Touchpoint 1
Lessons from a bird brain
What is it?
Scientists have been studying bird sounds and calls for a long time. But recently, they became interested in how bird sounds change in different seasons and when they are away from their home base. They think this study could help us understand changes in autistic behaviors.
Potential message to students:
Do you think birds change their calls when they are farther away from their nests and in a strange environment? Do you think this is from stress? Do you think we humans change our language patterns when we are in a new environment or location, too?
Touchpoint 2
Ignorance of Evolutionary Theory as a “Superpower”
What is it?
A biology professor is so concerned about assumptions and biases of her biology students, she has purposely added students from physics, engineering and other departments to her biology lab. These non-biologists are more apt to question everything in biology.
Potential message to students:
Do you think it hurts a lab not to have more biology experts in it? Do you think it slows down progress? Would you want to work in a lab where you had no experience in the subject but were super smart and had no bias?
Touchpoint 3
Nigeria first to rollout new Men5CV vaccine against meningitis
What is it?
Nigeria is in a part of the world that gets a ton of meningitis cases. Last year alone, cases in Africa jumped by 50%. Nigeria has decided to be the first country ever to test a new meningitis vaccine.
Potential message to students:
Do you think going first to test a vaccine at scale is dangerous? Do you think Nigeria has a choice? Can a disease be so bad, that a country is willing to try anything? Or do you think if the vaccine fails and hurts people, it will keep Nigerians away from all doctors?