SciShorts: Emmy Noether – the Unsung Mathematician

Amalie Emmy Noether is a name that is almost unheard of. Conversely, the contributions of this German mathematician is more than prominent. She is known for Noether’s theorem, which united symmetry in nature and conservation laws in physics. This theorem is the foundation of many areas of theoretical physics and was monumental in the hunt […]

SciShorts: Ocean Microplastics – A Threat to Marine Species

A recent study led by researchers in Murdoch University, Australia revealed that marine filter-feeders – species that filter food from water with their throat – are at risk due to the toxic chemicals present in the tons of microplastics ingested them. Marine filter feeders generally need to swallow thousands of cubic metres of water daily […]

SciShorts: Hubble Captures the Collision of Two Galaxies

350 million light years away are two galaxies that seem to be on a collision course. This particular system of the galaxies is known as Arp 256. The picture of the image (above) taken by the Hubble Space Telescope shows tails of stars, dust and even stellar nurseries*. About four billion years from now, our […]

SciShorts: The Boring Company to Prioritise Pedestrians

In a recent tweet, Elon Musk mentioned that The Boring Company will prioritise pedestrians and cyclists over cars. Although tunnels will still transport cars on a massive scale, Musk believes that mass transit should be given most importance. A bus like pod will be taking pedestrians from the ground level and descends underground through something […]

SciShorts: Scientists Plan to Transport Antimatter out of the Laboratory for the First Time

CERN researchers are taking their study on antiparticles one step further this time. The antiProton Unstable Matter Annihilation (PUMA) project requires them to have antimatter interact with radioactive materials to understand the processes that occur inside a star. Since radioactive particles are generally short-lived, physicists have planned to transport antiparticles to these radioactive particles. This […]

SciShorts: This Bacterium Species Feeds off Nuclear Energy

Desulforudis audaxviator is a type of bacteria that lives 3 kilometers beneath the earth’s surface in groundwater. It survives in a completely dark environment with temperatures soaring up to 60°C. What’s fascinating, however, is that it utilizes nuclear energy instead of the energy given by the sun to thrive in the darkness. The energy is […]

SciShorts: Cape Town’s Water Crisis is Pushed Back to 2019

Cape Town was set to face Day Zero – the day when all water runs out – in March or April this year. Due to the timeless effort of the residents, Cape Town will not be running out of water till August 27 this year. The better news is that August is the month of […]

SciShorts: Australia may Soon Become the First Country to Eliminate a Type of Cancer

A study shows that Australia might soon eliminate cervical cancer completely, making the country the first in the globe to do so. The successful elimination is due to the distribution of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine for free in schools. This sexually transmitted virus is the cause of 99.9% of cervical cancer cases, bringing 270,000 […]

Scishorts: Kenyan Doctors Performed Invasive Brain Surgery on the Wrong Patient

Kenya’s Daily Nation just reported that staff from the Kenyatta National Hospital mixed up two patients’ identification tags just before a surgery. This caused the doctors to perform invasive brain surgery on a patient who needed treatment only for brain swelling. It took them hours to realize that the blood clot they were looking for […]