WEIRD SCIENCE
By Michael Irving – Researchers have found a new way to study the genes that bacteria swap to give each other new skills. (Credit: wasja/Depositphotos). The smallest creatures can have some of the biggest impacts on the planet. You can get a sense of …
Scientists can now turn CO2 in the air into solid coal. Scientists have created a method to convert carbon dioxide back into solid coal, a breakthrough that could change the ways carbon is removed from the atmosphere and permanently stored. “While we can’t …
Clear skies ahead — and that’s not a good thing. By Yasmin Tayag – Here is a small sampling of the many things climate change has already ruined: Greenland, human mental health, and the very cute bramble cay. Now, as scientists predict in …
By Michael Irving – – A close up view of the skin bioprinter nozzle developed by researchers at Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine. (Credit: WFIRM). While the advent of 3D printers is commonly thought of as a revolution for manufacturing, it could …
By Ben Coxworth – – Tony Jevnikar (left) and Shengwu Ma are affiliated with both Western University and the Lawson Health Research Institute. (Credit: Western University). Made by our kidneys, interleukin 37 (IL-37) is a protein that has powerful anti-inflammatory and immune-suppressing …
A new report hits pause on the petri dish patty craze. By Yasmin Tayag – Climate change has forced us into an age where burger-lovers must reckon with the notion of lab-grown meat. Cattle farms, with row upon row of hungry cows burping …
By Rich Haridy – – The research examined over a million people finding hundreds of genes that could be associated with insomnia. (Credit: photographee.eu/Depositphotos). Two massive new studies have homed in on the genetic foundations of insomnia. The rigorous analyses reveal novel …
By Ben Coxworth – – A sample of the fiber is stretched in the lab – the silver sections are the gallium core, which shows numerous breaks. (Credit: Michael Dickey, North Carolina State University). Metal fibers are strong, but can’t be stretched …
A mad cow-like infectious disease that can turn the brains of deer, elk, and moose into “Swiss cheese.” By Julia Belluz @juliaoftorontojulia.belluz@voxmedia.com – – Officially known as chronic wasting disease, the illness is spread in deer, elk, and moose by prions, zombie-like pathogens …
When insects go extinct, other species follow. By Brian Resnick @B_resnickbrian@vox.com – “Help.” Brice Nihiser/Barcroft Images/Barcroft Media via Getty Images. Insects are the most abundant animals on planet Earth. If you were to put them all together into one creepy-crawly mass, they’d …
