Most readers are probably familiar with some of the implications of climate change: sea level rise; more frequent extreme weather events; habitat loss for arctic species. Other implications are equally…
Continue ReadingDuring the winter season, our bodies endure a substantial amount of stress. As temperatures drop, our immune systems can suffer. But staying happy and healthy throughout the cold and flu…
Continue ReadingIt’s easy to assume that important chemical compounds are complex. However, some of the most remarkable substances are composed of simple repeating units. Here are four carbon-based structures that, while…
Continue ReadingWomen are largely underrepresented in STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). To tackle this problem, groups around the University of North Carolina’s campus, throughout the Research Triangle, and across…
Continue ReadingA couple of years ago, I read what was easily the best work of nonfiction that I had ever read. As I am an avid consumer of nonfiction books and…
Continue ReadingLife requires balance. We spend a large part of our existence balancing our careers and our personal lives, our family and work obligations, and our own personal health. If something…
Continue ReadingAs I enter the Microscopy Services Laboratory (MSL), a soft southern accent greets me: “Come in- want a cucumber? Help yourself!” Dr. Bob Bagnell, the faculty director of the MSL,…
Continue ReadingTraditionally, plant ecologists seeking to better understand plant communities looked up (at light availability or precipitation patterns), across the landscape (at elevation or topography), and down (at leaf litter depth…
Continue ReadingIf you have any interest in science and have ever contemplated your existence within the confines of this universe, chances are that you’ve come across an interactive Flash-based animation called…
Continue ReadingThis year’s Nobel Prizes in Medicine were awarded to William C. Campbell, Satoshi Ōmura, and Youyou Tu whose work to develop novel therapies for the treatment of globally devastating parasitic…
Continue ReadingA new project kicked off this July as researchers across four institutions joined forces with local start-up companies, consultants, and coastal utilities to explore how a process that occurs naturally…
Continue ReadingIt sounds like medicine from a futuristic, sci-fi hospital: nanoparticles that deliver drug therapies and cells that can fight cancer or promote organ regeneration. However, by combining engineering and pharmaceutical…
Continue ReadingWe like to think of the Universe as static. Our time is very short compared to the age of the Universe. But there are processes in space that happen on…
Continue ReadingHindsight is always 20/20, especially in the field of science. Given what we know now, it seems crazy that people used to think the world was flat. The realm of…
Continue ReadingAs scientists, many of us have read a paper, been inspired by the glamorous data, carefully followed the methods section in order to replicate the results in our own hands,…
Continue ReadingPuppies are cute. We don’t often get to see them in utero, but now we can, thanks to this sweet radiograph courtesy of my mom, a Labradoodle breeder at Red…
Continue ReadingAs a young adult living in Carolina, I have come to associate summer with intolerable heat, delicious watermelon, and…the start of wedding season. Two friends of mine got married recently…
Continue ReadingIt is well known that the Moon is responsible for the tides on Earth. The effects of the tides at the Earth’s surface are predictable, but the effects of tides…
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