A Tumblr entitled Tufts Tails is a space for Tufts 2017 Jumbos to upload pieces of their essays to share with other interested classmates and prospective students.  From rainbows and parakeets to photography and Disney, you’ll see just what these newest Jumbos have to say about their lives, Tufts, and their nerdy sides.

One of the 10 students in the class, Sam Plasmati, A13, says:

We’re getting first hand experience in film production. We’ve spent the semester so far preparing for filming  - doing PR, location scouting, dealing with equipment, casting. We just had our first shoot at the Tufts Campus and nearby locations in Medford and Somerville and it was a huge success. We students had an active role in all aspects of the  shoot – helping produce, helping with sounds, helping film.

“Old Guy” is intended as a comedic look at how aging is represented in the media.This project is a collaboration between Tufts University and the LA-based production company that Professor Burton co-owns, Five Sisters Productions. The goal is to create a web-series which is roughly based on the experiences of Burton’s father, a professor turned actor at age 75, working in the entertainment industry.

For a behind-the-scenes look at what Professor Burton, Sam and the other students are doing, take a look at their Twitter account and follow them for more updates. And be on the lookout for the release of “Old Guy”!

The nearly 400 comments on the post ranged from questions about legacy students and financial aid to inquiries about horse-sized ducks and Dan’s t-shirt. Check out the AMA for Dan’s inside look at college admissions.

Little did Russack know, the two-and-a-half hour environmental studies seminar would inspire him to write a series of posts on his personal blog on the topics discussed in class. He writes: “So far I’m really enjoying the class because every week I come away with a plethora of knowledge about a new topic and the confidence to talk about it.”

One of those topics was “colony collapse disorder,” the phenomenon of the sudden disappearance of honey bees in the United States:

“We investigated the potential for multiple factors to be working together to create these massive die-offs, as the research has been unable to find a clear culprit. The first factor discussed is the usage of systemic pesticides. Systemic pesticides spread throughout all the tissues of a plant, including the nectar and pollen. This means that adult forager bees are receiving direct exposure to the pesticides, and that entire colonies are experiencing indirect exposure when the foragers return. Systemic pesticides are known as neonicotinoids, which have been shown to have significant effects on the central nervous system.

A study by Pettis et al. demonstrated that honey bees exposed to a systemic pesticide known as imidacloprid were significantly more susceptible to infection from the gut pathogen Nosema (figure 1). A second study by Henry et al. showed that exposure to systemic pesticides decreased foraging success in honey bees. The bees were fitted with radar tagging devices to track their position (figure 2). The bees experienced significant“homing failure,”  with up to 31% of bees exposed to pesticides unable to find their way back to hive after foraging. Mortality due to homing failure was even higher when the bees were unfamiliar with their foraging area, as one would expect. Here we can see how just 1 factor, pesticides, is able to have multiple effects on bee health and how these factors could interact to weaken colonies.”

For more on Russack’s presentation, check out his blog post.

Zakin and Weisberg met on a semester abroad in Rome, and they both worked at NBC after college. In an interview with Business Insider, they explained:

[theSkimm is] for someone who’s smart, career-minded, and social. They might be going to a cocktail party or wedding, where news stories come up in conversation.  We want our readers to be able to start the conversations. theSkimm is meant to be a confidence booster.

Weisberg majored in American Studies at Tufts, and has worked in broadcast journalism for NBC News, as well as in editorial positions at The Daily Beast and Boston Magazine.

For more information, check out TheSkimm on Facebook and Twitter, and make sure to sign up theSkimm, new editions come out every weekday.

Samaan began the initiative after realizing he had few exams but would be around until the last day of finals. In order to make the most of his time, he came up with Tufts Study Aids, a cash-only delivery service that proves Jumbos with study essentials: from pens and paper to easy mac. He enlisted his roommate, Schoeben, to bring his idea to life on the Internet while Samaan handles the deliveries. Check out their entrepreneurial efforts here!

Professor Crane explains the significance of Arabic translation:

“Many scientific terms such as algebra and chemistry come to us from Arabic. European culture rediscovered ancient sources like Aristotle and Euclid via Latin translations from Arabic translations of the Greek originals.”

The “Academic Minute” podcasts reach a wide audience on a daily basis. For more information, check out the podcast’s Facebook and Twitter Pages.

Check out three videos from this semester’s batch of projects:

“The Cost of Conflict: A Message to Private Oil Firms” by Ryan Egger, A14, Ally Manning, A13, Mariah Martin, A13, Janet Rubin, A14, Katie Segal, A14

“Revamping the Kimberley Process” by Danielle Jenkins, A13, Meagan Maher, A13, Karen Bustard, A13, Daniel Goodman, A14, and Stephanie Krantz, A14

“Somali Piracy Over Natural Resources” by Jack Miller, A14, Chris Banaszek, A13, Sean Gunn, A15, Angela Sun, A13, Hans Ege Wenger, A14, Steve Yu, A13

Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS is a nonprofit that utilizes the resources of the theater community to raise money for AIDS-related causes. In the Tufts Daily video below, you’ll hear from ensemble member Julia Lyons, A13; Director Cailin Mackenzie, A14; and Executive Producer Stephanie Fischer, A13, who speak about the importance of BC/EFA and the significance of the yearly event at Tufts. The video also features rehearsal footage of the talented cast.

Check out this video of the 2012 Gospel Choir performing “I Got A Reason”: