Blog

misciwriterseditors blog, Technology

Michigan Researchers Seek New Chemistries to Diversify Rechargeable Battery Applications

Author: Jimmy Brancho

Editors: Irene Park and David Mertz

battery-lab
Figure 1. Researchers at the University of Michigan are testing new battery materials in coin cell batteries. Locked inside one of these cells could be a breakthrough that will push energy storage forward.

Off the Danish coast in Copenhagen, Don Siegel, an associate professor in the University of Michigan’s College of Engineering, is on sabbatical. He said the ocean is speckled with tall, white windmills. At some sites, they stand in great curving rows; at others, they’re arrayed in a geometrical pattern.

“Denmark’s very windy,” he said over the phone.

He’s right. The country, according to Energinet, receives 42 percent of its electrical power from wind alone. In fact, Siegel said sometimes there are “emergency situations” where the turbines are pumping out electricity faster than it can be used.

“If we had extra energy storage, imagine what we could do with that,” he said. Continue reading “Michigan Researchers Seek New Chemistries to Diversify Rechargeable Battery Applications” →

misciwriterseditors blog, science behind the scenes

Science Behind the Scenes: Model Organisms—The Unsung Heroes of Biomedical Research

Author: Noah Steinfeld

Editors: Alex Taylor, Christina Vallianatos, and Belle Moyers

In 2001 the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to three scientists, Leland Hartwell, Tim Hunt and Paul Nurse, for their discoveries of key regulators of the cell cycle. Normally, before a cell can divide, it must undergo several phases of the cell cycle in a precise order. First, a cell grows in size, then duplicates its DNA, and finally distributes its DNA evenly between two daughter cells. The three researchers played seminal roles in identifying the mechanisms by which cells transition from one cell cycle phase to the next.

These fundamental discoveries are not only crucial to our understanding of biology, but have applications in human disease. Many types of cancer are linked to mutations that cause cells to move quickly through or even skip some parts of the cell cycle, making cell cycle regulation a hot area of biological research. Given the implications this research has for human health, it might surprise you that many cell cycle regulators were not first discovered in humans. Instead, these cell cycle regulators were identified and characterized in model organisms including yeast and sea urchins.

“But what do I have in common with the yeast I use to bake bread?” you might ask. As it turns out, a lot more than you’d think.

Continue reading “Science Behind the Scenes: Model Organisms—The Unsung Heroes of Biomedical Research” →

misciwriterseditors blog, Neuroscience, Uncategorized

Introverts & Extroverts: It’s Not as Simple as Shy or Outgoing (Part 2)

Author: Ellyn Schinke

Editors: Whit Froehlich, Nayiri Kaissarian, and Irene Park

In my last post, I wrote about the social differences between introverts and extroverts and the misconceptions surrounding the two personalities. This post will focus on the underlying brain biology that contributes to whether a person is an extrovert or an introvert.

The more I read about these personalities, the more I wondered—are there ways in which the biology can explain the social differences? It turns out that there are several known, key differences in the brain biology between introverts and extroverts.

Continue reading “Introverts & Extroverts: It’s Not as Simple as Shy or Outgoing (Part 2)” →

misciwriters Neuroscience, Uncategorized

Introverts & Extroverts: It’s Not as Simple as Shy or Outgoing (Part 1)

Author: Ellyn Schinke

Editors: Whit Froehlich, Nayiri Kaissarian, and Irene Park

Seemingly every Friday night, I’m curled up on my couch with a glass of wine and a good movie. Yet, it amazes me how many people scoff or flat-out laugh when I tell them that I’m an introvert. I am! In social situations, my mood can change very suddenly. It’s as if my social batteries have run out, flipping my social switch from on to off. Such changes are confusing for my friends, which might be based on the big misconception surrounding introversion and extroversion in society.

Continue reading “Introverts & Extroverts: It’s Not as Simple as Shy or Outgoing (Part 1)” →

misciwriters Ecology, Public health

GMOs: Unjustified Fear or Actual Danger? (Part 1)

Author: Irene Park

Editors: Brittany Dixon, Theresa Mau, Alisha John, and Scott Barolo

gmo1
Figure 1: A “Non-GMO Project Verified” product label

It seems like “Non-GMO Project Verified” labels have been popping up on more and more food packages. GMOs (genetically modified organisms) are on the public’s mind, and food manufacturers, restaurants, and the government are reacting.

For example, the restaurant chain Chipotle recently promised to ban genetically modified ingredients, naming three main reasons: the long-term health effects of consuming GMOs are unknown; GMOs harm the environment; and GMOs do not meet the restaurant’s standard of “high-quality” food.

Continue reading “GMOs: Unjustified Fear or Actual Danger? (Part 1)” →

misciwriters Public health, Research

How Your Electronic Health Records Could Help Biomedical Research

Author: Brooke Wolford

Editors: Jimmy Brancho, Shweta Ramdas, Belle Moyers

Think back to the last time you visited your primary care physician. Was the health care provider using a laptop or tablet to take notes and update your health information? In many doctors’ offices across the country your health records have gone digital. In addition to their exciting potential to help doctors’ offices reduce human error and better serve patients, electronic health records (EHRs) also make available a new source of “big data” for researchers.

EHRs are patient-specific digital records your health care provider maintains. The information in your EHR helps your doctor efficiently track your health over time and helps researchers learn more about diseases, which ultimately improves the clinical care your doctor provides to you and other patients. Believe it or not, EHRs from patients like you and me have already helped researchers make discoveries that improve health care for everyone!

Continue reading “How Your Electronic Health Records Could Help Biomedical Research” →

misciwriters Biology, Public health

Rabid: How to Beat a Gold-Medal Virus

Author: Shannon Wright

Editors: Ellyn Schinke, Jessica Cote, Alisha John

What is the most deadly virus in the world? The answer may surprise you. If we consider case fatality rate (the number of people infected who die from the virus if left untreated), it’s not Smallpox (20-60%), or even the Ebola virus (~50%), but rather, a common mammal-targeting virus you almost certainly have heard of: rabies. With no known cure, this infamous virus has a 100% fatality rate – certainly worthy of a gold-medal if we were giving out medals for how deadly viruses are.

Continue reading “Rabid: How to Beat a Gold-Medal Virus” →

misciwriters Astrophysics, Physics, Technology

NASA’s Juno mission: Unlocking secrets about Jupiter and ourselves

Author: Irene Park

Editors: Ada Hagan, Alisha John, Shweta Ramdas, Scott Barolo

On July 4th 2016, NASA announced that the spacecraft Juno arrived at Jupiter after traveling two billion miles over five years. Juno was designed to investigate the origin of Jupiter, our solar system’s largest planet.

Continue reading “NASA’s Juno mission: Unlocking secrets about Jupiter and ourselves” →

misciwriterseditors Biology, blog, Microbiology, Research

Spinach and siderophores, part 2: Getting the upper hand

Author: Ada Hagan

Editors: Alisha John, Scott Barolo

As we discussed last time, bacteria that infect the human body face a major challenge: iron, which is essential for bacterial growth, is hard to obtain from human tissues.  Many pathogenic bacteria solve this problem by deploying “stealth siderophores,” which steal iron from human iron-binding proteins while evading our defenses. In the battle between humans and pathogenic bacteria, our best weapons, antibiotics, are being weakened by widespread resistance. Is there a way to use bacteria’s need for iron against them?

Continue reading “Spinach and siderophores, part 2: Getting the upper hand” →