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Marcia Stone has been a science writer/journalist since leaving research almost forty years ago. Her work can be seen in a variety of publications including the American Society for Microbiology’s Microbe magazine, the American Institute of Biological Sciences’ BioScience and as eBriefings on the New York Academy of Sciences website.
You may want to put down that fork – brain-damaging prions could be lurking in your dinner. By showing that spleen tissue is up to sevenfold more receptive to foreign prions than that of the brain, Vincent Béringue PhD, and colleagues at the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA) in Jouy-en-Josas, France, recently challenged the [...]
UPDATED February 3, 2012. On January 20, 2012, 39 principal investigators (PIs) from influenza research laboratories around the world declared a 60-day voluntary moratorium on experiments involving mammalian-transmissible viruses with the hemagglutinin (HA) genes of highly dangerous avian H5N1 viruses. They will, however, continue to investigate the currently non-transmissible “bird flu” viruses reconfiguring in nature [...]
Like most humans, bacteria prefer urban environments: cooperation makes earning a living easier, and life in the company of friendly others is generally safer than going it alone. Biofilms, where cells from the same or different species crowd together embedded in a protective glue-like substance called an “extracellular polysaccharide matrix (EPS),” are the bacterial cities [...]
Updated: December 27, 2011. This past September, researchers from the Erasmus Medical Center in the Netherlands announced to colleagues at the European Scientific Working Group on Influenza (ESWI) conference in Malta that they had reconfigured a deadly bird influenza virus into a version which could easily pass from one mammal to another. By genetically manipulating H5N1, [...]
If malignant cells could be kept from wandering about the body and colonizing new sites, the number of cancer deaths would be cut by about 90%. However, it’s become apparent in recent years that metastasis isn’t a simple, random process; it’s a well-orchestrated sequence of events most of which are largely unknown. In fact, “[metastasis] [...]
Rediscovering Richard III of England: In September 2012, archaeologists unearthed remains from a Leicester car park, covering what was once the city’s medieval Franciscan friary. After five months of waiting and exhaustive scientific tests, those bones were revealed to be those of Richard III, the infamous last Plantagenet king of England and the last English King to die in battle.
Use Social Science to Improve Your Health: Social science research has uncovered many helpful tips on improving our health. Find proven methods to lose weight, become fit, quit smoking, manage drinking, improve mental health, reach goals and promote positive relationships with the help of modern social science and social media. Written by Gina Barrett Putt, M.A. in Sociology, this ebook features current research and take away points.
Flying is Fun! is based on the aviation articles which Helen Krasner wrote for the magazine Flight Training News during the years 2011 to 2012. It begins with an article from Helen’s early days of learning to fly, My Learning-to-Fly Nightmare, which should provide encouragement for anyone who is struggling with the PPL course. The next three articles are about topics of general interest to private pilots. Then come a group of helicopter related articles, but these should still provide food for…
Have you ever considered converting your WordPress Blog into a Multi-Author Website? It’s not as hard as you think. In fact, with this tutorial, you’ll be done in just one weekend! (Or much less, if you are comfortable with the WordPress interface.) This edition includes a simple checklist and easy-to-follow walkthroughs for all plugins. You’ll be managing multiple writers in no time flat!
The Hunter and the Scorpion: In an endless cosmic chase the scorpion pursues the hunter, his intended victim, as they run across the sky. The Hunter and the Scorpion begins with the mythological lore behind two prominent easy to locate constellations: Orion, the Hunter, and Scorpius, the Scorpion. The Hunter and the Scorpion however encompasses much more than a constellation guidebook. Integrating ancient mythology, constellation lore, and modern astrophysics it tells the life story of stars an…
Unsung Heroes of Modern Physics Of course you’ve heard of Albert Einstein, creator of special and general relativity, and other famous scientists – but there are many other physics pioneers who have received very little mainstream recognition for their contributions to history. Join Ira Mark Egdall, as he explores the fascinating history of five Unsung Heroes of Modern Physics. Despite extraordinary achievements in relativity, quantum mechanics, astronomy, cosmology, or space exploratio…
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