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A Memorandum To My Right Peroneus Longus

April 29, 2015 by Hannah Foster Leave a Comment

To: Peroneus Longus (right), Associate Ankle Stabilizer, Right Leg Dept. From: The Brain, Director of Whole Body, Inc. Date: April 28, 2015 Subject: Your Communication Regarding 04-06-2015 Trail Run It has come to my attention that you were dissatisfied with our 4-mile run through the woods on April 6, 2015. I understand that you felt…

Filed Under: Endings Tagged With: peroneus longus, running

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Boston In Springtime, Home To The Happiest People On Earth For Three Weeks Of The Year

April 6, 2015 by Hannah Foster Leave a Comment

You all know the guy (I don’t mean to be sexist here, but usually it’s a guy): the one who has an opinion about everything, and whose opinion is always right. I have a low tolerance for this guy. And by “this guy” I’m talking about one guy among all of “those guys” out there…

Filed Under: Endings Tagged With: new england, spring

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How to Choose a Protein: A Comprehensive Guide For Future Biology Graduate Students (Or A Dating Guide For The Rest Of Us)

February 26, 2015 by Hannah Foster Leave a Comment

So, you want to do a PhD in biology? Well, there are several major decisions that you’ll have to make along the way. This guide attempts to explain each one in terms everyone can understand. What University Should I Choose? The first decision you’ll have to make is where you want to do your PhD.…

Filed Under: SciTech Tagged With: biology, dating, protein

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What’s In A Face?

February 6, 2015 by Hannah Foster Leave a Comment

I recently received the news that I do not quite have prosopagnosia. This is a bit disappointing, since it means I am not quite eligible to take part in a study that pays $20/hour. Prosopagnosia literally translates as face-blindness. This simply means that a person (who has no other memory problems) has difficulty remembering faces.…

Filed Under: Endings Tagged With: dogs, faces. bees, prosopagnosia

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The True Realist

January 26, 2015 by Hannah Foster Leave a Comment

As a self-proclaimed realist, few things are more irritating to me than when people tell me to “just be positive.” It’s not that I don’t want to be happy, but “just being positive,” to me looks like ignoring the pain and unpredictability of life. Since I consider myself to be a rigidly scientific and realistic…

Filed Under: Endings Tagged With: depression, happify

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Kings’ Feet

January 23, 2015 by Hannah Foster 1 Comment

“Kings’ feet? Well, kings’ feet are no bigger than anyone else’s feet.” That was the fragment of conversation I caught as I walked past a woman speaking to a boy of about six years. I wish I could have heard the rest of this conversation. Mostly, I want to know how they came to be…

Filed Under: Endings Tagged With: big feet, kings

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New Year’s Resolution: Try To Be Less Realistic

January 7, 2015 by Hannah Foster Leave a Comment

I pride myself on being a realist. It is one of the reasons I don’t make New Year’s Resolutions: I know it is unlikely that I will make significant changes in my life simply by brute force. After all, it takes me all of January just to write the correct date. Last year, I wrote…

Filed Under: Endings Tagged With: realism, resolutions

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Keep Climbing And Stay Away From The Windows: Making Sense Of Grad School After You’ve Ignored All The Warning Signs

December 30, 2014 by Hannah Foster 1 Comment

“Don’t do it” was the response of a 4th-year graduate student when asked by one of my fellow recruits what advice she had about grad school. We were mingling with current PhD students at Harvard’s recruitment weekend, trying our hardest to look like we knew what we were talking about. I excused this woman’s bitter…

Filed Under: SciTech Tagged With: grad school

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Come Out Fighting: How Coming Out As A Boxer Is Like (And Unlike) Coming Out As Gay

December 18, 2014 by Hannah Foster Leave a Comment

I’m always surprised by the array of responses I get when I tell people that I am a boxer. My admission might evoke reactions ranging from horror to awe to excitement. I suppose that after three decades here on earth I should no longer be shocked that people have such strong opinions about something that…

Filed Under: Endings Tagged With: boxing, coming out, glbtq, identity

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News That Isn’t News: You Probably Look Like Your Dog

December 8, 2014 by Hannah Foster Leave a Comment

There is new evidence suggesting we were right all along: dogs do, in fact, resemble their owners. Let’s put it to the test with a little game: each dog below is owned by the person either to his right or to his left (A or B). Try to identify the correct owner. Answers: 1=A, 2=B,…

Filed Under: SciTech Tagged With: anthrozoos, dogs, eyes

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