ASU's Ask a Biologist Podcasts

I do not listen to podcasts but I was assigned to listen to one for my last evolution assignment. I was looking forward to this because I was tired of the same PPT/ worksheet based assignments. Thankfully, one of the TAs felt adventurous and changed things up. What podcast did he assign? Well, I listened to “Why We Get Sick” and one of my choice from ASU’s Ask a Biologist Podcast. I chose “History, Rabbits, and a Deadly Virus”. 

As expected, I learned a lot from these two podcasts. In the first one, the interviewee is Randy Nesse, the Founder of the ASU Center for Evolution and Medicine. I enjoyed his reminder of the good in the “bad” things in life (fevers, pain, and anxiety). Without these critical basic human reactions, we would all be in worse shape. I also am interested in reading Dr. Nesse’s book called “Good Reasons for Bad Feelings”. It sounds counterintuitive but I am intrigued to learn about the topics he will cover. 

In the second podcast, Grant McFadden is a research scientist at ASU who is investigating the interactions between the myxoma virus and human cancer cells. He was asked about this interesting and possible treatment for cancer. Different from modern approaches to fighting cancer, this viral therapy piqued my curiosity. Surprisingly, Dr. McFadden accidently stumbled upon using the myxoma virus as a cancer treatment. As it turns out, when the myxoma virus, which is deadly to rabbits, interacts with human cancer cells, it kills them. Better yet, it does not harm the host (unless, of course, it is a rabbit). The interaction is yet unknown but the results seem promising. 

After listening to these podcasts, I realized how easy they are to follow and how much I can learn. Not only that but I didn’t know ASU had its own podcast. From now on, I will try to listen to podcasts and share any I like! 

I have attached the links to the mentioned podcasts. Please feel free to explore and find others you may like!

• “Why We Get Sick” https://askabiologist.asu.edu/listen-watch/why-we-get-sick
• “History, Rabbits, and a Deadly Virus” https://askabiologist.asu.edu/listen-watch/history-rabbits-and-deadly-virus

How Did Coronavirus Disease Impact Me?

Hello, here’s another blog about the main talk of the year 2020: coronavirus disease (COVID-19). No, I’m not going to talk about the myths and facts. No, I’m not going to talk about the precautions to take. What I am going to talk about is how it has impacted my life.

This year began like any regular year. New Year’s resolutions were in place, spring semester started, and the typical, ordinary, day-to-day life. Boy, how I took that for granted. So, what exactly does this have to do with coronavirus disease? Well, as you may know, talks about this virus began around December 2019. It was spreading fast in Wuhan, China but in the United States, life continued. January… February… and March roll in, and everybody and anybody (like me) is talking about it.

How did this virus impact my life over the course of three months? Everything that has been going on opened my eyes. It showed me to be grateful for each and every day. Having the opportunity to sit in a classroom is a privilege (all of my classes are now online). So is doing homework in a public library (closed) or meeting friends for a cup of coffee. I miss all of these luxuries (oh, and toilet paper!). Yes, I say luxuries because we have been so accustomed to certain items and errands that made life… ordinary. In all reality, it made it better. Personally, it’s sad to think that a virus made me see all that I should be grateful for. As the saying goes:

Enjoy the little things in life because one day you will look back and realize they were the BIG things.

Figure 1. A digital picture of coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Fun fact: the virus gets its name because its shape resembles a crown. Crown in Spanish is "corona". 

Citation: 

Harvard Medical School. “Coronavirus Resource Center.” Harvard Health, Harvard Health Publishing, 27 Mar. 2020, www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-conditions/coronavirus-resource-center.

Learning Something New

 You know the saying, “you learn something new everyday”? I love it because it’s true. From the smallest detail to the biggest concept, we are continuously learning. Being in the science field, I’m very much accustomed to this. This semester, I learn everyday through a wide range of classes:

1. Ecology
2. Developmental Psychology 
3. Evolution 
4. Animal Behavior
5. STEM Success

In this blog post, I’m going to share a few things I learned.

In developmental psychology, I learned that babies under six months can't self-soothe. When they cry, they are under a lot of stress and the stress hormone, cortisol, shoots up. When a caregiver picks them up, cortisol levels drop and the baby feels much better. Also, the baby will adequately begin to self-regulate after six months of age. It may be believed that picking up a baby when they cry will spoil them (I thought this was true before I took this class). However, this is inaccurate. At the end of the day, picking them up is beneficial for them. 

In STEM success, we are reading Daring Greatly by Brené Brown. Ever since I read the introduction, the book caught my attention and I wanted to keep reading. The author talks about scarcity, vulnerability and other common characteristics that are looked down on. During the first three chapters, she expresses how characteristics that are applauded for are often the result of the “weak” characteristics. For example, those who are courageous display vulnerability… WHAT? I never would have thought these two would go hand-in-hand. However, upon reading her book, I can see the relationship now. Stepping outside one’s comfort zone is vulnerability.  Isn’t stepping outside one’s comfort zone also courageous? This is something I learned and hope to bring down my guard to see what’s on the other side. Whether it’s good or bad, it’ll be added onto my “what did you learn today?” list.

Figure 1. A drawing of a thinking brain. 

Citation:

“Collection of Thinking Brain Cliparts (45).” Free Thinking Brain Cliparts, Download Free Clip Art, Free Clip Art on Clipart Library, clipart-library.com/thinking-brain-cliparts.html.

A Step Towards the Future

Have you ever worked on a project, put so much effort into it and actually liked the end product? Me too. I recently had to create a timeline for my evolution class about Earth's history. Sounds pretty easy, right? However, the instructor requested us to be creative about it. She didn't want us to do a simple linear timeline; no, she encouraged collages, videos, pictures, and, interesting enough, songs. I'm not quite sure how a song would work but I would like to hear one.

I decided to lean towards a drawing. I had a couple of ideas but I wasn't quite sure which to go with. I could have done a stair case... no, too boring. A fast forward video of drawings on a white board? Post-it note flip book? A maze showing start to finish with events along the path? I liked these ideas but I wasn't sold. The one I decided to go with was drawing foot prints. As cheesy as it sounds, everything in Earth's history was done a step at a time.

As I began my drawing, I took my time and paid attention to detail. After about five hours of working on it, I finished and I'm happy to say that I genuinely like it! Pictured below, the timeline I created: "A Step Towards the Future" is shown.

Figure 1. My timeline depicting the steps that molded the Earth we see today.