Vitamin D is a critical nutrient for our bodies. It is responsible for the maintenance of normal blood levels of calcium and phosphorus. By aiding in the absorption of calcium, vitamin D plays a vital role in the maintenance of bone strength. The diseases that caused by a lack of vitamin D are rickets in children (skeletal deformities) and osteomalacia in adults (weak bones and muscles). Recently, vitamin D has been found to protect against diseases such as osteoporosis, hypertension, cancer, and some autoimmune conditions.

Yes, getting the basic science in is important. But (some of) the most valuable skills I gained from my college education included learning how to think, write, and critically engage equally with texts and the world outside of the college gates. And BOTH biology and anthropology taught me these. Inside the lab—a place all pre-meds will face at some point or another—I took part in curiosity, scientific inquiry, and how ‘facts’ about the world around us are made.

Greetings Dear Reader,
Today is Earth Day, one of the few holidays I actually take seriously. Yet at the same time, it is also a holiday that I find is ridiculous that we need have in the first place. Everything comes from the Earth. Everyday we pillage for its resources, not just for our survival, but mainly to support our lifestyle, a lifestyle of excess and consumption. A lifestyle that is nothing more than a perversion of the American Dream and by consequence inhibits the survival of others and sucks the …

One of the best kept secrets about being a doctor is that you can get to travel beyond the four walls of your office, the operating room, and patient rooms in the hospital. Doctors go to conferences to learn, to present research and to share knowledge. And we learn from each other over conversations that cannot be duplicated by teleconference, books, journals, videoconferencing or even Google.

Are you aching for snow with no chance of it in sight? Why not dabble in chemistry and make some beautiful crystals of your own? With stuff you already have around the house, you can whip up a batch of your own crystal snowflakes. They’re fun to make and they make really cool gifts. Crystals are solids made up of molecules that line up in specific repeating patterns. Different kinds of crystals have different patterns and different shapes. Snowflakes are ice crystals and they always have six sides. Salt crystals are always cube-shaped. Borax is a crystal, too.