Imagine a future where procreation happens in a laboratory, and not in the bedroom. Scientists derive embryos from a simple skin sample. Children are screened prenatally for any number of traits that their parents deem desirable. Things as simple as eye color and hair color could be discovered before parents even decide on a name.
Anyone who knows me knows my love for blueberries. Besides being a nutrient-packed super fruit, blueberries are also a major agricultural commodity for Georgia. Our state recently beat out Michigan to become number 1 in blueberry production in the nation. Because of this, I decided to take a part time job helping an ongoing study
Some of the most powerful things are quite small: a microscopic virus can defeat an elephant; Giant Redwoods grow from tiny seeds; a computer chip the size of your fingernail can send us to Jupiter and back; and just one minuscule sperm cell can fertilize an egg and start new life. In most animals, sperm
The long-awaited sequel to Pixar's Finding Nemo, Finding Dory, features a new major character named Hank, an octopus who helps Dory in her journey home. Hank's creation took longer than any other character because octopus tentacle movement and behavior is so difficult to mimic. Animators needed two years to animate just one scene with Hank!
Victims were pale and frail, blood stained their mouths, and after their death, their family members wasted away too, as if they were being fed upon. In the 18th and 19th centuries, if someone had those symptoms they may have been a vampire… or they may have just been infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB), the
We're familiar with ants as picnic-skimming and foot-biting pests, but just below the soil's surface, ants live surprisingly complex and intricate lives. The leaf cutting ants, or leaf cutters, live in a way that's particularly alien to us, as the dominant herbivore (or perhaps “fungivoreâ€) of South American rainforests. Ant colonies as superorganisms Rather than
It wasn't that long ago when scientists discovered the key to what makes us who we are. We're familiar with deoxyribonucleic acid (better known as DNA) as the molecule responsible for inheritance, but it was only discovered 63 years ago. It's astounding that we've come so far in only a few decades. Rapid advances in
Earlier this spring, Buzz the Bee disappeared from Honey Nut Cheerios boxes in Canada. Burt's Bees dropped the letter B from its lip balm products. Are these clever marketing ploys? Perhaps, but they were designed with a more noble purpose in mind: to raise awareness of disappearing honeybees. And, it's not just companies with apian
Why was six afraid of seven? Because their colors clash, of course. And seven can be a bit of a jerk. We tend to trust our own perceptions, and assume others share the same reality we experience. But for about 1 in 23 people, such things as friendly or specifically-colored numbers are just another aspect
Camels are rightfully known as “the ships of the desert†because of their impressive ability to carry up to 500 lbs on their back! While camels seem to conjure up images of pyramids and arid, desolate seas of sand dunes, they weren't always the quintessential desert-dwelling beasts that they are today. Camels actually originated in
SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST. Are you picturing a desperate struggle for life in the depths of the darkest jungle? Two tigers are chasing an antelope, all three of them fighting to survive and reproduce. But only one tiger gets the prize, leaving the other hungry. Natural selection is the most prominent force of evolutionary change.
This March, Netflix released its second season of its Marvel superhero drama, Daredevil. Daredevil features Matt Murdock, a lawyer who moonlights as the titular vigilante defender of Hell's Kitchen, who also happens to be blind. Relying on his keen other senses, Murdock easily wipes out his enemies without needing to use his eyes whatsoever. Society
