When I first heard about the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, I didn’t have the slightest idea how serious the problem was. Sure, I’d heard that lead was no good for you. I thought back to the day I moved into my first apartment in New York City and the superintendent handed me a pamphlet […]
Category Archives: Environment
April
01
The plastic brain
posted by stephnelli
[En español] We are born with roughly 100 billion neurons, more neurons than we’ll ever have again. It’s still a ton of neurons; they could wrap around the earth 3-4 times. Plus, each of these 100 billion neurons has a couple hundred to thousand connections with other neurons. But as we age, our brains also change. Regions of the brain key for memory […]
March
11
Heavy on My Mind: Lead Poisoning (Part I)
posted by kkiritah
I fear (read: know) that I am not the only person who has chosen to ignore the water crisis in Flint, Michigan. It’s depressing and complicated. But it is also important, and not just about Flint. In this post, I discuss the biological and economic costs of lead poisoning. Its effects are widespread throughout the body—and the United States—and I hope you will find them worthy of your attention.
November
19
Learning Language by Eavesdropping
posted by Melissa Troyer
Though kids seem to learn language without effort, scientists continue to puzzle over how children go from scream-y, pre-linguistic squooshballs to slightly-less-scream-y toddlers who can string a few words together (including “no!”) to older children who speak more or less like adults do. Researchers have learned a lot about how kids learn to talk—they know […]
September
03
Who wants to be an astronaut?
posted by stephnelli
Sensory deprivation. Cultural isolation. Physical confinement. Throw in relearning every menial task for microgravity, the lack of privacy and the disturbed sleep-wake cycle, and you can be sure your life will never be the same (1,2). Yeah, the job description for being an astronaut is a little intense. Especially since you also need to be intelligent, physically fit, and, […]
December
04
Hearing voices: Social context influences psychosis
posted by Melissa Troyer
“People are always selling the idea that people with mental illness are suffering. I think madness can be an escape. If things are not so good, you maybe want to imagine something better.” These are the words of John Nash, Jr., the Nobel Laureate who inspired the book and the movie A Beautiful Mind and […]
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