Column: Scientist: embrace the liberal arts
Due to the hours of commitment required to be successful in science classes, it can be easy for science majors to develop apathy toward the liberal arts.
Use the fields below to perform an advanced search of The Daily Tar Heel's archives. This will return articles, images, and multimedia relevant to your query. You can also try a Basic search
16 items found for your search. If no results were found please broaden your search.
Due to the hours of commitment required to be successful in science classes, it can be easy for science majors to develop apathy toward the liberal arts.
One of UNC’s greatest assets is its status as a world-class public research university. This status, however, has been threatened by proposed Senate Bill 593, which would require that “all professors teach a minimum of eight class courses per academic year,” significantly more than the current average of 2.5 courses per term for tenured professors at UNC.
Whether to promote longevity or prevent nuisances like colds or allergies, dietary supplements are widely used in this country. More than half of American adults use at least one dietary supplement, supporting a $32 billion industry that’s still growing.
During any prolonged study session, it is a safe bet that most UNC students will take a break to browse social media. Part of this procrastination might involve skimming easily digestible stories with catchy headlines. These are known colloquially as “clickbait,” primarily designed to attract attention and advertising revenue rather than to educate and inform. While clickbait might be entertaining, its oversimplified and sensational style is ill-suited to scientific coverage and should be viewed with skepticism.
Feb. 12 marked 206 years since the birth of Charles Darwin in 1809. While Darwin Day festivities generally bypass the United States, the theory of evolution by natural selection remains one of the bedrock principles of the life sciences. But this wouldn’t be obvious upon examination of the way evolution is taught in public schools. In spite of the ongoing influence of evolution on our daily lives, it is often taught as an aside rather than a framework for a fundamental understanding of biology.
Almost everyone knows someone who has been affected by cancer. This includes President Barack Obama, whose mother died at age 52 from uterine cancer when he was only 34 years old.
Upon returning from his voyage to the Galapagos Islands, Charles Darwin made what to modern academics might seem like a peculiar career move. Rather than devoting his energy to publishing what would become “On the Origin of the Species” — that would have to wait over 20 years — he returned to the respectable work of a student of nature at the time: writing extensive monographs of plants and animals. In Darwin’s case, it was barnacles of all things that captivated his attention.
To turn on the TV or go online is to be inundated with claims of certainty: This product will cure your disease, one side of an argument is true and another false, this or that will happen in the New Year.
T his holiday season, smartphones, video-game consoles and other high-tech gifts will likely top the wish lists of many UNC students. This is for good reason — many of these coveted gadgets have the potential to improve the lives of their users throughout the year. But despite these advantages, history shows us that technologies can have drawbacks.
W hen you see the word “meme,” what do you think of? For most UNC students, it is likely an online picture with a witty caption, such as the semi-literate shiba inus of “doge” fame that inspired the title of this column.
W ith ballot initiatives in Colorado and Oregon this November proposing the mandatory labeling of foods containing genetically modified organisms, the safety of GMOs is once again becoming a subject of popular conversation.
F ew diseases evoke as visceral a reaction as Ebola, which conjures images of uncontrollable hemorrhaging as the virus disintegrates its host into a pool of infectious blood. There is no doubt this revulsion stimulated attendance at the Ebola Symposium at UNC on Friday, where researchers and students packed a sweltering conference room to learn about the current epidemic.
If the intense competition for treadmills at the Student Recreation Center and the line for the salad bar at the Top of Lenoir have taught me anything, it’s that UNC students tend to lead relatively healthy lifestyles.
When Thomas Brock and his undergraduate assistant Hudson Freeze traveled to Yellowstone in the ‘60s, they were searching for bacteria capable of living in hot springs .
In the summer of 1952, an epidemic of polio terrorized the nation, killing more than 3,000 people and paralyzing more than 21,000. Today, this seems unimaginable. Due to vaccination efforts, incidences of polio and nearly a dozen other infectious diseases have plummeted, resulting in increased life expectancies and decreased infant mortality rates for those with access to vaccines.
M any bright UNC students have a fear of science that stems from horror stories about its introductory courses. More than a few are relieved they will never have to take another science course again.