discovery of the DNA double helix

By Carli King Seventy years ago, the discovery of the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) double helix rocked the scientific world and is still, to this day, considered one of history’s greatest scientific achievements. Twenty years ago, The Human Genome Project was completed, marking the first generation of the human genome sequence, further propelling scientific research. These … Continue reading Finding the missing piece of the puzzle: the discovery of the DNA double helix