As a way of prioritizing Humboldt State University’s push to become polytechnic, the university is expanding its curriculum to include more STEM-related degree programs as soon as fall of 2023. “This is what a 21st-century education looks like: programs where students build the skills to have meaningful careers and a nuanced understanding of society’s complex […]
science
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Davos Won’t Save Us
The global elite jumped on their Gulfstreams this week to descend on Davos, a small town of about 11,000 residents in the Swiss Alps, for the 50th annual World Economic Forum, a chance for the globe’s richest people to rub shoulders and talk policy and investment with world leaders. And for the second year in […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
The Need to Study Weed
The head of the federal government’s medical research agency told C-SPAN recently that cannabis’ status as a Schedule 1 drug under the Controlled Substances Act prevents scientists from researching its effects. “Frankly, we know far too little about the benefits and risks of smoked marijuana,” said Francis Collins, who was appointed director of the National […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Reefer Madness, 2.0
For the first time since 1982, cannabis was issued its very own health advisory by the Surgeon General’s Office last week, which declared the need to raise the “national alarm” about the “dangerous drug.” Raising the nation’s top doctor’s hackles is what Surgeon General Jerome Adams lamented as a “rapid normalization of marijuana use” across […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Ready, Set, Grow!
By and large, growers are a proud bunch. If you’ve spent much time hanging out with Humboldt County cultivators, you’ve almost assuredly been treated to ribbing — most of it good natured, some of it not — about who grows the best weed and whose thumb is, well, the dankiest. Well, by the time you […]
Posted inNews
‘An Otter Idea’
After a long hike in England’s Dartmoor National Park, Jeff Black and his wife stopped at Wayside Cafe. As they were sitting, drinking tea, they noticed scores of people coming in and out to take selfies with an otter sculpture. Out of curiosity, they approached the sculpture and learned there were 99 others scattered throughout […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Cancer, Part 2: Turtles, Birds and Rabbits
Last week, we looked at some of the many reasons why the diagnosis and treatment of cancer are so difficult and controversial. A common way of illustrating the problem is the “turtle-bird-rabbit” analogy. Although it can equally well apply to breast cancer (the most common cancer in women), here I’ll discuss it in relation to […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Fighting Entropy
Life’s tough, then you die,” proclaims that helpful bumper sticker. Then look at what happens: Entropy takes over. Actually, the entire course of our bodies’ existence, from birth to death, is spent in a nonstop battle to maintain low entropy. The moment we die, entropy starts increasing as the body’s organization gives way to decay. […]
Posted inNews
Is Bigfoot a Bear?
In a tough break for cryptozoologists, a team of scientists says their DNA analysis of hair samples, scat and a tooth purported to be from Bigfoot’s Tibetan cousin the Yeti are, in fact, from bears. The findings — based on the analysis of mitochondrial DNA from 24 samples, including some collected in the 1930s on […]
Posted inNews
Connecting Freshmen to the Klamath
A small group of Humboldt State University’s largest-ever freshman class got a VIP-worthy introduction to the county last week through one of the North Coast’s most important resources: the Klamath River. More than 60 students cut their summer breaks short to head up to Arcata early this year as part of an experimental new program […]
Posted inNews
Jog On
Jogging’s good for you, it turns out. A recent study co-conducted by Humboldt State University researchers shows that people older than 65 who regularly jogged were “less likely to experience age-related physical decline in walking efficiency than those who simply walked.” The study, published online last month, found that seniors who jog for at least […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Whispers from the Birth of the Universe
Cosmologically speaking, everything changed in May of 1965, when two radio astronomers working for Bell Labs detected a faint whisper of radiation, a fossil relic from the birth of the universe, which pretty much clinched the “Big Bang” theory. The irony is that they weren’t even looking for it, but they won Nobel Prizes anyway. […]