Tag:

Blog, Special Edition on GMOs

Not Your Grandfather’s GMOs: An Interview with Dr. Dan Voytas

by James Angstman images courtesy of Calyxt Dr. Dan Voytas, PhD. Courtesy of Calyxt. “I just got a text from my 14-year-old niece the other day, and she said, ‘Thought of a good idea for your next genetically modified treat,’” he told me. “So, you see, there’s a difference in the language, right? It’s a GMT. ‘Broccoli and asparagus in one vegetable. It should look … Continue reading Not Your Grandfather’s GMOs: An Interview with Dr. Dan Voytas

1 Comment
Blog, Special Edition on GMOs

How to Make a GMO

by Chelsea Powell figures by Anna Maurer Summary: Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are organisms that have been altered using genetic engineering methods. Although genetic engineering is a common and essential practice in biotechnology, its specific use in crops is controversial. The key steps involved in genetic engineering are identifying a trait of interest, isolating that trait, inserting that trait into a desired organism, and then … Continue reading How to Make a GMO

108 Comments
Blog

The long awaited and much debated discovery of the pentaquark

A few weeks ago, the LHCb, an experiment at the Large Hadron Collider, announced the discovery of a new particle, the pentaquark. What is a pentaquark? Well…it’s a particle, that’s made of five quarks. A quark is one of the smallest fundamental building blocks of matter. Quarks have not been observed alone in nature, and are only known to exist as composite particles. Most commonly, … Continue reading The long awaited and much debated discovery of the pentaquark

Leave a comment
Blog

Closing in on the origin of terrestrial water: Philae calls back home

by Tansu Daylan figures by Kaitlyn Choi As Philae just woke up, we examine one exciting question of the Rosetta mission: what is the origin of water on Earth? A hypothesis proposes that comets brought to our planet this molecule central to life. The Rosetta mission is an ambitious scientific program launched by the European Space Agency to analyze the water on the comet 67P … Continue reading Closing in on the origin of terrestrial water: Philae calls back home

Leave a comment
Blog

Didn’t the LHC restart in April?

This April, SITN Waves, along with many other news outlets, reported on the restart of the Large Hadron Collider, or the LHC. Many similar headlines were seen last week when CERN announced the machine’s official restart. So when did the LHC actually restart, and what were scientists at CERN doing in the meantime? On April 5, the LHC was powered on for the first time … Continue reading Didn’t the LHC restart in April?

Leave a comment
Blog

The Winds of Change are Blowing: New Kite-Like Wind Turbine Promises to Revolutionize Wind Energy

by Erin Dahlstrom Almost two years after its May 2013 purchase of alternative wind energy company Makani, Google X, Google’s semi-secret “moonshots” lab announced at SXSW that they will be starting to test full-scale models of Makani’s kite-like wind turbines in April 2015 [1,2].  While wind turbines have generally been trending bigger and more expensive in order to increase energy output, Makani has taken the … Continue reading The Winds of Change are Blowing: New Kite-Like Wind Turbine Promises to Revolutionize Wind Energy

4 Comments
Seminars

Understanding sea level change by diving into the past

Presented by Jacky Austermann Why does sea level change? Everyone knows that sea level rise is a threat to coastal cities, but the mechanisms of why the change happens are less often talked about. In my talk I will explain why sea level is changing, why it is changing at different rates around the globe, how we can use the measured sea level rise to … Continue reading Understanding sea level change by diving into the past

Leave a comment
A View inside the LHC
Blog

Giant Particle Smasher Returns

Two weeks ago, the world’s largest particle accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider, returned after two years of extensive upgrades. The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is part of particle physics, a branch that examines the tiny particles that constitute everything in the universe. Two years ago, the LHC provided evidence for the existence of the Higgs Boson. After such a monumental achievement, what do particle physicists hope to discover with the upgraded LHC? Continue reading Giant Particle Smasher Returns

Leave a comment
Blog

Algae: Applications in Removing Arsenic and Beyond

Scientists at Zhejiang University have recently published an improved method for removing arsenic from drinking water, which relies on chemically modifying the shells of a type of algae, called diatoms, to make the shells efficient “sponges” for soaking up arsenic. Modified diatom shells are unique in that they can be widely manipulated for applications in fields as diverse as medicine and materials science. Despite their … Continue reading Algae: Applications in Removing Arsenic and Beyond

1 Comment
Cygnus Loop Nebula. Image courtesy of Skeeze (Pixbay).
Blog

Dark Matter Detected, or False Alarm?

Although dark matter makes up 80% of all matter in the universe, physicists are still struggling to understand exactly what it is. This perplexity is largely due to the fact that dark matter is invisible and difficult to study directly, but a dwarf galaxy named Reticulum 2 may have just changed the game. Many experts believe that when dark matter particles collide, high-energy light is … Continue reading Dark Matter Detected, or False Alarm?

Leave a comment