Hand Washing
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COVID-19 and Emerging Viral Diseases: the journey from animals to humans
by Ziqi Chen figures by Rebecca Senft We live in a universe of viruses. It is estimated that there are billions of types of viruses on earth, and ~320,000 types that infect mammals alone. Many viral species exist in our surrounding environment. As we live, breathe, eat, talk, and go about our daily activities, the number of viruses that we come into contact with is virtually … Continue reading COVID-19 and Emerging Viral Diseases: the journey from animals to humans
Curing Cancer with the Help of a Living Fossil: The Horseshoe Crab
by Stephanie Smelyansky figures by Jovana Andrejevic Nature knows to quit when it’s ahead–just take a look at the horseshoe crab. Since its origins 450 million years ago, the animal has remained relatively unchanged. This living fossil continues to trudge through shallow, brackish waters, its large tank-like shell protecting its soft, wriggly underbody, looking for tiny worms and mollusks to scoop into its belly, just … Continue reading Curing Cancer with the Help of a Living Fossil: The Horseshoe Crab
A Stressful New Decade: The latest information on how stress shapes our minds and bodies
by Kevin Dervishi figures by Tal Scully You’re in the frozen goods aisle of the grocery store, surveying ice cream flavors. You’re cradling a bottle of wine–or maybe it’s a six-pack of beer. It doesn’t matter. Suddenly, someone down the aisle calls your name. It’s your recent ex, smiling and walking towards you arm-in-arm with their new romantic partner. This feeling is stress. It’s the … Continue reading A Stressful New Decade: The latest information on how stress shapes our minds and bodies
An Evolutionary Argument for why Grandmas Rule
by Rebecca Silberman figures by Aparna Nathan Seen through the harsh, unsentimental lens of evolutionary biology, menopause doesn’t make sense. Why don’t women live like giraffes, like tarantulas, like pigeons, reproducing throughout their lives in order to maximize each person’s “fitness,” or reproductive success? Even in other long-lived, social species like elephants, females don’t stop having children before the end of their lives, and while … Continue reading An Evolutionary Argument for why Grandmas Rule
Cancers Evolve – Tagging and Tracking Can Help Us Understand How
by Catherine Gutierrez figures by Aparna Nathan Forty-nine years ago, President Richard Nixon launched a “War on Cancer”. That war has not ended—it rages on today, with cancer right behind heart disease as the leading cause of death in the United States. Nearly 1.8 million new cases of cancer are expected in 2020 in the U.S. alone, and rising rates of cancer risk factors such … Continue reading Cancers Evolve – Tagging and Tracking Can Help Us Understand How
The Quark Soup
by Anthony Badea figures by Anastasia Ershova Long before our world took shape, The Big Bang sent a shockwave of energy irradiating through a violently expanding Universe. In one millionth of a millionth of a second, the primordial fabric of existence transitioned through three distinct phases as the four fundamental forces, electromagnetism, gravity, and the weak and strong forces, took shape. At this point temperatures … Continue reading The Quark Soup
Ice Cores and Roman Lore: Modern climate science helps scientists and historians piece together the past
by Lorena Lyon figures by Rebecca Senft Today, the discussion of climate change generally relates to human impact on the environment since the Industrial Revolution (1760 to mid-1800s). But, how have humans been impacting the planet before then? And how can we find out? It turns out a type of climate science using something called ice cores can give us detailed information on how past … Continue reading Ice Cores and Roman Lore: Modern climate science helps scientists and historians piece together the past
Superbug Treatments Live in the Dirt
by Gregory Brunette figures by Daniel Utter Every year, new biology students dig for tiny, bacteria-infecting viruses called phages. Short for bacteriophages, these ubiquitous viruses thrive unseen in the world around us, replicating endlessly through their host bacteria. Phages outnumber all other living organisms on Earth; and their overwhelming diversity presents a challenge to the researchers who study them. In a program administered by Dr. … Continue reading Superbug Treatments Live in the Dirt
Why Drugs Tested in Mice Fail in Human Clinical Trials
by Sam Zimmerman figures by Hannah Zucker If we were all mice, Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, diabetes, and most inherited disorders would be a thing of the past. We could nibble on as much cheese as we wanted without fear of heart disease and run around our favorite wheel for hours on end without knee pain because all these ailments have been cured in mice. Unfortunately, … Continue reading Why Drugs Tested in Mice Fail in Human Clinical Trials