Chemicals Among Us: Acetic Acid Top Ten Facts
Like acetone in a previous post, acetic acid is another common laboratory chemical that makes frequent cameo appearances in your home. Here are 10 – dare I say – “fun” facts about acetic acid that you...
View ArticleDisabled Researchers and the Professor Paradox
This week’s issue of Nature calls attention to a recently awarded NIH grant to promote diversity in the scientific workforce. In particular, this grant will fund Purdue University’s new Institute for...
View ArticleThe Science Behind Barefoot Running
The much anticipated New York Marathon took place yesterday. News articles leading up to the event tended to focus on , but at least one article hit on a somewhat controversial (and scientific!) topic...
View ArticleThe Future of Science?
Yesterday afternoon, the front headline of the New York Times online featured an article about science! Ten well-established scientists from a variety of fields were asked what they think 2011 will...
View ArticleFocus! (It Might Make You Happier)
One great talent that humans have, as compared to other species, is the ability to think about the past, the future, and the imaginary. We’re not restricted to simply thinking about whatever we see in...
View ArticleThe Machinery of Retroviruses Part 1: What is a Retrovirus?
Retroviruses such as HIV are in some ways still a black box to scientists. The specific details of their mechanism of action are slowly being elucidated, but much is yet unclear. However, an article...
View ArticleThe Machinery of Retroviruses Part 2: Using X-Rays to Solve Scientific Problems
(Part 1 here) X-ray crystallography is used by the authors of a recent Nature paper to visualize the structure of certain key molecules relevant to retroviruses. Though we usually think of X-rays as...
View ArticleThe Machinery of Retroviruses Part 3: Caught in the Act
Retroviruses such as HIV work by integrating their genetic code into the DNA of a (see part 1). Scientists have known for a while that a certain virus protein, called integrase, is somehow responsible...
View ArticleWomen. Science. 1880.
Whew! A gem of an article was published in Science magazine… in October 1880 that is. I stand by my previous assertion – reading some of the least current scientific papers available provides an...
View ArticleBisphenol A Ban in Europe
While those of us in the US were busy stuffing ourselves with turkey on Thursday, the European Commission was hard at work making a decision about a proposed ban on the chemical bisphenol A (BPA). On...
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