Archive: Feb 2018

Move aside Harry Potter, science has invisibility cloaks too. The non-magical version was inspired by polar bear fur and works by having, excellent thermal insulating properties. Polar bear hair has a hollow core which effectively prevents the infrared…

by George Touloumes figures by Brad Wierbowski Would you ever consider eating meat that was grown in a lab instead of raised on a farm? What if it were both healthier and more sustainable than conventional meat? Silicon Valley venture capital firms and…

Have you ever seen the image of a face in a seemingly random set of objects or an unexpected place? This phenomenon is known as pareidolia, it’s the perception of a familiar pattern when none exists in reality. No one really knows why we see these faces,…

Light is made of little particles called photons that usually don’t interact. Imagine how strange it would be if the light from your window ricocheted off the light from computer screen! Our brains couldn’t make sense of these images and we’d be…

Elon Musk’s Falcon Heavy rocket launched successfully from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida earlier this week. Musk, The SpaceX CEO, said that the chances of a successful launch might only be 50-50. The Falcon Heavy is the most powerful rocket since…

Plants grow in interesting ways. You may have noticed that your houseplants “lean” towards the window, seeking the sunlight. This movement towards light is called phototropism. Tropism is a general term referring to any instance of growth or movement of…

It’s the middle of February and flu season is in full swing. Perhaps you’ve already experienced the body aches, fever, and fatigue that signal the influenza virus. However, there is a chance that these same symptoms were not caused by the flu. A…

by Patrick Griffin figures by Olivia Foster Wincing slightly, Josiah Zayner depressed the plunger of the syringe in his right hand. “This will modify my genes to give me bigger muscles,” he told the crowd—attendees of a biotechnology conference in San…

by Lara Roach figures by Aparna Nathan There are trillions of cells in the human body, and each one needs nutrient molecules they can convert into energy or useful chemicals to survive, grow, and divide. Cells can get their “fuel” from a variety of…

Naked mole rats are a peculiar species in the animal kingdom for a number of reasons. These wrinkled rodents are immune to cancer, insensitive to pain, and capable of surviving for up to 18 minutes in zero-oxygen environments. Recently, researchers have…