MS-LS1-1
Conduct an investigation to provide evidence that living things are made of cells, either one cell or many different numbers and types of cells.
- Tech
How to make window ‘glass’ from wood
Scientists have come up with a way to make wood transparent. The new material could be used in everything from windows to packaging.
- Microbes
Microbes mine treasure from waste
Like miniature factories, bioreactors house microbes recruited to chew through wastes to clean dirty water, make chemicals or generate electricity.
- Physics
Scrubbing bubbles: Secret to ouch-free dental cleanings?
People with sensitive teeth can find routine dental cleanings painful. But bubbles might pave way to no-touch — and pain-free — cleaning for these people.
- Life
Cell recount: People host far fewer germs
Since the 1970s, microbiologists have been saying bacteria outnumber human cells in our bodies by about 10-to-1. A new analysis says that old number was a “fake” fact — and gross exaggeration.
- Science & Society
Expert panel approves human gene editing
Scientists have recently been reporting big advances in the ability to tweak the genes of living organisms, including people. But some question the ethics of doing that. A panel of experts now says such research can go ahead — with one major exception.
- Microbes
Explainer: What is a virus?
Viruses cause many of the world’s common diseases. These germs reproduce by hijacking the cells of their host.
- Chemistry
Cooking up life for the first time
The basic components for life could have emerged together nearly 4 billion years ago on the surface of Earth, chemists report.
- Genetics
Silencing genes — to understand them
Hijacking a cell process called RNA interference can let scientists turn off a selected gene. Its silencing can point to what genes do when they’re on — and may lead to new treatments for disease.
- Agriculture
Livestock: A need to save rare breeds
New studies and ongoing work highlight why society should save rare livestock breeds — and the part that technology can play.
- Brain
Learning rewires the brain
Brain cells actually change shape as we learn. It’s one way we cement new knowledge. And much of the action happens as we sleep.
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High school student studies slime mold smarts
Are slime molds “smart,” and what does that mean? Hannah McShea ran experiments to find out more about how slime molds behave and what it means for intelligence.
- Health & Medicine
Infected cutting boards
Germs can hitchhike into the kitchen on meat and many types of produce. A new study finds that some of those germs are particularly nasty. They are immune to the one or more of the drugs doctors would prescribe to wipe out the infection.
