#science

Graduate student Nycole Copping works as a researcher in Dr. Jill Lynn Silverman’s lab at the UC Davis MIND Institute, a center dedicated to developing treatments for and spreading awareness of neurodevelopmental disorders. Neurodevelopmental disorder research often involves investigating behaviours of inbred mouse models for disorders such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and Angelman syndrome (AS). 

“Spider-Man, Spider-Man, does whatever a spider can…”

Since the early 1960s, Spider-Man has had some technical upgrades — think the Iron Spider featured in the Tom Holland movies — but scientifically speaking, how does Spider-Man’s biology chalk up to spiders?

More than 2,500 years ago, the first evidence for a spherical Earth was discovered by the Ancient Greeks. Around 500 BC, Pythagoras noted that the moon was a sphere and reasoned the Earth was as well. A few hundred years later, Greek mathematician Eratosthenes used simple geometry to estimate the circumference of Earth. He had surveyors measure the heights of shadows cast by sticks in the ground.

Insects are the subject of fear for many, but not for Professor Sir Charles Godfray. Dr. Godfray developed an interest in entomology at the age of 8 that has only grown over the decades. As the Hope Professor of Zoology at Jesus College in Oxford, Dr. Godfray has partaken in both pure and applied research. He is currently interested in food and food security and how they relate with economics and anthropology. While Dr.

If someone were to ask me on what the United States was founded, "science" would not be my first answer. Or even my second. But in chapter three, "Religion, Meet Science", Otto argues that science is a core, founding principle of the US and democracy itself.

Having unprotected sex can have legitimate consequences. If you are female, you may get pregnant. And no matter your biological sex, you are at risk for numerous sexual transmitted infections. Both of these risks can be mitigated by use of contraceptives. But, should you fear your partners’ DNA persisting inside of you for the rest of your life? No.

Invisible to the naked eye, trillions of microbes are in, on, and around your body. By the numbers, there are actually about as many bacteria on you as you have human cells. Microbiologists are rightfully fascinated by these populations, termed your microbiome, and what impact they have on their human hosts. Studies correlating bacterial species A to human trait Z are frequent, but their reach tends to be more affected by the clickability of the headline than the soundness of their science.

Babies are terrible at a lot of things. They're terrible at walking, they puke all over, cry at the worst times, and stare at people in the grocery store. No social etiquette whatsoever. But, contrary to recent media claims, they are not racist.

You might have noticed this headline circulating on the Internet:

As graduate students, we wish! These claims stem from an interview with Yale neuroscientist Dr. Gordon Shepherd on his new book, Neuroenology: How the Brain Creates the Taste of Wine. Unfortunately for wine lovers, these articles ran away with Dr. Shepherd's take on the complex nature of taste.

We've been hearing a lot about declining bee populations. As scientists, we're concerned about our pollinator friends. So we interviewed 8 entomologists, bee-keepers, and other pollinator experts to cut through the buzz about bees.