Blog
This is the repository for all things C2ST. You can learn with videos of our past events, read articles concerning cutting-edge research and development in Chicago and elsewhere that will change our lives, check out C2ST in the news, and more! Use the Filter Media options below to browse C2ST’s content and discover something new!
We graciously thank The Brinson Foundation for their generous sponsorship of the C2ST Science Communication Internship in 2021-2024. As a result, an incredibly talented group of diverse STEM undergraduate and graduate scholars at area colleges and universities researched and developed over 100 blogs.* Enjoy-If you like, please share!
*As of 10.25.24
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The Myth of Brain Sex
In the past decade, we’ve heard a lot about the innate differences between males and females. So we’ve come to accept that boys can’t focus in a classroom and girls are obsessed with relationships: “That’s just the way they’re built.”
Lise Eliot, Ph.D., argues that infant brains are so malleable that small differences at birth become amplified over time, as parents, teachers, peers—and the culture at large—unwittingly reinforce gender stereotypes. Of course, genes and hormones play a role in creating boy-girl differences, but they are only the beginning. Social factors, such as how we speak to our sons and daughters and whether we encourage their physical adventurousness, are proving to be far more powerful than we previously realized. As a parent, Eliot understands the difficulty of bucking gender expectations, but also the value of doing so.
Climate Disruption and the Path to a Sustainable Future
By Paul Caine Producer, WTTW’s Chicago Tonight
Originally published at: https://chicagotonight.wttw.com/2016/04/06/climate-disruption-and-path-sustainable-future
On Monday, a new report from the Obama administration warned that changes to the climate could lead to thousands more Americans dying prematurely every year from a variety of causes including extreme heat, polluted air and water, and the spread of tropical diseases.
Local scientist and professor Seth Darling, co-author of “How To Change Minds About Our Changing Climate,” says he became involved in the climate science debate after hearing a talk on the issue more than a decade ago.
Continue reading “Climate Disruption and the Path to a Sustainable Future”
Parasitic Mind Control & Suicidal Love
Toxoplasma Gondii is a parasite with a problem. It hangs out in gardens, parks and forests, but the survival of it and its species depends on somehow getting inside stomach of a cat.
The Science of Addiction
Addiction is one of the most common forms of mental illness in the world. Tens of millions of Americans, and over a quarter of a billion people worldwide, have an addiction to drugs or alcohol. Everyone who has watched a loved one suffer from addiction wonders, “Why are they acting like this? Why can’t they stop?” Continue reading “The Science of Addiction”
The Science of Addiction
One in ten adults suffer from addiction.
Everyone who has watched a loved one suffer from addiction wonders, “Why are they acting like this? Why can’t they stop?” And people with addictions wonder the same things about themselves. Many people think of addiction as a moral failing, or as a conscious choice—yet neither belief is supported by scientific evidence.
