Why do we have belly buttons? Do our pets have them, too? And does anything collect inside them besides lint? Sarah Leupen answers all your questions about the strange and storied belly button. Continue Reading Innies, outies and omphalophobia: 7 navel-gazing questions about belly buttons answered
Manil Suri believes that the troubled relationship many Americans have with math is ultimately related to the general invisibility of mathematics in popular culture, and has a few ideas for helping to fix that through improving math awareness. Continue Reading Declines in math readiness underscore the urgency of math awareness
March 14 is celebrated as Pi Day because the date, when written as 3/14, matches the start of the decimal expansion 3.14159… of the most famous mathematical constant. The true reason to celebrate Pi Day, Manil Suri writes, is that mathematics, which is a purely abstract subject, turns out to describe our universe so well. Continue Reading Pi gets all the fanfare, but other numbers also deserve their own math holidays
Before the pandemic struck in 2020, the number of U.S. students studying abroad had been pretty much rising steadily each year. The global spread of COVID-19, however, brought the steady growth in study abroad to a screeching halt in early 2020. Continue Reading Studying abroad is poised to make a post-pandemic comeback – here are 5 questions students who plan to study overseas should ask
A great number of calls exist throughout the animal kingdom – and many are used to attract mates or defend territories. Evolution has favored those able to make sounds efficiently. The louder and more focused the energy in the call and the closer in pitch it is to the intended listener’s optimal hearing range, the farther away a potential mate or rival will hear it. Continue Reading Mini creatures with mighty voices know their audience and focus on a single frequency
Bringing a new drug to market costs billions of dollars and can take over a decade. That contributes to today’s skyrocketing health care costs and creates significant obstacles to delivering new therapies to patients. But organ-on-a-chip models offer a better way, Chengpeng Chen argues. Continue Reading Organ-on-a-chip models allow researchers to conduct studies closer to real-life conditions – and possibly grease the drug development pipeline
There’s more to virus biology than meets the eye. Viruses that infect bacteria can listen for key cellular signals to help them make decisions. Even worse, they can use the cell’s own “ears” to do the listening for them. Continue Reading Viruses may be ‘watching’ you – some microbes lie in wait until their hosts unknowingly give them the signal to start multiplying and kill them
All rain comes from a combination of two things: moisture in the air – usually in the form of clouds – and currents of air moving upwards. Continue Reading Why Does Some Rain Fall Harder Than Other Rain?
ICE’s decision could increase tuition for American students, cost thousands of jobs, and erode America’s stature in the world. Continue Reading Sending International Students Home Would Sap US Influence and Hurt the Economy
In a 5-4 decision the Supreme Court has ruled that partisan gerrymandering is not unconstitutional. The issue is a political one, according to the court, not a legal one. Continue Reading After Supreme Court Decision, Gerrymandering Fix Is up to Voters
