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Transfusing old blood into young mice aged their systems

A team at UC Berkeley investigated the effects of transfusing blood from young mice into old mice and vice versa. They found that young blood only slightly improves some functions (e.g. brain cell development) in old mice, but old blood significantly decreases those functions in young mice. This points to something present in old blood that actually ages our systems, but that something is still unknown. Continue reading Transfusing old blood into young mice aged their systems

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Charging your cell phone through your shirt

Modern society is built on portable electronics, and with these power-hungry pieces of technology comes the need for convenient charging. To mitigate the need to find power outlets, a team at the University of Central Florida, lead by Jayan Thomas, created a ribbon which both harvests solar energy and stores it within a single unit. Remarkably, the technology is able to be woven with other … Continue reading Charging your cell phone through your shirt

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Don’t worry, the expansion of the universe is still accelerating

In the early 1900s, Edwin Hubble observed that distant galaxies are moving away from us. This surprising observation led Hubble to hypothesize that the universe is expanding; more recently, scientists have observed that not only is the universe expanding, but that the expansion is accelerating! The evidence for acceleration emerged from observations of a particular kind of supernovae (Type Ia supernovae) that have a uniform … Continue reading Don’t worry, the expansion of the universe is still accelerating

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Seminars

From Ebola to Zika: Combating myths and controlling mosquitoes

Infectious disease outbreaks are not a new phenomenon and remain a major public health concern. Since the turn of the 21st century, we have dealt with several infectious disease epidemics, including the 2014-2015 Ebola epidemic, and most recently the emergence of Zika virus in the Americas. We will discuss the representation of these outbreaks in popular culture, explain the social and scientific challenges associated with … Continue reading From Ebola to Zika: Combating myths and controlling mosquitoes

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HIV-Infected T Cell
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Genetic Evidence Exonerates HIV’s “Patient Zero”

Gaeten Dugas, the man who received the title “Patient Zero” for supposedly bringing HIV/AIDS into the United States, has been cleared.  Dugas was a Canadian flight attendant who contracted and died of AIDS soon after the disease first appeared in the US.  The book And the Band Played On paints a sinister picture of his role in the early AIDS epidemic, leading many to suspect … Continue reading Genetic Evidence Exonerates HIV’s “Patient Zero”

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Seminars

Small World, Big Data: From online dating to the emergency room

In the modern age, data is used to make decisions in almost every aspect of life, from online dating to product placement and advertising. But what is big data? How did it come to be? How will applications of big data help shape technology we use every day? Hear the answers to these questions and more as we explore the origins of data, examples of … Continue reading Small World, Big Data: From online dating to the emergency room

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Seminars

Understanding Suicide Risk: How language, emotion, and pain influence self-harm

Suicide is a troubling, yet surprisingly common phenomenon, claiming the lives of over 42,000 Americans annually. This lecture will explore the intersecting topics of language, pain, and emotion regulation, and address how research in these fields can provide insight into suicide risk and prevention.   Continue reading Understanding Suicide Risk: How language, emotion, and pain influence self-harm

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Lakes formed from glacial melting may cause havoc on local communities

Glacier meltwater provides a steady source of water for communities that would otherwise lack access during the dry season, but melting glaciers can cause problems beyond raising the sea level and endangering coastal communities. Meltwater forms lakes below the glaciers, and this water is often held in place by natural dams. Rock slides or avalanches can weaken or destroy these dams, causing the lakes to … Continue reading Lakes formed from glacial melting may cause havoc on local communities

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The importance of basic research and the Nobel Prize in Medicine

The importance of basic research has been highlighted this year by Yoshinori Ohsumi receiving the Nobel Prize in Medicine for his work on the process of autophagy. Autophagy—literally “self-eating”—is a fundamental cellular process that degrades and recycles cellular components. During autophagy, fatty capsules, or vesicles, form around internal components of a cell (autophagosomes), are fused with a lysosome, an acidic cellular compartment that breaks down its … Continue reading The importance of basic research and the Nobel Prize in Medicine

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Seminars

The Music of Medicine: Tuning the body to light and sound

The wealth of information contained in light and sound is staggering, as can be seen in 8th century Asian Ink drawings and the vibrating pollination technique used by the bumblebee. And the ways we process light and sound are equally complex, it turns out–join us on an exploration of human auditory and visual systems, as we talk about Night Shift, fire alarms, and medical applications … Continue reading The Music of Medicine: Tuning the body to light and sound

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