It's 3:30 in the morning. As Lucy Bartholomew's mother braids her hair, she asks, “did you sleep?â€, to which Lucy responds, “a littleâ€. It's a few hours before the start of one of the most grueling races in the world. At 22 years old, Lucy is one of the youngest participants ever. Lucy has competed
What do frog skin, horseshoe crab blood, and a llama named Winter all have in common? All three were part of studies that have been awarded Golden Goose awards, a designation given to strange sounding but ground-breaking federally funded research. Frog skin was used in experiments to determine the mechanism underlying cholera and directly led
What becomes of species that no longer exist, or bygone narratives of human history? Where do scientists go for answers when our questions span continents and centuries? For the answer to these questions and so many more, we need museums. Natural history museums in particular serve as the nexus between research and people, spanning numerous
Although rewriting the code of life seems like a daunting task, scientists have managed to do just that. You've probably heard of CRISPR technology, a burgeoning genetic tool that has seen use in a multitude of applications, from treating Duchenne muscular dystrophy in mice to making crops more sustainable. The technology offers a method of
Trees are all over, above us and below us. They connect soil to the atmosphere. They create forests and confer their beauty on our city. In Athens we have the tree that famously owns itself, a white oak. Maybe you've taken a stroll through Oconee Forest Park or noticed the smell of the woods on
Every holiday season, I've struggled to explain to my family of accountants, firefighters, and lawyers why basic science research is important. They never seem to believe that my work on frog-eating bats is anywhere near as important as applied research aimed at curing disease or addressing world hunger. What they don't seem to understand is
Trees have received a lot of press lately. As wildfires tore through forests worldwide, President Donald Trump blamed the devastation on poor forest management. Meanwhile, the United States formalized a commitment to planting trees to restore our climate. The world's governments and scientists are grappling with how we both protect and manage forests. What should
Slightly off the Californian coast, battle lines are drawn. On one side lies a purple, spiny, extraterrestrial-looking creature intent on eating all plant life in its path. On the other, an equally eccentric echinoderm in the shape of a star awaits that same creature as its next meal. The battleground between them is overshadowed by
From the Yoruba tradition of throwing cowrie shells, to the Roma fortune tellers peering at palms, people throughout history have wondered if there was some sort of physical or external way to map out the path of our lives. Modern day scientists are still pondering how to predict the future, but instead of looking up
Anyone who knows me knows that mitochondria are pretty much my life. My Ph.D. focuses on making these little cellular power plants more efficient at producing energy so that they can help muscles heal faster after traumatic injury. More than that, though, I want to teach people that mitochondria are more than just “the powerhouse
Humans have shared a special bond with a certain animal since the time of Aristotle. Artworks as early as 1500 BC depicted interactions with this fascinating creature. Members of this species have assisted the US Navy, and have also been used as therapy animals for patients with Down syndrome and autism. These amiable beings are
Growing up in Arizona, we were told that people could go to jail for damaging a Saguaro cactus. Saguaros are a protected symbol of the Southwest. Yet in 2019, videos shot by Kevin Dahl, the Arizona Senior Program manager for the National Parks Conservation Association, recorded bulldozers uprooting Saguaro cacti and other desert shrubs at
