The A&P Professor Science & Education Updates - Issue #146

Life Science

A protein called IL-13 mounts defenses that include virus-trapping mucus and armor that shields airway cells from infection.

No strangers to tension, our muscles drag our bodies around, flexing their inner bundles of myofibres, each of which is a long chain of tiny stretchy sarcomeres. But how these neat, organised structures emerge during development is still a little mysterious.

The effect varies for different people. Take a moment and look at this. Some people don’t see anything special: just a blue pupil in a red eye. For me though, there is an incredibly strong depth illusion – the blue and the red appear as if they are at different distances.

Boosters help for a short time, and mixing vaccines doesn’t seem to push the immune system toward making unhelpful antibodies, studies show.

Susannah Cahalan was 24 years old when her world turned upside down.

Teaching & Learning

Robert Talbert is convinced that traditional grading practices are due for an overhaul.

TAPP News & Notes

What to Do When Flooded with New Learning? | Transparency About Models, Analogies, and Color Codes in Science | Should We Extend Deadlines?

Dr. Staci Johnson Chats About How Standards-Based Grading can Ungrade Her A&P Course | Book: Ungrading by Susan D. Blum | Long Winter's Nap