The first time I fell in love was in the Sonoran Desert. I had just pulled over to the side of the road and there it was. An Ocotillo cactus, in all its glory, stood proudly before the rugged landscape. Its fluid tentacle-like stems pointed towards the sky, like a sea anemone frozen in turbulent […]
Masters of survival: Is the desert truly deserted? Read More »
From the deepest ocean trenches to the tap water in our kitchen, nanoplastics have pervaded virtually every last crevice of Earth. The minuscule particles, resulting from the degradation of plastic objects, are less than 100 nanometers (nm) and can be ingested, inhaled, or incorporated by dermal contact. It is estimated that just by eating, drinking,
Dangerously ubiquitous: The negative effect of nanoplastics on human health Read More »
No one can deny the rise of intrigue for crime television over the past decade. Maybe you binge-watched “Criminal Minds” during quarantine, saw episodes of “NCIS” over the years, or perhaps just caught a glimpse of any popular crime show. Regardless, many have a preconception of the forensics involved in these fictional investigations. The process
Fictional forensics: How accurate is forensic science and its portrayal in the media? Read More »
Can you imagine never sleeping again? We often underestimate the importance of sleep; by some estimates, college students in America get an average of 6 hours of sleep per night, as opposed to the suggested 8-10 hours. Getting enough sleep is extremely important — it gives the brain time to consolidate memories and new information,
I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead: The Curious Case of Fatal Familial Insomnia Read More »
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 »