Plant Cells, an Unculturable Mystery
The simplest unit in biology is the cell. This central tenet has remained true since the coining of the term ’cell’ in 1665 by Robert Hooke. Cells have enabled multicellular […]
Category Archives: Technology
Sunflowers to the Rescue!
On April 26, 1986, in the city of Pripyat, Ukraine, a group of engineers working on the No. 4 Reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant accidentally caused one of […]
Blinded by the Blue Light
”Don’t stare at your phone/computer too much, you will hurt your eyes” – we’ve probably all heard this at some point in our lives. Is this true? Does staring at […]
The Cartography of the Genome
What is a map? What does it REALLY represent? You might answer a map generally represents the relationships of locations. However, maps have evolved substantially in modern times. For example, […]
Littering 2.0
Like many kids, I dreamt of becoming an astronaut; exploring distant planets and making contact with aliens. With a huge number of planets out there, it’s hard to think we’re […]
Big Science, Small Satellites
Is it a star? A moon? A comet even? No, it’s a satellite! NASA broadly defines a satellite as a moon, planet, or machine that orbits a planet or star. […]
Cosmic Farming: A Step Towards a Sustained Stay in Space
We talk about astronauts going on space missions to unravel the possibility of life beyond Earth. In fact, with NASA and SpaceX’s race to Mars, it is not long before […]
The Cold Truth About Cryopreservation
Recently, I was in the lab doing some routine work with cells. In order to start growing my own stock of cells I took a small vial out of a […]
My machine learns better than me
Have you ever used Siri to check the weather for the week, for your trip to the beach, or to check if that cough you have this morning means you’re […]
Thermophiles: Hot Microbes on the Biofuel Frontier
If you’ve ever been lucky enough to visit Yellowstone National Park (or looked at pictures), then you have probably seen the colorful, steaming mats that surround many of the park’s […]
