Imagine getting screened for early-stage lung cancer simply by taking a deep breath from an inhaler, and then peeing into a cup. Sangeeta Bhatia, a professor of health sciences and engineering at M.I.T., described how that might be possible in a TED talk she gave in 2016: Bhatia: “What if you had a detector that […]
If your life sometimes seems directionless, you might legitimately blame the universe. According to the key tenets of modern physics, the cosmos is “isotropic” at multi-billion-light-year scales—meaning it should have the same look and behavior in every direction. Ever since the big bang nearly 14 billion years ago, the universe ought to have expanded identically […]
Mountain View, California On dozens of nights each year, NASA sends a jumbo jet carrying a 2.5-metre telescope into the sky. As it flies above much of the Earth’s atmosphere, this one-of-a-kind observatory—a US–German partnership known as the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA)—peers into the hearts of newborn stars and other astronomical wonders. It […]
A vocal set of conservative critics have increased their attacks recently on the data modeling behind the novel coronavirus response, and they claim—despite scientific evidence to the contrary—that the flaws also prove the limits of climate change forecasts. The group, which includes federal lawmakers, climate science deniers and conservative pundits with close White House connections, […]
Before dawn on the morning of October 10, 2019, the four of us gathered in a small hotel conference room outside Washington, D.C. Knowing there would soon be many eyes on us, we made sure the technology was working, the room was ready and the coffee was served. Everything needed to be right; many hours […]
Bats and rodents are considered high-risk viral reservoirs—a source for diseases that can hop over to humans, and sometimes lead to epidemics. Some scientists have even argued that the animals have certain traits that increase the likelihood of spillover events from animal to people, and that they should be monitored more closely as a result. […]
Every week, a maroon-and-lime-tinted truck parks in some of Boston’s most underserved communities. The truck is a mobile health clinic called the Family Van. It sits curbside, doors open, with staff ready to provide free health services, screening and health education to anyone who needs it. The Family Van has been doing this for more […]
Special Report Special Report Fresh approaches and hopeful clues in the search for novel therapies Neurological Health It is time for a fresh approach to the illness May 1, 2020 — Josh Fischman Neurological Health Alzheimer’s took my wife’s memory and her life and tortured our family. There was nothing we—or medicine—could do to stop […]
Originally published in June 1854 Credit: Scientific American Advertisement “Geoffrey Saint-Hilaire, and other eminent naturalists in France, are beginning to consider the domestication of animals which have hitherto been known to Europe only as objects of scientific curiosity. They have recently received for the Jardin des Plantes a number of Yaks from China—an animal which […]
Scientific American April 2020 Its perseverance is rewriting the history of life, and of ice, across the continent Ian Hogg and Byron Adams peered out the windows of their helicopter as it glided over the rocky slopes of the Transantarctic Mountains, dry peaks that rise above vast ice sheets just 600 kilometers from the South […]