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Before I start my actual blog post, I would be remiss to not mention the passing of one greatest, if not the greatest, minds of my lifetime – Stephen Hawking. On March 14, 2018 at the age of 76, Stephen Hawking died in his home in Cambridge, England. Born on the anniversary of Galileo’s death and dying on the anniversary of Einstein’s birth, Hawking was an unparalleled force in the world of cosmology and a massive public science icon. His life’s work focused on black holes, the big bang, and reconciling general relativity with quantum mechanics, among studying other cosmological...

There are more than enough reasons to treasure science and to push the envelope towards progress. Some are driven by an insatiable need to personally know more. Others are pushed to research in hopes of improving efficiency for their industry’s bottom line. And others, still, are compelled to research because they need to solve a problem and they’re pressed for time. This third category is where the scientists working on the RIPE (Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency) project find themselves. There are a lot of changes in this world coming down the pike that will dramatically affect the way humans manage resources...

As far as I can tell, there haven't been any Earth-shattering scientific discoveries since I wrote my last post (things could have slipped through the cracks, though – I am only one person!). That said, I did stumble across one story this week regarding the Zika virus and brain cancer research that caught my eye, though the research is far from conclusive. Before I really discuss the article and the study it describes, I wanted to give some context behind Zika and its current state. Zika is a virus that in a healthy, non-pregnant person causes only mild symptoms. It...

So, in an effort to pull myself back from writing too much about astronomy, I wrote about biology for my last post. I had aspirations to do the same for this week. Then Elon Musk threw my aspirations in the trash and shook up the world of space travel (again). On February 6, SpaceX launched its Falcon Heavy rocket for the first time. The rocket’s test launch went nearly perfectly. Its first-stage boosters worked without a hitch, landing safely almost simultaneously in Cape Canaveral. The second-stage core booster successfully launched its payload, a red Tesla Roadster “driven” by a spacesuit-clad mannequin....

Science is one of the most important endeavors that humans take up. It moves our society forward, pushes boundaries and preconceptions, and can stir the imagination. Usually, its astrophysics and renewable energy technology that excites me most, personally. This week, however, there have been a few stories to break in the field of biology that have really gotten the futurist in me stirring. I wanted to give a basic overview of these advancements in biology and muse a little bit on why science can inspire anyone, from the layman (like me) to the professional research scientist, and why this inspiration...