Tag:

Blog

NASA’s Physics-Defying Space Engine More Fiction Than Fact?

The history of modern physics contains several examples of crazy and successful new ideas. Unfortunately for scientists at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, their “impossible” space engine may not be one of them. Why? Simply put, it violates Isaac Newton’s third law of motion. NASA’s experiment involved placing a radio antenna inside of a sealed, metal container. Once turned on, radio waves produced by … Continue reading NASA’s Physics-Defying Space Engine More Fiction Than Fact?

Leave a comment
Blog

Removing Threat from Invasive Species with Genetic Engineering?

A recent publication from Harvard scientists outlines the potential of a cutting-edge technology, CRISPR, to improve on an old technology called Gene Drives in order to solve the enormous problems caused by invasive species. However, attempts to control harmful species with this technology may just be another way to introduce potentially destructive foreign elements into an ecosystem. Furthermore, relying on genetic sequences of wild organisms … Continue reading Removing Threat from Invasive Species with Genetic Engineering?

Leave a comment
Blog

3D Printing – Why all the hype?

3D printer making a small building. Image credit: Tiia Monto, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:3D_printer2.jpg In recent years, 3D printing has drawn a lot of attention to itself with breakthroughs in various industrial applications.  Given the relatively recent explosion in press, it may surprise you then to learn that the first 3D printer was actually built in 1983 – over 30 years ago – by Charles (Chuck) Hull, a … Continue reading 3D Printing – Why all the hype?

10 Comments
Seminars

Exploring Planets Near and Far

Presented by Anjali Tripathi How many planets are there? What are they like? In this lecture, we will talk about the variety of planets that are found beyond the Solar System. These so-called exoplanets have been discovered near and far, throughout the Galaxy. We’ll talk about the detection of these planets and their location in space, as well as their location relative to their host … Continue reading Exploring Planets Near and Far

Leave a comment
Art Gallery, Images

Diatoms: Nature’s nanotechnologists

Microscopy images above show two model diatom species: Thalassiosira pseudonana (left) and Phaeodactylum tricornutum (right). If you live in Boston, nanofactories of sophistication well beyond anything the human race has come up with are just a Charles River away. Diatoms (seen in the images above) are unicellular photosynthetic microalgae that can be found in freshwater and marine environments worldwide. These tiny creatures have plastids with … Continue reading Diatoms: Nature’s nanotechnologists

Leave a comment
Blog

Engineering a minimal yeast chromosome: a small, but significant step forward

How can we create a fully synthetic organism? One promising way to begin would be to take an existing organism and engineer a new set of chromosomes from that organism’s genome. Scientists at NYU have created a fully synthetic chromosome for Saccharomyces Cerevisiae, the yeast that’s used in bread and beer. By stripping out ‘junk DNA’ and adding in new genes that make future genome … Continue reading Engineering a minimal yeast chromosome: a small, but significant step forward

Leave a comment
Blog

Inflation of the Universe!

We may know that the universe began with a Big Bang, but until yesterday, we had no direct evidence for the drastic expansion the universe is thought to have undergone in the moments after its birth. This “inflationary” model has grown from a speculation in 1979 into the best available explanation of how the universe’s infant moments (less than a trillionths of a trillionth of a second) formed crucial aspects of our universe today. Continue reading Inflation of the Universe!

Leave a comment
Seminars

Math in Nature: Finding order in chaos

Presented by Jessica Kunke, Lei Zhu, Stephen Portillo The natural world is so complex and unpredictable that it might seem math could never be a sufficient tool to understand it.  Our lecture aims to widen this view of math and explore how mathematical models and chaos theory give us insights into nature.  The first part of our lecture introduces the concepts of math models and … Continue reading Math in Nature: Finding order in chaos

Leave a comment
Bees
Seminars

From Dancing Bees to RoboBees: How Honeybees Behave and Why Need Them

Presented by Elizabeth Petrik, Ryan Kuzmickas, and Kevin Ma Honeybees are creating a buzz in the media lately, particularly due to the large numbers of mysterious bee deaths attributed to Colony Collapse Disorder. This lecture will explore how these amazing creatures play an important role in our economy and inspire the future of robotics, as well as what we know about the threats to bee … Continue reading From Dancing Bees to RoboBees: How Honeybees Behave and Why Need Them

Leave a comment
Blog

The Potential of Nanotechnology for Diabetes Management

Diabetes is a growing worldwide issue. In the United States alone, there are 25.8 million affected patients []. The annual cost of medical treatment (e.g. management and monitoring) and indirect expenses (such as disability and unemployment benefits) are $174 billion []. While there are several means for patients with diabetes mellitus to manage their condition, none of them are perfect. official pharmacy canada The Biological … Continue reading The Potential of Nanotechnology for Diabetes Management

6 Comments