Did you know that every time you make a sound you’re causing a major collision? Yup. Every sound you make or hear is an actual chain reaction of vibrating molecules crashing into each other until they bump into the tiny hairs and bones and membranes inside your ear. It’s sound. And it’s very dramatic. In this experiment, you can see the vibrations that you’re making every time you make a noise. Here’s how.

This year has been a wild ride. During my absence from TalkingScience, I made the transition from bench scientist to program administrator/outreach maven/quasi-boss-type-person. I know some of you want to make a similar move, and I want to help you. So, I am starting a column called Off the Bench that will detail for you what this transition has been like, what has worked, and what hasn’t. I tell you, there is a lot you need to know that you ain’t learning in grad school. …

What’s a clerkship? It’s the first educational experience when a student doctor spends her days (and nights) involved entirely in patient care. Each clerkship is based on a major area of medicine—pediatrics, general surgery, surgical specialties, obstetrics/gynecology, internal medicine, psychiatry, and in some schools neurology and family practice medicine.

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.