Biological deserts: The harms of monoculture tree plantations for carbon storage

Environment / /

Plant a tree for every dollar donated, 10,000 steps walked, or 50 Google searches made. Across the globe, tree-planting initiatives such as these campaigns have skyrocketed in response to the rising threat of climate change. Numerous organizations, from nonprofits to governments to businesses, plant billions of trees each year in the hopes of offsetting greenhouse […]

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Music moves the brain

Biology, Health / /

If you want to improve your academic level, take a music class! Studies have shown that taking music lessons can improve your academic ability. There is only one catch: you need to start your lessons … 18 years ago. Children who take music lessons have improved academic ability in the future at the college level.

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Underwater impostor: A mimic octopus’s guide to identity theft

Biology, Environment / /

In the depths of the ocean, one true master of disguise steals the spotlight. The mimic octopus, scientifically known as Thaumoctopus mimicus, is a species of octopus native to the Indo-Malayan Archipelago and Great Barrier Reef. A sand dwelling cephalopod, the mimic octopus is found at depths ranging from 2 to 12 meters near river

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To die or not to die

Biology, Health / /

Death is often associated with negativity and darkness. However when it comes to the human body, death is a common, daily process. Our cells constantly die and duplicate, replenishing and maintaining the health of our body. Apoptosis, a form of programmed cell death, is a method for cells to replace old, faulty cells with younger,

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Subconscious communication: Windows of awareness discovered during sleep 

Health / /

It is widely believed that one is completely disconnected from the outside world during sleep, unreactive to anything happening around them. New research, however, reveals that this may be far from the truth; in a recent study, researchers led by Delphine Oudiette, Isabelle Arnulf, and Lionel Naccache at the Paris Brain Institute found that during

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Hidden within us: The dark matter of the human genome

Biology, Health / /

The human genome is a vast library of over 3 billion base pairs, yet advancements in whole-genome sequencing reveal only 2% are protein-coding. This startling finding has prompted one of the most pressing missions of contemporary biology: to fully understand the role of the remaining 98% of the genome. Accomplishing this mission requires next-generation sequencing

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Why won’t they speak?

Psychology / /

For Matt Holdback, the symptoms started when he began shaking and sweating at the possibility of being called on in class, he wrote in a personal essay for the Selective Mutism Information & Research Association. When there was any confrontation, Holdback would try to get away with a small nod or a hand in the

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Opinion: How fossil fuel corporations distorted the climate change conversation

Culture, Environment, Opinion / /

James E. Hansen’s congressional testimony in 1988 officially introduced American policymakers to the need for a climate intervention. In the same year, George H.W. Bush declared greenhouse gasses as the enemy, in response to Hansen, when he promised to fight the greenhouse gas effect with “the White House effect” on the campaign trail. However, a

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