I grew up loving the movie The Fault in our Stars, which is about a 16-year-old’s battle with thyroid cancer. I thought it was a heartfelt but rare story, and only recently understood the traumatic nature of pediatric cancer on kids and their families. Every year, around 400,000…

You may know someone who takes blood thinners; over 3.2 million Americans have prescriptions. However, there are problems associated with these medications. Not only is a person who takes blood thinners unable to live life to the fullest, they must also be cautious about nearly all day-to-day physical…

In less than 20 years, autism rates have tripled to the point where one in 44 children are diagnosed with the disease. And yet, the causes of autism remain largely unknown and no treatments or preventative methods exist. David Amaral, a professor of psychiatry and director of the…

In dark rooms, surrounded by illuminated screens, figures scuttle, duck, and navigate through twisting corridors and mazes. This isn’t the elaborate setup of a teen gaming lair; rather, it’s a high-end virtual reality system built for neuroscience’s favorite mammals: rodents. Tour a neuroscience lab fifteen years ago and…

As children, we were all prodded to “eat our fruits and vegetables.” But in the future, will we be injecting plant life as well? Based on several discoveries to date, this very well may happen. Plants can be used in medications, including vaccines. Although plants also have numerous…

Maitê Ghazaleh Bucher, Ph.D., a Biology Professor at the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, has been awarded the Curious Science Writers Inaugural Educator Fellowship. Curious Science Writers (CSW) is an innovative science communications program for high school students hosted by Americans for Medical Progress (AMP), a…

Imagine you are a seasoned astronaut floating through the mystical blue abyss that is space, documenting the thousands of bright white stars that buzz relentlessly above your head. Suddenly, a shape you don’t recognize appears close by. Is it a rock? An alien spacecraft? A piece of debris?…

Being a binge-watching Netflix enthusiast and having a poor diet, Brian suffers from type 2 diabetes, the most common form of the disease that affects some 30 million people in the United States. Despite his renewed efforts to initiate a lifestyle change by eating better and exercising more…

You’ve likely heard about the many benefits of sleep. But you probably haven’t heard the latest. Scientists are currently investigating how sleep helps us navigate the world around us. Past research has shown that memory plays a major role in helping us move through space. If you remember…

Picture this: on your morning walk, a speeding car suddenly rams into you. Among other injuries, your liver is annihilated. You are rushed to the hospital, only for the doctors to say the damage is irreversible. That leaves one last option: replacing the organ entirely. The doctor breaks…