Pokémon Light Up the Brain
Need another reminder of the lasting impact that the Pokémon anime franchise has had on those who grew up in the 1990s? Rewind to the summer of 2016, when it became nearly impossible to walk down the street without bumping into a millennial immersed in the wildly successful ‘Pokémon GO’ mobile app. As it turns out, it is not just a sense of nostalgia that … Continue reading Pokémon Light Up the Brain
Health Data Privacy: Updating HIPAA to match today’s technology challenges
by Jordan Harrod figures by Dan Utter In the modern era, maintaining the privacy of your personal information has become more challenging than ever. Cyberattacks and social media have resulted in the average person sharing more information than ever before, in ways that they may not be aware of. One area of data privacy that isn’t discussed often, however, is health data. In the past, … Continue reading Health Data Privacy: Updating HIPAA to match today’s technology challenges
Pigs & Immortality: A Step Towards Reversing Death
Researchers from the Yale School of Medicine have developed a system capable of sustaining certain aspects of brain function for several hours, even if the host animal has been dead for up to four hours beforehand. While this by no means suggests that complete restoration of neurological function is on the horizon, it reveals the surprising resilience of post-mortem brain tissue, introduces a promising technique that could allow scientists to study certain biological functions outside of live animals, and highlights the important ethical considerations that must be discussed before any potential complete resuscitation of neurological activity is achieved. Continue reading Pigs & Immortality: A Step Towards Reversing Death
Foxy Behavior: how a Russian fox farm uncovered the basis of canine domestication
by Drew Drabek figures by Nicholas Lue Foxes are not dogs. As a rule, dogs are docile and foxes are feral. You could say it’s in their DNA. But there are exceptions to every rule. A fox raised in captivity might learn to be gentle. A dog who was abused might lash out. Behavior: it’s complicated. There has been great interest in the selective breeding of … Continue reading Foxy Behavior: how a Russian fox farm uncovered the basis of canine domestication
‘Ant bridge’-inspired nanoparticle assembly fixes broken electrical circuits
Colonies of social insects are capable of self-organizing and accomplishing complex tasks through individual interactions. For example, to march across large gaps, ants grip the bodies of each other, forming a living bridge that allows the colonies to reach the other side. Inspired by this swarm behavior of ants, scientists from the Chinese University of Hong Kong developed a nanoparticle self-assembly system that can fix … Continue reading ‘Ant bridge’-inspired nanoparticle assembly fixes broken electrical circuits
The Race Against Postpartum Depression Takes One Step Closer to the Finish Line
by Melanie Basnak figures by Aparna Nathan Emily gave birth to a healthy baby boy. But, soon after the delivery, she started to feel sad and constantly overwhelmed. She could easily get irritated and was often angry. She worried that something would happen to her baby, and this obsession kept her from sleeping. Even though she had lots of support from her partner and family, she felt … Continue reading The Race Against Postpartum Depression Takes One Step Closer to the Finish Line
Checks and Balances: “Unblocking” the fight against cancer
by Apurva Govande figures by Rebecca Clements The single greatest challenge of fighting cancer is that cancerous cells come from our body’s own cells. Because cancer cells are similar to healthy cells, successfully and specifically targeting cancerous cells with minimal damage to healthy cells and tissue is difficult. A major advance against cancer in the past decade, cancer immunotherapy is a therapeutic treatment that helps our own … Continue reading Checks and Balances: “Unblocking” the fight against cancer
Force for a Cure: How sensing pressure could protect you against malaria
by Tess Whitwam figures by Daniel Utter Imagine for a moment that you’re at a concert, standing close to a large loudspeaker—you can feel the vibrations from the loud music coursing through your body. Then, your friend behind you taps your shoulder, so you turn around, just as someone walks by and steps on your foot, causing you to jump back in pain. All the while, … Continue reading Force for a Cure: How sensing pressure could protect you against malaria
Exploring The Underground Network of Trees – The Nervous System of the Forest
by Valentina Lagomarsino figures by Hannah Zucker When scientists first studied the structure of nerve cells that comprise the human brain, they noted their strong resemblance to trees. In fact, dendrites, the term to describe projections from a nerve cell, comes from the Greek word Dendron, for “tree.” While the connection in the appearance of nerve cells was made to trees, the comparison may have been more … Continue reading Exploring The Underground Network of Trees – The Nervous System of the Forest
Read My Mind: An Implant That Translates Brain Activity into Speech
For those who lose or lack the ability to speak, communication can be slow and painstaking. For example, towards the end of his life famed cosmologist Stephen Hawking communicated solely through the movement of a single cheek muscle as a result of his motor neuron disease (ASL). With the aim of finding a solution to this problem, a team at University of California have coupled … Continue reading Read My Mind: An Implant That Translates Brain Activity into Speech