The gadget you’re using to view this article very definitely works by storing zeroes and ones in bits of semiconductor, specifically silicon powered by electricity.That kind of energy utilization won’t cut it in the future where net-zero carbon emissions are the goal. Fortunately, researchers aim to fundamentally alter the way computers operate, leading to more…
As states began to expand COVID-19 vaccination eligibility to persons with pre-existing medical issues in March, a considerable number of people discovered that they were eligible for the vaccination just based on their height and weight. Anyone with a body mass index (BMI) more than 25 (what the CDC calls “overweight”) is officially at risk…
Summer is just a few months away, but the heat has already begun. Feeling heated (and cooling down) is now a part of the everyday grind, thanks to unyielding sunshine and sizzling barbecues. Welcome to August. Wildfires have made headlines worldwide in recent years, from California to Australia—but they are a threat to far more…
Justin Schmidt, a researcher from the Southwestern Biological Institute, was in a tree in Costa Rica in 1987. He was trying to climb closer to a black wasp nest hanging in the limbs of the tree to gather a few specimens for research, and he was shimmying over a branch that hung perilously over a…
A built-in keyboard is included with every smartphone. But there are instances when that isn’t enough. Perhaps yours is so unpleasant that you’ve settled for writing just two-letter words, acronyms, or—worst of all—sending voice notes. Fortunately, whether you have an iPhone or an Android, you can quickly customize your keyboard by downloading a third-party keyboard.…
Rod McCullom is a scientific writer based in Chicago who writes for Undark’s “Convictions” section. Undark, Scientific American, Nature, The Atlantic, and The Nation, among other journals, have published his work. This piece first appeared in Undark.The images are graphic and upsetting: Jahmel Leach, 16, lies on a hospital bed with a swollen face and…
In a frenzy of self-consciousness, the stethoscope was born in 1816. To avoid pressing his ear against a patient’s large chest, René Theophile Hyacinthe Laennec used a rolled-up sheet of paper on which to listen to an unwell woman’s Heart.Laennec pioneered the method of listening to sounds produced by internal organs (also known as auscultation),…
Until life-saving vaccinations are widely accessible, it will be challenging to bring the COVID-19 epidemic to a halt. That is a reality with which the world is increasingly confronted.However, vaccination for most of the world’s population remains a long way off for the time being, as scientists debate how to scale up vaccine manufacturing and…
Mosquito eggs planted in the Florida Keys are expected to hatch tens of thousands of genetically engineered mosquitoes this week, marking the first time such insects have been released in the wild in the United States. The eggs were provided in late April by Oxitec, a biotechnology company, as part of a federally permitted project…
When people don’t take their drugs as recommended, it’s a big deal. According to the research, people who refuse to take their pills—an issue is known as the non adherence or non compliance—cost the American healthcare system up to $289 billion per year and account for nearly 10% of the hospitalizations. “Without exaggerating, a lot…