Brooke Borel

Bed Bugs! Guest Appearance on WFMU’s Seven Second Delay

August 16, 2012 by Brooke Borel

Super excited to be on WFMU’s Seven Second Delay next week talking about bed bugs and more. If you’re in New York, come on over the the Upright Citizens Brigade theater in Chelsea at 6pm on Wednesday, August 22nd. Other guests include Mimi Pond of Simpsons animation fame, Moira Johnson of boobs fame, and musician Sarah Lipstate (Noveller) More info here

Categories: Uncategorized • Tags: bed bugs, guest appearance, live, media, wfmu

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Dispatch from Japan: the Kyoto Prize

November 11, 2011 by Brooke Borel

This week, I’m in Kyoto, Japan to attend the 2011 Kyoto Prize festivities and lectures, as well as to interview two of the laureates. The above photo is from last night’s presentation ceremony, which took place in the Kyoto International Conference Center, a cavernous hall that looks like an AT-AT walker bunker iced in flowers and traditional Japanese art (quite surreal, really). The Kyoto Prize is an international award with three main categories: Advanced Technology, Basic Science and Arts/Philosophy. The categories are […]

Categories: Uncategorized • Tags: japan, kyoto, kyoto prize, science, theater

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Astronaut Food: Freeze-dried cream of mushroom soup, anyone?

August 17, 2011 by Brooke Borel

I stopped by the Eventi Hotel’s garden in Chelsea earlier today to attend a NASA educational event. Four astronauts from the final Atlantis shuttle mission were there (sadly, didn’t meet them) as was the real Elmo from Sesame Street (we also did not meet). The event’s goal was to boost public interest in NASA and space exploration through interactive exhibits, including iPhone-controlled robots from NYU-Poly’s mechatronics department, models of Mars rover parts from Honeybee Robotics and live play on NASA’s […]

Categories: Uncategorized • Tags: astronaut food, nasa, new york

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The Science of Sunburn

July 6, 2011 by Brooke Borel

Last Saturday, I headed to Brighton Beach for my first beach day of the season (pictured above. Photo by Mike Wasilewski using instagr.am). Despite a few shards glass poking out of the sand and a handful of muscly men blasting Russian techno nearby (a two-foot-tall subwoofer at the beach? Really?), it was a great day complete with ocean swims, kite flying and hot dogs. And, of course, bright hot sunshine. On the way home, despite three applications of 30 SPF, I […]

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Glowing photos and cleavage movies (cell cleavage, that is)

June 2, 2011 by Brooke Borel

I finally cracked open the DVD I received last week from the Brad Shuster, one of my instructors at the MBL fellowship, to take a look at the images and videos that our group made during our stint in the lab. The first set includes tunicate larvae– the same guys that I talked about last week. Brad helped us color these with various antibody stains, which essentially tag specific tissue types with fluorescent dyes so that they glow under the […]

Categories: Uncategorized • Tags: fellowship, mbl, microscopy, sea urchins, tunicates

Last day at MBL

May 27, 2011 by Brooke Borel

Hard to believe 10 days have gone by! Yesterday was our last full day. We went on a short cruise on the Gemma, a collecting vessel, and took a look at a few sea critters that we dredged up (well. by “we” I actually mean the Gemma’s intrepid crew). Here are some photos of those, as well as more from the MBL’s Marine Resource Center. The Gemma Pulling up a lot of stuff. Other dogs should be jealous of this […]

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Guest blog at MBL: The Tunicate Files

May 25, 2011 by Brooke Borel

Today, I wrote a post for the MBL’s Logan Science Journalism blog, which is reposted below. To see the original, click here. _______________________________________________________________________________________ Science journalists are regularly thrown into new topics, which we have to master quickly in order to meet deadlines. Because of this, there are times where we’re introduced to an idea, a field of study or even an animal within a limited context (particularly for generalist writers, like yours truly). This week, I became intimately acquainted with […]

Categories: Uncategorized • Tags: fellowship, fertilization, mbl, tunicates

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Baby skates

May 21, 2011 by Brooke Borel

Last night, we were introduced to a few critters outside of our program. We don’t get to play with these, sadly, but here are a couple of photos of my favorites. These are embryonic skates that have been busted out of their egg cases at various stages (they’re still alive, though!). Each is attached to a large egg yolk, which they will feed on until it’s gone. Normally, that’s the stage where they’d emerge from the egg case. The dark […]

Categories: Uncategorized • Tags: biology, development, fellowship, mbl, skate

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Bow Chicka Wow Wow: How to Get Sea Urchins to Get It On

May 20, 2011 by Brooke Borel

This morning, I learned how to fertilize sea urchin eggs. And then my lab partners and I made a movie of it (title pending). A movie, that is, of the egg and sperm doing their thang under a fancy microscope (Zeiss inverted microscope, using differential interference contrast, if you’re into knowing that kind of thing). So, without further ado, I give you: Sea Urchin Fertilization 101 1. Select a sea urchin 2. Turn the sea urchin upside down– which is […]

Categories: Uncategorized • Tags: biology, fellowship, mbl, sea urchins

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Brooke Borel

journalist + author

Author Archives: Brooke Borel

Bed Bugs! Guest Appearance on WFMU’s Seven Second Delay

Dispatch from Japan: the Kyoto Prize

Astronaut Food: Freeze-dried cream of mushroom soup, anyone?

The Science of Sunburn

Glowing photos and cleavage movies (cell cleavage, that is)

Last day at MBL

Guest blog at MBL: The Tunicate Files

Baby skates

Bow Chicka Wow Wow: How to Get Sea Urchins to Get It On