Latest Articles
A Way to the Heart with Polymers
Inspire, innovate, and invent. Dr. Kathryn Uhrich, a researcher from Rutgers University does just that through her groundbreaking work with polymers, including a novel polymer-based cardiac stent. Coronary stents offer an essential treatment for deadly coronary artery disease (CAD), the leading cause of death in America. This new stent may help the millions of people living with CAD.
Conquering Chronic Pain with Tarantula Venom
Pain is a universal sensation that is transmitted through the nerves by a series of signals to the brain. For people with chronic pain disorders like fibromyalgia, the pain persists and can strip them of their well-being, productivity, and quality of life. It is estimated that 100 million adults are affected by chronic pain.
Passionate Poet Receives National Recognition
In October, cSw author/editor Eileen Huang had the honor of being appointed as the Northeast National Student Poet in the Class of 2015. The National Student Poets Program is the nation’s highest honor for youth poets presenting original work. It reflects the national imprimatur of the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities and its honorary chair, First Lady Michelle Obama, as well as the Administration’s commitment to arts and humanities education.
We are curiousSCIENCEwriters
Since we have changed our name from curiousYOUNGwriters to curiousSCIENCEwriters, you may be asking “What’s new?” Quite a bit, actually. We are training student editors to help our writers move beyond jargon and complex scientific concepts to produce stories that get the science right and capture the personality of scientists involved ground-breaking research.
Good Advice
Carl Zimmer is a columnist for the New York Times and the author of 13 books. His “Note to Beginning Science Writers" elicited many enthusiastic responses, each of which contains note-worthy gems for our curious young writers.
Targeting Cancer: Aptamers Help Hit the Bullseye
If you have ever played a video game, you know that precision is the goal. Now imagine that busting cancer cells is your target, and pieces of genetic material called aptamers are your helpers. Cancer researchers are exploring aptamers as a promising new approach to targeting cancer treatment.
Frog and Craniofacial Abnormalities
In the United States, 12 babies are born every day with a cleft lip, only one type of craniofacial abnormality. Scientists are studying the African Clawed Frog to understand how they are able to correct these abnormalities before birth.
Chicken Studies Suggest Treatment for Atherosclerosis
Scientists are studying White Leghorn chickens which have similar cholesterol levels to humans to understand atherosclerosis- the build-up of cholesterol in arteries. It triggers coronary artery disease, the number one killer in the United States, in which accumulations of cholesterol called plaques form on artery walls.
Fruit Flies and Epilepsy
Epileptic seizures occur when the normal pattern of neurological activity is disturbed, causing convulsions, muscle spasms, and loss of consciousness. Fruit flies are viable for research in human diseases, as they share 75% of the genes that cause diseases in humans and hope to find the genetic cause of febrile seizures, which are brought on by high fever.
Spina bifida and Weimaraners
Spina bifida is a neural tube birth defect where the baby’s backbone and its surrounding membranes fail to properly develop. Researchers found one genetic mutation in Weimaraners that causes spina bifida, which is also present in humans, but not found in any other dog species.