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The voices regarding medical research have become so polarized, yet this isn’t a new issue. At least in the US, topics that are neutral in other countries are considered controversial. And now, regardless of ongoing efforts to communicate science, COVID vaccination remains an unnecessarily contentious topic. What’s perhaps more surprising is that despite having a […]
Recreation of Van Gogh's skull painting but with oil pastels.
Few animal species reproduce with male pregnancy with examples including seahorses and some fish. Until recently, there were no records of male mammals giving birth.  The phenomenon was not natural – male rats were surgically prepared to nurture a embryos in a transplanted uterus. The project yielded a low 4% success rate, but the male […]
When I read about researchers from a century ago, it seems like they all knew each other: Ivan Pavlov (Russian physiologist who described classically conditioning a bell to dog food, published in 1897) attended a university where Dmitri Mendeleev (Russian chemist who published the first familiar periodic table in 1869). Charles Darwin was still alive […]
My undergrad instructors would tell stories of dipping their whole arm, uncovered, into tubs of formalin. They said that the worst part was the smell, but there may have been other harmful effects that originally went unnoticed. While there are many uses for formaldehyde, especially formaldehyde since it’s a precursor to many types of resins […]
In the last decade, a heated discussion about the distinction between sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems errupted. These are commonly known as the “fight or flight” versus the “rest and digest” systems with roles like increasing or decreasing heart rate and pupil size (background on the divisions of the nervous system below). For about a […]
I previously wrote about an instance when science has shaped racism for the worse. I also mentioned that academics and academic institutions have been relatively passive about the current BLM movements. Perhaps people are still grasping onto the belief that science is free of racism, but here are some current examples of blatant racist remarks […]
It’s weird (and embarrassing) seeing academics remain mostly silent when it comes to racism in science. Perhaps we think that we’re smart enough to be free from prejudice. Or maybe they don’t see an issue since they haven’t experienced it. Whatever the reason, science not only is shaped by racism, but it also sometimes molds […]
Awesome Black Artists I really like (ordered alphabetically): @aaronfaceyart View this post on Instagram A post shared by 🎨アロン (@aaronfaceyart) @ari.b.jpeg View this post on Instagram A post shared by ari bennett 🥭 (@ari.b.jpeg) @artbyrobel View this post on Instagram A post shared by @artbyrobel @barosarre View this post on Instagram A post shared by […]
My favorite ways so far to help Black communities:⁣⁣– Listen and learn, engage in a discussion. On ig and twitter, #BlackInTheIvory has heartbreaking stories of struggles Black researchers face in academia. Otherwise Forbe’s, “First, Listen. Then, Learn: Anti-Racism Resources For White People.” lists books like Between the World and Me to When They See Us (a series […]
Here is a tiny list of really cool artists and groups who are donating their profits from some their art works to support BLM and other related organizations! Buy a mug or a print for a good cause (but don’t let this be an excuse to not help in other ways).  These are all instagram […]