Archive: 2010

--When BP CEO Tony Hayward admits that “this is an environmental catastrophe” and President Obama proclaims from the Oval Office “already, this oil spill is the worst environmental disaster America has ever faced,” the gravity of the crisis cannot be…

--Paleontologists have always differentiated between extinct species by comparative anatomy of their fossil remains. Those scientists who study living organisms have an additional technique available – the comparison of DNA sequences between specimens.…

--It turns out that I am not referring to a large, mildly cute herbivorous African mammal. HIPPO stands for HIAPER Pole-to-Pole Observations of Carbon Cycle and Greenhouse Gases. That's quite a mouthful. So what exactly is this? In short, it is a mission…

--You may have heard it said that our genome is “99% chimpanzee”. As surprising as this may sound to some, what is even more shocking is that more than 90% of “our” cells are actually bacteria. How is this possible? Read on to find out more!

--Whale watching in the Boston area is an incredibly popular activity. Last year, almost 1 million people went whale watching off the coast of New England. After all, what is there not to love? The whales are charismatic wonders themselves - mammoth…

-- Recently, a leading British medical journal, The Lancet, retracted a twelve-year old research paper that claimed a link between the MMR (Measles, Mumps, and Rubella) vaccine and autism. The paper's publication sparked much controversy in autism…

-- We often think of proteins as nutrients in the food we eat or the main component of muscles, but proteins are also microscopic molecules inside of cells that perform diverse and vital jobs. With the Human Genome Project complete, scientists are…

I had stored about ten pounds of used lab materials over a period of 8 months, waiting to hear from authorities here at Scripps Institute of Oceanography at San Diego, on ways to recycle the waste. All were different types of plastics. I was informed…

- Do you remember wearing the red and cyan 3D eyeglasses when you were a kid? Well, 3D tech certainly has improved by leaps and bounds, and is turning into the latest fad in the entertainment industry. 3D films have matured from campy to epic, with the…

Have you had the flu this season? If not, chances are you have taken precautions, such as getting a flu shot and vigilantly washing your hands. These strategies can effectively reduce your risk of infection, but they are not the whole story. Your body…