Allergies: the bane of people who can’t snack on peanut butter and banana sandwiches, who can’t cuddle up to our favorite furry companions on a bad day, and who want to love spring or autumn but are assaulted on all sides by annoying, invisible particles. Allergies plague people seemingly indiscriminately, and symptoms can vary from an itchy nose and watery eyes to hives or difficulty … Continue reading Sit’N Listen Episode 3: Allergies
by Zachary Hauseman figures by Michael Gerhardt The cure for cancer: something we all hear about but never seems to arrive. It’s easy to get frustrated about decades and decades of research while thousands of people still succumb to the disease daily [1]. However, recent cancer treatments offer exciting potential for the field of cancer therapeutics in the future. Cancer is a complicated illness that … Continue reading New Directions for Cancer Therapy: Targeted Medicine
Every year, the NFL makes rule changes that affect team strategy and game outcomes. Some of these rules are designed to maintain the safety of players, while others are designed to increase the competitiveness of the game. However, there is one aspect of the game that the NFL can never change: the laws of physics. In the new series by Forbes Science, “Football Physics,” Chad Orzel … Continue reading The Physics of Football
by Erin Dahlstrom figures by Utsarga Adhikary Popularized by films like Star Trek and Star Wars, the tractor beam is an iconic science fiction technology that allows the user to manipulate objects in space without making physical contact with the objects. While humans today may not be ready to use this technology in outer space, the ability to manipulate objects without touching them could potentially … Continue reading Bringing Star Trek to Life: Scientists in Spain and the UK develop “tractor beam” to manipulate particles
After two weeks of discussions the 2015 Paris Climate Conference (COP21) ended December 12th with the passing of a climate change deal signed by almost 200 nations and the agreement has rightfully been called a “landmark.” It represents a departure from previous agreements by extending the responsibility of fighting climate change to all countries, not just developed nations. With this, according to Megan Bailey, the … Continue reading Paris Climate Agreement: An important moral victory with the potential for greatness
by Rebecca Mandt We usually think of extinction of a species as a bad thing. But what if that species is directly causing human suffering or death on a global scale? The ultimate goal of disease eradication efforts is to target an infectious disease by completely removing the pathogen from the human population, thereby reducing the number of cases to zero worldwide, generally leading to … Continue reading The Road to Guinea Worm Eradication: Running the Final Mile
Pigeons are many things to many people – navigators, couriers, rats with wings – but the word “doctors” rarely comes to mind. A recent study, however, tested their medical prowess by placing the keen-eyed birds in front of a touchscreen monitor that showed images of breast tissue. If the pigeon correctly identified the sample as malignant or benign, as communicated by a peck on the … Continue reading Birdbrains? Pigeons capable of recognizing malignant tumors in breast tissue
by Emily Ricq Depression affects 15 million Americans and is characterized by debilitating feelings of sadness or emptiness that interfere with the ability to lead and enjoy life [1]. The substantial personal and public health burden imposed by depression has motivated decades of intensive research by scientists, clinicians, therapists, and pharmaceutical companies alike, yet the biology underlying the cause (or causes) of the disease and … Continue reading Down, but not out: Developments in depression research
This image shows an unwound small intestine from a mouse embryo 15 days after conception. Blood vessels (blue) are responsible for carrying oxygen to the muscles of the gut and transporting dissolved nutrients from the intestine to the rest of the body. The intestinal nervous system (green) coordinates intricate digestive processes and is so complex that it has been nicknamed “the second … Continue reading Gut Feeling
When Zika virus (ZIKV) arrived in Brazil this year it was expected to be a weaker version of Dengue virus. However, when cases of microcephaly, a rare neurological disorder, skyrocketed in the northeast region of Brazil, Brazil’s Ministry of Health (SUS) began investigating if ZIKV might have anything to do with it. Infants with microcephaly have an abnormally small head for their age and sex, … Continue reading Zika virus: newly arrived flavivirus may be behind the increase in microcephaly cases in Brazil