In less than two weeks, Mount Holyoke students will experience one of the most anticipated and beloved times of the year: summer break. Before you leave the Valley, be you a senior or a firstie, take some time out of Reading and Exam days to get in touch with all the scientific wonders the area has to offer! The opportunities for students to relax and have fun are infinite. Here are some ways to enjoy yourself and learn some science during your down time:

Tables covered with cloth white as snow; sliced strawberries and cantaloupes piled up into small hills; young women in formal suits weaving through people of different ages. Yes, you get it: the 36th SENIOR SYMPOSIUM was lighting up every corner of the once deserted Kendade with passion and intelligence on Friday, April 16, 2010. People moved from room to room to attend fifteen minute presentations in various disciplines given by Mount Holyoke College students. One of the staff attending the event remarked: “It is just like Christmas!”

The United States, one of the world’s most technologically advanced countries, has enjoyed a long-standing reputation and prestige in its dynamic, competitive and complex research programs in science as well as social science. Science has been an important investment for the States, through which promising research proposals are reviewed and funded by government, corporations and charitable foundations. However, beginning in December 2007, the economic recession has had an important impact not only on employment and productivity, but also on scientific research conducted nationwide.

How might science, health, and medicine be beneficial to both pro-life and pro-choice advocates?

For me, and undoubtedly many of my fellow ’10 classmates, this final stretch of our college career is full of migraine inducing stresses. Combine the real life pressure with cranial pressure and it’s enough to make anyone lose their minds. But what would happen if you lost your sight along with it?

Whether you believe it or not, the idea of positive thinking as a cure for cancer is becoming a widely accepted concept. Or maybe you’ve heard the idea that the environmental crises of the world can be solved by a change in the energy of the universe. These are both controversial solutions to some of the major scientific problems of today – but along with many others, they were topics of major discussion during the “Sages and Scientists: The Merging of a New Future” Symposium held in Carlsbad, CA last month.

Performing on stage in front of hundreds of people is sure to make anyone nervous. Whether it’s Celine Dion in front of an entire stadium or an eccentric drag queen at last week’s Drag Ball, they will all tell you it takes guts to get up on that stage. There’s always that ‘What if’ voice looming: “What if I trip?” “What if I forget the words?” “What if I freeze up and forget the moves?” For the majority of performers, “freezing up” is just a metaphor for overwhelming nerves. But what if your body actually physically stopped moving?

When was the last time you had a hangover? Do you remember the long hours of dizziness, painful headaches and, if you really had fun the night before, nausea? Perhaps you swore to never drink again. If you have allergies, you may be at a disadvantage, as it is said that people allergic to wheat, barley, corn, or yeast often have the worst hangovers. Luckily, a new process has been found to take the morning-after blues out of drinking.

There is finally some good news for those who sacrifice their paychecks to Rao’s. A recent study found that coffee, though it may cause a case of the jitters, is not linked to heart arrhythmias. Research revealed that people who rely on java to get them through the day are actually less likely to be hospitalized for complications related to this serious heart condition.

The unauthorized release of emails from the University of East Anglia in Britain late last year is causing quite a stir in the continuing discourse over global warming. The emails revealed private conversations between prominent scientists who work at the universities’ Climate Research Unit (C.R.U), a well-respected research powerhouse. The leaked documents contain discussions [...]