In his colloquium “Polyhedra: Plato, Archimedes, Euler,” Professor Robert Benedetto explains the mathematical history of the Archimedean solids – which include geometric forms like the truncated icosahedron, very reminiscent of a soccer ball but with flat faces instead of imposed on a spherical surface – and the proof that defines this set of 13 polyhedra….
“Merely Bystanders”: Professor Sanderson’s Lecture on the Psychology of Courage and Inaction
Would George Floyd still be alive if J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane, and Tou Thao took action against Derek Chauvin violently asphyxiating Floyd for eight whole minutes? Would countless numbers of women have been saved from sexual harassment if Quentin Tarantino spoke out against the acts of Harvey Weinstein that he was very much aware…
Meet Professor Wu Orr!
Image source: Amherst College Faculty & Staff Page Professor Wu Orr is a new Biology Professor who joined Amherst College this year. She is teaching Biochemistry this fall and will be teaching BIO-191 Molecules, Genes, & Cells in the Spring. I spoke with Professor Wu Orr to learn more about her research and her experience…
High Flying Adored: Whole Air Sampling Research Tracks Emissions from Fuel Leaks
Introduction This post is the third in a series highlighting the fantastic astronomy research Amherst College students have conducted this summer. For more information on the series, visit ,,this post. This week, Astronomy Department Editor William Balmer (that’s me) interviewed Joe Palmo ‘21, who interned this summer at NASA via the Student Airborn Research Program…
Food and Chemistry: An Interview with Professor O’Hara
Professor O’Hara is the chair of the Amherst College Biochemistry-Biophysics department. She investigates aspects of the intersection of food and human biochemistry in her lab, as well as other topics of research. Outside of the lab, Professor O’Hara engages with questions relating to food in other, fascinating ways in her scholarship and teaching. I spoke…
Observing Outbursts from Orbit
Introduction This post is the third in a series highlighting the fantastic astronomy research Amherst College students have conducted this summer. For more information on the series, visit ,,this post. This week, Astronomy Department Editor William Balmer (that’s me) interviewed Lena Treiber ’23E, who presented at the Chandra Time-Series Conference this fall. Lena attended the…
Mathematics is like Minecraft, filled with dark caves and unexplored worlds
In his talk “Stranger Things (In Math)”, Professor Ivan Contreras sets out to explore the ‘Nether’ of mathematics: Non-commutative Algebra. In our daily lives, many of our basic operations are commutative, which means the order of the components does not affect the result. For example, 2 + 3 is the same as 3 + 2,…
Biofortification
A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to listen to Javier Londono ‘23 present his 3-Minute Flash Talk on the worldwide importance of biofortification. Just this past summer, Javier, a prospective biology major, worked under Professor Jeeyon Jeong in the SURF program doing research on biofortification. At the beginning of his presentation, Javier states…
Telescope Time Trials
Introduction This post is the second in a series highlighting the fantastic astronomy research Amherst students have conducted this summer. For more information on the series, visit ,,this post. This week, Astronomy Department Editor William Balmer (that’s me) interviewed one of the six Follette Lab students who presented at the Colloquia. Khalid Mohamed ‘22 led…
“What We Think”: Psychology Lecture on Children’s Social-Emotional Development During COVID-19
On September 17th, 20 students hopped onto a Zoom call to learn about how COVID-19 has impacted children’s social and emotional development. Professor McQuade of the psychology department was joined by Amherst alum Adaora Achufusi ‘13. Specializing in play therapy, Achufusi works in New York as a treatment coordinator at a therapeutic preschool for children…