Water Beyond Earth: The search for the life-sustaining liquid
by Andrew Greenspon figures by Hannah Zucker Picture yourself as the Curiosity Rover, which landed on Mars in 2012. You’ve just arrived on Mars after an eight-month journey from Earth. You begin traveling across the Gale crater toward Mount Sharp, 18,000 feet higher than the floor of the crater. On the way, you take images with a high-resolution camera. There, you find a slab of … Continue reading Water Beyond Earth: The search for the life-sustaining liquid
Hydroponics: The power of water to grow food
by Valentina Lagomarsino figures by Rebecca Senft In the year 600 B.C.E., the climate was arid and dry along the Euphrates River in Western Asia, but there were lush gardens climbing up the walls of the metropolis, Babylon. It is believed that the Hanging Gardens of Babylon were surviving through a pulley-system of water from the river, a technique of agricultural that today is known … Continue reading Hydroponics: The power of water to grow food
Biological Roles of Water: Why is water necessary for life?
by Molly Sargen figures by Daniel Utter Water makes up 60-75% of human body weight. A loss of just 4% of total body water leads to dehydration, and a loss of 15% can be fatal. Likewise, a person could survive a month without food but wouldn’t survive 3 days without water. This crucial dependence on water broadly governs all life forms. Clearly water is vital … Continue reading Biological Roles of Water: Why is water necessary for life?
Waste Not, Want Not: Harnessing the power of microbes for wastewater recycling
by Elaine Cheung “Use poison to cure poison.” This isn’t just a Chinese old wives’ tale, but an emerging approach being used to tackle one of the modern world’s greatest issues: availability of clean water. The largest portion of water consumed in American households comes from toilet and shower usage. This poses a problem for maintaining renewable water sources, as wastewater is particularly difficult to … Continue reading Waste Not, Want Not: Harnessing the power of microbes for wastewater recycling
Blue-Green Planet: It’s a cyanobacterial world, and we just live on it.
by Olivia Foster Rhoades Green globs coat the shore and placards caution visitors from touching the water. First it was New Jersey’s Lake Hopatcong, then the Pacific Northwest, and most recently in Central Park. The culprit? An ancient and prolific family of microbes that have been shaping our world for millennia—cyanobacteria.” Cyanobacteria are bacteria that thrive in the same conditions that make algae flourish and … Continue reading Blue-Green Planet: It’s a cyanobacterial world, and we just live on it.
America’s Turn to Protect 9/11 Responders this Mesothelioma Awareness Day
by Rosie Rosati On September, 11th 2001, hundreds of thousands of firefighters, responders, and volunteers rushed to Lower Manhattan to aid those lost in the destruction of the World Trade Center. U.S. citizens will never forget the devastation that swept the nation that day, however, those who so graciously lent a helping hand are still suffering the consequences of toxic airborne emissions. Upon the attacks, … Continue reading America’s Turn to Protect 9/11 Responders this Mesothelioma Awareness Day
Breaking Down Brexit: Potential impacts on science in the UK
by Michael Foley figures by Abagail Burrus When asked to describe the roles of a scientist, most people probably wouldn’t list ‘applying for grants’ or ‘travel’ very highly. However, modern science relies on significant efforts from researchers to obtain much of their own funding and build their own international networks. In the UK, equipment, travel, funds for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, and other costs associated with … Continue reading Breaking Down Brexit: Potential impacts on science in the UK
Albino Lizards are the First Ever Genome Edited Reptiles
CRISPR genome editing has been used to study the biology of a number of species, but its use in reptiles has been difficult to achieve. Scientists have now figured this out, and albino lizards are the product! Read Ben Andreone’s article to learn more! Continue reading Albino Lizards are the First Ever Genome Edited Reptiles
From Genes to Disease: the release of the UK Biobank
by Layla Siraj figures by Rebecca Senft Imagine if you could tell, through some combination of your environment and your genetics, what illnesses you might develop. This could give you the ability to either prevent these illnesses before they even happen or catch and treat the illnesses early enough to prevent long-lasting effects. This reality is one step closer with the release of the UK … Continue reading From Genes to Disease: the release of the UK Biobank
I Didn’t Get It from My Mama: Children with DNA almost exclusively from their dads
by Marina Watanabe figures by Elayne Fivenson Hours after giving birth, my sister sent a picture of her newborn baby to our family group text. In what I can only assume was a painkiller-induced haze, she wrote, “The baby looks exactly like me!!!” The baby did not look exactly like her. The baby, like all newborn babies, looked exactly like a potato. This idea of … Continue reading I Didn’t Get It from My Mama: Children with DNA almost exclusively from their dads