Culture

From urine to phosphorus: A depiction of the first modern elemental discovery

Chemistry, Culture / /

Alchemy, considered the embryonic stage of modern chemistry, has led to the discoveries of many basic elements like carbon and iron. But the discovery of the so-called philosopher’s stone was a central motivation for the alchemical field. The distillation of a common yet surprising bodily fluid, urine, led to its discovery in the 1600s.  Alchemists […]

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Researchers and journalists debate over pseudoscience allegations in consciousness theory

Culture, Local / /

124 scientists signed a letter criticizing the media’s coverage of a consciousness theory. A Northeastern professor who signed the letter and the journalist who wrote The New York Times‘s coverage weigh on Carl Zimmer, a journalist for The New York Times, walked into a Ballroom in Greenwich Village, where a New York University professor’s band

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Connecting the dots: A look into applications of graph theory 

Culture, Technology, World / /

At first glance, graphs are collections of nodes, or vertices, connected by lines, or edges. Although visually simplistic, they are surprisingly useful as tools, especially in machine learning. As Frank Harary, a founder of The Journal of Graph Theory, once wrote, “It has become fashionable to mention that there are applications of graph theory to

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Antioxidants Found to Stimulate Cancerous Tumor Growth

Culture, Health / /

TikTok has seen a substantial rise in videos promoting various types of wellness supplements that claim to increase the amount of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants in your body. However, the benefits of these supplements are questionable; they aren’t typically approved by the FDA. USA Today’s investigation found that one of the main concerns of doctors

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Opinion: How deinstitutionalization contributed to the homelessness crisis

Culture, Health, Opinion / /

Whether in classic literature such as “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” or in modern television series with “American Horror Story,” the impression the average American has of “asylums” is a decidedly negative one. The years they are best remembered for are filled with inhumane treatment of the mentally ill and barbaric practices such as

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One step forward, two steps back: A glimpse into the Fibonacci sequence

Culture, World / /

0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21…   The famed, infinite Fibonacci sequence forms its pattern using a “one step forward, two steps back” approach. It generates each subsequent nth term by adding the two preceding numbers. A mathematical concept rarely elicits excitement; however, Fibonacci’s sequence can help explain how nature creates order and

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2021 Physics Nobel Laureate Klaus Hasselmann’s invaluable contribution to climate science

Culture, Physics / /

The 2021 Nobel Prize in Physics was a notable one, recognizing discoveries that constituted the beginnings of climate science for the 20th century. With scientists measuring record-high temperatures last summer,  the research provides a basis for understanding climate change, namely anthropogenic climate change, which demands our attention. The prize was split in two, with half

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What would Micky Mouse do?: Mickey Mouse and the origins of devotion

Culture, World / /

Nobody lies awake at night contemplating the existence of Mickey Mouse. Mickey Mouse is the world’s most famous rodent. His conceptual existence is unquestionably true, and his physical existence is unquestionably false. He is, after all, fictional. Despite his widespread reach, it is generally assumed that no one lets the existence (or inexistence) of Mickey

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