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Taking a Drive with Sir Isaac Newton
You got a call this morning telling you that you need to pick up Sir Isaac Newton from O’Hare airport.Your task: bring him to the Museum of Science & Industry to show him how far our knowledge of...
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Not So Basic After All: The Role of pH in Cancer Therapy
Has your dentist ever warned you that “acidic” drinks are bad for your teeth? Have you ever heard a personal hygiene product advertised as “neutralizing”? These terms, while used somewhat frequently...
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Your Diet and Cancer: pHacts and pHiction
This is a companion article to the feature Not so Basic After All: The Role of pH in Cancer Therapy. Based on your reading of the article above, you may be wondering if an acidic diet can cause cancer,...
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Cancer Immunotherapy: Living Drugs and Immune Catalysts
Most people find being inside a hospital a bit uncomfortable, as a patient or otherwise. But I find hospitals familiar and comforting, which isn’t surprising considering how most of my early childhood...
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Organ Transplantation: How to Find Your Organs’ Doppelgangers
You just stopped by the DMV to renew your license, and you see that you can sign up to be an organ donor. You are hesitant. You have questions. You have concerns. For instance, you may have heard from...
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If You’re on Medication, Beware of the Grapefruit Effect
What do the drugs Percocet, Lipitor, and Wellbutrin have in common? It’s not what they do for you – one’s a pain med, another treats heart disease, and the third helps with depression. They’re not made...
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The Science Behind the Perfect Deep-Dish Pizza
Much has been made of the art of pizza making. But baking the perfect pie is more than an artform: from the oven temperature, to the composition of the crust, and even the flavor profile of your...
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Mindfulness Meditation: The Path to a Better Headspace
Now more than ever, we’re bombarded with messaging like “7 Tips to Calm Your Mind During a Pandemic,” but that messaging– to calm down, to be present, has been around for a while. Being present is...
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Playing Nice with Fungi: Using Crops to Build Healthy Soil
Soils have a PR problem. Think about it: Does dirt excite you? Are you energized by earth? For many of us, soil is just the musty medium our trees, flowers and food grow from. Perhaps you’ve been...
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Queen of The Dark: Vera Rubin’s Voyage Through the Cosmos
Vera Rubin sent ripples throughout the scientific community, as her work proposed a novel recipe for our universe. While we once believed our universe to be full of matter, Rubin led us to see a...
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If You Care about the Environment, Keep Your Cat Indoors
Our environment is facing a crisis. No, I’m not talking about the runaway carbon emissions that are ruining our climate. Rather, I’m talking about a threat that lives inside of our very own homes: the...
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Smile! You’re on Camera: How Repairing a Smile Can Save a Life
You smile 30 times a day, and normally, you don’t even think about doing it. It happens involuntarily when you hear a funny joke. While it is easy for many to smile, I saw firsthand that for children...
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The History of the American Eugenics Movement
Conservationists. Nobel Peace Prize winners. College professors. All these roles have a distinctive honorable, humanistic atmosphere around them. When you consider this group, you probably don’t think...
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Should I Eat MSG?
Sometimes I hate grocery shopping. Every time I wander down one of the aisles, I am visually assaulted with a barrage of various claims: Low Sodium! Heart Healthy! No fat! After a point, foods are...
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Drug Discovery: Behind the Molecules in Our Medicine Cabinet
We’ve all come in contact with pharmaceutical drugs in some form or another. Maybe you take a prescription drug every day to manage a certain health condition. Perhaps you keep a bottle of Tylenol in...
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Chemotherapy is Poison. No, Literally.
In 2018, an estimated 1.7 million Americans were diagnosed with cancer, and most of these patients, at some point, will likely receive chemotherapy as part of their treatment plan. This anti-cancer...
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What Makes the Great Lakes So Great?
Sitting on the shores of Lake Michigan, with the Chicago skyline to my left and endless blue ahead of me, I find myself glad to be alive in this moment. The Great Lakes are sources of beauty and...
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There is No Biological Meaning for ‘Race’
Science has had a complicated history with the word “race.” In the 19th century, Dr. Samuel Morton believed humans could be divided into five races following a specific hierarchy of intelligence. He...
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The History of the Internet: From ARPANET to 5G
Register here to see George Kontos, CEO of Marshmallow Streaming, give a talk, “The Science of the Internet,” on Tuesday, Sept. 22, during lunch, 12:00pm – 1:00pm, on Zoom. In 1957, after the Soviets’...
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Why We Shouldn’t Rush Science for COVID-19
COVID-19 is ravaging the world and upending our economy. While politicians scramble to find solutions and everyday people fear for their lives, everyone, whether they know it or not, is looking to one...
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