Abi Nighthill

Scope Correspondent
nighthil@mit.edu
Abi Nighthill grew up just outside of Portland, Oregon. There, most of her skies were obscured by branches, clouds, or both. After wandering aimlessly around Portland State University for a few years, she moved to Chicago and earned a BA in Poetry with a minor in Environmental Studies. Her thesis focused on haiku poetics and the behavior of jumping spiders, and other major works exhumed the science from Emily Dickinson’s works or followed the story of DARPA’s HI-MEMS (cyborg moths) project. Easily seduced, she found herself interested in many facets of the sciences: ocean ecology, cognitive neuroscience, quantum mechanics, botany, cyborgs… how fortunate that she could sate her curiosity through writing. She has since developed and taught a course at Portland State University that explores intersections of science and poetry, and worked on a memoir in hypertext that focuses on uncertainty, poetry, and new media.

Birds, Bugs Do It, Stormy Weather Edition

by
Scope Correspondent
posted January 21, 2014 at 3:49 pm

A storm approaches, and the air pressure drops. Dogs hide in whatever adorably pitiable spot they can find, and people stock up on canned goods before settling in themselves. We focus on doing what it takes to keep ourselves and our families safe. But things aren’t so different for the birds and the beetles. Even without our modern methods of forecasting, these creatures predict and prepare for incoming storms.

Scientists have studied how insects change their usual sex habits when threatened by a coming storm. M. Fernanda Peñaflor, co-author of the study, described their three test species: the “robust” cucurbit beetle, the more fragile armyworm moth, and the ever more dainty (but virile) potato aphid. Full Article »

Image: Ton Rulkens
Image: Ton Rulkens

Bourbon County’s Ugly Angels

by
Scope Correspondent
posted October 16, 2013 at 2:41 pm

It’s not heavenly creatures, but a sooty black fungus that thrives on pollution produced in alcohol distilling processes. Now, Louisville distillers face growing pressure to curb the ethanol emissions that drive the spread of this “whiskey fungus.”

The fungus Baudoinia compniacensis grows in what is known amongst distillers as the angel’s share: ethanol vapors that escape the oak barrels during the aging process. The vapors allow this stubborn fungus to grow everywhere: sidings, plants, outdoor furniture, even toys left outside.

Each bourbon barrel loses about 2% of its liquid per year of aging, adding up to 2000 tons of ethanol released into the air by each of three large distilleries with maturation warehouses in Louisville: Heaven Hill, Brown-Forman, and Diageo—who market such brands as Elijah Craig, Jack Daniel’s, and Bushmills. Full Article »

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