Shannon Fischer | shannon@freeradicalsmag.com | 4 posts
Shannon Fischer is a student, writer and occasional photographer. She grew up in south Florida, but moved north for college in 2001 and has remained above the Mason-Dixon line ever since.
She received her B.A. from Amherst College, where she studied brains, behavior, and Russian. She moved to Boston in 2005 and, after several false starts, began working on her M.S. in science journalism at Boston University. In addition to her degree work, she is also a regular contributor for Book of Odds (www.bookofodds.com) and recently completed an editorial internship with the Smithsonian Zoogoer.
She is interested in zoological oddities, curious diseases, peculiar technologies and the ever-baffling habits of humanity. In her spare time, she enjoys bad puns, local sports, and far too much science fiction for her own good. Photo Credit: Ian M. Cunningham
The typical sidewalk-treader might not think too much of the concrete underfoot. But we should—it’s an incredible material. It dams our rivers, steadies our skyscrapers, and keeps the Roman Pantheon standing—after more than 2,000 years. If you make it right, it’ll even float. Each year, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) puts on the National Concrete [...]
They’re tiny, brainless and badass. They’re the everyday viruses that send us running to the Kleenex aisle. And at a molecular level, they rock. Viruses are mindlessly competent, ruthlessly efficient, and so simple they blur the line between life and non-life. Yet we humans, despite our elaborate nervous systems and thousands of genes, can barely keep [...]
Ebola may have faded from the spotlight it enjoyed in the mid-1990s, but it’s still around, and as deadly and mysterious as ever. It began in Kikyo, a remote village in western Uganda’s Bundibugyo district, during the twilight days of August. People grew ill with headache, fever, bloody diarrhea, and vomiting. Then they died. In [...]
Long, lean and full of protein, frogmeat carries a reputation for exceptional energy and aphrodisiac benefits in some cultures. But is there any truth to frogs' superfood reputation, or are they just another piece of meat?
