The Biological Research PhD Program Application Process: A Guide

from choosing where to apply, to choosing where to go

A Guide to the Biology PhD Program Application Process

“Neil deGrasse Tyson: pedantry in space”

“You are trapped in the world of the popular TV astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, and you know this, because here the sunrise isn’t a sunrise at all. In fact, the earth is a sphere orbiting the sun, so the sun does not in any sense actually ‘rise’ — it’s…

“How to tell if other people think you’re hot, according to science”

“The crux of this technique is that people think about themselves in very different ways than they think about other people… That’s in part because you have a huge amount of information about yourself — far more…

“Groupthink: The brainstorming myth.”

“Your Creative Power” was published in 1948. An amalgam of pop science and business anecdote, it became a surprise best-seller. Osborn promised that, by following his advice, the typical reader could double his creative output. Such a mental boost would spur…

“An Interactive Guide To The Fourier Transform”

“The Fourier Transform changes our perspective from consumer to producer, turning What did I see? into How was it made?

In other words: given a smoothie, let’s find the recipe.

Why? Well, recipes…

“Trillions Upon Trillions of Viruses Fall From the Sky Each Day”

“Generally it’s assumed these viruses originate on the planet and are swept upward, but some researchers theorize that viruses actually may originate in the atmosphere. (There is a small group of researchers who believe…

“The Coming Software Apocalypse”

“More and more, critical systems that were once controlled mechanically, or by people, are coming to depend on code. This was perhaps never clearer than in the summer of 2015, when on a single day, United Airlines grounded its fleet because of a problem with its…

“Why It Was Easier to Be Skinny in the 1980s”

“A given person, in 2006, eating the same amount of calories, taking in the same quantities of macronutrients like protein and fat, and exercising the same amount as a person of the same age did in 1988 would have a BMI that was about 2.3 points…