A SCIENCE MAGAZINE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF PUGET SOUND
ISSUE 32 SPRING 2024
This magazine was produced on the unceded homelands of the Puyallup and Coast Salish Nations, who have lived on this land and been its stewards since the beginning of time. They continue to do so today. We recognize that this land acknowledgement is one small step towards true allyship, which must be followed by intentional reflection and action centering the Indigenous peoples of this land and beyond.
As both guests on this land and science students, it is our responsibility to educate ourselves on the role of science in the discrediting of traditional ways of knowing, the enforcement of a heteronormative white patriarchy, and the systematic erasure and forced removal of the people of this land. We inherit the responsibility of this history, and commit to using our platform to uplift voices historically silenced by science, and to actively fight against the injustices which continue today. We include information here about the harms specific to our institution to emphasize accountability and combat the common misconception that these issues only occurred elsewhere.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY OF PUGET SOUND’S HISTORY OF EUGENICS
HTTPS://HISTORYOFEUGENICS.PUGETSOUNDMUSEUM.ORG/
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY OF PUGET SOUND’S CONNECTION TO THE CUSHMAN RESIDENTIAL SCHOOL
The writing of this acknowledgement was very much a collaborative process that, crucially, not only broadened its scope, but also clarified its intent. What began as statements of fact about climate change became, in the next draft, assertions of values, followed by promises of action. It should be taken as just the start of a conversation, because there is much more to do along these lines. I would encourage you to think of it as a little like a communal prayer: it’s something the best versions of us dare to believe in. In fact, I think an acknowledgement that contains an apology, as this one does, has the potential to build community in unique ways. Of course, it’s right and fair to apologize when we have done something wrong (how else can trust be built?). But an acknowledgement that recognizes misdeeds can also lift up unheard voices it’s the enemy of erasure. And it can invite others to share their values and aspirations too.
- Steven Neshyba
“We deeply regret the extreme hardships that coming generations of people and non-humans will endure as a result of the present-day damage being inflicted on the global climate system. We recognize that this damage is a known consequence of the pervasive exercise of wealth-enabled carbon privilege, perpetuated by the economic and ideological dominance of Western colonialist nations. We recognize that BIPOC/marginalized communities are most vulnerable to the harms of climate change, and do not share the same burden of responsibility. We commit to exercising our individual agency and our collective power now, to build the best possible future and avert the worst consequences of climate damage.”
- Steven Neshbya, Climate Alliance of the South Sound, and Elements Team
The University of Puget Sound is currently in a Climate Action Planning process being led by Lexi Brewer, our director of sustainability. The plan will identify the barriers we need to overcome and investments that need to be made to decarbonize our campus. Around 80% of campus is heated using fossil fuels, making up the majority of campus’ greenhouse gas emissions. Geothermal heating and cooling is being explored as a step to reaching net-zero emissions, replacing outdated natural gas systems in our residence halls.
LEARN MORE ABOUT GEOTHERMAL ON OUR CAMPUS
Video created by Tia Böttger, Tatum Bunnett, Nicole Mannix, and Ethan Holst. The target decarbonization year of 2025 was an earlier aspirational goal that didn’t have technical analysis to back up its feasibility. The current Climate Action Planning process will determine a new appropriate date.
Have an idea to improve sustainability on campus? Green Fund can provide up to $10,000 for eligible projects.
Elements Staff
Co-Editor in Cheif
Content Director
DOMINIQUE LANGEVIN
Co-Editor in Cheif
Design Editor
Copy Editor
Design Editor
Copy Editor
Outreach Manager
DENIZ KELEMET
JULIA VAHEY
BENNETT FITZGERALD
KATERINA WEARN
AYA HAMLISH
Letter from the Editor(s)
This issue is filled with humor and color (literally). We decided to forgo a theme, yet readers will find a unifying characteristic in the passion dedicated to each article, artwork, and crossword. The content of this issue is born of the individual interests, great loves, and unrelenting obsessions of each of our fantastic writers–this has in turn informed the diversity of approaches to each subject matter. Yet, once again, readers will find commonality in the interdisciplinarity applied throughout this issue. From virology, to transphobia, to color, to humanitarian crises; we have found that science consistently holds meaningful and important insights, yet alone cannot provide answers. It’s no secret that the scientific tradition in which we’re being trained has inflicted great harm upon many communities. By continuing to forge Elements in the interdisciplinary fire, we hope to play a part in the paradigm shift that will be required of our generation of scientists – a shift to a tradition of science that will expand and challenge what has historically been deemed “empirical”. A shift to a tradition of science that will prioritize community care, work in collaboration with artists, and actively advocate for the just application and interpretation of our findings.
In this, a leap year (see the Allium for an exhaustive review), we as editors cannot help but muse on the concept of time. In this time of cosmic interruption – after all, what is a leap year but a disruption to our calendar year – we naturally reflect on the trajectories of our own lives, and of course on the life of our precious Elements. The long-awaited February 29th fell on a Thursday this year (our weekly meeting day), and we couldn’t have been happier to spend one of our extra alloted 24 hours with our Elements community. The bonds we have formed, these moments crowded around computer screens, in front of chalkboards, or surrounding a pile of food, will persist throughout our lifetimes. To hold our magazine, the physical product of these moments, is to touch the time that each person contributed, and to feel the depth of skill and love that was poured into this work. To us, time is more than a fleeting entity, more than the distance between landmark moments. It is in this intermediary space where we grow as academics, scientists, and artists, where we build connections and learn from each other, experience joy and create meaning. No matter how far away from us you are in time or space, we hope you find as much pleasure in reading this 31st issue of Elements as we have found in creating it.
Deniz Kelemet & Dominique Langevin Co-Editors in Cheif
“The cosmos is within us. We are made of star-stuff. We are a way for the universe to know itself.”
-
The production of Elements Magazine is possible due to the funding of the Associated Students of the University of Puget Sound and the Green Fund. Printed and bound in Lakewood, WA at Print NW on FSC Certified 100% post-consumer recycled paper.
Puget Sound is committed to being accessible to all people. If you have questions about event accessibility, please contact 253.879.3931 or accessibility@pugetsound.edu, or visit pugetsound.edu/accessibility.
Lungie: Our Friend and Very Own Living Fossil
BY MIA STEINER
On the second floor of Thompson, nestled in the Natural History Museum, resides Lungie the Lungfish. Lungfish are creatures who live on both land and water. They resemble real life sea serpents, with a long fin on their back. They also have four leg-like appendages which can be used to walk.
Our friend Lungie made his grand entrance to the University of Puget Sound in 2014, as an example of evolution for a vertebrate biology class, and stayed as a campus favorite.
Some Background Information About Lungfish
Lungfish have been around for roughly 400 million years, giving them the nickname of “living fossils” (1). They provide an excellent example of evolution and the transition from aquatic life to land as they are “the closest extant relatives of terrestrial vertebrates (tetrapods)” (2).
What has allowed lungfish to survive for so long as a species is their possession of both gills and lungs, which allows them to harness oxygen in both water and air. The presence of lungs in fish is known as a biological adaptation, which is defined by National Geographic as “a physical change in an organism that develops over time” (1). There are only six different species of lungfish, and since many live in aquatic areas that can quickly dry up, the ability to breathe air in addition to water
provides a considerable advantage (3). This adaptation gives them more breathing options which is useful as their habitat and atmosphere changes.
In addition to the possession of lungs, these fish have also persisted through the act of estivation. Estivation can be compared to hibernation, as it’s an extended period of dormancy. Lungfish enter estivation when their habitat is too dry. To protect themselves, they dig through the earth and form a layer of skin that resembles a cocoon, then they cover themselves in mud. This becomes their living space while they wait patiently for water and moisture (1).
Fun Facts
with Michal Morrison-Kerr & Lungie
In preparation for this profile on lungfish and Lungie, I spoke with Michal Morrison-Kerr, the Biology Storeroom Coordinator. She’s been taking care of Lungie and keeping him healthy and happy since he arrived here. After spending ten years together, Morrison-Kerr has gotten to know Lungie pretty well. When asked about his personality, Morrison-Kerr shared, “The word ‘goober’ comes to mind." During our conversation, Morrison-Kerr showed me around Lungie’s tank, fed him, and shared numerous fun facts about lungfish. While feeding Lungie she told me that while estivating, lungfish can go for up to three years without food. When we discussed the warning sign on his tank relating to potential bites, Morrison-Kerr told me that lungfish have plates in their mouths instead of teeth. And during discussion of his activity and behavior, Morrison-Kerr informed me that most lungfish are nocturnal, a stereotype Lungie shatters.
While giving me the tour of Lungie’s tank, Morrison-Kerr told me about his care. Lungie’s tank has two different filtration systems as well as a nitrogen generator keeping his home clean, which is necessary as he is a pretty messy fish. Part of keeping the tank clean also means water tests twice weekly. Lungie used to have various plant friends, but ended up destroying them all, which is why his plant company now exists as a backdrop that is safe from Lungie tantrums. Lungie is fed twice weekly in the form of worms or shrimp. As
a lungfish that has never had the need to estivate and lower his number of meals, Lungie would most likely get pretty hangry if he had to go three years without a snack.
The process of watching Lungie eat is quite entertaining, and he clearly loves feeding time despite the work he must put toward it. When I joined Lungie for brunch, it took him a few minutes just to locate his worms and he needed a bit of assistance from Morrison-Kerr. As he consumes his meals, he usually ends up getting a few rocks caught in his mouth too. The process of chewing involves filtering out the rocks and spitting out his food a couple of times before finally swallowing it. As he chews, Lungie’s eyes also flit back slightly, which gives the impression that he’s dramatically blinking.
In order to eat and chew, lungfish don’t use teeth like most animals, but instead have plates in their mouth. These plates also have the ability to administer painful bites, which Lungie has unleashed on Morrison-Kerr a couple of times during their time together. He has a darker side and can be quite aggressive when anything or anyone enters his personal bubble. Lungie’s sign warding off fingers in his tank should definitely be heeded.
Lungie differs from most lungfish when it comes to being nocturnal, because he’s not. His daytime visitors can see Lungie twisting, turning, and exploring his plastic tube as he swims around his home. He has a lively and active personality throughout most hours of the day and Lungie’s nighttime visitors have witnessed Lungie getting his beauty sleep during the later hours of the night. We definitely don’t mind that Lungie has adjusted his personal clock, as it means his daytime visitors have a greater opportunity to get to know Lungie and see his true self, a true self we all love dearly here at the University of Puget Sound.
PAINTING BY MAGNUS MANSFIELD
Beyond What’s in My Pants
A Critique of Biological Sex
BY ELIAS THIEMANN
A defining divide in United States politics has been the increasing cultural rift between conservatives and liberals. This rift has resulted in a so-called “culture war,” whereby social conservatives have introduced legislation around the nation aimed at restoring their ideal family and social structures in the American psyche. This legislation focuses largely on limiting what can be taught in American classrooms, what books can be checked out from libraries, and even what kinds of medical care American children are able to access. A primary focus of these culture wars has been the LGBTQ+ community – book bannings and limits on classroom curricula have focused largely on prohibiting discussion of sexuality and gender identity. Within this increasing trend of anti-queer legislation, attacks on transgender children have been by far the most pervasive; as of November 2023, 23 states have passed laws banning gender-affirming care for minors (1). Many of these laws contain provisions that limit transgender adults’ access to care as well (2). This legislation is largely driven by an understanding of sex as an unchanging, biological, and binary phenomenon. For example, a Tennessee law banning changes to sex designations on birth certificates and driver’s licenses defines sex as “a person’s immutable, biological sex as determined by anatomy and genetics existing at time of birth and evidence of a person’s biological sex” (2). This is, however, a deeply flawed assumption. Over the past decades, scientific evidence has shown that sex is by and large not an immutable, or even binary, phenomenon. Using examples of intersex individuals, trans people, and cisgender people, this article will demonstrate how sex really functions, and why the scientific community
has an obligation to advocate for trans people in this time of severe prejudice and discrimination. In order to argue this point, we must first construct an idea of what sex actually is. Here, the work of Anne Fausto-Sterling, a professor of gender studies and biology at Brown University, is extremely helpful. Fausto-Sterling identifies five layers of sex: chromosomal, fetal-gonadal, fetal-hormonal, internal reproductive sex, and genital sex (3). Each of these contributes to sexual development in a particular way – from XY, XX, XXY, or other chromosomal categories, to the development of internal reproductive sex characteristics such as ovaries or a prostate, to the external markers that define genital sex. Crucially, all these layers of sex develop at different stages along the fetal development timeline, and none presuppose a singular or binary sexual identification. Fausto-Sterling writes that in determining sex, “What matters . . . is not the presence or absence of a particular gene, but the balance of power among gene networks acting together in a particular sequence” (4).
Sex is therefore best understood as a set of overlapping characteristics, which combine to form the overarching markers we sort into sexed categories.
Understanding sex in this way in turn allows us to gain a far more nuanced understanding of how sex manifests itself across different individuals. As CN Lester, author of Trans Like Me points out, “all of these categories are sexed, and all are ‘biological.’ Why would any one category – chromosomes, for example – be given precedence over another? And why should it be a problem if some bodies combine a mix of traits?” (5). Turning to the experiences of intersex, trans, and cisgender individuals who have experienced sex in non-normative ways, we can further understand how these layers of sex interact.
By far the most common experience of non-normative sexual identification is that of intersex people. According to the Intersex Society of North America, the term refers to “a variety of conditions in which a person is born with a reproductive or sexual anatomy that doesn’t seem to fit the typical definitions of female or male” (6). According to Lester, intersex people are far more common than is generally assumed. Approximately 1 in 150 people are intersex, a probability on par with having green eyes (5). This statistic varies depending on how one defines intersex, however.
There are a wide range of characteristics, including possessing a micropenis or hormonal imbalance, that are sometimes treated as intersex conditions and sometimes not. This further illustrates how expansive sex truly is; if sex really was a strict binary, we would have no issue defining which traits count as intersex. The existence of intersex people on such a large scale, and the difficulties faced in determining who is intersex and who is not, calls into question the validity of a simple binary sex – if sex really is an immutable biological characteristic, why do so many people have traits that fall in between? As Lester puts it, “The existence of sexes beyond a simple male/ female binary and the experiences of people who have been punished for falling outside these bounds, show us how our cultural understanding of what sex is warps the evidence of nature” (5).
Beyond the existence of intersex people, the experience of medical gender transition provides another crucial site of resistance to the idea of a sex binary1. Medical transitions can take a wide variety of forms, from hormone replacement therapy (HRT), to gender affirming surgeries, to laser hair removal. While transition is largely understood as a change in gender, and not sex, medical care for trans people has important effects on how sex characteristics manifest themselves. For example, my experience as a trans man taking testosterone has drastically changed how I relate to my sex. While I continue to have characteristics associated with the “female” sex – for instance, a vagina and ovaries, taking testosterone has also caused me to develop “male” sex characteristics – an Adam’s apple, facial hair, and a redistribution of body fat and muscle. Additionally, my health risks have in many ways changed to match those of cisgender men; for example, I am now more likely to develop heart disease than I was pre-testosterone. Given these changes, how do I (and other trans people undergoing medical transitions) define my sex? Where does my female-ness end and my male-ness begin? This illustrates how trans people not only challenge the concept of gender, but also that of sex, calling into question the validity of defining sex as “immutable,” as many anti-trans laws do.
1. I want to emphasize that not all trans people undergo medical transitions, and the decision not to do so in no way diminishes the validity of one’s transgender identity – that (some) medical transitions are accompanied by changes in sexual characteristics does not make that transition any more real than those that do not.
The final, and perhaps most important, area of resistance to the idea of the sex binary is perhaps the most surprising. Cisgender people, whether they realize it or not, also undergo gender affirming care. The clearest example of this is hormone therapy. Cis people are often prescribed hormones in response to various imbalances – from testosterone prescriptions for aging cis men, to testosterone blockers that can help some cis women with PCOS symptoms, hormone therapy is just as much a cisgender phenomenon as it is a transgender one. Given that hormone therapy alters one’s sexual characteristics, at what point is this considered a sex change? Is there really anything more “natural” about a cis person taking hormones to align themselves more closely to a sex they were assigned at birth than a trans person taking hormones to align themselves more closely to a sex they were not assigned? By critically engaging with these questions, we can create a far more expansive understanding of what “sex” really is, and how it relates to gender.
Gender theorists have long recognized that sex is just as socially constructed as gender – in their seminal work Gender Trouble, published in 1990, Judith Butler writes “Can we refer to a ‘given’ sex or a ‘given’ gender without first inquiring into how sex and/ or gender is given, through what means? And what is ‘sex’ anyway? Is it natural, anatomical, chromosomal, or hormonal, and how is a feminist critic to assess the scientific discourses which purport to establish such ‘facts’ for us?” (7). The time has come for the scientific community to take on this same critical eye when exploring means of social categorization. By engaging critically with the social and ontological norms that have created our understanding of sex, and by emphasizing the true expansiveness of human identity, the scientific community can offer a crucial source of support and legitimization for not only trans people, but all marginalized communities. Engaging substantively with Fausto-Sterling’s five layers of sex is only the first step along this road, but one that may prove life saving for the scores of trans people whose rights to gender affirming medical care are being stripped in the name of a one-dimensional, outdated understanding of biological sex.
Chameleons, Carrots, and Chemistry
The Art and Science of Color
BY MYAH STAUFFER
Color has created the very contrast that allows you to read the words on this page. Color has made your shirt identifiable to your friends across the quad. Color has likely invaded your cheeks when you accidentally call your professor mom. Color is everywhere, but for something so all-encompassing it is often overlooked. We take it for granted because it is familiar to us. Ironically, this perceived familiarity is a huge part of its unique complexity, because understanding exactly what color is depends entirely on who you ask. An artist would confidently tell you that color is a medium of expression, categorized by hue, chroma, and value. This definition sounds pretty solid, especially considering that artists spend the majority of their time working with and mixing colors. However, a physicist might come along and complicate things by telling you that color is simply a small range of the electromagnetic spectrum that humans can see. A biologist, on the other hand, would be less interested in the electromagnetic spectrum and more interested in how color is produced, encountered, and understood by organisms in the natural world. A chemist could help us hone in on how light interacts with rhodopsin, a protein present in the retina, and how that translates into a signal. Finally, to complicate the matter even further, a psychologist would interrupt all of these discussions by stating that color is not even a phenomenon of the physical world— it’s all in our heads. So where does that leave us with our seemingly basic question? Hopefully, both confused and curious.
If our goal is to shed light on these various understandings of color, we’ll need to begin by looking at light itself. Light is a type of electromagnetic radiation that is emitted when charged particles move (1). The electromagnetic spectrum measures and categorizes different types of radiation; visible light is a subsection of this spectrum. Color is understood to be encapsulated in the range of visible light from 400 - 700 nm (nanometers). Within this range, different wavelengths
of light appear as different colors to the human eye (1). For example, wavelengths of light measuring near 400 nm will appear blue whereas wavelengths of light around 700 nm will appear red. Light is also categorized by its wave-particle duality, meaning that light exists as indivisible units of energy which we call photons. Each of these units travels in a wavelike manner, which bestows light with characteristics of both waves and particles (1). This quality is particularly important when considering the reflectance and absorbance of light and how they impact the colors we perceive. When we look at a colored object, the color that we see represents the wavelengths of light which are reflected by that object (1). Put simply, the classic “red” color of many apples is a direct result of blue and green wavelengths being absorbed by the object, while red wavelengths are reflected. Fluorescent objects, on the other hand, produce their own light rather than absorbing and reflecting light from another source (1). This difference is where the idea of additive vs subtractive color comes from; subtractive color relies upon the reflection of wavelengths from other sources, while additive color makes its own light. A simple way to determine if something is an additive or subtractive color is to ask yourself, “is the color still visible when I turn off the light?” If the answer is no then it is a subtractive color. If the answer is yes then it is an additive color. By this logic, your phone screen utilizes additive color, whereas the poster hanging on your wall is subtractive color.
Chemistry
Color production is most commonly divided into two classes: pigment and structural color. A pigment is a molecule or compound that absorbs a particular wavelength of light and reflects another (1). Naturally occurring pigments give rise to the colors in our foods. For instance, beta-Carotene is responsible for the orange color in carrots. Synthetic pigments are often responsible for the colors in paints, such as prussian
blue; these pigments are designed and manufactured to display a particular color. All colors produced by pigment alone are “static” meaning that they do not change color when viewing angle changes. Structural color, on the other hand, is produced through physical interference of wavelengths, and diffraction (the extending of wavelengths around objects) (1). Examples of structural color are oil slicks and CD backs. In the case of an oil slick, the white light falling on the surface of the oil film is partially reflected by the top and bottom layer of the film (1). When the distance between the two layers of film is on the order of a wavelength of visible light, we see color. Therefore, the center of an oil slick, which is thicker, is often red, and the outer edges where the oil layer is thinner are more blue in appearance (below, 1).
A CD back is covered with optical grooves which are regularly spaced, once again on the order of a wavelength of visible light. As the viewing angle changes, the interference and diffraction of different wavelengths changes, thereby producing different colors (1). This is a key feature of structural color: viewing angle changes the perceived color.
Color production, however, means nothing without color perception. In humans, color perception is initiated by light interacting with photoreceptors in the retina. These photoreceptors are cells that send messages about vision to the brain. There are two types of photoreceptors in the eye: rods and cones. Each of the photoreceptors contains a complex that absorbs light, and is composed of a protein called opsin and a photopigment. Photopigments are molecules that undergo a chemical change after absorbing light. In a rod, the photopigment is retanal, and when combined
with opsin it is referred to as rhodopsin. When rhodopsin is hit by light, it undergoes a conformational change from a cis double bond to a trans double bond (below).
That conformational change sends a signal to the neurons, where it is interpreted by the brain. Humans have three different types of cones: short wavelength, medium wavelength, and long wavelength. These cones allow for the perception of blue, yellow, and red respectively. In these cones, there are three possible types of photopigment: S-retanal, M-retanal, and L-retanal. Each of these photopigments interact with short, medium, and long wavelengths of light respectively. Rods are highly sensitive to light, allowing for vision in low light environments, such as at night or in darkened rooms. Cones are less sensitive, making them more optimal in daylight vision. Cones are also responsible for color vision. This helps illuminate why we see fewer colors in dim lighting– because there is not enough light for our cones to pick up.
Connections
The brain is where things get complicated. Psychologists are deeply interested in the inner workings of our brain and how that information is compiled in our heads to visualize our surroundings and inform our behavior. Sensation, perception, and cognition are three terms often used in psychology to describe the way that our brain takes in and understands information from our environment. Sensation is the signal our brain receives based on the
stimulation of a receptor at a given location in the body; perception is how we use that signal to understand what is happening, and cognition is what we think it means. Sensation refers to the energy that exists in the environment which interacts with receptors. Another way of understanding these qualities is by comparing physical variables to their psychological correlates. Physical variables are measurable in the real world, whereas psychological correlates are experiences created by the brain (2). For example, wavelengths of light, light intensity, sound intensity, and sound frequency are all physical variables. Color, brightness, loudness, and pitch are their respective psychological correlates. These correlates are how our brain conceptualizes information about the world, however they are drastically different from the way that physical energy exists in our world. This is mindblowing, because it means we never actually experience the physical world around us; our perception is always limited by the types of energy we can take in and have receptors for. We have no direct access to the physical world other than our senses (2). This brings the question to mind: to what extent is color an aspect of the real world, external to ourselves?
Another interesting factor in color perception is the learning process; we learn to see the same way we learn language. We are constantly assessing how we see the world around us, just as a young child assesses how a word is used in different contexts and adjusts their future use. Our brain evolves to see the world in a way that is useful to us, and then applies those uses to future encounters (2). Because of our mental flexibility, the context in which we perceive things matters greatly when it comes to our subsequent understanding of them. For example, from past experiences we may come to understand that colors in shadow appear darker than they actually are; this may cause us to make assumptions about depth and dimension. For instance, if you were to come across a drawing of a hole on the ground, you would likely apply your previous understanding of shadow and understand the “hole” as a genuine threat (at least for a moment). There are tons of videos of artists on Instagram and Tikok using this brain behavior to create brilliant optical illusions.
Optical illusions can also be simple, as demonstrated by the phone game samesamediffierent. In this game you are presented with two colored rectangles on backgrounds of contrasting colors. You are then asked to decide if the two colors are the same or different. The image to the right shows a possible color combination from the game.
It may be hard to believe, but the two thin rectangles are actually the same color! In this example, our brain enhances the differences between the color of the rectangles and their backgrounds, making it much more difficult for us to perceive the rectangles as identical. Essentially, our brain tries to figure out the color of an object by comparing the reflectance properties of the object to its surroundings, while also factoring in our understanding of color from past experiences. This is why our brain can become susceptible to illusions (2).
Catalogs
One of the most interesting aspects of color studies is the impact of language on how we recognize and see color. We have now created language to distinguish enough colors to fill entire catalogs to describe what was once simply lumped under the category of “blue” or “red”. However, this was not always the case. Color language developed slowly over time, changing how we see our world in fascinating ways. Studies of ancient texts and writings reveal unexpected uses of color that puzzled academics until the influence of language on color perception became clear (3). For example, the sky was often described as red before the word for blue was created. Interestingly, every known language has adopted or created terms for colors in the same order: black, white, red, yellow, blue (3). This order is dictated by the ease of creating each color, with blue being the most difficult to create and therefore the last term to be adopted. This sequence of vocabulary adoption perfectly matches the color descriptions found in ancient texts. This discovery led to the understanding that people need words in order to distinguish colors. Another example of this can be seen in the Himba people, who are Indigenous to Northern Namibia. The Himba people do not have a word for blue in their language. Therefore when asked to spot the difference in a collection of blue and green hues, they are unable to differentiate between them (3). The Himba people
are physiologically capable of seeing blue, but without the word to describe it, they do not distinguish it (3). It appears that having a category for something allows us to notice it in greater detail (3). In other words, having a name or category for a color unlocks our ability to see it.
Chameleons
Most conversations about color centralize human vision and the ways that color benefits us. However, biologists—especially animal behavior biologists—are much more interested in what color means to the animal kingdom. Biologists view color in terms of the sender, the signal, and the receiver. The sender is the colorful organism. The signal consists of the wavelengths of light reflected off the colorful organism and traveling through the environment to the receiver, which is the organism perceiving the colorful organism. This view of color comes with different questions at each stage: how is the color of the sender produced? How is the signal transmitted and altered by the environment? How does the receiver perceive the signal and how does that alter their behavior? The first question brings us back to our earlier discussion of color production. Once again the options for color production are pigment, or structural color. For example, crabs, cardinals, and many other orangish-yellow organisms get their color from carotenoids, which are pigments that are acquired through diet. This provides insight into the question of how color perception can change a receiver’s behavior. Since color produced by pigment often comes from an organism’s diet, vibrant color may indicate an effective forager or a healthy individual, often influencing mating choices and hierarchy establishment. On the other hand, some animals get their color from micro structures (below).
Iridescence in animals such as hummingbirds comes from structural color. Beyond that, structural color and pigments can even work in tandem to create more color options. The chameleon is a master of creating a multitude of color options within seconds. This is
due to the placement of melanophore and the order of iridophore. Melanophores are specialized cells that contain melanosomes, which are membrane bound vessels filled with the pigment melanin, which is responsible for dark colors. Iridophores are cells made of thin stacks of protein which function as multilayer reflective plates. As melanophores move, the coloration of the chameleon lightens and darkens. And as the ordering of iridophores changes, the reflective properties of these protein stacks changes as well. When these two factors are changed at the same time, a vast number of color combinations becomes possible, giving rise to the incredible camouflaging ability of chameleons.
There are multiple elements that can impact how the signal is transmitted, altered, and perceived. This means that the color reflected is not always the same as the color perceived by the receiver. Ambient light, the reflectance spectrum itself, distortion or degradation in transmission, and the spectral sensitivity of the receiver all impact the final color that is perceived by the receiver. That brings us to the final piece of the animal kingdom puzzle: the receiver. If the receiver is a human, then you can simply refer back to the previous section on color perception. However, various animals have widely different color vision (3). For example, dogs are dichromates, meaning they only have two types of cones (short and medium), so they only see blue and yellow (3). Meanwhile, sparrows and many other bird species are tetrachromats, meaning they have 4 types of cones and can therefore see ultraviolet light, which is more than humans can perceive (3). Craziest of all is the Mantis shrimp, which has the most complicated visual system of any animal, with a grand total of 16 cones (3).
Carrots
I am here to say that there is some truth to the statement, though I will admit—unfortunately, carrots will not provide super human night vision like we may have imagined as children. The reality is that carrots gain their orange color from a pigment called beta-carotene. When we consume carrots, our body can convert beta-carotene into vitamin A, which is then converted into retinal and combined with opsin to make rhodopsin. Our body has no way to produce vitamin A on its own, so in a sense, our night vision is reliant upon a diet including foods like carrots which contain pigments that can be converted into photopigments in our eyes. Basically, while carrots may not give us superhuman night vision, they do provide us with a molecule that we need in order to see at night. This is also true for the photopigments that are involved in color vision, S-retanal, M-retanal, and L-retanal. Since these pigments are typically present in colored foods
like carrots and tomatoes, we all benefit from eating a rainbow of foods.
Connotations
Color psychology can be seen all over, from social media to interior design to the pages of scientific journals. Everyone is fascinated by the social, emotional, and physiological responses that are elicited by color perception. Red in particular is a strongly evocative color that induces varying responses in different contexts (4). Historically, red has been used as a symbol for fertility, as well as for lust, passion, and war in ancient Greek mythology (4). In ancient Roman mythology, red was associated with courage, while in Egyptian mythology red took a darker meaning eliciting connotations of destruction. Red ochre is used in wedding ceremonies in some African countries, and it is the standard wedding dress color in several countries, such as in China, India, and Vietnam (4). In the United States, red is commonly associated with love, sexual attraction, and romance—especially given that red is tightly connected with Valentine’s day (roses, red heart boxes, ect), lingerie, and romantic mood lighting (4). Physiologically, red is connected with blushing and sexual arousal through the reddening of the skin, which is common in romantic and sexual interactions (4). Many studies have shown that men perceive women as more attractive when they are wearing or surrounded by red (4). In achievement contexts, such as academics, red is associated with danger–whether that is actual danger or, more likely, danger of failing (5). Physiologically, many animals (including humans) display red as an indicator of aggression and dominance (5). Finally, in sports, red is associated with strength and dominance (5). Many studies have found that teams or athletes wearing red are more likely to win or perform better (5). In addition to influencing social and emotional responses, color has been found to influence flavor perception as well. Similar to how context can cause our brain to perceive visual illusions, expectation can influence the flavor we perceive (6). In this sense, your brain makes predictions about the flavor it expects to taste based on the color it sees. This in turn influences the flavor you perceive. One study found that participants were statistically more likely to misidentify the flavor of a given drink if its color did not align with the expected flavor (6). For example, a red colored lemon/lime flavored drink was more often misidentified as a cherry flavored drink when it was colored red (6).
Conclusions
I sincerely hope that you were not expecting a simple answer to the “what is color?” question. The one thing I can say is, color is complicated.
Color is light and beauty and expression and, in many ways, only real in our heads; yet it can influence behavior, inspire ideas, and move people to tears. Color is deeply connected to a rich variety of different disciplines, from physics, chemistry, and biology, to art, history, and language.
To box all that color is into one simple definition would be a disservice to the vast, interdisciplinary magnitude that it encompasses. Perhaps it would be simpler to strip it down to a single sentence, but where is the fun in that? Studying and understanding the diverse facets of color allows us to better appreciate the many ways it enriches the world around us. For that reason, I am grateful for the complexity of color and the beauty that can be found within it.
BY MEGAN RIEHLE
Quilted cotton fabric colored with 100% organic dyes. Each textile is sewn in thread of its complementary color
Beetroots and Gym Bros
An Exercise Science Senior’s
Retrospective’s
BY DENALI NELSON
Capstone Analysis
Beets. Might make you think of a dirty pink veggie or maybe Dwight Shrute. They’re a strange plant that grows in the ground that few people consume on a daily, weekly or even yearly basis. However, in recent years beets have gained many stans in the exercise science community because of the chemical properties they possess. One of the more notable compounds is nitrate, which is known to enhance intense exercise, decrease fatigability, and increase muscular endurance. Through the pathways this root takes to be broken down, it essentially aids the body in re-supplying oxygen at a quicker rate. That is why beet supplements have become so popular with the gym bros who have way too much free time. What better way to test this phenomenon than by forcing all our classmates to indulge in our curiosity in our senior capstone course.
For this study, we brought in the highest caliber of athletes this campus has to offer: those who frequently hit the UPS gym. In order to truly test their strength, we had them participate in a YMCA bench press test (no, not the iconic dance move, although that might have been more entertaining for us). We racked the bar with weights and made them bench press for as long as they could while keeping in beat with annoying metronome clicks moving at an alarmingly quick rate. They were instructed to push reps out until they literally couldn’t lift the bar anymore. This would provide us with information on their endurance and levels of fatigue. After torturing
our unpaid participants, we dragged them back a week later. This time we made them drink the vibrant, flavorful, magenta beverage known as beetroot juice. Three hours after drinking beetroot juice, participants conducted the same exact test once more. Ideally (and according to previous literature) they would have newfound superman strengths.
And now, the results are in! After pouring over spreadsheets, crunching the numbers, numerous intellectual debates, and making many inspiring graphs and interesting charts, we have now learned that there were very little effects in our subject population. This could be due to a number of factors–general tiredness from the semester, the time of day we conducted our study (butt-crack of dawn), or perhaps the fact that we only gave them one supplement dose rather than multiple over the course of the week. Interestingly enough, the majority of our participants gave feedback to us that using the supplement made the test feel easier compared to the first time. This is likely some sort of placebo effect, although we will never know for certain.
Now we know that eating root vegetables from the backyard may or may not actually provide scientifically proven benefits. While my entire 4 years of studies cultivated into one project may have not presented many significant results, it was still a fun experience to pretend to be a real scientist for a few weeks. I am sad to say however that I will not be published in any academic journals anytime soon. Despite this tragedy, we will at least have something to show for it: make sure to keep your eyes peeled on the third floor of Weyerhaeuser Hall for a hot-off-thepress poster with my name on it.
BY
BELINDA GARROW
Gardeners Anonymous
BY AYA HAMLISH
Have you found yourself visiting the same places in Tacoma over and over again? Are you tired of visiting Point D every weekend and sick of seeing the Sound from Owens Beach? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then this article might be for you.
I am a self-titled Tacoman who has explored the many sights our city has to offer. In this guide, I will share four of Tacoma’s best-kept secret locales, along with a memory of my first visit to each spot. But be warned: by exploring these places, you’ll be putting yourself at risk of massive relaxation and euphoria.
Kandle Park - 2323 N Shirley St, Tacoma, WA 98407
Kick it at Kandle Park, located in northwest Tacoma. It’s a great place to spend the day, with plenty of amenities to enjoy such as a skate park, wave pool, playground, and splash pad. There are also lots of trails and grassy areas in which to relax and soak up the sun.
Two years ago, when my friends and I were enjoying a Tacoma summer, we found Kandle Park. The park had everything we were looking for - a place to rest, trails to walk, and a skate park where it was socially acceptable to Ripstick. Needless to say, we spent many evenings in the park, attempting to come up with Ripstick tricks that had never been seen before and will never be seen again.
Thea’s Park - 535 Dock St, Tacoma, WA 98402
Take a drive down Schuster Pkwy and you might just find yourself at Thea’s Park: a small park with waterfront views featuring a grass patch, walking path, rocky beach, and art installation. The park is currently undergoing construction, but soon there will be a path that connects the park to The Museum of Glass and the rest of the waterfront.
It was the fall of my sophomore year in college, and my friends and I were craving boba. We drove to Boba Lust, our favorite boba spot in Tacoma. After picking up our drinks, we were driving back to
campus when suddenly we saw a dimly lit sign for Thea’s Park. Naturally, we were curious and decided to turn into the parking lot to check it out. We got out of the car and explored the area. At first, there didn’t seem to be much to do; the small patch of grass was brown and wasn’t even large enough to fit our group of four. But what sets Thea’s Park a-park from the rest is its views of the Sound. We returned a week later, right before sunset, and the sights were spectacular. We got a 180° view of the Sound, not to mention a clear view of Mount Rainier.
North 23rd Street Bridge - 2601-2799 N 23rd St Bridge, Tacoma, WA 98406
March over to the bridge on N 23rd Street, located in Tacoma’s north-end neighborhood. While the bridge itself doesn’t have much to offer, what lies below it is a totally different story. Don’t worry, there aren’t any trolls under this bridge. Instead, you’ll find a gully where many locals like to go “gorging” in during the dry months.
The summer going into my sophomore year of college, I decided to be an orientation leader– a choice I may or may not regret to this day. On the last day of orientation training, co-leads were asked to dress up as dynamic duos and meet at the bridge. My co-lead and I chose Rick and Morty, but honestly our costume was ambiguous enough that we were often confused as Arthur and Baxter. We met up at the sub and began our walk to the bridge. Unbeknownst to us, our orientation coordinators had decided that each duo would be allotted one minute to catwalk across the bridge to a song of our choice. My co-lead and I chose the Rick and Morty Soulja Boy song, and no, we didn’t do the TikTok dance. We walked, struck a
couple of poses, then quickly returned to our seats on the ground.
Point Defiance Dog Park- Five Mile Rd, Tacoma, WA 98407 (right)
Missing your furry friend? Check out the Point Defiance Dog Park, conveniently located along the five-mile drive. This park boasts covered outdoor seating, a fenced-off 7-acre piece of land, and numerous trails that connect it to the rest of Point D.
Last summer, my friend and I brought our dogs, Patches and Cooper, to the Point Defiance dog park on a chaperoned date. I don’t want to go into too much detail, but let’s just say they’re mutts for each other.
We were enjoying the dog park with our furry friends when we noticed a trail that seemed to lead down to the water. As we walked down the trail, we lost sight of the water and soon found ourselves in an un-fur-miliar area that turned out to be private residential land. Once we realized our mistake, we high-tailed it out of there. Although the exact details of what happened next are a bit hazy, we had an amazing time and I’m sure you will too.
Tacoma has many incredible sights and offerings, but the only way to discover them is to get outside and explore. I urge the readers of this article to do just that: go off campus and explore everything that Tacoma has to offer.
Leaping Through Time
BY AMY FISHER WITH PHOTOGRAPHY BY MAX KETTERER
Although the calendar year in most geographical areas is 365 days long, it actually takes the Earth 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, 45 seconds (or 365.2422 days) to orbit the Sun! This has created challenges for timekeeping. Different cultures have developed different calendar systems to deal with the fact that the year is not a whole number of days. Here are two examples:
The Gregorian Calendar – established in 1582 and named for Pope Gregory XIII, this is the most commonly-used calendar in the twenty-first century. The Julian calendar, proposed by the Roman military and political leader Julius Caesar in 46 BCE, assumed a sidereal or solar year of exactly 365.25 days and, to compensate for this extra 0.25 day, incorporated a leap year once every four years. Slowly over time, however, the Julian calendar drifted by about 8 days every 1000 years. In contrast, the Gregorian calendar fit the solar year better. How? It defined a leap year as a year divisible by four, “except for years that are exactly divisible by 100, but these centurial years are leap years if they are exactly divisible by 400.” In other words, the years 1800 and 1900 were not leap years but the year 2000 was (1).
The Ancient Mesopotamian Calendar – used in the city-state of Babylon in Mesopotamia (located in modern day Iraq), this culture had a calendr year that fluctuated in length between 12 and 13 lunar months, following the observation that the phases of the Moon repeat at the same time of year every 19 years. A lunar month – the time it takes the Moon to move through its phases, e.g., from new moon to new moon – is approx. 30 days long. Observing the motions of the stars, Babylonian astronomers also defined the circle to have 360º and each month to have 30 days because 12 x 30 = 360º (2). But that pesky extra 0.2422 day per year required some innovative solutions!
MARCH 18TH 2024, 9:30 PM
MARCH 18TH 2024, 12 AM
UNIVERSITY OF PUGET SOUND OBSERVATORY
At-Home Genetic Testing: Promises and Pitfalls
BY JULIA VAHEY
Direct-to-consumer genetic testing services such as 23andMe and Ancestry.com are booming in popularity, with over 20 million consumers having sequenced portions of their genomes through these services (1). The at-home genetic testing market is valued at billions of dollars and has reached mass popularity in the United States-
...if you haven’t had your genes sequenced through these platforms you definitely know somebody who has.
At-home genetic testing is a fairly recent phenomenon: 23andMe launched in 2007 (2), and Ancestry.com’s AncestryDNA service launched in 2012 (3). Because of the recency and novelty of these platforms, the long term effects of widespread genetic sequencing have yet to unfold. While at-home genetic sequencing may bring many benefits to consumers, there are also serious risks associated with at-home sequencing and social implications to widespread ancestry-based sequencing. Here I aim to explore different impacts of at-home genetic testing and both benefits and concerns with the rise of these tests. While at-home genetic sequencing platforms advertise the ability to provide information about an individual’s genetic ancestry, they also can provide information about detectable genetic diseases, informing consumers of potential health risks that may have otherwise gone unnoticed. Through 23andMe’s “Ancestry + Health” service, which costs an additional $100 beyond the basic Ancestry testing service, consumers are provided health information including susceptibility to common genetic diseases and predisposition to conditions such as anxiety,
depression, ADHD, breast cancer, colorectal cancer, coronary artery disease, high blood pressure, melanoma (skin cancer) and more (2). 23andMe also provides information about genetic diseases you could pass on to offspring and personal lifestyle factors such as muscle composition and potential allergy risks.
One current flaw with the use of at-home genetic tests as health tools is the fact that these tests aren’t fully accurate. This is because the most popular direct-to-consumer genetic testing options like 23andMe and Ancestry.com analyze DNA via arraybased genotyping, rather than genome sequencing. Array-based genotyping involves selecting certain gene variants to analyze, focusing on a small portion of someone’s genes through the lens of already-known genetic variants (1). Genome sequencing involves analyzing an entire individual’s genome, ‘reading’ all of their genes.
One study published in 2021 examined the accuracy of genetic testing for the genetic cardiovascular disease Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) and compared array-based genotyping to genome sequencing. They found that 69% of individuals with FH markers that were detected by genome sequencing went undetected by genotyping (4). The rate of false negatives was higher in Hispanic individuals, with 85% of FH-associated genes going undetected, and highest in Black individuals, with 94% of FH-associated variants missed by genotyping tests (4).
Another clear benefit of undergoing genotyping services such as 23andMe is how these services can benefit people who don’t know their own familial history. Adoptees have made headlines finding their biological parents or family through Ancestry.com and 23andMe, connecting to their roots in ways that wouldn’t be possible without the popularization of these services. Even for adoptees
who don’t wish to find their biological relatives, their family’s medical history may be completely unknown. Although genotyping services cannot provide a full, in-depth analysis, they can be a useful tool to empower people with more knowledge of their own genetic predispositions.
The population-wide increase in DTC genetic testing means that it’s more and more common for adoptees and people without much knowledge of their biological family to find both close and distant relatives on ancestry-related platforms. However, a side effect of these growing genetic databases is that peoples’ genetic information is becoming less and less private. Before sequencing and genotyping technology was developed, your genome was yours alone – something you inherit from your ancestors and pass on to future offspring. Your genome contains the biological “story” of your family, hosting a collection of adaptations that ensure your survival, to this day. Now that millions of people’s genetic variants are online and stored in the databases of private corporations, privacy and protection of genetic data is a serious concern.
Data breaches and stolen genetic information may become increasingly common; in October 2023, hackers breached 23andMe. Not only were these hackers able to obtain the confidential information of around 14,000 customers, but also information regarding those customers’ “DNA Relatives,” allowing them to access information from over 5.5 million other customers. As of now, the raw genetic data associated with those customers is safe, but that doesn’t mean the breach had zero consequences; the hackers extracted information such as customers’ names, family history, reported ancestry, and reported health predispositions (5).
Although this major data breach didn’t result in the extraction of raw genetic data, it reveals a major vulnerability with the public’s genetic information being stored on private servers. You can be identified using the DNA of a first, second, or even third-cousin. Researchers from Columbia University determined that you only need 2% of a target population’s DNA to be sequenced for nearly every person in that group to be identifiable by at least a 3rd-cousin match (6). It’s estimated that for individuals of European descent in the United States, 60% of searches for familial matches will come up positive, and that all future European-American
descendants’ DNA can be matched to at least a 3rd cousin (6).
Law enforcement agencies are already taking advantage of this fact, using data from these 3rd party direct-to-consumer services to solve cold cases and identify the DNA of suspects. One of the most infamous examples of this was the use of third-party genomic data to identify the Golden State Killer. Detectives determined the identity of the serial killer by uploading genetic data gleaned from the DNA of crime scenes, revealing a 3rd-cousin who had used genotyping services. Long-range familial searches, which involve finding suspects through their distant genetic relatives using 3rd-party genotyping data, are likely to become a standard tool in criminal investigations.
There is some legislation in place to protect your genetic information. GINA, or the Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act, was designed by Congress to prevent discrimination based on genetic information, but serves largely to protect the privacy of genetic test results (7). GINA prevents insurers from requesting genetic information and prevents employers from discrimination based on genetic information such as BRCA gene status, which is associated with breast cancer. These government protections are an important tool for anyone who’s taken or considering taking a genotyping test, as they can prevent health insurers or employers from taking advantage of genetic predispositions that are discovered through 23andMe or AncestryDNA. However, protections from data misuse, such as data leaks, are not specifically protected and consumers are reliant on the practices private companies choose to enact (8).
Ultimately, the choice to test one’s genetics is individual and there are many factors contributing to the decision. It’s important for consumers to understand the risks and protections in place regarding their genetic data. The claims made by these services about health and ethnicity are not 100% accurate but are instead based on current research surrounding a small portion of the full human genome. In a world where platforms like 23andMe and AncestryDNA promise to uncover our ancestry and health risks through the mere act of spitting in a tube, should we pause and reflect? What price are we willing to pay to unlock the secrets within our DNA?
Flora of Palestine
BY DENIZ KELEMET
ART BY BELINDA GARROW
Countless lives have been lost in Gaza since Israel launched its military bombardment in October. Media outlets have displayed horrific images of the injured and decreased, in what is now being considered “the first live streamed genocide”. Alluded to in these conversations of genocide, though less discussed, are considerations of the environment. More specifically, how many Israeli policies have imposed an astronomical environmental cost on Palestinians and their land in a decadeslong campaign of oppression that experts claim constitute environmental apartheid. Water contamination and access, waste disposal and sacrifice zones, deforestation, and carbon emissions are just a few topics discussed in this essay.
Scan the QR code to read more.
The Us In Virus
Behavior-Altering Viruses: Mechanisms, Free Will, and Sense of Self
BY DOMINIQUE LANGEVIN
Many viruses that infect humans have the ability to alter our behavior. Respiratory viruses such as influenza and SARS cause their hosts to sneeze and cough in order to maximize their spread, and the most well known behavior-altering virus is likely rabies, which induces terrifyingly aggressive behavior accompanied with the desperate need to bite. However, little is known about how rabies actually causes these behaviors, as once a host begins to show clinical symptoms, the fatality rate is 99% (1). Though the mechanisms of rabies are currently inaccessible, there are a number of other behavior-altering viruses that have been studied in depth over the past few decades. The ways in which these viruses alter the behaviors of their insect or animal hosts to increase their transmission sheds light on how viruses could potentially alter human behavior. The development of neurobehavioral disorders and the genetic changes induced by these viruses raise questions about the extent to which humans, and all other organisms, are in control of their own actions (2, 3).
A well-studied model for behavior-altering viruses is the baculovirus. This virus can be dated back to the early silk industry, as its primary hosts are invertebrates such as silkworms. Its major impact on the commerce of the time made it a well-documented virus, and it was therefore easily studied with the advent of modern scientific technologies (4). The baculoviridae family induces summiting behavior in its hosts before they die, causing them to climb towards the top of their plant and disintegrate into a black goo. Contrarily, uninfected individuals climb towards the bottom of the plant to lay eggs. The virus-induced behavioral change maximizes the virus spread through the melting of the host onto the rest of its species below and its increased contact with predators from above.
The host specificity of baculoviruses make them easy to use as a form of population control (5). Despite having been used in this way for decades, the mechanism by which the virus causes the summiting behavior, or phototaxis, that is so useful in controlling insect populations was only recently uncovered. By putting H. armigera caterpillars in conditions of darkness and blindness, researchers found that the virus was specifically targeting their photoreception pathways. These caterpillars use light cues in order to understand which way is up and which is down, as the direction of the sun is associated with the direction of the best food. By activating those pathways in the absence of light, the virus can make the caterpillars climb regardless of the light conditions or developmental stage they are in. The light-sensitive proteins in the eyes of caterpillars are opsin proteins, and qPCR genetic analysis found that three opsin genes were being upregulated by the virus. This suggests that the increased expression of light-sensitive proteins was the cause of the behavioral change. The findings were confirmed by using CRISPR technology to knock out these genes; infected caterpillars with the inactivated opsin genes did not exhibit the expected phototaxic behavior (6). Before this study, it had been discovered that hosts infected with a baculovirus variant that contained a gene deletion did not exhibit the abnormal phototaxis seen in hosts infected with the wild type strain (7).
These findings point towards a theory of behavioral control by viruses that is entirely based on genetic regulation, in which behavior is just another trait that can be switched on and off.
Another virus that alters the behavior of a host to increase its spread is the Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus (BYDV). This virus stunts the growth of a variety of cereal crops around the world (8). Like baculoviruses, BYDV alters insect behavior to increase its spread, however in this case the insect is not the virus’s actual host, but rather a vector for the virus to travel between plants. The vector of choice for this virus are aphids, small insects which feed on plant sap. Aphid species Rhopaloshipum padi often colonize cereal crops and
therefore are one of the virus’s main vectors, making them the most common model to study BYDV (9). When researchers fed aphids either infected or non-infected plants, they found that aphids fed infected plants preferred to settle on non-infected ones, while aphids fed non-infected plants preferred infected ones. Both kinds of behaviors ultimately aid transmission of the virus. These results were replicated with aphids that were infected in a laboratory setting and membrane-fed, suggesting that the behavioral changes of infected aphids were a direct result of virus acquisition rather than environmental cues (10). In addition, while BYDV stunts plant growth, it simultaneously increases the levels of sterols, sugars, and amino acids in wheat sap (9). This offers an explanation as to why non-infected aphids prefer infected plants; they are a better meal. While the mechanisms by which the virus alters the behavior of infected aphids is yet to be discovered, the concept that viruses can induce preferential behaviors through changes to its host’s environment provides a broader view of how viruses can alter the behaviors of their hosts.
While insects are an ideal model to study the mechanistic effects of viral infection, there are plenty of viruses which alter the behavior of higher organisms. Borna Disease (BVD) causes Borna disease in mammals, which is characterized by fatal brain inflammation, or encephalitis. This virus has been observed primarily in horses and sheep, as well as in humans and rats (11). A study on the effects of BDV on anxiety, avoidance behavior, and emotionality in rats used tests such as shocks, acoustic startles, and an open field test to measure avoidance behavior. Furthermore, the brains of some subjects were removed and dissected to determine the extent of physical damage to certain regions. All tests suggested that BDV-infected rats show hyperreactivity to adverse
stimulation compared to non-infected rats, indicating that higher levels of anxiety cause higher levels of escape behaviors (12). It was also discovered that rats infected with BDV had increased levels of dopamine in their prefrontal cortices accompanied with a loss of dopamine reuptake sites in the nucleus accumbens, a key link between motor, emotional, and cognitive centers of the brain (13). The loss of reuptake sites is likely caused by cell death due to viral replication, with this loss causing the buildup of dopamine within the prefrontal cortex. Damage to this area caused by BDV would likely induce the observed hyperactive behaviors (12) as a result of this inability to process dopamine.
Between genetic, environmental, and physical mechanisms to alter behavior, viruses raise the question: how much of our behavior is our own?
A number of cases have been documented in which viruses have left residual effects on their human host’s nervous system, causing significant behavioral changes. Cases of encephalitis onset by viruses such as herpes simplex or Epstein-Barr caused patients to express uncharacteristic violent and sexual behaviors, and cases of HIV can lead to degenerative mental disorganization (14). What is striking about most of these cases that the patients are cited as believing that their actions are completely reasonable. Ultimately, viruses do not only affect behavior in order to increase their transmission; the damage they can cause to the central nervous system may persist for years, along with the associated behavioral changes.
Virus-induced behavioral change can be further understood by examining these effects through the lens of psychology. Microbes, viruses, and foreign human cells all have an effect on human behavior, but these effects are often overlooked in the fields of psychology and psychiatry (3). Retroviruses are viruses that use RNA to produce DNA, which gets incorporated into the genome of its host to be replicated when the host cell replicates (15). When the host cell replicates, this viral DNA likely makes up close to 8% of human DNA (3). These viruses have the ability to alter behavior and may be linked to neurological disorders, but humans also have the potential to “take advantage” of retroviruses to alter our behavior on purpose. A trial in which a leukemia retrovirus containing genes which promoted neural growth was given to patients with Alzheimers showed a decrease in the unwanted behaviors associated with the disease (3). Viewed through the lens of viruses’ ability to manipulate the genetic regulation pathways of its host (6), it is likely that retroviruses in the human genome exerted a similar effect at some point in history. This implies the possibility that genetically determined behaviors perceived as common may be due to viral effects. Despite most retroviral DNA being inactivated or silenced (15), a portion of that 8% retroviral DNA could be currently active and affecting behaviors of humans every day. These findings emphasize how psychologists should not keep a narrow view of behavior being solely brain-centered, but rather widen it to include recent discoveries in the fields of genetics and virology.
There are two different views of the “self” that tend to be held. One, that the self is innate–something that is immutable and true for the extent of one’s life, and the other that the self is built through the actions
one takes throughout their existence. Famously, Jean Paul Sartre’s philosophy posits that the self only exists because humans have the capacity for introspection, and one is only in existence when engaging in selfreflection (16). In his book Being and Nothingness, Sartre states “...the act of reflection alters the fact of consciousness on which it is directed” (17). This philosophy merges well with the discoveries in virology explored throughout this piece. The studies on virusinduced encephalitis and retroviral effects prove that the self is not immutable, that behaviors once thought to be completely out of the ordinary become ordinary through viral infection (14, 3).
Despite their small size and simplicity, viruses have the ability to alter behaviors of all kinds of organisms by causing genetic, environmental, and physical changes. With the knowledge that humans contain retroviral DNA, mechanistic studies are becoming increasingly important to understanding how these foreign objects in our genome are affecting us daily (6, 10). Further, explorations into the mechanisms by which a number of neurological viruses affect behaviors during and after infection provide insight into how the brain controls behavior in tandem with genetic factors (14, 12, 13). Humans are complex organisms, and much more research is needed to fully understand how viruses can have the drastic behavioral changes seen in diseases such as BDV, HIV, and rabies. Research to this point has focused on diseases such as these, which cause life threatening problems. With the conclusion that viruses cause behavioral change in such diverse ways, it is more than likely that they cause some that pass under the radar.
As time goes on, it will be important to consider not only what viruses are doing to harm the human species, but also what effects they may have that are perceived as neutral, or even symbiotic. A greater understanding of the full extent to which viruses alter behavior will not only allow for better treatment of viral disease, but also create a deeper understanding of how the brain, genes, and the environment interact to form what is thought of as the self.
Science Fiction to Reality
BY STELLA DORMER
Science fiction gives us the opportunity to go beyond the realm of the possible and explore a countless number of "what-ifs."
This is especially true when it comes to the technology represented in the genre of sci-fi. From artificial intelligence and automatic doors to holograms and hovercrafts, sci-fi pushes the boundary of imagination, which, in turn, pushes the boundary of reality. However, as our real-world technology keeps changing and updating, once impossible technology becomes cutting edge, then part of everyday life, and occasionally even outdated.
Some aspects of our daily lives used to be fiction… science fiction. Sometimes these factitious technologies were based on new emerging scientific and technological advancements, but other times they served as the inspiration that later led to groundbreaking real-life technology.
What’s New Becomes Old
While automatic doors may not be the first thing that pops into your head when you think of sci-fi technology, they were still dreamt up in a piece of fiction long before they became implemented in our everyday life. Published at the turn of the 20th century, The Sleeper Awakes by H.G. Wells casually mentions that when people of the future walked up to walls “a long strip of this apparently solid wall rolled up with a snap, hung over the two retreating men and fell again” (1). Additionally, some translations of The Iliad by Homer indicates the use of self-opening gates built by Hephesteus, suggesting that automatic doors were part of cultural knowledge well before The Sleeper Awakes (2). In 1931, Horace Raymond invented the optical technology that allows automatic doors to sense when someone is waiting for the doors to open (3). This was mainly implemented in restaurants to enable waiters to carry food and drink more easily (3). Then in the 1950s and 1960s, Lew Hewitt and Dee Horton invented the sliding glass door using a mat actuator (2).
Today, flip phones are old enough that they tend to pop up more often in museums than everyday use. Once upon a time, flip phones used to be the coolest, most futuristic piece of tech. The very first mobile flip phone, called the StarTAC flip phone, was released by Motorola in 1996 (5, right). The StarTAC phone takes inspiration from the 1966 Grillo Folding Phone which was similar in that they both folded, but the Grillo phone still depended on wall power (6). The idea of a flip phone is older still: the 1960s original Star Trek TV series predates both phones with the universe’s “communicators”(4). The first communicator appeared on air in 1964 on the episode “The Cage”. Over time, flip phones slowly evolved into the phones we know, love, and keep in our back pockets today. Nevertheless, old becomes new again as modern touchscreen phones, like the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3, fold just like a traditional flip phone.
From Past to Present: Holograms
Holograms seem to be a staple in popular science fiction. From Princess Leia’s holographic plea to Luke Skywalker in Star Wars, to Tony Stark’s hologram desk and workspace. How do these holograms actually work in practice? The term hologram has come to mean many things, especially in marketing. For the purposes of this section, we will consider a hologram to be a projected image. In two dimensional projections (like what you would find in a classroom or at a movie theater) the projector shoots out light towards the screen. These light particles are stopped by the screen and bounce back towards your eye. The same idea holds true for three dimension holograms. The challenge of creating holographic images is in finding a way to
effectively stop and reflect the light particles so they can bounce back to your eye. Unlike the movie screens, thin air cannot stop an image. Real world physics provides a few ways of circumnavigating this issue and lets us mimic the holograms we see in sci-fi. Granted, our holograms have a few more limitations.
Some of the holographic technologies that are commonly used today include Pepper’s Ghost, smokescreens, nets, spinning blades, and holographic film. Pepper’s Ghost is a technique developed by Henry Dircks and John H. Pepper in the 1860s, and is fairly common in haunted houses, DIY projects, and even rides at Disneyland. The hologram is created by centering an audience in front of a clear, diagonal piece of glass, adding light behind the glass and placing a lit ghostly object to the side of the glass (and out of view of the audience!) (8, right). The same trick is at play when you can see a friend walking behind you from the reflection of a window. Smokescreens create projections just like you think they would: the smoke in the air gives the light from the projector something to bounce off of, which then allows the image to take shape (8). Holographic nets work very similarly. A thin mesh net is placed where the projection is wanted and the rest of the room is kept dark. Any light that is bounced off the net then appears like a hologram (8, left). Spinning blades form a surface for light to be projected off of, but move fast enough that the parts of the blades that are not lit are not visible (9). Although they create a fascinating effect, be sure
not to touch them because these blades move pretty fast! There’s also holographic film that works like normal film, but when hit with a laser then focused through a lens, the light splits and forms a three dimensional image (9). However, this illusion only works from one view point and only with a still frame, so using it for 3-D movie nights in Thompson might have to wait. In more recent news, a few companies displayed their interpretations of cutting edge holographic technology at the 2024 Consumer Electronics Show (CES). Both LG and Samsung unveiled their latest attempts at transparent screens. LG uses OLEDs (Organic Light Emitting Diodes) which means that their projections do not require a specific background to create images (though the image is dimmer and harder to see without a solid dark background) and can thus be projected onto a clear screen (10). Samsung uses micro LEDS within clear screens to create their version of a transparent screen (12). While neither screens provide the stereotypical three dimension effect associated with the term “hologram” they do create more immersive projection experiences. Holobox unveiled their attempt at holographic teleconferencing called the Holoconnect. In this case, a three dimension-like image is displayed in the Holobox. Though the image is still technically two dimensions, a person standing in front of the box can appreciate the value of depth seen within the picture (14). Live teleconferencing was also displayed with Holoconnects at CES where some reported feeling as though they were having an in-person conversation.
So… What Next?
Science fiction can relate to technology from the past, and even some new inventions in the present. What’s most exciting though is how sci-fi can help us look ahead and envision the future. What could happen when we push past the limits of today and imagine what future technology could look like? How close are we?
Let’s start with a very popular (and very adorable) robot, Baymax from Big Hero 6 released in 2014 and directed by Chris Williams and Don Hall. These directors did a fair bit of research when creating this iconic movie. After traveling around to many different engineering programs, they found the perfect basis for their lovable, huggable robot: soft robotics. At the time, soft robotics was a new field emerging at Carnegie Mellon University and was characterized by inflatable technology (15). The engineering department was looking at how worm-like inflatable robots could be used, though it wasn’t very close to big screen Baymax. Nowadays, Carnegie Mellon has successfully built manipulators similar to robot arms, and are still working towards building a full blown robot like Baymax! An inflatable robot like Baymax would offer
many benefits, including being people-safe, clean, lightweight and extremely versatile (16). However there are some big challenges when it comes to making sure a Baymax robot would have the fine motor skills needed to administer medicine, as well as a successful (and not too creepy) artificial intelligence and personality. A sci-fi invention that highlights the increasing concern of climate change is the stillsuit from by Frank Herbert. As written, these suits are able to keep the body cool by recycling one’s water waste and running entirely off of the body’s energy. Yeah… we haven’t fully cracked that one yet. While we have figured out the technology to treat used water and make it drinkable again, it’s still a fairly large and imperfect system. NASA’s Urinary Processor Assembly and Water Processor Assembly (for collecting sweat and moisture from breath) takes many filters and loses roughly 2% of water (19). Energy is also a huge limiting factor. Your body cannot produce enough energy from heat and kinematics to properly power all of the advertised functions of a stillsuit. Additional energy sources would need to be added (17). Maybe solar panels will be the next big fashion statement… Not all hope for the stillsuits is lost! We do have new and innovative ways of keeping our bodies cool in hot temperatures; new cooling garments in the future will likely include water pouches and cooling tubes to utilize water’s high heat capacity to cool down the body (18). Unlike the tight fitting and dark colored stillsuits, future cooling garments will probably be big and flowy to allow for more breeze to reach the body (18). The materials will also use light colored or reflective materials to block out as much heat as possible.
Who knows how technology will continue to advance under the influence of science fiction? Maybe we’ll perfect the lightsaber or finally invent the shrink-ray. Sci-fi allows us to test out all these crazy new ideas and imagine worlds where the sky is not the limit! These technologies found on the bigscreens and in the pages of our favorite novels serve as inspiration for all sorts of engineers, inventors, and any type of creator!
ILLUSTRATION
BY BENNETT FITZGERALD
Recreation of multiple of Ernst Haeckel’s artworks, with the purpose of connecting to the designs while separating from the artist.
Cascading Through Time
A brief history of the volcanoes of the Pacific Northwest
BY LEAH ZARIN
When I first moved to Washington from Massachusetts, what struck me the most was the looming presence of mountains on the horizon. Before leaving I had done lots of research on the state, so these were not unexpected, but I was not prepared for the scale and majesty of the Cascades. I come from a place where the highest “mountains” would be considered no more than foothills here in Washington. I was especially shocked by the massive volcano (at least four times taller than the highest point in Massachusetts) seen peeking over trees and buildings throughout Tacoma, and wanted to learn more. This led me down a rabbit hole spanning millions of years and thousands of miles. I learned that Mount Rainier is not alone in its threatening grandeur. Spanning from Northern California to Southern British Columbia, the Cascade volcanoes account for some of the most recognizable peaks in the United States, including Mount Hood, Mount Saint Helens, and Mount Rainier. In this article, I will explain some geologic principles to provide a foundation for my discussion about the formation of the Cascades volcanic arc as a whole. I’ll specifically focus on Mount Rainier and some of the hazards associated with it.
To understand the Cascades volcanic arc, we first need a quick geology lesson. The earth’s crust and the uppermost layer of the mantle are divided into rigid sections of solid rock called tectonic plates. Collectively, this layer is called the lithosphere. The lithosphere floats atop a partially molten layer of the mantle called the asthenosphere; its molten nature allows plates to move freely. Interactions between tectonic plates are
responsible for many of the most recognizable features of the earth today, including oceans, landmasses, and mountain ranges. When an oceanic plate and a continental plate collide, the denser oceanic plate sinks into the mantle in a process called subduction. As it descends into the asthenosphere, it melts, and the molten rock, or magma, rises towards the surface. The rising magma melts through the overriding plate and mixes with it, changing its composition. When the magma reaches the surface, it forms volcanoes.
The earth’s crust and mantle contain a number of elements, but are composed mostly of silica, a compound composed of silicon and oxygen. Most rocks have a silica content between 45-70%. Rocks with lower silica content, also referred to as a basaltic composition, are denser and darker colored. Those with higher silica content, or rhyolitic composition, are less dense and lighter colored. In between are rocks of intermediate, or andesitic composition, which are a medium to light gray in color.
A volcano’s appearance is largely determined by the silica content of its magma. Eruptions can be explosive, where a buildup of volcanic gasses cause large explosions, or effusive, where lava flows more calmly out of volcanic vents. Basaltic lavas flow quickly and spread easily, so they tend to build shallow sided volcanoes (think Hawaii or Iceland). Rhyolitic lavas are much thicker and hardly flow at all, so they are more likely to produce catastrophic explosive eruptions by clogging up volcanic vents and accumulating pressure over time (think Yellowstone). Andesitic lavas are a happy medium, so volcanoes with this kind of lava
CATHEDRAL ROCK, WA
Around 30 million years ago, magma flowed through here before erupting. The rest of the volcano was less resistant to erosion, which is why just the vent remains today.
alternate between slow, thick, effusive lava flows, and large explosive eruptions. This alternation between effusive and explosive eruptions constructs massive steep-sided volcanoes, such as those of the Cascades.
The Cascades volcanic arc began forming around 37 million years ago, when an ancient oceanic plate called the Farallon plate began subducting beneath the North American continent (1). This subduction zone has fueled the formation of volcanoes along the West coast of the United States and Canada for the past 37 million years. Remnants of the Farallon plate are still subducting underneath North America, although it is now referred to as the Juan De Fuca plate. Evidence of these ancient volcanoes still exists in the form of large quantities of andesitic rock (1). This includes intrusive rocks such as diorite, which slowly cooled deep within the magma chambers of the volcanoes, as well as extrusive rocks such as andesite from lava flows. Other examples of extrusive rocks include tuff, tephra, and solidified ash deposits from large explosive eruptions (2). These rocks make up much of the southern Cascade mountains to this day, although the ancient volcanoes have since been eroded down to their roots.
Around 14 million years ago, an apparent change in plate motion led to a decrease in volcanism in the Cascade arc. This change may have been related to the eruption of the Columbia River Basalts, a massive series of basaltic lava flows that erupted around 16 million years ago in Eastern Washington and Oregon. Around 6 million years ago, another change in plate motion led to the formation of the current Cascades volcanoes (1). In the South Cascades, these were built atop the remnants of the original volcanoes, while in the North Cascades, the younger volcanoes developed on top of older igneous and metamorphic rocks. While older volcanoes in this eruptive period were mostly basaltic, around 1 million years ago there was a switch to the mostly andesitic volcanism we see today (2). Most of the current Cascades volcanoes are characterized by large stratovolcanoes built from layers of andesite, lava, and ash.
Mount Rainier is one of these younger volcanoes; Rainier’s earliest eruptions date to around 500,000 years ago (3). Evidence of past eruptions includes layers of lava and volcanic ash and tephra, as well as deposits from mudflows. The mountain itself is composed of interspersed layers of lava and ash as a result of the alternating effusive and explosive eruptions typical of andesitic volcanism. Rainier rises 8,000 feet above the original topography, and 14,000 feet above sea level. Since the end of the last ice age 12,000 years ago, glacial retreat has allowed for much more complete records of volcanic activity (4). The most recent largescale event occurred around 5,600 years ago, during
which a smaller eruption caused an entire side of the volcano to collapse. This occurred in a similar fashion to the 1980 eruption of Mount Saint Helens, but was around four times as large (4). Water from glaciers that covered the volcano combined with superheated debris to form dangerous volcanic mudflows called lahars. Lahars from this eruption flowed downhill, eventually reaching as far as Puget Sound (4).
Rainier’s most recent activity (<2,000 years ago) has been primarily in the form of lahars, along with a few smaller eruptions (4). Lahars are the most pressing volcanic hazard associated with Mount Rainier, as they flow through valleys and low-lying areas that are more heavily populated (5). They can occur with or without an eruption, requiring only residual heat from the volcano to melt the glaciers. This means that they usually give little to no warning, although USGS has a network of seismometers to monitor the volcano and send out alerts if one does occur (5). In the event of a lahar, if you find yourself in a low lying area, the best thing to do is get to higher ground. Mount Rainier is currently dormant, meaning that it is unlikely that a major eruption will occur without warning. If an eruption were to occur, it would be preceded by earthquakes and ground deformation from intruding magma that would not go unnoticed. This would allow time for the evacuation of at-risk areas such as Mount Rainier National Park and areas in the river valleys downstream from the volcano.
Geology is not just a science, it is a way of telling stories.
The Cascades paint a beautiful story over millions of years of the slow flowing dance of the tectonic plates, and the fiery drama of volcanoes. Geology as a field is usually looked down upon as the most lowly of sciences–only for those who are obsessed with rocks. However, many valuable lessons can be learned from geology. Geology transforms our knowledge of physics, chemistry, and astronomy into a tool that can be used to explain biology, geography, and climate. These factors influence how humans have lived and interacted for thousands of years. Understanding the world around us opens our eyes to the beauty and interconnectedness of every single thing on this planet. Thinking on geologic time scales of thousands, millions, and even billions of years can provide us with valuable insight into how to live together as a species. As we look at the mountains that crown our horizons, we should consider the stories they tell.
WELCOME TO
THE ALLIUM
Leap into some sillier science!
Overheard
BY STELLA DORMER AND MYAH STAUFFER
Here are some out of context quotes and paraphrases from our lovely professors in the Biology, Chemistry, and Physics departments. Can you guess which department each quote is from? Thank you to all the students who submitted quotes anonymously.
In the excitement, I used up all the boards, can you blame me?
If this is confusing, you’re doing it right.
You can tell if someone’s a scientist based on the way they pronounce unionized.
ENOL (should be pronounced like a donkey cry).
My cat is radioactive. You have chlamydia on your desk! And he’s got diarrhea!
If that doesn’t blow your mind, I don’t know what your problem is.
That’s a BAD DOG!
Can everyone look at the blue balls?
If you do something wrong, it won’t help you. It’ll scoff at you. I don’t
To The Heights!! (Quite Literally)
BY STELLA DORMER
Some stairs on campus are definitely more challenging to summit than others, but everyone has their own archenemy staircase. We’re here to settle this once and for all. After omitting the variables of temperature, backpack weight, speed of ascent, number of flights, and enthusiasm (or lack thereof) for that chemistry class on the 3rd floor, physics helps us empirically determine the most challenging steps on campus. More specifically, geometry enables us to find a comparative difficulty for individual stair steps and accurately crown “most difficult stairs at the University of Puget Sound”!
Power is the amount of work done over time, and work in this case is proportional to the amount of vertical displacement change (Work = mass*gravity*height). From a biophysical perspective, the steepness of the stair will affect how much power you need to give to climb a stair and therefore how difficult it is to climb. Using the magic of geometry, we can find the angle (or the steepness) or a single step and assume it holds true for the rest of that staircase. We’ll use the tangent equation to find the angle:
Assuming that mass, velocity, and hopefully gravity, stay constant, the steepness is used for the purpose of comparing stair difficulty.
Now onto the fun stuff.
Excluding on-campus houses and greek row, one staircase from each building on campus is represented in the following table. Three stairs were chosen at random from each staircase, then the vertical and horizontal displacements were averaged individually to use as dimensions for the “average step” value in that particular building. Granted, stairs varied a lot between flights, and within buildings. Some staircases even had a different number of steps per flight of stairs! The table on the following page is sorted from the most difficult to the easiest stairs to climb on campus. This includes a comparison to a “standard” stair of 7 inches by 11 inches. Now drumroll please for the final results!!
Connections
An Elements take on the NYT classic
BY BENNETT FITZGERALD
Purple: Parts of physicists names (Newt, Stein, Hawk, Leo)
Blue: micro __ (Biology, Wave, Organism, Be)
Green: Types of stars (Binary, Dwarf, Red, Neutron)
Yellow: Found in a lab (Dropper, Beaker, Scale, Burner)
Elements Crossword
ACROSS DOWN
2. The largest planet in our solar system 4. "Earth" is a germanic word meaning "The ________"
Across
2. The largest planet in our solar system
7. Lizards can't breathe and ____ at the same time because both actions use the same muscles.
4. "Earth" is a germanic word meaning "The ________"
8. Butterflies taste food with their ____
7. Lizards can't breathe and ____ at the same time because both actions use the same muscles.
9. Sea animal that can squeeze through almost anything
12. Albert Einstein won a Nobel prize for
8. Butterflies taste food with their ____
1. Chemical name for water
Down
1. Chemical name for water
3. The layer of the atmosphere which is closest to Earth's surface
3. The layer of the atmosphere which is closest to Earth's surface
5. The temperature, volume and pressure at which all three phases of a substance can coexist in equilibrium
6. Poisonous dart frogs obtain their poison by eating poisonous ____
7. 50% of animal life is located here
5. The temperature, volume and pressure at which all three phases of a substance can coexist in equilibrium
13. A ____ on Venus lasts longer than a year on Venus
9. Sea animal that can squeeze through almost anything
17. The title of Rachel Carson's most popular book which led to multiple environmental movements
12. Albert Einstein won a Nobel prize for ___________________
20. Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Earth are ______________ planets.
13. A ____ on Venus lasts longer than a year on Venus
21. The name of Charles Darwin's famous voyage
22. Bacteria, viruses, and archaea are all types of
17. The title of Rachel Carson's most popular book which led to multiple environmental movements
20. Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Earth are ______________ planets.
23. The name of NASA's telescope launched on Christmas of 2021
21. The name of Charles Darwin's famous voyage
6. Poisonous dart frogs obtain their poison by eating poisonous ____
10. Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar discovered _______ ______ in space
7. 50% of animal life is located here
11. Four letters that abbreviate the nucleotide bases that compose DNA (in alphabetical order)
10. Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar discovered _______ ______ in space
14. The title given to a group of frogs
15. The gender of seahorses that carry eggs and give birth
11. Four letters that abbreviate the nucleotide bases that compose DNA (in alphabetical order)
16. The first satellite in space
14. The title given to a group of frogs
18. The Latin name for lead
19. ___________'s number represents one mole
15. The gender of seahorses that carry eggs and give birth
16. The first satellite in space
23. The 2 letters that are not featured anywhere on the periodic table(in alphabetical order)
Madlibs
BY STELLA DORMER
I checked my phone this morning and realized I was almost late for my (subject/class) lab in ____(number) ________(unit of time)! “______________(greeting)” Prof says. “I’m sure as you all know, today is leap day, so we’re gonna mix things up a little.” I finally look down at the lab table and realize it’s full of ______________(plural noun), ______________(plural noun), and _____________(plural noun). “Today”, Prof continues, “We’re going to be building leap frogs and seeing whose frog can leap the farthest. The winner will get a (adjective) prize!” My teammates and I spent the next (number) (unit of time) frantically ____________(verb ending in -ing) in order to construct our ____________(adjective) frog. Finally Prof calls time. We all gather outside _________________(building on campus) to test the frogs. The first group goes. Their frog makes a (onomatopoeia) as it ____________(verb) past. They land (number) _______(unit of distance) away. The next group goes and theirs makes a _______(onomatopoeia) and lands ____(distance) away. Finally we’re the last group to go. We _____________(adverb) set our frog up at the start line. When it leaps it makes a _____________(adjective) (onomatopoeia) and travels ______(number) _______(unit of length measurement) further than everyone else’s! “_________________ (exclamation)!” Prof says, “Now time for the promised prize.” Everyone (verb) as Prof reaches into their _______________(noun) and pulls out a _______________(noun)! My group all left lab that day smiling, knowing that we were the _______________(adjective) champions of the frog race.
Queer Rebuttal: Sweaty T-shirt Study Retried
BY THE SAPPHIC SCIENTIST
If you or a loved one identify as a clam snatcher or pole vaulter, please fill out the survey below:
Everyone and their partner who has sat (or slept) through Ecology has learned about the complicated maze that is sexual selection. Countless lectures have taught us that being picky about mate choice will enhance an individual’s fitness. Thinking evolutionarily, we all have an imperative to pass our genes and traits on; thinking selfishly, I (the reproducer) do not want everyone’s self-proclaimed “amazing genes and traits” for my own offspring, so how do I choose? In humans and animals alike, mate selection isn’t easy and there are an array of complexities. Sexual fitness isn’t something to be messed with. The cock with the biggest comb gets the sweetheart and the buck with the biggest antlers gets the babe.
Were you attentive enough in class to remember the “Sweaty T-shirt Study”? The 1997 study completed by Claus Wedekind proves that heterosexual science is weird (or should I say…queer) (1). Wedekind typed 49 females and 44 males for their antigens. He then asked male participants to wear the same shirt two nights in a row, and subsequently had the female participants rank the t-shirt odors in order of their perceived attractiveness. The study tracked the females’ preference of males based on their smell, and linked compatibility to diversity of MHC (major histocompatibility complex). These MHC genes code for cell proteins that are linked to autoimmune support. Wedekind et al. found that females on the pill preferred males with a similar MHC, while those not on the pill liked a more dissimilar MHC. Since the 1990s and heteronormativity are well behind us, I’m zhuzhing up this study.
In response to Wedekind and hetero-science, I propose a follow-up study centering gay attraction (gattraction). I propose that those sweaty t-shirts be washed and subbed for fruitier parameters. I suggest variables such as: chain thickness (mm), coffee order, fashion style, finger length (cm), size of sweater collection, number of piercings, number of tattoos, condition of favored Carhartt pants, and vibes be examined.
An Army of Froggies
A Rainbow Connection Parody
BY STELLA DORMER AND MIA STEINER
[Verse 1]
Why can’t we find any
Songs about fro-ogs
And are they the same as toads?
Frogs eat with eyeballs
And live in freshwater
Heard from a mile down the road
So they are toads and some don’t quite believe it
I know they’re wrong wait and see
[Hook]
Someday we’ll find it, an army of froggies
The leap frogs, the dart frogs and me
[Verse 2]
Who said that every frog
Was green and could be seen
When glass frogs are crystal-clear?
For two hundred million years
Over 6000 species
Give so much to study right here
Strawberry dart frogs are known for their poison
And sometimes they’re called blue jeans
[Hook]
Someday we’ll find it, an army of froggies
The leap frogs, the dart frogs, and me
[Bridge]
All of us under frog spells
We know that there are frogs who can’t jump
[Verse 3]
Have you been hibernating
And have you heard ribbits?
I’ve seen bright poisonous frogs
Did you know frogs shed
Their skin and then eat it?
Do they think that it’s gourmet?
I’ve seen a frog that’s as big as a baby
While others are like paper clips
[Hook]
Someday we’ll find it, an army of froggies
The leap frogs, the dart frogs and me
Da-da-da-dee-da-da dum
Da-da-da-da-dee-da-da-doo
Listen along:
Citations
Lungie: Our Friend and Very Own “Living Fossil”
(1) [National Geographic Society]. West African Lungfish. educationnationalgeographicorg. [Accessed 2024 Mar 31]. https://education.nationalgeographic. org/resource/west-african-lungfish/.
(2) Otto G. 2021. Giant Genomes of Lungfish. Nature Reviews Genetics. doi:https://doi.org/10.1038/ s41576-021-00337-9.
(3) [San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance]. West African Lungfish | San Diego Zoo Animals & Plants. animalssandiegozooorg. [Accessed 2024 Mar 31]. https://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/westafrican-lungfish.
Beyond What’s In My Pants
(1) Attacks on Gender Affirming Care by State Map. Human Rights Campaign. Accessed March 18, 2024. https://www.hrc.org/resources/attacks-ongender-affirming-care-by-state-map.
(2) Hassan, Adeel. 2023. The Transgender Laws States Passed This Year. The New York Times. https:// www.nytimes.com/2023/06/27/us/transgender-lawsstates
(3) Fausto-Sterling, Anne. 2012. Sex/gender: Biology in a Social World. Routledge.(4) Seaborg, G.T. 1951. The Transuranium Elements: present status. In: Sweden: Nobel Lecture
(4) Fausto-Sterling, Anne. 2018. Opinion | Why Sex Is Not Binary. The New York Times. https://www. nytimes.com/2018/10/25/opinion/sex-biology-binary. html?searchResultPosition=10.
(5) Lester, C. N. 2019. Trans Like Me: ‘an Essential Voice at the Razor Edge of Gender Politics’ Laurie Penny. Little, Brown Book Group Limited. (6) [ISNA]. What is Intersex? Intersex Society of North America. [Accessed March 19, 2024]. https:// isna.org/faq/what_is_intersex/.
(7) Butler, Judith. 2006. Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. Routledge. Chameleons, Carrots, and Chemistry
(1) Livingston M. 2002. Fiat Lux: Let There Be Light. In: Vision and Art: The biology of seeing. New York: Harry N. Abrams. p. 12-23.
(2) Lotto B. 2009. Optical illusions show how
we see. wwwtedcom. https://www.ted.com/talks/ beau_lotto_optical_illusions_show_how_we_ see?language=en.
(4) Pazda AD, Greitemeyer T. 2015. Color in Romantic Contexts in Humans. In: Elliot AJ, Fairchild MD, Franklin A, editors. Handbook of Color Psychology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 531–545.
(5) Maier MA, Hill RA, Elliot AJ, Barton RA. 2015. Color in Achievement Contexts in Humans. In: Elliot AJ, Fairchild MD, Franklin A, editors. Handbook of Color Psychology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 568–584.
(6) Spence C. 2015. Eating With Our Eyes: On the Color of Flavor. In: Elliot AJ, Fairchild MD, Franklin A, editors. Handbook of Color Psychology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 603–618.
Calendars
(1) Introduction to Calendars. United States Naval Observatory. [Accessed March 24, 2024] URL: https:// aa.usno.navy.mil/faq/calendars.
RL, Rojahn S, et al. 2021. Limited-Variant Screening vs Comprehensive Genetic Testing for Familial Hypercholesterolemia Diagnosis. JAMA cardiology. p. 902-909. doi:10.1001/jamacardio.2021.1301
(5) MacDonald, Cheyenne. 2023. 23andMe Hackers Accessed Ancestry Information on Millions of Customers Using a Feature That Matches Relatives. Engadget. [Accessed 2024 Mar 27]. https://www. engadget.com/23andme-hackers-accessed-ancestryinformation-from-thousands-of-customers-and-theirdna-relatives-205758731.html
(6) Erlich Y, Shor T, Pe’er I, Carmi S. 2018. Identity Inference of Genomic Data Using LongRange Familial Searches. Science. 362(6415):690-694. doi:10.1126/science.aau4832
(7) Areheart BA, Roberts JL. 2019. GINA, Big Data, and the Future of Employee Privacy. The Yale Law Journal. 128(3):710-790.
(8) Garner SA, Kim J. 2019. The Privacy Risks of Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Testing: A Case Study of 23andMe and Ancestry. Washington University Law Review. 96: 1219-1265.
The Us in Virus
(1) World Health Organization: WHO. 2023. Rabies. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/ detail/rabies
(2) Tomonaga, K. 2004. Virus-induced Neurobehavioral Disorders: Mechanisms and Implications. Trends in Molecular Medicine, 10(2), 71–77. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molmed.2003.12.001
(3) Krämer, P., & Bressan, P. 2021. Humans as Superorganisms: How Microbes, Viruses, Imprinted Genes, and Other Selfish Entities Shape Our Behavior. Association for Psychological Science. https://doi. org/10.31234/osf.io/pja8w
(4) Rohrmann, G. F. 2013. Introduction to the Baculoviruses, Their Taxonomy, and Evolution. Baculovirus Molecular Biology [Internet]. 4th Edition. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK543452/
(5) Abd-Alla, A. M. M., Meki, I. K., & DemirbaşUzel, G. 2019. Insect Viruses as Biocontrol Agents: Challenges and Opportunities. In Springer Books (p. 277–295). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-33161-0_9
(6) Liu, X., Tian, Z., Cai, L., Shen, Z., Michaud, J. P., Zhu, L., Yan, S., Ros, V. I. D., Hoover, K., Li, Z., Zhang, S., & Liu, X. 2022. Baculoviruses Hijack the Visual Perception of Their Caterpillar Hosts to Induce Climbing Behaviour Thus Promoting Virus Dispersal. Molecular Ecology, 31(9), 2752–2765. https://doi.
org/10.1111/mec.16425
(7) Hoover, K., Grove, M., Gardner, M. R., Hughes, D., McNeil, J., & Slavicek, J. M. 2011. A Gene for an Extended Phenotype. Science, 333(6048): 1401. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1209199
(8) Miller, W. A., & Rasochova, L. 1997. Barley Yellow Dwarf Viruses. Annual Review of Phytopathology, 35(1): 167–190. https://doi. org/10.1146/annurev.phyto.35.1.167
(9) Porras, M. F., De Moraes, C. Μ., Mescher, M. C., Rajotte, E. G., & Carlo, T. A. 2018. A Plant Virus (BYDV) Promotes Trophic Facilitation in Aphids on Wheat. Scientific Reports, 8(1). https://doi. org/10.1038/s41598-018-30023-6
(10) Ingwell, L. L., Eigenbrode, S. D., & BosquePérez, N. A. 2012. Plant Viruses Alter Insect Behavior to Enhance Their Spread. Scientific Reports, 2(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/srep00578
(11) Carbone, K. M. 2001. Borna Disease Virus and Human Disease. Clinical Microbiology Reviews, 14(3), 513–527. https://doi.org/10.1128/cmr.14.3.513-527.2001 (12) Pletnikov, M. V., Rubin, S. A., Schwartz, G. J., Moran, T. H., Sobotka, T., & Carbone, K. M. 1999. Persistent Neonatal Borna Disease Virus (BDV) Infection of the Brain Causes Chronic Emotional Abnormalities in Adult Rats. Physiology & Behavior, 66(5): 823–831. https://doi.org/10.1016/s00319384(99)00021-9
(13) Gonzalez–Dunia, D., Sauder, C., & De La Torre, J. C. 1997. Borna Disease Virus and the Brain. Brain Research Bulletin, 44(6), 647–664. https://doi. org/10.1016/s0361-9230(97)00276-1
(14) Tselis, A., & Booss, J. (2003). Behavioral Consequences of Infections of the Central Nervous System: with Emphasis on Viral Infections. PubMed, 31(3): 289–298. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih. gov/14584527
(15) National Human Genome Research Institute: NIH. 2023. Retrovirus. https://www.genome.gov/ genetics-glossary/Retrovirus
(16) Levy, L. 2013. Reflection, Memory and Selfhood in Jean-Paul Sartre’s Early Philosophy. Sartre Studies International, 19(2). https://doi.org/10.3167/ ssi.2013.190206
(17) Sartre, J. P. 1943. Being and nothingness. https://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9780203827123
Science Fiction to Reality
(1) Wells HG. 1899. When the Sleeper Wakes. The Graphic.
(2) Liveley G, Thomas S. 2020. Homer’s Intelligent Machines: AI in Antiquity. In: Cave S, Dihal K, Dillon S, editors. AI Narratives. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 25–48
(3) looknbackward. 2010 Jun 29. The MagicEye Sliding Doors. Looking Backward. Available from: https://bostonlookingbackward.wordpress. com/2010/06/29/the-magic-eye-sliding-doors/.
(4) Callaham J. 2018. How Sci-Fi Movies and TV Shows Have Imagined Mobile Phones, Smartphones, and Tablets. Android Authority. Available from: https://www.androidauthority.com/sci-fismartphones-885852/.
(5) StarTAC Flip Phone. 1996. The Henry Ford. Availablefrom: https://www.thehenryford. org/collections-and-research/digital-collections/ artifact/182871/#:~:text=Motorola%27s%20 StarTAC%20was%20the%20first.
(6) Sixtysix. 2023. A Complete History of the Flip Phone. Sixtysix Magazine. https://sixtysixmag.com/ landing/flip-phone-history/.
(7) Hypervsn. 2022. Dive into the Future & Explore the Exciting World of Holograms. HYPERVSN. Available from: https://hypervsn.com/blog/excitingworld-holograms.html.
(8) Gawade M. 2021. Tupac Hologram - Do Real Holographic Solutions like Iron Man Hologram Exists or are Feasible? holofil display. Available from: https://www.holofil.com/post/do-tupac-iron-manholograms-exist#:~:text=So%20the%20kind%20of%20 holograms.
(9) Gawade M. 2018. Is Tupac Hologram real hologram? - What different holographic display technologies exist? holofil display. Available from: https://www.holofil.com/post/tupac-hologram-a-3dhologram-3d-holographic-display-what-other-3ddisplay-techniques-are-ther.
(10) Welch C. 2024. I’ve Looked Through LG’s New Transparent OLED TV and Seen Something Special. The Verge. Available from: https://www.theverge. com/2024/1/8/24029590/lg-oled-t-transparent-tvannounced-specs-features.
(11) OLED-info. 2019. OLED-Info. Available from: https://www.oled-info.com/oled-introduction.
(12) Samsung. 2024. Samsung’s New Transparent MICRO LED Display Blurs the Boundaries Between Content and Reality [video]. Available from: https:// news.samsung.com/global/video-ces-2024-samsungsnew-transparent-micro-led-display-blurs-theboundaries-between-content-and-reality.
(14) Ortiz S. 2024. I Chatted With a Hologram at CES 2024, and it Was as Cool as it Sounds. ZDNET. Available from: https://www.zdnet.com/article/ichatted-with-a-hologram-at-ces-2024-and-it-was-ascool-as-it-sounds/.
(15) Bogart N. 2014. ‘Big Hero 6’ star Baymax Inspired by Robotics Research. Global News. Available from: https://globalnews.ca/news/1663166/big-hero-6star-baymax-inspired-by-robotics-research/.
(16) Build Baymax. 2014. Building Baymax. Available from: https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~cga/buildbaymax/.
(17) Watercutter A. 2021. How to Make a Dune Stillsuit. Wired. Available from: https://www.wired. com/story/dune-how-to-make a-stillsuit/.
(18) Seckel S. 2021. The Science Behind the Suits of ‘Dune’. Arizona State University. Available from: https://www.wired.com/story/dune-how-to-make-astillsuit/.
(19) Mitchell A. 2023. How NASA Recycles Astronaut Sweat and Pee — for Drinking Water. New York Post. Avaliable from: https://nypost. com/2023/06/29/how-nasa-recycles-astro naut-sweat-and-pee-for-drinking-water/.
Cascading Through Time
(1) McBirney AR. 1978. Volcanic Evolution of the Cascade Range. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences. 6:437–456. doi:10.1146/annurev. ea.06.050178.002253.
(2) Fiske RS, Hopson CA, Waters AC. 1989. Geology of Mount Rainier National Park, Washington. United States Geological Survey. p. 65-91. https://pubs. usgs.gov/pp/0444/report.pdf.
(3) Hildreth W. 2007. Quaternary Magmatism in the Cascades–Geologic Perspectives. Virginia: United States Geological Survey. p. 17-19. https://pubs.usgs. gov/pp/pp1744/.
(4) [USGS]. 2023. Holocene, or Post-Glacial, Eruptions of Mount Rainier. U.S. Geological Survey. [Accessed 2024 Mar 31]. https://www.usgs.gov/ volcanoes/mount-rainier/science/holocene-or-postglacial-eruptions-mount-rainier.
(5) [WA DNR]. 2024. Volcanoes and Lahars: Volcanic Hazards. Washington State Department of Natural Resources. [Accessed 2024 Mar 31]. https:// www.dnr.wa.gov/programs-and-services/geology/
