#hannahthomasy

[dlsphjournalism]

NEO.LIFE -- THE WORLD HAS A DATA STORAGE PROBLEM. IS DNA THE ANSWER?

BY HANNAH THOMASY (FGJ’20) -- Each year, humanity is producing more and more data. In 2003, humans since the dawn of time had, in total, produced about five exabytes of data. By 2010, we were producing that much in just two days. By 2025, our Google searches, text messages, and social media posts, along with things like clinical trials, NASA images, and experiments at the Large Hadron Collider, will be generating an estimated 175 zettabytes of information per year. READ MORE. 

[dlsphjournalism]

UNDARK --  In the Race to Crack Covid-19, Scientists Bypass Peer Review

BY HANNAH THOMASY (FGJ ‘20) --  As the SARS-COV-2 virus spreads, causing more than 800,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19 globally, researchers are scrambling to learn more about the virus. Their collective efforts have generated more than 1,900 papers, as doctors and scientists try to rapidly share new findings with each other and with the public. READ MORE. 

[dlsphjournalism]

HEALTHY DEBATE -- Why do we bake in times of crisis?

BY HANNAH THOMASY (FGJ ‘20) -- As the COVID-19 pandemic unfolds around us, it seems that every aspect of daily life has been utterly disrupted. I’m not a doctor or a virologist, so besides diligently practicing social distancing, there’s very little that I can do. I decide that now is a good time to make croissants. READ MORE. 

[dlsphjournalism]

THE CONVERSATION -- International Women’s Day: Female biologists bring much-needed perspective to science               

BY HANNAH THOMASY (FGJ ‘20) -- On International Women’s Day, people across the world are taking part in Wikipedia edit-a-thons to address gender bias in the online encyclopedia’s biographies. Currently, only about 17 per cent of Wikipedia’s biography pages are about women. Many of the edit-a-thons will specifically focus on women in STEM. READ MORE.                

[dlsphjournalism]

NATIONAL POST -- SAVING SNAKES

BY HANNAH THOMASY (FGJ ‘20) -- Conservation work is hard enough when the target species is a beloved creature — most people agree that it’s worthwhile to save pandas, elephants and orca whales. But what about when people hate the species you’re trying to save? “I think that it is harder to get backing for a venomous snake,” says Jonathan Choquette, a conservation biologist with Wildlife Preservation Canada, “because there are people who hate venomous snakes. Whereas you don’t get too many people who hate Vancouver Island marmots, just to throw an example out there.” READ MORE.

[dlsphjournalism]

MEDIUM --  The ‘Crazy Cat Person’ Parasite Could Help Treat Degenerating Brains

BY HANNAH THOMASY (FGJ ‘20) --  you live in the United States, there’s a decent chance you carry the brain parasite Toxoplasma gondii. (Over 40 million Americans do.) You might know this protozoan as “Toxo” or the “crazy cat person” parasite, uncomfortably named for its potential connection to schizophrenia development and because of the completely unsupported idea that infection makes people love cats. Infection can be deadly for a very small subset of people, but Toxo’s unique ability to coexist with healthy hosts is shifting the way some scientists view parasitic infection. READ MORE.

[dlsphjournalism]

NATIONAL POST --  Breakthrough or a threat? Research on genetics of same-sex behaviour ignites ethical debate

BY HANNAH THOMASY (FGJ ‘20) -- Are sexual preferences genetic? According to a recent paper in Science, the answer is at least partially yes. By screening close to 500,000 DNA samples, researchers identified five locations in the genome that were significantly associated with same-sex sexual behaviour. READ MORE.