Archive: 2015

by Danielle Heller Proteins are molecular machines. They perform an incredible diversity of tasks that enable all living cells to function.  Like any machine, a protein must be properly assembled in order to carry out its specific task, and if something…

by Caitlin Nichols figures by Krissy Lyon We’ve all heard the saying that quality is more important than quantity. The preference for quality over quantity applies in the human body as well. Cancer, for instance, is caused by malfunctioning cells that…

by Michael R. Gerhardt Our climate is rapidly changing, and many countries are beginning to take action. In the United States, President Barack Obama has announced the Clean Power Plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from electric power generation,…

Presented by Elaine Garcia and Angela She In July 2015, NASA’s space probe New Horizons sent back the first high-resolution photos of Pluto, engendering excitement around the world. These images are evidence of the progress we have made…

Quantum Melodics  Click above to play audio (in a new window) while you read about the piece By Jacob Baron, a graduate student at Harvard University. “Quantum Melodics is based on Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle. This principle says that the…

by Patty Rohs figures by Anna Maurer New technology is allowing scientists to investigate natural history museum specimens in ways that we never thought were possible. To the public eye, these museums may seem like an unchanging archive of life on earth.…

Analysis of human DNA reveals a distinctive genetic “fingerprint” [Image: Micah’s DNA under CC BY-SA 2.0 licence]Spitting into a plastic tube normally doesn’t cost $199, but the personal genomics company 23andMe has recently won FDA…

Image from New Scientist illustrating the Delft experimental setup Quantum mechanics is so mind-boggling that it has stumped even the greatest minds. In particular, Albert Einstein was so bothered by quantum mechanics that he never gave up in his…

In this portrait of the Pailleron siblings, do you think Marie-Louise is fated to be spoiled while her older brother Édouard is sure to be bossy? “Portrait of Édouard and Marie-Louise Pailleron” by John Singer Sargent –…

by Aseda Tena figures by Shannon McArdel 122,621 people in the United States are currently eligible to receive a transplanted organ, but only about 30,000 transplants are performed each year due to a shortage of available organs. As a result,…