Crowd-funded Dams

athenssciencecafe — Wed, 17 Oct 2018 17:04:16 +0000

Infrastructure development is a major issue in many countries of the developing world. Countries with developing economies often suffer from a negative balance of trade and weak institutions, making lenders unwilling to lend. Governments of these countries are forced to borrow with heavy interest rates, further increasing budget deficits. This cyclical economic problem …

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A Warmer Climate Means Stronger Hurricanes

Max Barnhart — Thu, 11 Oct 2018 19:48:20 +0000

The start of the 2018 hurricane season and recent presidential controversy have brought hurricanes back into the public eye. The first major hurricane of the 2018 season, Hurricane Florence, made landfall the morning of Friday, September 14th on the Atlantic coast of the Carolinas. To date, Florence has caused an estimated $38 to $50 billion …

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Social Insurance: Holes in the Safety Net

athenssciencecafe — Mon, 08 Oct 2018 16:56:31 +0000

This article is part of an opinion editorial series on topics under the umbrella of Social Insurance. Topics have been chosen based on common gaps in knowledge of Social Insurance. Part 1 of this series is on the topic of the social safety net and some groups that fall through its holes. The social safety …

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Your Latest [Artificial] Intelligence Report

athenssciencecafe — Mon, 24 Sep 2018 13:11:40 +0000

With the technology introduction of the personal assistant Siri and the promise of a completely self-driving car from Tesla soon, artificial intelligence (AI) is radically changing the modern world. AI is an umbrella term to describe advancements that allow machines to learn from experience, adjust to new inputs, and perform human-like tasks. AI learns and …

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Maternity Care (Or Rather Lack Thereof) in STEM

athenssciencecafe — Wed, 19 Sep 2018 13:59:34 +0000

In recent decades, we have seen an increase in women holding STEM related careers. Today, 25% of workers in STEM fields are female. It is time to begin the conversation on how policies, whether at the institute level or federal level, are going to affect our growing workforce of women. Although reliant on the growing …

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Major Red Tide Hits Florida Beaches

athenssciencecafe — Tue, 18 Sep 2018 19:35:54 +0000

Red Tide: Swimming not recommended. Shellfish harvest closed. Signs, such as in the associated picture, can be seen at many of Florida’s Gulf Coast Beaches due to a red tide. An excess of toxic microscopic algae in the water is causing a hazard to wildlife, human health, and local businesses. While the current bloom of …

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Bioterrorism & Chemical Weapons: Part 1

athenssciencecafe — Tue, 18 Sep 2018 00:26:24 +0000

Smallpox blankets given to Native Americans. Gas chambers in concentration camps. Chemical weapons in the Syrian War. Russian spies poisoned by a nerve agent. What do these have in common? Each weaponizes chemical or biological agents. With today's strained political and foreign affairs climate, there is an ever-looming possibility of war and the use of …

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2017-2018 Monarch Numbers Down: A Battle on Two Fronts

athenssciencecafe — Sat, 14 Apr 2018 23:28:48 +0000

This year's overwintering monarch butterfly population experienced a 14.77% decrease from the previous winter, following the trend of steady decline observed over the past two decades. These overwintering monarchs represent the individuals that survived the long-distance migration from as far north as Canada all the way down to Mexico. Causes of Decline There are several …

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2017 Nobel Prize in Physics

athenssciencecafe — Sat, 07 Oct 2017 15:36:46 +0000

On Tuesday, October 3rd the Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Rainer Weiss, Barry Barish, and Kip Thorne for their contributions to the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO). On February 11th, 2016, LIGO announced the first detection of gravitational waves, a monumental moment in science. Gravitational waves were predicted by Albert Einstein in 1916, …

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The More You Know: Presidential Candidates’ Answers to Science Policy Questions

athenssciencecafe — Tue, 04 Oct 2016 15:29:01 +0000

by Natalie Eldredge The White House, Washington, D.C. by Diego Cambiaso Here's why you should be paying attention to the latest presidential campaign news: whether you hate or love politics, the outcomes of our elections have very real impacts on all of our lives. To catch up on the most recent comments by both candidates, …

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Zika Virus: The Deadliest Animals on Earth Strike Again

athenssciencecafe — Wed, 20 Apr 2016 18:08:09 +0000

â€œZika virus could be bigger global health threat than Ebola, say health expertsâ€ – The Guardian â€œZika Virus a Global Health Emergency, W.H.O. Saysâ€ – The New York Times â€œZika virus raises more questions than answers for pregnant womenâ€ – Los Angeles Times Mosquito season is about to swing into full force here in the …

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What's the Point of the International Space Station(ISS)?

athenssciencecafe — Wed, 16 Mar 2016 12:59:08 +0000

On March 1st, astronaut Scott Kelly returned to Earth after 340 days aboard the International Space Station (ISS). But why was he even up there for so long in the first place? What is the ISS? According to NASA, the ISS is a â€œconvergence of science, technology, and human innovation that demonstrates new technologies and …

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First Detection of Gravitational Waves

athenssciencecafe — Fri, 19 Feb 2016 12:00:00 +0000

By Paige Copenhaver On February 11th, scientists from the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) announced the first ever detection of gravitational waves. Analogous to ripples caused by throwing a rock into a pond, gravitational waves are ripples in the fabric of spacetime caused by the acceleration of massive objects in space. The collision of …

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Addition of 4 New Elements to the Periodic Table

athenssciencecafe — Mon, 11 Jan 2016 23:00:00 +0000

by Stephanie M. Halmo Scientists from across the globe have discovered four new elements, filling in row seven on the periodic table. The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry confirms the synthesis of these elements with atomic numbers 113, 115, 117 and 118. The four new elements are not found in nature. Researchers synthesized …

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New Phase of Carbon Discovered

athenssciencecafe — Wed, 16 Dec 2015 10:00:19 +0000

by: Stephanie M. Halmo Researchers at North Carolina State University, Jagdish Narayan and Anagh Bhaumik, discovered a new solid phase of carbon distinct from graphite and diamond. Coined Q-carbon, this phase can quickly be converted to diamond at ambient temperature and pressure without the presence of hydrogen or a catalyst. Before the discovery of Q-carbon, …

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Cancer from a Tapeworm

athenssciencecafe — Thu, 12 Nov 2015 15:57:50 +0000

by: Stephanie M. Halmo An article published last week in the New England Journal of Medicine linked tapeworm infection and cancer through a novel disease mechanism. It was found that tapeworm cells could become cancerous in a human host. The article followed the case of a Colombian man with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a tapeworm …

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The Descent of Man’s Best Friend

athenssciencecafe — Fri, 30 Oct 2015 13:00:00 +0000

by Stephanie M. Halmo When and where the world's first domesticated species of dogs originated is a hotly debated topic by geneticists. A recent study places the origin of human's best friend in Central Asia or modern day Mongolia and Nepal. These results, published last week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences …

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2015 Nobel Prize in Chemistry award for discovery of DNA repair

athenssciencecafe — Wed, 14 Oct 2015 12:35:00 +0000

by Stephanie M. Halmo Announced on Wednesday, October 7th, the 2015 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Tomas Lindahl, Paul Modrich, and Aziz Sancar for their studies on DNA self-repair. These scientists each discovered a different mechanism by which DNAâ€”usually thought of as a stable moleculeâ€”can be repaired. These scientists each discovered a different …

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Bones of King Philip II, father of Alexander the Great, are identified in Vergina, Macedonia

athenssciencecafe — Mon, 31 Aug 2015 13:24:37 +0000

The tomb of King Philip II has been found in Vergina, Macedonia. King Philip II ruled the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon, but is best known as the father of Alexander the Great.

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