Mosquitoes cause more human fatalities annually than any other animal, yet only a small percentage of the 3,500 mosquito species transmit deadly diseases. Researchers have been experimenting with gene drives, a type of engineered technology, which could potentially eliminate the most dangerous mosquitoes. In this TED Ed video, Talya Hackett explores the question of whether […]
These Georgetown University medical students used donated cadavers in their anatomy class in 2011. Bill O’Leary/The Washington Post via Getty Images Susan Lawrence, University of Tennessee and Susan E. Lederer, University of Wisconsin-Madison In 1956, Alma Merrick Helms announced that she was bound for Stanford University. But she would not be attending classes. Upon learning […]
A human fungal zombie from the TV show ‘The Last of Us.’ Liane Hentscher/HBO Sheryl Barringer, The Ohio State University In the HBO series “The Last of Us,” named after the popular video game of the same name, the flour supplies of the world are contaminated with a fungus called Cordyceps. When people eat pancakes […]
From SciShow: Have you seen that adorable clip of a raven sledding down a snowy roof? We have, so we took a deep dive into how crows and other corvids exhibit tool use, intelligence, and maybe even consciousness. [SciShow]
While the concept of infinity may seem mysterious, mathematicians have developed processes to reason the strange properties of infinity. Mathematician Emily Riehl has been challenged to explain infinity to 5 different people; a child, a teen, a college student, a grad student, and an expert. [Wired]
The Beakfasteur, a mother and a doctor, uses Playdough and other materials to create anatomical models to demonstrate surgical procedures to the uninitiated, including her 5-year-old son. In the video above, she performs a Lichtenstein tension-free mesh repair on an inguinal hernia using Playdough. For those interested in other types of surgeries, such as cesarean […]
There is this idea floating around that what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger. That surviving a disease leaves you better off. And it seems to make sense because we have all experienced this. When you go through hardship, often you come out more resilient, more ready to face a difficult situation in the future. […]
Your brain can imagine things that haven’t happened or that don’t even exist. agsandrew/iStock via Getty Images Plus Andrey Vyshedskiy, Boston University You can easily picture yourself riding a bicycle across the sky even though that’s not something that can actually happen. You can envision yourself doing something you’ve never done before – like water […]
In 1967, James Bedford had a plan to cheat death. He was the first person to be cryogenically frozen. This process promised to preserve his body until a theoretical future when humanity could cure any illness, and essentially, reverse death. So is it possible to freeze a human, preserve them indefinitely, and then thaw them […]
Gene editing revolutionised science. PopTika/Shutterstock Gavin Bowen-Metcalf, Anglia Ruskin University It is the most exciting time in genetics since the discovery of DNA in 1953. This is mainly due to scientific breakthroughs including the ability to change DNA through a process called gene editing. The potential for this technology is astonishing – from treating genetic […]