The Effect of Happy Music on Creative Thinking
By Meenu Johnkutty ’21 Innovative solutions are needed to solve the world’s most pressing problems and therefore; creativity is essential to the advancement of society. A recent study conducted by the Netherlands’ Radboud University, in collaboration with the University of Technology in Australia, shed light on how listening to happy music affects the formation of resourceful thoughts. The 155 participants that took part in the … Continue reading The Effect of Happy Music on Creative Thinking
Controlled Degradation of 3-D Printed Biomaterials
By Meghan Bialt-DeCelie ’19 The explosion of 3-D printing technologies allows custom and precise structures to be made quickly and inexpensively. Researchers led by Thomas Valentin from Brown University utilize stereolithographic 3-D printing to create biocompatible structures that could degrade in response to chemical cues. The technique of stereolithography involves shooting photons at unpolymerized materials causing them to form crosslinks with themselves to build a … Continue reading Controlled Degradation of 3-D Printed Biomaterials
Electric-less Cooling
By Meghan Bialt-DeCelie ’19 Cooling systems are one of the largest and most inefficient consumers of electricity. The goal of cooling systems is to reduce the condenser temperature to below the ambient temperature. Evaporative cooling systems can achieve this, but they require a great amount of water loss to do so. A new cooling alternative may be within reach as described in a study led … Continue reading Electric-less Cooling
Controlling Mitochondria to Stop the Clocks
By Meghan Bialt-DeCelie ’19 The respiratory function of the mitochondrion, the energy producing organelle found in the cell, can decline over time. This is because of how the mitochondrion enlarge and assume a more elongated shape. Typically, that mitochondrion will eventually break down and get removed processes called mitochondrial fission and mitophagy respectively. Accumulation of the ineffective mitochondria and inability to remove them are major … Continue reading Controlling Mitochondria to Stop the Clocks
New Model Predicts How Genetics Affects Heart Structure
By Gene Yang ’19 Congenital heart disease is the most common birth defect in the world. This broad group of genetic conditions affect the heart’s structure and function in different ways, with symptoms ranging from harmless to fatal. However, very little is known about how a human’s genetic makeup affects cardiovascular development. A recent study, which constructed a model that predicts correlations between genetics and … Continue reading New Model Predicts How Genetics Affects Heart Structure
Warming Waters Unexpectedly Alters Growth of Antarctica’s Sea Life
By Gene Yang ’19 In shallow Antarctic waters, a nine-month long study was the first of its kind to artificially warm conditions in the sea floor to predicted climate change levels, and in doing so, the researchers saw an increase in the growth rates of select species. Scientists placed artificial “settlement panels” on the sea floor of shallow Antarctic waters. The composition of these panels … Continue reading Warming Waters Unexpectedly Alters Growth of Antarctica’s Sea Life
Crustacean Body Size Changes with Climate
By Gene Yang ’19 Crustaceans play an important role in coastal ecosystems, an area of research that can provide new insight into climate change. A recent study found a correlation between body sizes of intertidal crustaceans, latitude, and sea-surface temperature. A collaboration of researchers from six universities sampled the body sizes of four keystone crustacean species from 44 sandy beaches in California and Chile: high-shore … Continue reading Crustacean Body Size Changes with Climate
New Disney Study Suggests More Effective 3D Printing Designs
By Caleb Sooknanan ’20 Compliant mechanisms are mechanisms that can transfer forces or displacements to other points along their bodies. 3D printing can be used to quickly and effectively design compliant mechanisms for commercial use, but more work is needed to understand how such devices can be printed. Doctor Bernhard Thomaszewski and researchers from Disney Research Zurich in Switzerland devised a computational tool that would … Continue reading New Disney Study Suggests More Effective 3D Printing Designs
The Effects of Carotenoids on Cognitive Ability
By Caleb Sooknanan ’20 Lutein — a carotenoid or pigment from green foods such as spinach and kiwifruit — can be quantified in central nervous system tissue, making it a useful way of evaluating diet’s effect on the brain. However, scientists are still determining whether higher lutein amounts yield cognitive ability improvements. Doctor Naiman A. Khan and researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign … Continue reading The Effects of Carotenoids on Cognitive Ability
3D-Printed Ear Devices Detect Core Body Temperature
By Caleb Sooknanan ’20 Healthcare sensors are frequently used to detect skin temperature, but more research is needed to design a device that can pinpoint core body temperature levels and help doctors predict the likelihood of fever, fatigue, and other physiological phenomena. Professor Ali Javey and researchers at the University of California, Berkeley designed a printable smart device that — when placed on a patient’s … Continue reading 3D-Printed Ear Devices Detect Core Body Temperature
Disrupting Enzyme To Tackle Alzheimer’s Disease
By Rideeta Raquib ’19 From histone modifications to DNA alterations, epigenetic processes play a major role in various physiological systems. Histones are proteins in eukaryotic cells that package DNA strands into nucleosomes. Gene regulation processes include histone acetylation, whereby an acetyl group is transferred from one molecule to another. This eventually removes the positive charge on the histones, giving nucleosomes a relaxed structure and allowing … Continue reading Disrupting Enzyme To Tackle Alzheimer’s Disease
Gut microbe as Potential Treatment for Multiple Sclerosis
By Rideeta Raquib ’19 The human gut is colonized by many microorganisms and each of them plays a role in maintaining various physiological functions, such as regulating digestion and fat absorption. It has been found that a vast number of inflammatory diseases around the world are associated with an instability of the gut microbiome. Researchers at the Mayo Clinic and University of Iowa suggest that … Continue reading Gut microbe as Potential Treatment for Multiple Sclerosis
