Everyday, people propose the best ways to keep a clean environment: keeping your space tidy, getting rid of unnecessary clutter, organizing your life. In general, society values order and cleanliness, as this represents an efficient, productive way of living. However, evolutionarily speaking, there are advantages to both a messy and clean environment. In nature, order […]
Cleanliness and Convention: A Curious Correlation Read More »
In 1952, famous science fiction writer Ray Bradbury published a short story titled, “A Sound of Thunder.” Set in the year 2055, time travel has become a real (and profitable) technology, and a group of affluent hunters goes back in time on a guided safari to kill a Tyrannosaurus rex. Although the safari company has
The Literal Butterfly Effect Read More »
At first glance, the sounds and sights of honeybees buzzing about may seem chaotic, but there is actually quite a bit of structure to the roles that each bee plays in a hive. Worker bees do most of the grunt work like cleaning the honeycomb cells, feeding other bees, and collecting pollen. Drones are male
Plan bee: How honeybee hives adapt to losing their queen Read More »
Meet the naked mole rat. It’s no typical rodent — it lives underground in Africa, maintains a sophisticated social structure, gets all its food and water from underground tubers, has no fur, and is almost blind. But most impressively, it seems to escape common rules of mortality. Larger animals live longer as a rule, but
Naked Mole Rats May Help Us Cure Cancer Read More »
The brain, arguably one of the most complex organs in the human body, has more difficulty repairing itself than most other parts of the body. While the nerves outside the brain and spinal cord, which make up the peripheral nervous system, regenerate automatically, the central nervous system, which consists of the brain and spinal cord,
Magnetic growth in the nervous system Read More »
Four minutes and thirty four seconds. That was Eliud Kipchoge’s mile time…for 26.2 miles. On October 12, 2019, the acclaimed Kenyan distance runner broke a barrier that was once thought to spell certain death: a sub-two hour marathon. While rules on pacing and fluid allowance and concerns surrounding equipment engineering prevented his run from being
The sub-two hour marathon: An optimized storm of science and grit Read More »
Kindly thought of as the big, fluffy sibling of the well-respected honeybee, bumblebees spend most of their time minding their own business as they go about seasonal pollination. But recent findings show that these gentle giants may not be as lackadaisical as their reputation implies — they appear to be playing a very interactive role
Buzzworthy behavior: Bumblebee nibbling promotes pollen production Read More »
Love holds many definitions. In the Google Dictionary, it’s described as “an intense feeling of deep affection,” and similar, often more complex definitions can be found in philosophy, poetry, art, literature, and film. It means different things to different people and refers to not only romantic attachments but also familial, platonic, or sexual connections. While
Love, actually: The neurochemistry of falling in love Read More »
The study of preexisting designs is a common practice for guidance in problem solving. Innovators can turn to structures around them for inspiration, and what’s a more complex and functioning system than nature? In terms of hydrophobic properties, or water-repellant behavior, scientists strive to mimic the lotus effect. This effect is named after the leaves
Materials that mimic the lotus effect: Lotus leaves inspire self-cleaning surfaces Read More »