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
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
I was always dimly aware of elephant poaching for ivory, but it didn't alarm me until I spent a year working as a tropical ecology research assistant in central Africa. I was in Gabon, a heavily forested small country in the heart of the Congo basin on Africa's west coast. Gabon is home to roughly
Welcome to Star Wars week here at the Athens Science Observer. To help celebrate May the 4th – Star Wars Day – we wanted to take a look at the real life science of that galaxy far far away. “Midi-chlorians.†For many Star Wars fans, this word alone can set off rage-induced rants. The Prequel
I don't know where I would be without my abuela. As my mother's mother, she is so much more than just a convenient and free babysitter. Sure, abuela took care of me when mom had to work, but she also sang with me on our walks home after school. She's the one I call when
In October 1997, the Sci-Fi drama Gattaca was released on the big screen in the United States. The film takes place in a dystopian future where genetically-engineered humans are superior to unaltered ones. Its protagonist, Ethan Hawk, is born as an “invalid†(someone without genetic engineering) and has to assume the identity of a “validâ€
It's almost summer time. That means it's about to be mosquito season! These masters of annoyance happen to be the world's most deadly animal. No other animal species is responsible for as many human deaths as mosquitoes are. Humans murder about 475,000 other people each year. You know those creepy slithering snakes you fear so
By: Rishi R. Masalia, Athens Science Café On June 12th “Jurassic Worldâ€, the 4th installment of the Jurassic Park series, is set to hit theaters. Now, I love dinosaurs and I know I'm not alone. Our fascination with them has permeated across pop culture, generating movies, songs, chicken nugget shapes, and even a list
by Nick Batora, Athens Science Café There is incredible and beautiful diversity of life all around you. No, I'm not talking about the wildlife at your local botanical garden or park, but rather all of the tiny life that you cannot easily see. Microorganisms are everywhere. They are all over you and everything you touch
In 1963, at the dawn of the molecular biology age, Dr. Joshua Lederberg predicted that this nascent biotechnology would eventually allow direct control of human DNA, including the ability to change specific genes. [1] He recognized the potential of molecular biology to bring about gene therapy to cure human disease and to be misused for
The woolly mammoth is inarguably the mascot of the Ice Age. With countless depictions in popular culture, one would be hard pressed to find someone unfamiliar with the hairy giant herbivore. Alas, the mammoth has been extinct for thousands of years, surviving in low numbers on some islands North of Alaska until as recently as
There's a killer lurking in the woods of North America, hiding in a place you would never suspect: the testes of a tiny fruit fly called Drosophila neotestacea. The testes are where sperm are produced, and each developing sperm cell contains exactly half the number of chromosomes as the father. This killer is chromosome, and
