by Wei Lifigures by Wei Wu Trigger warning: this article contains mentions of suicide. What do the lead scientists behind the COVID-19 vaccine, the current first lady of the United States, and the students at Science in the News have in common? They all did (or are currently doing) academic research in graduate schools. Academic research is undeniably important to society. For example, much of … Continue reading The Mental Health Crisis in Science
A New Zealand reptile carries an extra set of genes in its mitochondria that may help it adapt to cold temperatures. Continue reading Tuataras: The First Vertebrates Found to Have Two Mitochondrial Genomes
What’s in that sourdough starter? New research sheds light on the mysterious microbes that influence our bread. Continue reading The Secret Life of Sourdough
Manasvi Verma, 1st year PhD student in the Biological and Biomedical Sciences Program at Harvard Medical School. Jovana Andrejevic is a fifth-year Applied Physics Ph.D. student in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Harvard University. cover Image by Vlad Vasnetsov from Pixabay. This biography is part of our “Picture a Scientist” initiative. To learn more about the amazing men and women who paved … Continue reading John Dabiri: The oceanic adventures of a bioengineer
Those of us privileged enough to frequent aquariums have probably experienced the physical inability to move past the illuminated jellyfish enclosures. Something about their mesmerizing movements holds us captive. Most of us, however, admire the jellyfish, murmur incoherently about how majestic they are, and move on. John Dabiri, fortunately, is not most of us. Born to Nigerian immigrant parents in 1980, Dabiri is an aeronautics … Continue reading John Dabiri: The oceanic adventures of a bioengineer
How do you introduce yourself, scientifically? I generally say that I’m an astronomer. More specifically, I’m an exoplanet astronomer, meaning I study planets that exist around other stars. In our solar system, all the planets orbit the Sun. I’m looking at planets in other stellar systems, orbiting stars much further away than the Sun. What are the implications or broader impacts of your work? This is … Continue reading What Does an Astronomer Do?
Climate models have long been reliant on information from cloud interactions with ship exhaust; however, new research shows this may not tell the whole story Continue reading Overestimating Cloud Cooling: How Ship Tracks May Incorrectly Inform Climate Models
New data-driven RNA simulations allow scientists to observe twisting and folding in real time. Continue reading RNA Simulations Show Its Unique Ability to Move and Fold
Why do cats love catnip? Well, it may be due to its mosquito-repelling properties. Continue reading Crazy for Catnip: the Mosquito-Repelling Story behind a Cat’s Love for Catnip
Global cooling caused by nuclear warfare could devastate crops, leading to global food insecurity. How would marine ecosystems be affected by this catastrophic event? Continue reading Nuclear War Could Cause Cooling on Land, but Warming in the Oceans