Rachel Tashjian's blog

I think the element of Biology 103 that I enjoyed most was its ability to answer all my ‘big questions.’ Before the course, I did not understand molecular evolution, the purpose of the scientific method, or how chemistry was connected to biology, and I left feeling pretty confident in my comprehension of these things. Because science is a loopy storytelling process, though, I was continually reassessing my ideas of what these processes meant, in particular, evolution. While our society’s great debate on evolution often hinges on the idea that evolution denies the ‘miraculous’ associated with a divine being (like that of creationism or intelligent design), the play between genes and environment and particularly  improbable assembly certainly seemed miraculous to me.

Monster. Cocaine. Red Bull. Venom. Whoop Ass. Just a few years ago, these names might look like a list of fears. But they aren’t—in fact, those are the names of something that young adults seem obsessed with getting: energy drinks. You can find them at the school bookstore, the drug store, or restaurants you go out to, either to help you stay awake to study or give you energy as you rush from activity to activity. Though energy drinks are not marketed specifically as “health” beverages, their potential dangers have certainly raised many new questions in the health world. Like most consumer products, these drinks are not made primarily to give people energy; they are created and defined through their “brand” to make money. But how does brand work as a scientific story?