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A Fly On The Wall

18 Sep 2020

How many times have you heard the expression, 鈥渋f only I could be a fly on that wall?鈥 But how do flies walk up walls and across ceilings? At the Marine Science Laboratory in North Wales scientists...

Direct-to-Consumer 2: Epigenetic Boogaloo

13 Aug 2020

Cutting-edge science can be used to fashion mirages. We are led to believe there is value in the product, a drink to quench our thirst for knowledge. But when we have spent our money, we are stuck...

Crustaceans have teeth in their stomach

12 Aug 2020

Believe it or not, lobsters, as well as other crustaceans such as crabs and crayfish, have teeth in their stomach! The teeth are part of a system called the 鈥済astric mill.鈥 Through rhythmic...

A Shocking Catastrophe in Beirut

7 Aug 2020

The Beirut explosion may be the worst ammonium nitrate disaster in history, but it is not the first such calamity. Let鈥檚 go back to the early morning of April 16, 1947 when spectators flooded to...

Scents and Sensibilities

7 Aug 2020

It is quite amazing how very small changes in an odourant鈥檚 chemical structure can radically change our perception of its scent. For example, octanol, a synthetic compound used in perfumes and...

Proteins Unravelled

31 Jul 2020

I want you to close your eyes and imagine a protein. Anyone with aphantasia gets a free pass on this exercise, but I suspect that most people still won鈥檛 be able to do it. The word 鈥減rotein鈥 is...

Biting into Dental Fillings

22 Jul 2020

The common word in French for dental fillings is 鈥減lombage鈥, which may sound a little surprising since it roughly translates to 鈥渢o fill with lead鈥.聽That is because if you had a cavity in France in...

Getting Antsy During COVID

15 Jul 2020

In this COVID era, nighttime entertainment often comes down to watching one of the plethora of programs offered by streaming services. Let me make a recommendation. Summer is a time for ants to...

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