For the last science column of the semester, I would like to discuss the scientific literacy of the American public. In his last television interview, the late and beloved astronomer Carl Sagan lamented, “We’ve arranged a society based on science and technology in which nobody understands anything about science
Author: Ben Gregory
The End of the World is Upon Us… Eventually
I suspect that most college students, myself included, spend a sizeable chunk of our time worrying about the future. If we eat our vegetables and exercise, this future may extend another 80 years. We may have kids and grandkids, but beyond that, how far into the future should our concern
We ‘Essentially’ Know Nothing About Essential Oils
It seems that the prevalence and use of essential oils (EO) for curative or therapeutic purposes is becoming more widespread, or at least it's becoming more aware to me. Naturally, my first reaction to people putting drops of lemon rind oil under their tongues for healing is to laugh and lump this
Feeling Green: The Science Behind a Hangover
With Saint Patrick’s Day just around the corner, many of us are pulling out our green socks and “Kiss me, I’m Irish” shirts in anticipation of a day of celebration. The day after all the pinching and partying, however, some of us may wake up with a pounding headache, nausea,
Seeing Cost-Efficiency in a New Light: The Future of Solar Cells
It is a commonly cited fact that the Earth receives more energy from the sun in an hour than the whole planet uses in a year. That’s an impressive statistic, but it’s also a frustrating one—the solution to our global energy crisis appears to be staring us in face yet we
A Crisis of Reproducible Proportions: Questioning What Science “Knows” to be True
Science is arguably the best tool humans have devised to objectively explore the hows and whys of the world around us. One of the hallmark characteristics of the scientific process is that it is reproducible, meaning that the existence of any phenomenon should not depend on who is looking at