Monthly Archives: September 2020
Toucan Play That Game
Must-Have Love on The Brain
Cynics and scientists alike can tell you that the experience of romantic love, as it occurs in your mind and body, is not a sudden alignment of personalities, running through an airport, or a plan written out in the stars. … Keep Reading
Winged Wednesday – Owl-Rly?!
Barred Owl (Strix varia)Image from Wikimedia Commons Read more about owls here.
Indirect Killers of Coral
Photo of bleached coralImage from Wikimedia Commons Coral reefs around the world are great international attractions. Tourists can scuba dive and see the great biodiversity that these reefs house up close. But as many of you may know, these environments … Keep Reading
Classes Collide
With only a couple weeks into school, two of my classes are already intersecting heavily with each other: AP Biology and AP Psychology. There are seven modern approaches to psychology that allow psychologists to examine different ways that the behavior … Keep Reading
Californian Fires Affecting Natural Selection More Than Ever Before
The recent wildfires in California have now been flaming for over three weeks. They have ruined 135,974 acres of land thus far and are only at 15 percent containment across the lengthy state. Mountains usually seen from miles and miles … Keep Reading
Mammal Monday – “That’s One Fat Squirrel!”
American Beaver (Castor canadensis)Image from Wikimedia Commons My daughter and I were tagging monarch butterflies one Fall when she spotted what she thought was a squirrel. As we moved in for a closer look, we realized we were actually looking … Keep Reading
Frog Friday – Spot the Spots of the Spotted Toad
Red-Spotted Toad (Anaxyrus punctatus)Image from Wikimedia Commons Listen to the call of the Red-spotted Toad
GMOs? Good? Bad?
Many people go about their day to day lives consuming all sorts of different plant products, ranging from buying whole produce such as apples and onions, to the salmon people buy on a daily basis. Surprisingly, many of these products … Keep Reading
Recent Developments in dCas9-XTEN-APOBEC1 Based Single Base Editors May Open the Door for Correction of Diseases Caused by Point Mutation and Greater Developments in Genome Modification
Sickle cell anemia and cystic fibrosis are both abnormalities caused by a single incorrect nitrogenous base within the DNA of human beings. Through this seemingly minor error within this chain of nucleotides, an entire disorder is born. Such is the … Keep Reading
Winged Wednesday – Hawkeye
Red-Tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)Image from Wikimedia Commons Did you know? The shriek of the red-tailed hawk is often heard in movies, TV shows, and commercials whenever the sound effect artist wants to convey the idea that someone is lost in … Keep Reading
Biosignature Gas Discovered on Venus
Image from Wikimedia Commons Picture this: a Soviet spacecraft named Venera 13 lands on a planet and succeeds in capturing a few images of the surface before it disintegrates. It sure sounds hospitable, right? Twenty years earlier, the first ever … Keep Reading
Slowing the Decline of Bee Populations
Image from Wikimedia Commons With the end of winter comes the arrival of spring, marked by warmer weather and budding plants, both of which foster the emergence of bees. However, bee populations are on the decline. Rising temperatures have created … Keep Reading
Mammal Monday – Now THAT’S Big!
Paraceratherium – the largest known land mammal to ever existImages from Wikimedia Commons
Frog Friday – Fascinating Freezing Frogs
Intrigued by Mr. Mohn’s reference in class to a frog that hibernated during the winter by allowing itself to freeze, I decided to look further into this creature. This frog is known as the Wood Frog. It is found across … Keep Reading