In this search for the origin of one of the world’s most common genetic diseases, emerging research in evolutionary medicine raises new questions about our history, development, and future as a species.
A new biofuel production process created by Michigan State University researchers produces energy more than 20 times higher than existing methods. The results, published in the current issue of Environmental Science and Technology, showcase a novel way to use microbes to produce biofuel and hydrogen, all while consuming agricultural wastes. Gemma Reguera, MSU microbiologist, has…
The world’s first asteroid sample return mission is providing some stunning insights to the evolution of the primordial pieces of rock floating around in our solar system. But far from asteroids being quiet, peaceful objects drifting through space, analysis of the tiny dust samples from the surface of near-Earth asteroid Itokawa has shown they are…
Planktons constitute 98% of the ocean world and a group of researchers, after studying these in detail, believes that future oceanic changes would help in knowing which species of these would probably become extinct or migrate. Because these microscopic marine life forms, though very very small, contribute to the generation of oxygen on the planet…
Does science have a “beauty” problem? David Orrell, a mathematician and consultant, argues that it does—or, at least, that some of its practitioners are in thrall to ideals involving “elegance,” “symmetry,” and “unity” that are beckoning them down false paths. From Euclid and Pythagoras down to 20th-century physicists, many who explore the underlying laws of…
The center of our galaxy, as seen by the powerful Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA) instrument in northern Chile, has been captured in a digital image that represents the largest catalog of the stars there to date, some 84 million of them (10 times more than earlier catalogs). The original image covers…
To see a hopeful future for science education, look no further than the Raccoon Creek watershed in rural Ohio. There, Vinton County High School students are literally getting their feet wet, testing water and examining fish to investigate the impact of acid drainage from more than a century’s worth of coal mining in the Appalachians….