Science/Technology

Writers at Heart . . . and at Brain?

By Monica Petrucci|2018-10-16T11:54:05-04:00October 16th, 2018|

If you’re a writer, you might have always thought that your mind works in a unique way. Well, science may have proved that to be true. In 2014, German scientist Martin Lotze and his team of researchers studied the brain activity of writers and non-writers as they wrote to compare their brain functions. With the help of fMRI scanners to see which parts [...]

Sheep Can Recognize Your Face!

By Christine Chen|2018-11-02T15:21:26-04:00December 28th, 2017|

The ability to recognize familiar faces or to learn to recognize new ones is a complex image process that we, humans, take for granted. Other mammals such as chimps have that ability, but what about sheep? A recent study revealed that scientists succeeded in training sheep to recognize the faces of four celebrities by repeatedly presenting the sheep with photographs of their faces. [...]

Science and Sweets: Why Some of Us Like Candy and Others Don’t

By Christine Chen|2018-11-02T15:18:39-04:00December 5th, 2017|

With the holiday season upon us, many of us will indulge in sweet treats at the office and at home, unless you are someone who does not care much for sweets, a concept that may surprise some of us candy lovers! It turns out our sweet tooth has to do with two genetic variants of a hormone known as FGF21. Published research from [...]

In Sync: How Our Brain Waves Affect Each Other

By Christine Chen|2018-11-02T15:12:33-04:00October 24th, 2017|

Most of us have, at some point, felt in sync with a friend or a family member because of a shared experience or shared perspectives. Not only can this “feeling” be measured in oscillation patterns of electrical signals—brain waves— that occur when brain cells communicate with each other, but brain-scanning studies revealed that human brain wave patterns do synchronize in an interactive group [...]

From Candy to Chemistry: Working in a Factory Turned Laboratory

By Christine Chen|2018-11-02T15:06:37-04:00October 10th, 2017|

SONY DSC Before joining PSG as an editorial intern, I worked as a chemist in Cambridge, MA, in a six-story structure that once belonged to the New England Confectionary Company—famous for their colorful wafers and conversation hearts, and more commonly known as Necco. Back in 1928, the Necco candy factory embodied the “promising future of American architecture,” but in 2001, with [...]

Mark Your Calendars! Total Solar Eclipse to Sweep Across the Country This Month

By Sarah Terrazano|2018-11-02T14:53:49-04:00August 8th, 2017|

Binoculars? Check. Protective solar glasses? Check. A clear view of the sky? Check! You’re ready to watch the total solar eclipse sweeping the nation this month. August 21, 2017, marks the first total solar eclipse to cover the entire country in 99 years. Tracing a path from Oregon to South Carolina, the eclipse will only be visible in the United States. It’s predicted [...]

Storm Chasing in the Arctic: History’s Largest Polar Expedition

By Samantha Perry|2018-11-02T14:45:02-04:00July 6th, 2017|

When I think of the North Pole, I think of the harshest winter weather times 10, a wasteland of snow and ice, the glare on the snow so bad I probably wouldn’t even be able to open my eyes. It’s a no-man’s-land. But not for long. The North Pole might be one of the most important places to study weather patterns in the [...]

Around the World in 95 Minutes: What It Takes to Be a Celestial Telescope

By Marianna Sorensen|2018-11-02T14:21:04-04:00June 20th, 2017|

Imagine if it were your job to literally go around the world every 95 minutes. Wouldn’t you want to retire after 27 years? Well the Hubble Space Telescope, the “world’s first large, space-based optical telescope,” has reached that point. NASA is beginning its final tests on its replacement, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). JWST, costing nine billion dollars, is going into its [...]

Super Balloons Bring Space Tourists a View from the Top

By Sarah Rush|2018-11-02T14:17:30-04:00June 13th, 2017|

When I was a child, I remember once accidentally letting go of a pink balloon. I was distraught that I’d lost it, but my mom told me not to worry, because the balloon would float up all the way into space! I’ve since learned this isn’t true (the air eventually escapes the balloon and it pops), but fairly soon we will be able [...]

Life Finds a Way: Crystal Caves May Contain 50,000-Year-Old Microorganisms

By Sarah Rush|2018-11-02T14:05:22-04:00May 4th, 2017|

Have you heard of microscopic animals called water bears? When I learned about these little guys a few years ago, my idea of what life is capable of was turned upside down and inside out. Also called tardigrades, water bears can survive extreme temperatures, pressure, radiation and even the vacuum of space! I’m fascinated by extremophiles— microorganisms that can withstand unimaginably harsh conditions—and [...]

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