Category: News
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How do mountains grow?
Climate controlled erosion is often considered the driving force in managing mountain height; however, a recent study concluded that tectonics may have a greater impact than erosion. Armin Dielforder, Ralf Hetzel, and Onno Oncken, the authors of the study, explained that the maximum potential height of a mountain is limited by what can be upheld…
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Feeling the heat: why the South Pole is warming up so quickly
The South Pole is one of the coldest and most remote regions on our planet. It is a polar desert of long and sunless winters, quasi-continuous frigid winds, and precious little wildlife or vegetation. But as distant and inaccessible as it may be, it is not so isolated that it is exempt from the changes…
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COVID-19 may trigger diabetes
There is emerging evidence that the relationship between COVID-19 and diabetes is bi-directional. Recent observations suggest that COVID-19 symptoms are not only exacerbated by diabetes but that SARS-CoV-2 (the virus causing COVID-19) also triggers the development of diabetes in non-diabetic COVID-19 patients. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported that the risk of…
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Dexamethasone: a steroid superhero?
With the US buying up the world’s stock of Remdesivir, will dexamethasone emerge as the wonder cure to save lives amidst this pandemic? Researchers have made an exciting discovery in the race to find effective therapies against COVID-19. Dexamethasone, a cheap and widely prescribed steroid, has emerged triumphant in the RECOVERY trial conducted at the…
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Stem cells could bypass embryo laws to shine a light on human development
14 Days. This is the maximum number of days researchers are allowed to sustain an embryo. In 1979, when this policy was first proposed by the Ethics Advisory Board of the US Department of Health, Education and Wealthfare, culturing an embryo ex vivo (removed from the body) was an extremely difficult and expensive task, and…
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Rewriting astronomy: have gravitational waves revealed an object to fill the mass gap?
When two massive objects collide in space, ripples in space-time are sent through the universe. These ripples – gravitational waves – can be detected, and give an insight into what they may have been. Last August, the LIGO-Virgo collaboration detected gravitational waves from what was reported as the collision of a black hole and a…
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Has lockdown sparked a change in our energy habits?
We like to think that, as individuals, we are unique and original. In fact, as a group, we are utterly predictable. Monday through Friday, the majority of the UK population wakes up around 7, commutes, works 9 to 5, then jumps into evening traffic, and arrives home to make themselves some dinner and a nice…
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The ABCs of Life on Earth
Researchers at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, in collaboration with colleagues from the University of Edinburgh, Wrocław University of Science and Technology, and the Polish Academy of Science, have challenged the popular RNA World hypothesis regarding the origin of life on Earth. The work, published in Nature, supports a mixed RNA/DNA model which could…
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The novel coronavirus is mutating – Should we be worried?
Simran Kapoor addresses emerging fears about the novel coronavirus mutating. As the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 continues to spread around the world, there’s been a surge in news reports circulating with headlines about the virus mutating. The mere mention of the word “mutation” often elicits fear and confusion. Will this virus mutate into a more lethal…
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Not Another Science Podcast
You must have heard the news by now: EUSci is relaunching our podcast. Rebranded and with new leadership, this one will be different. Today I had the opportunity to have a socially distant chat with the new host, Tom Edwick, and the new editor, Helena Cornu, of the shiny new Not Another Science Podcast, brought…