blogs

Mitochondria provide link to our distant ancestry

By Amanda Hutchinson, Contributing Writer • March 8, 2013

Anyone who has taken (or is taking) 200s-level genetics at Ithaca College will be familiar with the mtDNA experiment in lab. While the collection, amplification, and purification of the DNA is a tedious process, the results from processing at Cornell could tell you how close your genes are to a person in another country, a…

A week in photos — Mar. 7, 2013

By Ithacan Staff • March 7, 2013

Click to enlarge and view captions.

Brainstorming the next sport

By Andrew Kristy • March 6, 2013

Is there some sort of super-sport we haven't thought of yet?

Pipeline will fuel America’s economy

By The Ithacan • March 6, 2013

The Keystone XL Pipeline is a common sense energy approach that Obama should approve today.

Long-form science coverage takes many forms

By Amanda Hutchinson, Contributing Writer • March 5, 2013

Last post, I introduced some of social media’s coverage of science as a way to provide the everyday person with an easily accessible version of science happenings. Many of these are created with the intent to pique the interests of readers who may not have an existing affinity for science. For those whose interests have…

Diva WHAT?

By Rebecca Billings • March 5, 2013

Before you freak at the mention of *whispers* … periods, hear me out. If you are a woman who has gone through puberty, you probably have your period about a dozen times every year. You’ve likely had numerous awkward conversations with parents and teachers about it, regrettably ruined at least a couple pairs of underwear,…

Heidi Klum branches out from ‘Project Runway’

By Chloe Wilson • March 4, 2013

"America's Got Talent" has some big shoes to fill. The popular summer reality competition series lost one of its original judges last August. Sharon Osbourne, after publicly stating that NBC had fired her son after he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, decided to leave the show. In February, it was announced that Mel B (also…

Social media a good place for Science Fun 101

By Amanda Hutchinson, Contributing Writer • March 3, 2013

Science can be scary. Even as a biology minor wanting to pursue science journalism, I’m a little intimidated by the ideas of quantum physics, thermochemistry, or developmental psychology. Unfortunately, it’s the stigma that science is hard that keeps a lot of people out of it, and once they’re out, it’s difficult to get them back…

The more you read the more you know

By The Ithacan • March 1, 2013

  It’s another Ithaca winter and our minds are even more frozen to what’s going on outside these woods. As we sit in class and doze off or hit the snooze on our alarms and start to skip class we need to appreciate the education we’re fed. Instead of sleeping through class or blowing off…

It’s time to stop the sequester

By Rachael Hartford • March 1, 2013

Without further congressional action, on March 1 the sequester will take effect and will impose drastic across-the-board federal spending cuts that are meant to be evenly divided over a nine-year period and bring in a projected $1.2 trillion. These austerity-like cuts will decrease tax revenue and increase spending on benefits programs, like unemployment, further causing…

A week in photos — Feb. 28, 2013

By Ithacan Staff • February 28, 2013

Click to enlarge and view captions.

NASA search for life continues through budget cuts

By Amanda Hutchinson, Contributing Writer • February 28, 2013

Despite having been placed on the governmental back burner due to lack of funding, NASA and its work in space research has continued to be a hot topic. For the 2012 fiscal year, the space administration was allotted $17.8 billion in government funding, $648 million less than the previous year. This budget cut was largely…