Could you live in a world without beer? For at least 2 billion people, the answer would be a resounding “NO!” Many alcohols, like beer, exist because of a microorganism…
Continue ReadingIf you haven’t seen the cinematic masterpiece that is Jurassic Park, drop what you’re doing and go watch it now. Even if you don’t dig dinosaurs, there’s an immaculate scene…
Continue ReadingWe used to believe the Central Dogma of molecular biology was pretty simple. Every cell contains genetic information in the form of DNA, which is responsible for providing instructions for…
Continue ReadingRecently, NASA’s JUNO spacecraft slowed down by 1,212 miles per hour in a carefully coordinated 35 minute maneuver. This slowdown is similar to you slamming on the brakes to stop…
Continue ReadingIf you follow the sitcom ‘The Big Bang Theory’, you would probably remember how Howard gobbled peanuts to hide his friend from a surprise birthday party, even though he was…
Continue ReadingContestants on the TV show “The Biggest Loser” may not be “losers” after all. A recent study of Season Six contestants has revealed that six years after the show ended,…
Continue ReadingThis summer, you may be thinking of having fun with friends in a swimming pool or relaxing in a spa. However, facing the clear and inviting water of the pool,…
Continue ReadingFormer President Jimmy Carter was diagnosed with stage IV malignant melanoma in 2015, an aggressive form of cancer that spread to his liver and his brain. Until recently, this would…
Continue ReadingIn 2013, cancer affected approximately 14 million people in the United States, and its direct medical costs were almost $75 billion, making cancer a devastating disease from both the human…
Continue ReadingThe taxi driver went quiet, as if lost in thought. I waited, kept patient by that mysterious gut feeling that someone is about to say something. “Tell me, why haven’t…
Continue ReadingThis summer, an afternoon spent flying kites at the beach will be just another day at work for some researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Now…
Continue ReadingWhen was the last time you microwaved food in a plastic container? At some point in my life, I switched many of my plastic food storage containers to glass containers.…
Continue ReadingWhen you work in an academic lab and are fully engaged in your research, it’s easy to overlook all of the people that provide support for your experiments and keep…
Continue ReadingFor a few weeks every spring, Chapel Hill and Carrboro are covered in a yellow blanket of pine tree pollen and everything’s a mess. Birches, oaks, pines, and more get…
Continue ReadingAs a scientist watched jellyfish float in Friday Harbor, Washington, he wondered what caused them to fluoresce green. It took years of determination to unravel the mystery…
Continue ReadingTo me, it seems that the media hypes all new disease outbreaks as the advent of the apocalypse. More often, the facts about these epidemics are simply overstated or misrepresented.…
Continue ReadingKristen Stewart. Her Majesty the Queen. The cartoon character Daria. Yours truly. What do we all have in common?
Continue ReadingAs noted climate scientist Michael Mann observes, to do climate science is to enter the “climate wars.” War is an apt descriptor for this sociopolitical milieu, in which veracious research…
Continue Reading