All Posts Tagged With: "biology"
Canadian wins “Dance your PhD” competition
Contest helps share science
Emma Ware, a PhD biology candidate at Queen’s University is among four winners in an international contest called Dance Your PhD, reports CBC News. Click here to see the video.
The contest, which is exactly what its title suggests, was founded by John Bohannon, a science journalist and researcher at Harvard. He first held the contest as a way to have fun at a party, but quickly realized that it could help scientists with the perennial problem of communicating their work to the public. The video-based entries were judged by both scientists and professional dancers. Ware’s video for her thesis, which is called A Study of Social Interactivity Using Pigeon Courtship, won in the social science category, which comes with a prize of $500.
An overall best PhD dancer will be chosen next. He or she will receive an additional $500, plus a trip to Brussels in November to perform at the Tedx conference.
Still waiting for final marks?
My vacation is going AWOL
Between worrying about my marks and catching up on my sleep, more than a third of my Christmas break has managed to disappear without any warning.
The problem is, I haven’t been doing any of the stuff I fantasized about doing when I was studying for exams. Instead, I’ve developed a new hobby over the past couple days.
I turn on my laptop and load up the webpage where final marks are being released. And when I see that my Molecular Biology mark still hasn’t been posted, I press “refresh.”
Then I press it again.
And again.
-Photo courtesy of amboo who?
The course you’ll hate
…is the one you (almost) fail.
At the beginning of the semester, I was actually looking forward to my Embryology course. Not enough to actually want summer vacation to come to an end, but on the spectrum of courses, biology has always been my favourite. I assumed it would be the same this semester.
I couldn’t have been more wrong.
It’s kind of like audiences who went to see Star Wars Episode One expecting a worthy prequel to one of the most beloved movie franchises of all time. Everybody probably assumed that even if the new movie was half as good as the original trilogy, it would still be great.
No one saw Jar Jar Binks coming.
It’s the exact same thing with my Embryology course. Based on the fact that I’ve enjoyed my genetics and cell biology courses over the past two years, I figured it would be my favourite course this semester. Until I opened the textbook for the first time.
For some reason, biologists collectively decided that when a new protein or gene is discovered it should be named something that’s impossible to remember on a final exam. Like PAX3, DAX1, WNT, GGF, and SOX9. And never mind remembering the difference between FGF9, FGF2, FGF10, FGF8, FGF1, FGFR1 and FGFR2.
On the other hand, there’s the one scientist who, in an act of rebellion, actually named a protein Sonic hedgehog. Seriously.
When I was studying for the exam last week, I finally decided it might be easier to keep track of the full names, instead of just the acronyms.
Until I found out that SOX stands for SRY-related HMG box.
How NOT to choose electives
Biology + biology + biology + biology = too much biology.
I’m sick of biology. It’s been my favourite subject since grade 11, but I did something really stupid this semester: I took four biology courses all at once.
I didn’t take them just for the heck of it. I’m not one of those keeners who would take astro-neurological biochemical physics as an elective because it sounds kinda interesting. Yes, I love biology. But the main reason why I chose to take all four biology courses at the same time is because I need a certain number of science electives in order to graduate. So why not do them all in one semester? Like ripping off a band-aid in one shot.
But I’ve since learned that biology courses aren’t like band-aids- they’re more like nuts. Having too many makes you feel queasy, and amazed you ever liked them in the first place.
-Photo courtesy of me and the sysop
The class everybody loves…or hates
How to mess up biology. Or fix chemistry.
After writing my organic chemistry exam last semester, I was officially done with chemistry. Forever.
Never again would I see the words “valence shell” or “titration.” I’d never have to draw resonance structures or identify the chirality of a molecule. All my remaining science credits are biology courses, which is my favourite subject area. The Reign of Chemistry was over.
Kind of.
This semester I have biochemistry and I can’t decide if I hate it or love it. It’s a combination of biology, my favourite class, and chemistry, my least favourite class.
Which means that when I’m sitting in a lecture, half the time I find the material interesting and engaging, and the other half of the time I want to gouge my eyeballs out with the corner of my spiral-bound notebook.
I’d love to know the origins of biochemistry. Was it created by a thoughtful biology professor who wanted to make chemistry more interesting than usual? Or was it created by a bitter chemistry professor who wanted to make biology more boring than usual?
It’s kind of like the university version of a lame cartoon-crossover.
Except instead of combining The Flintstones and The Jetsons, it’s combining thermodynamics and living organisms.
-Photo courtesy of Alicia Nijdam
What’s better than perfection?
Uhhhh… nothing.
The glossary of my biology textbook has the perfect definition of a cell:
“A cell is the structural, functional and biological unit of all organisms.”
My biology lab report requires a definition of ‘cell,’ but I’m not allowed to just repeat the textbook’s already precise and exact definition. It has to be “paraphrased using original language.”
The thing is, sometimes there’s only one perfect way to define a word. Yes, I can come up with other ways to try and explain the word “cell.” But they’re going to be lesser definitions. In other words, not as precise. Or perfect.
Short of performing an interpretive dance for my biology lab TA’s, there is no original way of defining “cell.” It’s been done already.
There’s only one solution: writing like Yoda.
“The structural, functional, and biological unit of all organisms, the cell is.”
-photo courtesy of Hljod.Huskona
Stuck in post-midterm apathy?
How to make it through the home stretch
There’s only one week of classes left. I’ve got a chemistry lab, a biology lab, and a couple of history classes between me and Christmas vacation. It’s the home stretch.
But I’m stuck in Post-Midterm Apathy.
I only have to read a couple of chapters in my chemistry textbook, practice with my molecular model kit, and do some study problems to prepare for my organic chemistry final exam. There’s only one assignment and a test left in my religious studies class.
And then I’m finished.
But I just don’t have it in me. Thanks to five full courses, two labs, and two part-time jobs, I admit it: between September and November, I used up all my School Energy.
It’s times like this that I need to do some carefully planned procrastination.
Otherwise, I just end up siphoning off study time by doing stuff that isn’t really worthwhile. Like staring at the same paragraph in my history textbook for half an hour. Or checking my e-mail. Twenty times in a row.
Instead, I know I should allow myself a couple of hours to recharge, doing anything I want, guilt-free. And then my Study Efficiency will be back up and running for the next week.
Okay Halo 3, here I come.
How to ace chemistry class
Making the complicated science accessible to millions
Every once in a while my microbiology textbook shares a vaguely interesting fact that (almost) makes it worth reading. Like the fact that certain species of bacteria can be found 4,700 feet underground.
Sometimes my history textbook can be interesting. A Minoan palace that dates back to 1500 BCE featured indoor plumbing.
But there are absolutely no redeeming qualities to my Organic Chemistry textbook. Here are some of the organic molecules mentioned in the textbook:
1-Bromo-3-methylpentane
3-Methylpentylmagnesium bromide
N,N-Diethylethanamine
Those are real names. Seriously.
Another problem: some of the names are way too similar. Certain types of molecules are called “alkanes.” Some are called “alkenes.” Others are called “alkynes.” Then there are ethers and esters. Amines and amides.
Wouldn’t it be a whole lot easier if organic molecules were named the same way hurricanes are? As in “Chemical Bob” or “Chemical Irene”?
Of course, considering that there are tens of millions of organic molecules, we might start running out of names. Or at the very least, we might have to start using wimpy names. Like “Chemical Lawrence” or “Chemical Stuart.”
But there is an alternative. It’s a naming system that would be easy to learn and intuitive to use. Heck, it would transform Organic Chemistry. Instead of being universally hated, it would be an accessible and manageable course.
The new system: naming organic molecules after Pokemon.
It’s a tried-and-true method. For the past decade, millions of kids under the age of 12 have been able to memorize the names of thousands of Pokemon. And they can pronounce them perfectly, too. Why shouldn’t it work for Organic Chemistry?
There would be no such thing as “1,2-Dibromobenzene” or “1-Chloro-3-ethylbenzene.”Students wouldn’t have to learn names like “N-Phenylacetamide” or “1-(1,1-Dimethylethyl)-3-nitrobenzene.”
Instead, they would be memorizing “Charmander” and “Pikachu.”
Yup, easy peasy.
Get to know your sciences
…including the oddball of the group
The best advice I have (is a bit depressing)
Treat your high school years like a failed relationship — forget about it and move on
At this time of year, people frequently turn to me and ask what a student just entering university should know. Actually, they don’t ask, and I’m glad they don’t because the answer is probably not what they want to hear. What one thing should you, the new student, know if you are just starting university? With a high degree of certainty, I can say the following:
Your high school betrayed you.
If you are like most, and as far as preparing you for university goes, about half of what you learned in high school was probably useless. The rest was probably wrong.
Take my discipline, English, for instance. In a typical first year class of forty-five students or so, there is maybe one — maybe one — who actually knows how to write an essay. Many of the rest have done no formal writing at all, and those that have done papers might have called them “essays,” but they were really just reports or personal commentaries. This last group has a particularly tough time, because no matter how much I explain it to them, they assume that what passed muster in high school will pass in my course. It doesn’t.
And it’s not just English. A colleague of mine in biology once told me that she prefers it if her students haven’t taken high school biology at all because then she doesn’t have to spend time at the beginning of the year unwinding the misconceptions and falsehoods with which previous teachers have tangled her students’ brains.
This is not entirely the fault of high school teachers. Little was probably expected of them in the first place, and from the young teachers I know, most attempts at holding high school students to tougher standards are doomed to failure. Principals won’t allow it. Parents won’t stand for it.
Which brings me back to the advice. Your university professors don’t have a principal telling them they can’t fail you. And we don’t care how special or misunderstood your mother thinks you are. So forget about what you think you learned in high school. If you’re lucky, you had some great teachers who actually taught you something valuable, and if you did, you’ll be that much further ahead. But, in general, anytime your professor says something that seems to contradict what they told you in high school, believe your professor. Especially if the sentence begins with “You will not receive a passing grade if…”.
UManitoba researcher faked findings
Said he found elusive hormone receptor that could protect plants against cold, drought
According to the Winnipeg Free Press, the University of Manitoba has sanctioned a former researcher after an internal investigation concluded he faked data and made up experiments. That work led to an apparently groundbreaking study that was retracted eight months ago by Nature, one of the world’s most prestigious science journals.
Plant science researcher Fawzi Razem, who worked in the lab of university professor Robert Hill, claimed to have discovered a receptor for the major hormone linked to a plant’s response to environmental stress. The receptor, which could help plants adapt to cold or drought, was identified in an article and featured in the editor’s summary in the January 2006 edition of Nature.
Concerns about the research emerged last summer, when a team of researchers from New Zealand couldn’t replicate Razem’s work. A December 2008 online edition of Nature said the study made “erroneous conclusions” and there is no evidence to support Razem’s findings.
He resigned when the initial allegations surfaced.
On July 30, UManitoba issued a statement confirming that Razem had committed fraud, which also said he will “never be recommended for an academic appointment of any kind at the university.”
A little Bird told me…
Need some help finding a great (and easy) elective?
Trying to decide which electives to take to balance your course load for next term? Can’t choose between that psychology or philosophy course?
Just check out Birdcourses.com. It’s a website where Canadian university students can vote on their courses’ “birdiness.” Or in other words, how Mickey Mouse a course is.
My undergrad enrollment appointment is this week. Meaning, I need to know exactly what electives I want for next semester. Thanks to one of the best websites ever, I was able look for the perfect electives that could complement my course load.
Yes, courses that sound easy and almost guarantee a good mark.
All of the most important intel about a course is listed on a single page. This includes which professors you should try to get, and whether tests and finals (if the course even has them) are essay-based or multiple choice.
Plus, there’s a section for comments where other students can share their impressions of the course.
Of course, some students want to take courses that also broaden their perspectives, enriching their lives with new ways of thinking, helping them discover a more profound sense of Self. Or something like that.
Just as long at the course has a perfect 5 on the birdiness scale.
Sometimes you’ll see a course with a mixed rating. Like Molecular Biology at Waterloo. Whoever posted this course thought they should spread the joy known as Molecular Biology, by claiming “This course is easy-fasheezy. You learn about cells and how they affect you and why you should care. Word! This course was so fun.”
I was thrilled when I read that. It’s a course I need to take in third year. Now instead of dreading it, I could actually look forward to it.
But then I read some of the comments posted from other students who had already lived through the course.
“No…this course is by far one of the hardest bio’s i’ve taken and is known to be a really hard biology…if ur looking for an easy bio try 439.”
And, “Without a doubt, the hardest bio course, and aside from org. chem, the hardest course ive taken yet! i took it DE…biggest mistake! assignments and quizzes are easy enough to make you think you can do ok…the final is BRUTAL!”
This is one of the small dangers of the site. Although most students simply want to share the triumph/euphoria of having found the perfect bobo class, there’s always someone with a sick sense of humour.
Turns out that Molecular Biology course might not be so birdy after all.
“I don’t know who put this course on this site. But it definitely licks balls.”
- Photo courtesy of klynslis
Little piggies on campus
This little piggie has an infectious disease…
Wear sunscreen. Trust me.
How genetics class scared the cell out of me
Last week my 13-year-old brother David came home from school burnt to a crisp. He’d been outside for hours at track and field, and had forgotten to wear sunscreen. Yeah, that’s right. “Forgotten.”
But if David had been in my genetics course last semester, he wouldn’t have risked the sun exposure of track and field without first slathering some SPF 4,000 sun screen all over his body.
After taking that class, I’m sold on wearing it from now on. Year round.
Ultraviolet rays are a form of radiation. You forget that. And they can cause mutations in your DNA. The vitamin D threshold easily passes into the Mutant Turtle threshold.
Every time DNA is mutated, you risk the chance of it being a section of DNA that codes for something important. Like information that dictates how your cells are put together. Or how some proteins in your body work.
But you’re really in trouble if it mutates p53.
p53 is a protein that acts as a tumor suppressor. Tumor suppressors work to stop cells from growing and dividing uncontrollably, preventing cells from becoming cancerous. And if a cell starts dividing, and won’t stop, p53 will make the cell undergo apoptosis. Programed cell death.
Tumor suppressors are your body’s private cancer-fighting army. And every time you go in the Sun, you’re basically telling them to go AWOL. If p53 isn’t working, a cell might continue dividing. And growing. Straight into a tumor.
For me, my genetics class turned out to be more than just another biology prerequisite for my program. After imagining all the tiny, silent screams from my poor skin cells under attack by those cruel UV rays, I had something I could immediately take away from the course. Something I could use to go all first born know-it-all on my brother with.
I laid it all out to David. I told him that if he doesn’t use sunscreen, 40 years from now he’ll end up with wrinkly, saggy gross skin, mutant DNA, and maybe even cancer.
But David still wasn’t impressed. “If I wear sun screen, it’ll make me look shiny all day.”
Be shiny all day? Even if it means not ending up a flaming red, sore lobster five hours later, unable to sit down because your legs are too crispy to bend?
Oh yeah, I forgot.
It’s grade seven. Protecting your skin is so totally not cool.
-Photo courtesy of kirinqueen
How I almost made the biggest mistake of my life (Part 2)
Med school checklist: undergrad degree, prerequisites and a ridiculously high GPA
This time last year, I was playing the waiting game. I had chosen my top three programs. The applications were done, and it was all riding on one letter. The letter from the Registrar’s Office of McMaster.
Finally, it arrived.
I had applied to McMaster’s Health Sciences undergraduate program, and was hoping this was the letter. The one officially welcoming me into my top-choice undergraduate program.
Eventually, I want to apply to med school, so I needed a program that could bring me closer towards that goal. I had considered (and applied to) several other programs at U of T and the University of Waterloo, including biology and biomedical sciences.
But then I discovered Health Sciences at McMaster.
It instantly became my top choice. I wanted to be on the most efficient path to med school. An undergraduate program with all the prerequisites built-in, but also one that focused on a subject area I find fascinating: biology. The Health Sciences program seemed like a perfect fit.
By the end of the four-year program, I would have all of the prerequisites necessary for every med school across Canada. Acceptance into the program doesn’t come with any guarantees of a future spot in med school later, of course. But I knew it would be the perfect pre-med program for me. I wanted in.
But I knew getting in wouldn’t be easy.
The few select spots are reserved for students with GPAs of at least 90 per cent. In order to be competitive, however, McMaster makes it clear you need something in the low 90s. Minimum. My GPA was in the low 90s. Would it be enough? The lengthy application process also includes answering some really challenging personal questions.
Including, “Please describe a non-academic aspect of your life that you feel is important to your sense of self and explain why.”
So, was this where I could brag about building an 800 piece 3D puzzle in less than an hour? Maybe not. Instead, I explained how important my artwork is to me. How much I enjoy creating large works of art on canvas using oil paints. Of course, the minute I laid claim to considering art an important non-academic aspect of my life, one that is also important to my sense of self, I felt pretentious and somehow exposed. But since we can’t ever be certain about what the ‘right’ answer might be, or worse, the ‘wrong’ answer, all I could do was answer the questions as honestly as possible.
The next question was the one question I think should never be asked. “If there were one question that shouldn’t be asked, what would it be and why?” I’m not kidding. That really was one of the questions.
Despite my search for the perfect pre-med program, most Canadian med schools claim there is no ideal program, that they view all undergraduate degrees equally. Just as long as you also have the required prerequisites. Such as organic chemistry, physics, several specific biology courses, and lab experience. Oh, and also a ridiculously high GPA.
Of the 2008 accepted applicants to McMaster’s med school, for example, more than half are science or health sciences students. But law, divinity, and engineering students, just to name a few, also got in. Just not as many. And they still had to chase after those prerequisites, of course.
The thing is, not all undergraduate degrees help you get the best marks, and your GPA is one of the most important considerations when applying to med school. Of course, that doesn’t mean you should choose a program just because you think it will give you some advantage.
Because chances are, you might not even get in.
So that morning last May, when I held the letter in my hand, I was afraid to open it. So much was riding on that first sentence. What if they said no? I ripped open the envelope and began to read. Then I read it again. And again.
“Unfortunately, after careful consideration, we are not able to offer you admission at this time. ”
I hadn’t made it in.
I’d been accepted into the biology programs at McMaster and U of T, and the Health studies, biology, and Biomedical Sciences programs at Waterloo. But that didn’t matter. I hadn’t been accepted into my top choice. I was devastated.
Well, for about 10 minutes. Then I felt relieved that I’d been accepted into my second-choice, the Biomedical Sciences honours program at the University of Waterloo. The core classes built into the biomedical sciences program are prerequisites common to almost every med school in North America. Exactly what I need for my goal of one day attending med school. Somewhere. Anywhere. Please.
Plus, Waterloo has the added bonus of being just a 45-minute bus ride from my home in Kitchener. It even makes me centrally located for about a dozen friends from high school who are going to Guelph, Brock and McMaster. And although none of my old friends from high school are in Biomedical Science with me at Waterloo, three are in other programs at the school so I still get to see them for coffee and study breaks.
I’ve now completed my first year of the biomedical sciences program. I’m learning about genes and mutations, cells and cancer. And that’s only first year.
Biomedical sciences at Waterloo allows students to tailor their program using lots of electives to meet the admission requirements for many different graduate programs. Or I can just take more biology courses.
Versatile, but structured. Perfect.
But if you don’t eventually make it into the professional program of your dreams, like med school, doesn’t that make your undergraduate degree useless?
Absolutely not. Most programs list what past grads are doing now, so you can get a sense of what you could be doing later. For my program, it lists possible careers such as respiratory therapist, dentist, forensic scientist and speech pathologist. And yes, physician. Yay.
So even if I don’t get into med school one day, my degree will not have been for nothing.
My program works for me. And it’s not just a means to an end.
Why university made me feel stupid
If high school had the same pace, you’d finish grade 12 in two weeks
My secret fear before I went to university was that I wouldn’t make the cut. That I wouldn’t be able to handle the academic overload of university. I knew first year wouldn’t be like the average high-school grade transition, where the material is a little more difficult, but doable. University is a total revamp of what you’re used to in high school.
The rules change.
Everything you learned in high school physics, biology ― everything ― is condensed into a perfect little packet of 12 weeks. Like astronaut food.
If high school had the pace of university, where you have five courses instead of four, not to mention some labs and tutorials, you’d finish grade 12 in about two weeks. I can’t believe I didn’t have perfect 100′s in all my courses. What was I doing with all that time?
I felt a little out of control during my first semester of university, that at any moment my fine balance of keeping up with the readings and completing assignments could crumple.
Then it happened. I fell behind.
My worst fear had been realized. I wasn’t keeping up. And it made me feel stupid. It seemed impossible that I would ever be able to juggle everything. How could I possibly be able to read four chapters of my chemistry and biology textbooks, while simultaneously completing my physics assignment and political science essay, all due next class?
Then I realized my problem. University isn’t 10 times harder than high school. It’s 10 times faster. It’s the pace that’s a killer in university.
I wasn’t being stupid. I was being inefficient. I needed a plan.
Using study habits from high school to prepare for tests and quizzes wasn’t working. Even how I approached the readings was all wrong.
I learned how to prioritize, university style. I started the readings right away, instead of procrastinating about it. I learned how to really focus. In high school, you can often get away with studying at the last minute and still pull off a pretty good mark. It doesn’t work that way in university. It’s not always how smart you are in university that determines your marks, it’s how disciplined you are.
My second semester was much better. You really do adapt to the pace and learn how to get so much more done than you ever did with that sloth pace back in high school.
Now the pace of university doesn’t scare me. I prefer it.
- photo courtesy of michellekopczyk
Sask. student wins top prize in biotech competition for ‘designer wheat’
16-year-old worked with two mentors at USaskatchean department of plant sciences
Scott Adams never expected to take a prize in a competition for the best student biotech research projects in Canada – he was just happy to come to the nation’s capital as one of 14 finalists.
But on Wednesday, the 16-year-old from Saskatoon was awarded the $5,000 first prize in the Sanofi-Aventis BioTalent Challenge for his genetic research involving the bread-and-butter crop of his home province, wheat.
“I didn’t come to Ottawa expecting a prize,” said a surprised Adams. “I thought the trip to Ottawa was enough of a prize.”
The Grade 10 student’s project involved a novel process for turning off a gene in wheat to alter its starch elements. The discovery might one day make it possible for farmers to grow “designer wheat” with starch content aimed at different products, from textiles and packaging to flour-based foods and glues.
Adams worked with two mentors in the department of plant sciences at the University of Saskatchewan on the gene-silencing research.
While genetics is one of his areas of interest – he reads scientific journals on the subject – he doesn’t know if he will pursue science as a career.
“It’s certainly a possibility, but I’m still keeping my options open,” he said. “My parents have often said in the past (to become an) optometrist, but that’s not final at all.”
Adams and second-prize winner Joseph McNeil, an 18-year-old, Grade 12 student in Cape Breton, N.S., will compete for Canada at the International BioGENEius Challenge in Atlanta next month.
McNeil was awarded the $4,000 runner-up prize for using antioxidant compounds like those found in green tea to promote growth of nerve cells in a study related to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
He is hoping to attend Dalhousie University in Halifax next year, possibly in its biological engineering program.
Computer software? I’m not that kind of a nerd.
Microsoft Excel used to be just a button on my taskbar. Or one I sometimes accidentally clicked.
Before starting my biology lab this semester, “Microsoft Excel” was just a button on my taskbar. A button that I sometimes accidentally clicked on instead of Internet Explorer. But recently, with a lab report due the next day, it suddenly became something I had to master overnight.
The thing is, I’m not the kind of person who enjoys the learning curve involved with computer software. I don’t get some sort of satisfaction out of learning all the different hot keys. You know, those shortcuts that collectively save you 0.334 seconds over a ten-year period.
It’s hard to learn from your mistakes on a computer when you don’t, well, know what your mistakes were. Maybe computer nerds make little purring noises when a message pops up on the screen saying, “macro.shift exe function error,” or, “LSA [EXPORT RAM] has encountered a runtime error. Do you wish to debug?”
Unfortunately, “de-bug” isn’t a type of computer-savvy insect that knows how to make a graph on Excel.
Scott and Biology… forever
I won’t change my name to Lawrence, start wearing a beret and elope with Anthropology
There’s only one week left until I’m finished my first semester of university. It’s hard to believe that my exams officially start next Thursday. It’s even harder to believe that before I started my first semester of university, I thought coffee tasted like a chunk of moldy grapefruit that had been stuck between a camel’s hoof for a month. I considered coffee to be kind of like the movie Titanic. As in, anyone who said they actually liked it were obviously faking. But now? Coffee is the Nectar of Life. It’s my Reason for Being. Just don’t tell my friend Vicki, because I’d never hear the end of it.
Naming coffee as my one true God is only one of the things that have surprised me this semester. Being a biology nerd, I figured that biology would be my favourite class.
That was before I learned to loathe the words “proton motive force.”
Now at the end of my first semester, anthropology is actually my favourite class. I’m not sure if it’s the material or the way my professor is teaching it, but what we’re learning is just really interesting. Like the fact that Neanderthals had a larger cranial capacity than modern humans.
So calling a football player a “Neanderthal” is actually crediting them with super-human intelligence.
Of course, I’m not anywhere near abandoning the Way of the Science Nerd. I’m not about to change my name to Lawrence, start wearing a beret, and elope with Anthropology. Biology and I can work anything out.
Well, unless I came home and Chemistry was there.
