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A Letter from Olivia

Dear Scislug community, I’m Olivia and I’m graduating after having been in Scientific Slug for all four of my years at UCSC. Admittedly that’s a bit of an exaggeration. I joined at the very end of my first quarter of my 1st year. But from the moment I joined, I suddenly became incredibly invested and involved. And it kinda changed […]

Student Environmental Center Through the Years

A Timeline of Student Agency through the Environmental Justice Movement Contributed by Student Environmental Center On a National Level: 1970 | First Earth Day & Formation of Environmental Protection Agency The Environmental Protection Agency was created following the increase of public interest in the protection of the environment. The EPA focuses on maintaining the health of humans and the environment […]

COVID-19 and the Environment

– Featured Image By Emma Houle Since the Coronavirus pandemic shut down the world, our environment has faced many changes such as increased pollution from surgical masks and decreased air pollution from stay-at-home orders. The following article lists some of the shocking environmental statistics that illustrate what has come from the COVID-19 pandemic. Dolphins returned to the Bay of Bengal […]

Euclidean

By Chiara Villanueva Art by Gabrielle Cox and Olivia Irons My mother once told me that angels were real. That they were always there, looking after you, guiding you places, even when you can’t see them. I sometimes wonder what she’d think if I told her: “But I saw them, mom. My guardian angel—I saw them and they saved me.” […]

How to Grow Your Own Cosmic Garden: A Step-by-Step Guide for the Celestial Gods and Goddesses of the Universe

by Stephanie Figuereo Cosmic gardens are the glowing forces of the Universe that give an otherwise empty vacuum significance. They hold within them stars that emit light and twinkle in red and blue star clusters. The planets they create add personality and character, where some may rain diamonds, fashion 600 rings, or have an ocean with no land. Growing your […]

Petrology: Rocks Origin Stories

By Simone Wright Rocks are cool. They’re like small time capsules that describe the Earth’s history. The variety of characteristics impies a natural process unique to that rock; like a game of mystery to describe the events leading up to them. Geologists study rocks not only to understand/model Earth processes, but to access fundamental knowledge about the universe around us. […]

Race and Genetics: The Discussion Continues

Do genetic test results actually mean anything?? This was the question in my head after my professor suggested the answer was “no” offhand in a lecture for the class I was taking: The History of Capitalism (which I do recommend, if it’s taught again). I love both science and the humanities. But I’ve come to discover how different the two […]

Time to Astrid Anker

Time is found, lost, given, spent. Together with space it can bend. Time is a fickle friend. In physics class we are told that time is relative: it ticks by slower or faster, depending on the motion of the object and the frame of reference. Sometimes we forget to apply that to our own human experience. It’s a lot for […]

Wide Open Spaces

“I can’t believe it’s just like all the movies,” I said for what had to be the third time that day. I had my feet up on the dashboard, munching on Hot Tamales as I watched the desert whiz by at 85 mph. It was the highest speed limit I’d ever seen, but then again there really wasn’t anything to […]