What would happen if the Earth stopped spinning or lost all its water at once? David Consiglio, an Oakland Community College professor and high school science teacher, may have the answer. Consiglio gave a talk about these and other questions addressed in his book “Spoiler Alert: Everyone Dies: The Lighter Side of Global Annihilation” Sept. 19 in Detroit, Michigan....
Science and Tech
Lyceum lunch group discusses possibility of extraterrestrial life
“If there is intelligent life out there, how does that change how we see ourselves?” Assistant Professor of Physics Timothy Dolch asked during the first Lyceum lunch of the year, held Sept. 19 in the nook of the Knorr Dining Hall. Students gathered to discuss the “positive fad or probable fact” of extraterrestrial life with Dolch and Associate Professor...
Botanist shares his simulated journey to Mars
A botanist, a geneticist, a physicist, and a Green Beret walk into a 636-square foot simulation space capsule. It may sound like the beginning of a joke, but it really happened to Tim Evans, an associate professor of biology and director of the herbarium at Grand Valley State University. Tuesday night, Evans spoke at Hillsdale about his experience in...
Canoes, hikes, s’mores: Biology department holds annual retreat
When Hillsdale College biology students swap laboratories and classrooms for their annual lakeside retreat, they trek through the woods on a botany hike, burn methane, and canoe for hours on a river. “Whether it’s lighting swamp gas…the s’mores, the canoe trips, the meals that we share together, even the ride up and back — the trip heightens camaraderie among students...
Student spends summer studying hopelessness depression
Senior psychology major Elyse Hutcheson may have spent the summer studying hopelessness, but she said she’s optimistic about how the research opportunity helped her prepare for the future. Hutcheson studied causes of a subtype of depression called hopelessness depression at Temple University in Philadelphia. She conducted her research in their mood and cognition lab, where she helped maintain the...
Arecibo faces funding loss
With federal funding under review, the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, home to a telescope 305 meters in diameter that contributes significantly to both radio and radar astronomy, could face major budget cuts that could threaten its future. If the telescope were to lose funding, schools such as Hillsdale College could be prevented from using the resources the observatory has...
Research sheds light on metals present in tattoo inks
Millennial Americans are getting tattoos more than any age group in the country, but a Hillsdale College student’s research project suggests some tattoo inks may contain unsafe levels of certain metals. A 2016 Harris poll found 47 percent of millennials have a tattoo, compared to only 29 percent of the population as a whole. Since the Food and Drug Administration...
College holds summer science camp
When biology department chairman Frank Steiner first came to Hillsdale, he said he sought to improve relations between the natural sciences division and the Hillsdale community. Now, he said he has exceeded even his own expectations. “We started with a camp of just 20 students,” Steiner said. “Twenty-seven years later, we have 60 students on campus for the whole week.”...
Putting cancer on the defense: Hillsdale students research leukemia
An aggressive type of blood cancer came under the scrutiny of two Hillsdale students at the University of Nebraska Medical Center this summer. Sophomore Bella VanAken donned safety glasses and latex gloves to study acute myeloid leukemia in the lab, while senior Andrea Lee sifted through hundreds of patient charts within the confines of an office cubicle for statistical analysis....