Science and Tech

By: Jenna Marcus The levels of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere have been rising at dangerous rates. As humans emit pollutants...

Two scientists have received the 2021 Nobel Prize in Medicine for their discoveries of molecular receptors that detect temperature and touch. Nearly two decades ago, David Julius, a physiologist at the University of California, San Francisco, used capsaicin, the ‘spicy’ compound found in chili peppers, to figure out how the nervous system responds to and registers changes in body temperature. His team searched for a certain gene that induces this response, finally locating it after scouring millions of DNA fragments. Simultaneously, in 2002, Ardem Patapoutian, a scientist at Scripps Research in La Jolla, California, independently discovered another receptor that responds to low temperatures. The discovery of these receptors cascaded into the identification of numerous other receptors for temperature change. 

Picture the following: you, like any sensible human, enjoy a good risotto. One faithful day, you flavor your arborio rice with some interesting new herbs before enjoying the meal. It tastes a little strange, but you dismiss the thought and continue to dig in. The next day is record-breakingly hot, and temperatures are only rising. You step outside, expecting to be struck by a disgusting wave of heat, but the intense sun actually feels pleasant. Energizing, in fact. Something on your arm catches your eye - freckles unlike any you’ve ever seen. A deep green, they oddly resemble the herby seasoning you added to your risotto just the day before. Could this be the source of your newfound energy?

As more and more animals share the increasingly ubiquitous title of “endangered species,” the birth of Elizabeth Ann, a black-footed ferret, and the first ever North American endangered species to be cloned, brings new hope for conversation efforts worldwide.

There’s nothing wrong with catching a few more winks of sleep on the weekends right? Wrong. Teenagers are notorious for either not getting enough sleep during the week or sleeping too long on weekends or both. However, studies show that getting inconsistent amounts of sleep over a long period of time can cause a number of behavioral and physical problems, along with problems in cognitive function.

Teenagers are well known for not getting enough sleep. Maybe you are one of them. However, an insufficient amount of sleep, especially over a prolonged period of time, is not healthy for the growing mind.

By: Maureen Meosky Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease: What do we know about it? Well, it’s spreading through our school, for one. Here’s what you...

In 2000, a graduate student and his mentor at Princeton University had successfully inserted a set of genes into E. coli bacteria that induced the cells’ fluorescence—namely, the genes invoked the production of a certain protein that made the cells glow.

Although it seems like we see and hear them every day, the bird population in North America is drastically decreasing—so much so that it...

Yes…FLESH-EATING bacteria, you read right, and yes, YOU dear reader, YOU could have flesh-eating bacteria, GORGING itself on your innards, as you read this.