Mice are frequently used in laboratory settings, but now it’s their stem cells that are being studied, rather than their behaviors. Scientists in Switzerland have found that if stem cells from mice are placed into a growth-promoting broth, they will organize themselves into a banana-like shape–far more organized than the scientists had originally thought...
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Mount Everest is the highest mountain above sea level and one of the most ascended peaks in the world. It also has a problem. Human waste, left behind by hikers. If a hiker takes approximately 2 months to climb Mount Everest, they leave behind approximately 60 pounds of excrement. When you multiply that by...
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Scientists in Turkey and Iran have identified a species of bees that creates nests for their eggs out of mud and flower petals, making beautiful small cocoons in which their young grow! The Osmia (Ozbekosima) avoseta bee constructs these delicate cocoons, fills them with nutrients for their offspring, and then seals a single egg into each...
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An letter by Lisa Mullins, PhD, as provided by Julia K. Patt Art by Dawn Vogel Greetings Fellow Plodder in the Academic Trenches, If you’ve received this binder, it means you have had the misfortune of being assigned BIO 457 as your T.A. post for the semester. My sincere condolences. I was once like you–beleaguered and...
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An essay by Othello Maxwell, as provided by Brandon Nolta Art by Leigh Legler She looked like the kind of woman for whom doors opened. Tall, hair so black it absorbed the light, her body a pillar of muscle, she strode with confidence through the late-afternoon commuter crowd, someone used to being unimpeded. I watched her...
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Science has long believed that in the human brain, dreams largely occurred during the rapid eye-movement (REM) phase of sleep, but scientists studying dreams recently have learned that different types of dreams occur in different parts of the brain, and at different times in the sleep cycle. Specifically, they learned that “dreaming about faces...
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Each year, the American Heart Association compiles a list of the latest news regarding heart disease and stroke research. While a good portion of the research is related to medications and studies of various populations and heart disease, some of the research is also quite novel. Nature magazine published an article about genome editing...
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An essay by Doctor Silvania Frample, as provided by Andy Brown Art by Leigh Legler INTRODUCTION In the world of Cryptozoology, many creatures are notable for the sounds they make. This study is to explore the potential uses of some of these creatures. SIRENS Sirens have been known since the classical period. Their song...
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Scientists in the United States and Sweden recently completed a study of genetics and mental development, using twins and tracking eye movement. When young sets of twins were exposed to the same images, researchers tracking their eye movement found that identical twins tended to look at the images in the same way–focusing on the...
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NASA has recently been studying the impacts of space travel on identical twins, as a part of their Twins Study. And while they haven’t discovered that space changes your DNA, as some news outlets initially reported, they have determined that even after returning to Earth, someone who has spent time in space may have...
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