Conferences like ComSciCon offer graduate students a chance to practice their science communication skills in a variety of mediums.

Six years ago, I met my best friend Hannah as a randomly assigned college roommate. 
She had driven 200 miles from Indianapolis, Indiana and I had flown 8000 miles from New Delhi, India to arrive at the very same dorm room in St. Louis, Missouri. We had a running joke in our families that we were destined to be in each other’s lives since “India” belongs in “Indiana.” True to this sentiment, I spent every break visiting her home. My community was back in India, so hers became my own.

Can you recall a story you read recently and found memorable? What was it about it that you enjoyed? The author’s dexterity in painting a vivid image of scenes and events? The story’s vivacity? Your ability to relate with the characters?

The point of these questions was to reveal a crucial point: the memorability of a piece is in its ability to leave an indelible imprint on a reader’s mind. This aspiration for memorability is common to both the storyteller and the science communicator.

The move to more energy-efficient lighting has had an unintended consequence: More light is escaping into the night sky and causing light pollution.

“My battery is low and it’s getting dark” — this poetic translation of the Mars Opportunity rover’s final transmission describes the rover’s struggle to recharge itself after its solar panels were covered by dust during a windstorm.

Though Opportunity outlived its projected lifetime by over 14 years, advances in battery technology could have kept the rover running even longer. Out of all the parts that could have failed, the battery’s struggle to store and conserve energy proved to be Opportunity’s downfall.

It’s not just Opportunity — believe it or not, batteries are actually a major stumbling block for our exploration of space.

It wasn’t until I moved to the desert that I noticed the rain. Pregnant dark clouds smudge the sharp contrasts drawn by the punishing summer sun. The palette changes from verdant amber to moody violet. A sweet earthy smell wafts through the air. Bird songs and cricket chirps are hushed, replaced by booming clouds and howling winds. A pause. And then, in a grandiose and fearsome display, mile-wide opaque curtains of rain drench the scorched earth.

In the desert, the monsoon season slows down the pace of life and refreshes the arid landscape. In this time-pressed, deadline-obsessed, attention-less society, a monsoon season is what our brains are thirsting for.

Can you get "Behind the Groove"? I know I can if Teena Marie is telling me to do so.  Today's episode we are diving into the Teena Marie's hit song "Behind the Groove" and learning about the major and minor grooves in DNA. Also, giving updates on my graduate career and my life.

Plus,  we take a visit to Not Quite Scientific to hear in on some customer service calls.

A new database compiles all the available pieces of information about Colombia’s geochronology, offering scientists a consistent framework in which to view and study the data in a broader context.

In the 1980s, the NIH began a chimpanzee breeding program. The initiative was meant to produce animals that could be used for future research. While some chimp moms gave their infants the appropriate care needed to support brain development, others struggled to deliver the same parenting. In those instances, the babies were placed in a nursery under human care. Separating the chimps from their mothers was not an intentional experimental design, but it was necessary at the time because of the inadequate treatment their mothers were giving them.

We all start out as a single cell. That cell divides many, many times to form the trillions of cells in an adult human body. Each of these cells has two copies of all the genes in the human genome, inherited from our biological parents. While copying the genome trillions of times, unsurprisingly, some mistakes are made. Slight genetic variations, called mutations, accumulate in our cells as we grow from a single cell to an adult.

I tried to hide my embarrassment and frustration, but I’m sure my averted gaze and nervous fidgeting made it obvious that I had bad news to share.

I’d been a member of the lab for a few months but, looking at the state of the project, you might not have guessed that. Progress had been slow, and I now had to report to my mentor not only that I’d failed again to get our experiment working, but also that I’d broken over a thousand dollars-worth of equipment with one clumsy mistake. I managed to get the words out with a flimsy stoicism and prepared myself for reprimand.

He gave me a look that was somewhere between understanding and amused and said “Happens to everyone! You did good. Just fail better next time.”

The summer before my senior year of undergrad, I was combing through the course catalog, hoping to add more than quantum mechanics to my schedule, when I discovered the Department of Medical Physics at my university.

I, like so many others, had discovered medical physics by chance.

On a scorching hot, dry summer day in inland Southern California, I found myself walking into a small, dimly lit room that was situated above a bail bonds shop. The building felt like it had been there forever. The walls were lined with a myriad of playbill posters and photos from Shakespeare productions. A large bookcase was filled to the brim with worn copies of plays and books. In the center of the room were two short rows of chairs facing the far wall, where there was a small setup of two handheld cameras and chairs facing each other. I was handed a short script, told to read it only once and then wait for my turn to do a “cold read” of the scene with my partner.

For many academics, news of a one-day strike from labs and classrooms arrived just a day or two before the event itself—“probably because so few [senior faculty/administrators] are active on social media,” said Bret Eshman, a postdoctoral fellow at Florida International University. “That’s how I found out about it on Tuesday.”

The following day, June 10, protests against racial discrimination and violence entered the ivory tower, spread by Twitter hashtags like #ShutDownSTEM, #ShutDownAcademia, #BlackInTheIvory, and #Strike4BlackLives. Organized by a group of physicists, #ShutDownSTEM asked for the suspension of all non-essential work in favor of open dialogue, education, and action to eradicate anti-Black racism within research and academia.

Cooking isn’t just an art, it’s a science―150 fascinating food facts to make you a better cook

Does cold water come to a boil faster than warm water? Why does fat taste so good? What makes popcorn pop? Most of the processes that occur during cooking are based on principles found in biology, chemistry, and physics. 150 Food Science Questions Answered is an intriguing look into the science of food, from the eyes of a food science Ph.D. candidate and recipient of the James Beard Legacy Scholarship.

Below the seafloor are trillions of single-celled microbial life. Marine sediments bury these microorganisms deeper and deeper. Meanwhile, the microorganisms face increasing pressures and temperatures and reduced amounts of food and water. Although they are living in difficult conditions, these microorganisms stay alive and maintain their communities. To date, we know that these microbial communities can survive for millions of years, at 2.5 km below the seafloor, and at temperatures over 100°C. Scientists use multiple approaches to study these fascinating microorganisms.

ComSciCon is a workshop for graduate students (and organized by graduate students) about communicating complex and technical scientific concepts. ComSciCon attendees interact with professional communicators and build lasting networks with graduate students in science and engineering fields from across the US and Canada. There is one flagship workshop per year and multiple chapter workshops all over the continent. Entomology Ph.D. students Hannah Chu and Madison Sankovitz attended the flagship workshop in different years and share their experiences here!