Author: Lauren Girouard-Hallam
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Chemistry at the Frontier of Quantum Technology
When I tell people that I’m a PhD student studying chemistry with a focus on developing quantum technologies, I often see eyebrows raise in surprise. “Wait, isn’t that physics?” they always ask. At that moment, I find myself at the intersection of two worlds, ready to explain the essential synergy of disciplines that defines my…
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Ethics, the Public, and the Early-Career Researcher: Kavli Center for Ethics, Science, and the Public at UC Berkeley and ComSciCon
by Carmen Drahl for The Kavli Foundation Original Article available HERE, announced on March 5, 2025. Not every early-career scientific researcher has a single-minded dedication to the lab bench. It’s possible to conjure a different sort of scientist in the mind’s eye. They focus on fundamental research to further society’s knowledge, not necessarily aiming for an application—perhaps neuroscience…
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Living in a Material World: The Emerging Danger of Small Plastics
There is a threat lurking among us, an invisible threat that has been around us for over one hundred years. You may not see it, but it’s all around you; in the food you eat, the water you drink, the air you breathe and your body itself. The threat? Cold, hard, shiny plastic.
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Peckings Cause Brain Damage in Woodpeckers: Nay or Yay?
I remember seeing a woodpecker in my grandma’s home when I was around seven or eight. It happily pecked at a wooden pillar in the garden with its beak. “This is what they do all the time! It is their natural behavior,” my grandma said. After a long time, early this year, when we had…
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Science: An Interplay Between “Ignorance” and “Awareness”
Why are there so many stars in the sky? Is there life on other planets? Why did the dinosaurs disappear? How did we come into existence? Like many other kids, I was curious about a lot of things during my school days. “Science is the answer,” teachers used to tell us, looking into our wonder-filled…
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The Future is Bright: Connecting Computers Through Light
Imagine a pervasive disease is consuming the world, with the molecular design of a cure only one click of a computer program away. Just one problem: it will take hundreds, if not thousands or even millions, of years for the program to run. Thankfully, scientists are working on a solution that could not only speed up computer…
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How Do Planarians Grow a New Brain?
Every time I explain my work, everyone is fascinated that these aquatic flatworms can grow new body parts after injury, but they don’t understand how. Through visual media, I have been able to better communicate how regeneration works in this seemingly simple organism. Drawing the process makes it easier to follow the timeline of growth,…
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A Race Against Climate Change for California’s Forests
From what I’ve seen of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, there’s one scene that stands out to me as a scientist. In The Two Towers, there’s a tree that comes to life and begins walking. These “Ents” are some of the oldest and largest living things in the fantasy world of Middle-earth. The Ents remind me of our coastal redwoods…
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Skipped Dry January? Here’s Why You Should Try It!
Think back to New Year’s Day. It’s a brand new year, and you’re ready to wipe away the previous one and start with a clean slate. You might have some resolutions for improving yourself. Maybe you feel uncertain about what the new year will bring. Or maybe it’s just another day to you–nothing special. For…
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What Happens to Your Application?
Several long weeks will pass between submitting your application to the ComSciCon Flagship workshop and hearing the results. What happens behind the scenes during that time? How many applicants are there? How do we use the information on the application? What are we really looking for?
ComSciCon 