As the semester begins to slow down, scientific discovery has not. This week’s science news in review explores new findings from the James Webb Space Telescope, the discovery of a nitrogen-fixing organelle, an accident in molecular evolution and the legacy of Peter Higgs.
Researchers at Hopkins have used AI to achieve a significant milestone in the battle against COVID-19. The team has developed an automated detection tool capable of identifying patients with the virus from ultrasound images of the lung. This work furthers the use of artificial intelligence in the healthcare professions.
The microbiome refers to the whole sum of microorganisms in a particular environment, such as the collective sum of gut bacteria in a human being. As the field of metagenomics matures, scientists are increasingly recognizing the need for sophisticated tools and technologies to decipher the complexities hidden within these microbial ecosystems. Professor Mihai Pop at the University of Maryland gave a talk on the analytical challenges of microbiome science and how they can be combated by computational methods.
On Monday, April 8, hundreds of Hopkins students and community members gathered on the Beach to watch the 2024 total solar eclipse. Beginning at 2:05 p.m. and lasting until 4:33 p.m., the eclipse allowed viewers to see a rare sight: the moon passing between the sun and the Earth.
I came to Hopkins drawn to molecular biology and its incredible potential for growth and transformation. I am proud to say that my grandmother got me interested in biological development mechanisms. My lab — the Chatterjee Lab — studies the interactions between genes and various proteins involved in signaling pathways linked to cancer, inflammatory disease and cardiovascular disease.
On March 26 at about 1:30 a.m., the cargo ship Dali struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge, causing a disastrous collapse that sent shockwaves through the city of Baltimore and the structural engineering community nationwide. Questions arose about the safety of the bridge and how such a disastrous event occurred. My deepest condolences go out to the families of those lost in the collapse. Shedding light on what caused such a catastrophic disaster is critical to ensuring that such a failure doesn’t occur again.
As the semester winds down, take a moment to learn about this week's breaking science news. We learned about scientists’ preparations for studying the total solar eclipse, the rediscovery of the world's first police crime lab, how AI can detect severe floods worldwide and the necessary re-evaluation of air pollution’s impact on public health.
On Thursday, March 28, the Department of Civil and Systems Engineering hosted David Friedman, emeritus CEO and board chair of Forell Elsesser Structural Engineers. The talk, titled “The Practice of Structural and Earthquake Engineering Today and Three Unique Structural Engineering Projects," touched on Friedman’s projects and methodologies as well as the challenges posed by the constraints of the environment. Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering Jeremy Brown organized the event.
Yuehan Liu is a fifth-year doctoral candidate affiliated with the Biophotonics Imaging Technology Lab (BIT) advised by Xingde Li. She recently gave a talk at SPIE Photonics West BiOS entitled "Two-photon fiberscope with a proactive optoelectrical commutator for rotational resistance-free neuroimaging in freely-behaving rodents." Her talk focused on the recent progress of non-invasive imaging technologies that could revolutionize the study of brain function and diseases.
In 2016, many U.S. diplomats at the U.S. embassy in Havana fell ill with mysterious symptoms. They reported feeling hearing loud noises or experiencing intense headaches. The illness was dubbed Havana syndrome, though it is sometimes referred to as anomalous health incidents (AHIs).
On Thursday, March 7, the Virginia Fox Stern Center for the Study of the Book in the Renaissance, situated at Hopkins Sheridan Libraries, hosted Olivia Weisser, professor at the University of Massachusetts Boston and a historian of medicine. Weisser’s research focuses on health in 16th- to 18th-century Britain, and her lecture titled “Shopping for Pox Cures in Early Modern London” analyzed the process of purchasing treatments for venereal disease, a term that encompasses what are today known as sexually transmitted diseases.
In a recent study, a team of Hopkins researchers analyzed contaminants found in kale grown on Baltimore farms. The findings, published in Environmental Sciences & Technology, are a reassurance that local-grown kale is safe to eat, and the innovative approach used is paving the way for future research in environmental science.
A recent paper published by a team of Hopkins physicists and astronomers has permanently changed the landscape of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) — in this case, literally. The paper, published in The Astrophysical Journal on Monday, March 4, includes the most detailed observations of the CMB taken from Earth.
When I was younger, I had always imagined a research lab as the kind of fancy modern room that we see in sci-fi movies — full of scientists in pristine white coats operating sleek machines and furiously pipetting into empty beakers (without any aseptic technique). Thus, my perception of a research lab was completely renewed when, as a freshman last winter, I joined Dr. Peter Searson’s lab at the Institute for NanoBioTechnology.
As we approach the final stretch before spring break, let’s look beyond our class content and appreciate how scientists around the world have applied textbook knowledge to generate meaningful research findings. This week’s science news focuses on fascinating biodiversity in nature, humans’ impact on the environment and the potential to restore past lives on Earth.
On Thursday, Feb. 29, The Johns Hopkins Department of Mechanical Engineering hosted Michael Goldfarb, the H. Fort Flowers Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Director at the Center for Intelligent Mechatronics at Vanderbilt University. The talk shed light on novel perspectives regarding powered lower limb prostheses.
The new Center for Global Women’s Health and Gender Equity (GWHGE) — directed by Dr. Michele Decker, ScD, MPH at the School of Public Health’s Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health — aims to mitigate existing gender inequities.
As the semester reaches its halfway mark and midterms ramp up before spring break, take a break to learn about this week’s breaking science news. This week includes (intentional) breaks in tuberculosis RNA, (unintentional) breakdowns on the moon, gene editing and particle masses.
Researchers at Hopkins have made significant progress in unraveling the mystery of flight evolution. The findings, published in The Proceedings of The Royal Society, shed light on the evolutionary adaptations that enabled dinosaurs and birds to take to the skies.
With February rapidly drawing to a close, let’s dive into last week’s science and technology headlines: Microplastics are complicating efforts to define a new epoch in Earth’s history, poor metabolisms may be the cause of intestinal knotting, machines are reading minds to learn more about the mystery of the brain, and astronomers have discovered a billion-year-old black hole eruption that may have led to an unusual formation of stars.
