–Whale watching in the Boston area is an incredibly popular activity. Last year, almost 1 million people went whale watching off the coast of New England. After all, what is there not to love? The whales are charismatic wonders themselves – mammoth yet gentle, showy yet elusive – and the whole adventure, which takes only a few hours, is jam-packed with a kind of romance hard to find nowadays. Continue reading In Support of Whale Watching; An Opinion Piece

— Recently, a leading British medical journal, The Lancet, retracted a twelve-year old research paper that claimed a link between the MMR (Measles, Mumps, and Rubella) vaccine and autism. The paper’s publication sparked much controversy in autism research, and it’s retraction has been even bigger news. The retraction of a scientific publication is a statement of error by a peer-reviewed journal, admitting that the original paper should not have been published due to either fraud and misconduct by the authors, or to unintentional scientific error. How did a paper that has received so much attention in the past 12 years get retracted from a prestigious journal like the Lancet? How does this affect future research in autism? Continue reading When the Science is Wrong: No Link Between the MMR Vaccine and Autism

— We often think of proteins as nutrients in the food we eat or the main component of muscles, but proteins are also microscopic molecules inside of cells that perform diverse and vital jobs. With the Human Genome Project complete, scientists are turning their attention to the human “proteome,” the catalog of all human proteins. This work has shown that the world of proteins is a fascinating one, full of molecules with such intricate shapes and precise functions that they seem almost fanciful… Continue reading Protein Folding: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

I had stored about ten pounds of used lab materials over a period of 8 months, waiting to hear from authorities here at Scripps Institute of Oceanography at San Diego, on ways to recycle the waste. All were different types of plastics. I was informed yesterday that San Diego County does not have a facility to recycle lab materials made of plastic. I had to … Continue reading Waste that matters: Plastics in the Pacific Ocean — A growing cause for concern

Do you remember wearing the red and cyan 3D eyeglasses when you were a kid? Well, 3D tech certainly has improved by leaps and bounds, and is turning into the latest fad in the entertainment industry. 3D films have matured from campy to epic, with the most recent blockbuster being James Cameron’s Avatar. The technology that makes 3D possible, Continue reading “3D cinema: there’s a reason for wearing those goofy glasses”

Have you had the flu this season? If not, chances are you have taken precautions, such as getting a flu shot and vigilantly washing your hands. These strategies can effectively reduce your risk of infection, but they are not the whole story. Your body employs many defensive tactics too… Continue reading In Self Defense: The Flu-Fighters Within

It’s that time of year when schedules somehow seem three times more full with work, school, and social gatherings, but the days seem shorter. On TV and in newspapers, articles appear weekly on ways to reduce holiday stress. Holiday cheer and spending time with family can keep us afloat during the holiday season, but when the holidays are over and life returns to normal, what happens when the stress doesn’t melt as fast as the snow… Continue reading Calming your nerves and your heart through meditation

As the holiday season approaches, you may be starting to consider gifts for family or friends. A good choice this year might be a product that incorporates the clever technology called “electronic paper,” known best for its use in Amazon’s Kindle, one of several electronic book readers that have recently become popular… Continue reading The Skinny On Electronic Paper

code at the ends of the chromosomes is maintained as cells divide. Drs. Elizabeth H. Blackburn, Carol W. Greider, and Jack W. Szostak shared this most prestigious prize for work they did in the 70’s and 80’s on the “caps” at the ends of chromosomes. These “caps” are called telomeres (‘telos’ meaning ‘end’ and ‘meros’ meaning ‘part’ in Greek) and are added by an enzyme called telomerase. So why is understanding telomeres important? In order to appreciate their role, we need some background on chromosomes… Continue reading A 'Nobel' Endeavor: Capping Chromosomes with Telomeres

The organelles of a cell are akin to the rooms of a house. Just as a kitchen is for cooking and bedrooms are for sleeping, distinct organelles are host to different cellular events, too. This division of labor enables cells to complete tasks more efficiently and supports the complexity of higher organisms like animals and plants… Continue reading Keeping in shape: the morphology of internal cellular structures