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Six Easy Ways to Improve Your Mental Health
Given the relatively high cost of healthcare in the United States, there has been an increased focus in recent years on preventive care practices that anyone can do at home. Thankfully, most of the...
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NASA’s Upcoming Missions Are Exactly What Sci-Fi Fans Have Been Waiting For
The February 2021 landing of the Perseverance rover on Mars marked the start of a new era for NASA as it continues exploring deep space. The landing of a machine weighing 2,260 pounds from 164 million...
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Lonely But Not Alone: How Perception and Stress Shape Our Reality
In one of his most famous songs, the pop artist Lauv sings: “Modern loneliness, we’re never alone But always depressed, yeah Love my friends to death But I never call and I never text.” Loneliness has...
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Exploring the Microbiome of Yellow Rays
You are most likely a member of a community. This may include a city, your favorite sports team, your children’s school district, or maybe even a digital community like a Facebook group. But just as we...
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Accelerating Art: Fermilab’s First Artist in Residence
After hours of training, I strapped on my dosimeter and stepped into the 4-mile-long particle accelerator that uses 1,000 superconducting magnets to steer and control mysterious particles called...
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Most kids don’t know how to use their inhalers. Could more screen time be the...
When it comes to treating an asthma episode, speed is key – just ask your favorite asthmatic TV characters. From Milhouse on The Simpsons to Carl on Jimmy Neutron, characters with asthma on the screen...
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The Quark Star: The Star We’ve Never Seen
As a kid with myopia or short-sightedness, I was recommended by the doctors to gaze upon the stars in the night sky in order to improve my vision. I spent hours tracing major stars like Polaris and...
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Road Trip for Soil: Examining How Bacteria Influence Locoweed Distributions
Have you ever been on a road trip and noticed a new type of tree appear outside your car window, and then minutes later, you’re surrounded by an entire forest? As you continue driving, the number of...
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A Book Review of – When Brains Dream: Exploring the Science and Mystery of Sleep
In the earliest dream I can recall, I was being held captive in a cave, handcuffed to a giant. Upon awakening, I wondered how handcuffs that fit a giant would also fit me. Couldn’t I just slip out of...
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How mRNA Opens the Cell Door—the Janitor Holds the Key
The game is starting any minute. He sprints to the gym door, grabs the handle to throw it open, and—his heart sinks. The door is locked. He pounds on the door, but no one can hear him over the pep...
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Aquatic Invaders Threaten the Great Lakes
If you live near the Great Lakes, there is a good chance you’ve heard of the fish menace known as the Asian Carp. In the past several years, tens of millions of dollars have been spent to keep these...
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Why is insulin so expensive in the United States?
This year, 2021, is the 100-year anniversary of the discovery of insulin by Frederick Banting, James B. Collip, Charles Best, and John J.R. Macleod. The patent for the hormone, which was extracted from...
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How Climate Change Affects Our Forests
You may remember from science class that plants take up water and carbon dioxide during photosynthesis to make glucose for food, releasing oxygen in the process. Since trees can grow to be very large...
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Five Myths About Exercise
Exercise is a topic that’s muddied with mainstream misconceptions. Here are five common exercise myths, debunked by science. Myth: Muscle soreness is caused by lactic acid. Glycolysis is a reaction...
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If I didn’t HAB you: how bacteria work together in harmful algal blooms
Lake Erie is one of several Midwestern lakes that is plagued by harmful algal blooms (HABs) in the summer months. If you live near one, you may have seen the green “pond scum” floating on the surface...
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From Geysers to COVID Testing: The Crucial Contributions of Basic Research
On my walks around Chicago, I pass dozens of COVID-19 testing sites drawing people inside with sandwich boards that read “PCR testing”. While PCR’s gold-star status in scientific research was...
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Mitochondria Are More Than Just the Powerhouse of the Cell
The extent of the average American’s knowledge regarding mitochondria is that seemingly-ubiquitous adage from high school biology class: mitochondria are the powerhouse of the cell. But not everyone...
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Room for Dessert: Why We Crave Sweets Even When We’re Full
We’ve all experienced that feeling of being completely full after a meal, yet still having room for dessert… maybe even craving a little something sweet. While you may have heard family members and...
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Lagrange points: A lesson in gravity and a path to space exploration
Years ago, I parked my car and dashed into a neighborhood shop, only to find that that my car had rolled downhill. Fortunately the slope was not too steep, and the car was stopped by a steep curb about...
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You are WHEN you eat: How feeding schedules can synchronize the body’s...
In recent years, a type of intermittent fasting called Time-Restricted Eating/Feeding (TRE/TRF) has received unprecedented attention in the wellness world. This diet involves only eating during a...
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