halloween

Don’t Dump your Pumpkin! Post-Halloween Uses

Posted on by Riley Bell

Pumpkins have historically been a sure sign of the Halloween season in the United States. Although they are most used for Halloween, there are many ways to use pumpkins after those spooky October days.

Every year in America, more than 1 billion pounds of pumpkin gets tossed in the trash and wasted. Instead of leaving them to rot in the landfill, try one of these ways to get more use out of your pumpkin after this year’s Halloween!

Hopefully, after reading this list, you are able to revel in the fact that a pumpkin is not just for Halloween. Not only can this help you save money, save time, and cook delicious dishes, but it also takes a much more eco-friendly approach instead of wasting food or creating garbage.

Continue reading “Don’t Dump your Pumpkin! Post-Halloween Uses”

Halloween Costumes: Retro Science Style

Posted on by Promega

“Back when I was in the lab…”: it seems like every former scientist has a story. Kind of like Thanksgiving Dinner among your elderly relatives, scientists are quick to one-up each other with horror stories from our days at the bench—stories that included escape artist rats, a leaky sequencing gel apparatus, and the iconic radioactively contaminated post doc.

We turned to our favorite science cartoonist, Ed Himelblau, to ask for some retro Halloween costumes based on stories of things that used to be common in the lab that don’t seem like such a great idea now. Enjoy…and if you have a few retro horror science costume ideas of your own, please share them.

Continue reading “Halloween Costumes: Retro Science Style”

Two-Sentence Scary Lab Stories

Posted on by Promega
jackolantern_edit

Your bloggers at Promega Connections like Halloween. In the past we have reviewed our top scary blogs and provided lists of things to do with pumpkins and suggestions for what to do when you have too much leftover Halloween candy. This year we are jumping on the 2-sentence horror story bandwagon with a twist: the 2-sentence scary/funny lab story. Here are a few of our creations. If you have one of your own, leave it in the comments.

I had just finished writing the final chapter of my dissertation, when a pop up box appeared :“Are you sure you want to exit without saving changes”. Then the screen went blank.

Continue reading “Two-Sentence Scary Lab Stories”

Science Stories for Halloween

Posted on by Promega

In keeping with our tradition at Promega Connections, we have put together a “Halloween-themed” blog for you. This year we compiled a list of science-related stories that we felt had a certain spooky air about them. Enjoy! And, if you have other stories to add to this list, leave us a comment.

  • Zombie Bees: In January 2012, Andrew Core and colleagues published an article in PLOS ONE describing “zombie” honey bees. With the host of pathogens and pesticides that can harm honey bee colonies, loss of honey bee colonies and rapid declines of honey bee populations world wide, perhaps the worst news bee keepers could get is the description of a new bee zombie parasite. Continue reading “Science Stories for Halloween”

For Halloween: Top 10 Scariest Blogs from Promega Connections

Posted on by Michele Arduengo

We at Promega Connections have covered much that is weird and scary in science over the last few years. In honor of Halloween, celebrated in the United States on October 31, we summarize and link to the top 10 scariest blogs on Promega Connections.

  1. Zombie Ants This is a story of a parasitic fungus that infects ants, causing drastic changes in normal behaviors: the ants climb to astounding heights off the jungle floor (for an ant) and bite a leaf, triggering the growth of a fungal stalk and spore sac from their heads – ultimately killing the ant and enabling the spores to hitch a ride on the wind for better distribution.

Continue reading “For Halloween: Top 10 Scariest Blogs from Promega Connections”

Top 10 Things to Do When You (or Your Kids) Have Too Much Halloween Candy

Posted on by Promega

Halloween party with children wearing fancy costumes

 

10. Set a daily limit. (An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.) Allow X number of pieces of candy per day, then put the bag away, under lock and key.

9. Parental help (good for the child, not so good for the parent). In my childhood, though it was not apparent at the time, Dad was helping by eating some of the candy. Many Promega parents engage in this practice with their children now.

8. Burn more energy. Go for a run or walk or outside to play. For every X pieces of candy, a walk or bike ride around the block. Continue reading “Top 10 Things to Do When You (or Your Kids) Have Too Much Halloween Candy”

Top Ten Uses for Pumpkin

Posted on by Promega

In honor of Halloween, here is a Top Ten Uses of Pumpkin list for your enjoyment:

10. Means of transportation on the high seas or emergency flotation device (pumpkin boats; see the video).

9. Elementary Math Lessons. Determine circumference and radius. How much does a pumpkin weigh? Estimate the number of seeds. Check out pumpkin math ideas here.

8. Cholesterol-lowering snack. After ruthlessly scooping out the innards of a pumpkin, clean the seeds, bake them in the oven and enjoy your healthy snack. Pumpkin seeds contain phytosterols, compounds that that have been shown to reduce levels of LDL cholesterol, as well as magnesium, a mineral needed in the diet.

7. Physics Laboratory. Pumpkin Chuckin’ Contest (video). Continue reading “Top Ten Uses for Pumpkin”