Published by the Students of Johns Hopkins since 1896
May 1, 2025
May 1, 2025 | Published by the Students of Johns Hopkins since 1896

Science & Technology





HGF improves damaged alveoli by binding to MET

Revenge against emphysema, a deadly and overbearing disease, has been strategically plotted in order to defend and protect the lives of the more than 20 million Americans engaged in a battle with the disease. Thankfully, researchers have discovered ways to ameliorate symptoms that are presented in emphysema patients.



Nutrition explained: digesting fad diets

For New Year’s resolution-ists, new eating and exercise plans have either proven their worth or fizzled out by now. The desperate search for the perfect path to health continues for many, be they a competitive athlete reaching for a personal record, or just someone looking to cut back on their daily frappuccinos from Starbucks.


Myopia studied as a health concern

It’s easy for many of us to correct nearsightedness — we go to the eye doctor, pick out a pair of glasses or fill a prescription for contact lenses, and voilà, we greatly improved vision. Thus, nearsightedness, also known as myopia, is something that we may not consider much as a public health concern. However, researchers at Hopkins and across the world believe there to be a better treatment for this prevalent condition that can be derived through genomic studying.


Youth alcohol brands on demand identified

Though widely publicized as the quintessential college experience, underage drinking takes a toll on American youth. Every year alcohol causes an average 4,700 deaths in the U.S. among youth under the legal drinking age of 21, according to the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY) at the Bloomberg School of Public Health.


Skype’s privacy issues remedied

The person Skyping in the library may not be worried about anyone snooping on his conversation, since everyone else is busy studying. Besides, conversations on Skype are encrypted, so no one should be able to listen in on them.


Dinosaur’s extinction date reexamined

Those who nostalgically look back on our early school-years of science fairs and baking-soda volcanoes might remember learning a little bit about the abundant and ambiguous theories provided to explain the extinction of the dinosaurs.  Among these theories you may racall the giant, killer asteroid that impacted the Earth.


Brain roadmaps, Chinese hackers and viruses galore

The Next Big Thing?: Scientists are constantly seeking love from the government — a love that comes in the form of generous funding. Before the Human Genome Project, physicists were mostly happy with the big bucks they got to spend for splitting atoms open and traveling the depths of space. Envy in the field of biology soon dwindled away as the government shifted their attention towards genome studies. However, as the Human Genome Project came to a close almost ten years ago, the next big field of science has long been a mystery. Lately, it seems that the Brain Activity Map is lassoing the love of the government. Scientists are attempting to trace every highway of electrical impulse and intersection in synaptic clefts in the human brain within ten years. The endeavor is predicted to have an annual cost of 300 million dollars, and companies like Google, Microsoft and Qualcomm already plan to partake in the project.


Scientists find novel way to store data in DNA

The best way to archive data might not be to preserve it electronically, but to store information inside DNA. This idea occurred to Nick Goldman and Ewan Birney of the European Bioinformatics Institute when they were trying to decide what to do with the large amount of data they generate in their research. As the amount of data that needs to be archived increases, the capacity of the hard drives that need to hold it must naturally grow as well. An immediate consequence of this is the rise in cost of data storage. Faced with this problem, Goldman and Birney, in their research published in Nature, speculated that the easiest way to store the data might be to input data within strands of DNA.


Improving future cancer treatments

When the life of a loved one is in jeopardy, there are almost no limits to what people will do or try in order to save them.  When an unnamed friend of James Eshleman, Associate Director of Johns Hopkins Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory and researcher for the Departments of Oncology and Pathology, was stricken with an ultra-rare form of cancer, his friend’s uncle, who happened to be Vice President of a major pharmaceutical company, asked Eshleman to provide him with a personalized cell line on which he could test every drug his company owned. Eshleman willingly complied with the request to save his friend.


New drone technology enhances accuracy

The majority of the recent debate over unmanned aircraft vehicles (UAVs), more commonly called drones by the media, has focused on the political, ethical and legal questions regarding their use in war. Technology, though, plays a huge role in the utilization of drones for military applications.


“Please Touch” show opens at MSE library

As senior Hannah Weinberg-Wolf was enjoying an exhibition at the nearby Walters Art Museum last year about how touch and Renaissance sculpture are interlinked, she realized it would be more interesting to add another element: publishable scientific data.


U.S. lead batteries recycled dangerously abroad

Through contact with automobiles and everyday electronics, we’re almost all familiar with the lead waste industry. Every car made today, even hybrid and electric cars, contains about 27 pounds of lead, neatly held inside the battery.


Engineering, done marshmallow style

Theta Tau, Hopkins’s Professional Engineering Fraternity, held its sixth annual Tower of Power competition last Monday, Feb. 18. The event was a kickoff party for the Whiting School of Engineering’s E-Week, which is part of its 20-month-long celebration of 100 years of engineering at Hopkins.  Since the School of Engineering’s first year was from fall 1912 to spring 1913, Hopkins decided to start celebrating at the beginning of 2012 and keep celebrating throughout 2013.


Identity of placental mammal ancestor reconstructed

Have you ever wondered what the common ancestor of all placental mammals looked like? A recent study shows that we are descendants of a rat-like mammal that weighed no more than half a pound, displayed a long, furry tail and dined mostly on insects.


Nanosensors detect health of transplant cells

After the successful publication of his most research findings, associate professor of radiology at the Hopkins School of Medicine Mike McMahon, advises undergraduates based on his own personal experiences.


Depression found to have roots in genetics

Depression may sound like it is completely emotional, but some types are  actually linked to physical changes in the brain after traumatic events. While emotional causes can only be cured through therapy, there is a new discovery that shows promise in alleviating depression in people whose brains are physically affected.


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