This was going to be so much longer and more detailed, but as you may or may not be aware, seven month olds occasionally decide of their own volition to pull all nighters, (much like grad students).  So, I leave you with a few somewhat less than scattered thoughts, and an incredible video on the topic of neutrinos. After yesterday's post on the possibility of the variation of radioactive decay rates with neutrino activity from the sun, I spent my free time today reading about beta decay […]

The 3-D Printed Trachea Splint Image courtesy of University of Michigan Health System The infant's 3-D printed trachea will fully absorb into his body in two to three years. We've seen plenty of 3-D printed medical implants for patients that require replacement tissues, but this use of 3-D printed biopolymer to augment and correct an existing tissue highlights just how amazing the convergence of 3-D printing and medicine is (and will be). Kaiba Gionfriddo was born apparently a normal, healthy […]

One night, when I was definitely completely sober in every way possible (of course!), it struck me that while both the European and Chinese zodiacs (ones I’m familiar with) display a nice variety of animals with and without backbones (I happen to be spineless according to the European one, and scaly and flame-breathing according to [...]

Ellesmere Island Wikimedia Commons Bacteria discovered at -15ºC, the coldest temperature bacteria have ever grown in, could indicate bacteria survive under similar conditions on Mars. A team of researchers in the Canadian Arctic is reporting on an interesting find: bacteria that thrive at -15 degrees Celsius. That is the coldest environment bacteria have ever been found to grow in. The McGill University researchers traveled to Ellesmere Island in (far, far) north Canada. There they collected […]

A default is defined as an option that applies if the chooser does nothing. The good news is that setting greener choices as defaults can automatically nudge people into more sustainable behavior.