It’s been summer already and you wish you didn’t hear a word about college in the next two months. But on the other hand, you don’t want to forget everything you’ve learned during the year so as not to lose your face. In fact, summer is quite a productive time for your brain, and we’re going to show you the way how to plan your summer to both refresh your knowledge without any extra effort and improve your progress by September not to fall behind. (more…)
We often use the word “probably” in our everyday conversations to emphasize changeability of situations or events. It seems an ordinary word, not the one for scientists. From math’s point of view, probability is quite important, because of managing a wide variety of life processes, but the brain is unable to immediately calculate its value. Here’s a simple at first sight example: “You are stirring the deck of cards. What is the probability that you get the sequence that has already been obtained before by someone else?”. Maybe, you have one chance in 1000 or one of 10,000? (more…)
“Why do we need summer homework?” takes the first place in the top-3 summer questions (the silver and bronze go to “What am I supposed to do now?” and “Who’s gonna do it for me?). Is it a kind of yearly joke or the global conspiracy? Of course, we all have to refresh the gained knowledge, but the amount of difficult and unnecessary assignments is enormous for the so-called free time. So, if you’re not going to do that, let’s try to find out how to actually get it done. (more…)
Bright light of fluorescence charms with all its magic and mystery. Some marine animals (i.e. jellyfishes) synthesize fluorescent proteins making them shine in a moonlight. Scientists don’t know the natural purpose of such adaptation but they have learned how to use this exciting chemical feature in scientific work. Researchers have been widely using fluorescence in different fields of life sciences. Two Nobel prizes in Chemistry were awarded for the study and practical use of fluorescence in 2008 and 2014. What are the great benefits of fluorescence? How did a single jellyfish protein change scientific approaches in biology and medicine? Let’s learn it from this article. (more…)
With no exaggeration, each of us has ever thought of the homework being done by somebody else. Moreover, some of us even dream of having a personal slave to do the homework only. Eventually, we get down to it by ourselves and burn the midnight oil. But what if it is really too complicated and includes the tasks which you have never seen before? You think of homework help and you know that it will have its price. So, is it worthy of your money? (more…)
Aurora is a phenomenon widely recognized by the population of the high latitudes and the Southern Hemisphere. In daily use, we call it accordingly to its location: either aurora borealis (North Pole) or aurora australis (South Pole). It can be frequently observed in the North of the Continent of North America, Nordic countries and Siberia. The Cree Indians, one of the most numerous Canadian tribes, call it Dance of the Spirits and read them as their gods’ messages. Vikings, in their turn, considered them to be the reflections of the swards of valkyries in the sky. Finally, dwellers of the Russian shore of the Arctic Ocean believe aurora is a frozen song. But what aurora actually is and how can it be forecast? Let’s take it closer. (more…)
The whole world has been following the news about the most dangerous diseases caused by such viruses as Ebola, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV). Even the word “virus” is associated with something horrible and hazardous, and has nothing in common with lord Varys. Recently scientists have invented a new method for identification of past and current viral disease using only one drop of blood. But did you know that not all viruses are that bad for us? In fact, scientists have been gathering more evidences about positive effects of some viruses (i.e. herpesviruses) on our health. Recent studies based on new experimental results confirm the importance of retroviruses in the placenta formation and embryonic development. So, let’s talk about what viruses are and what benefits they have. (more…)
