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Science & Technology

Atomic clock accurate to 3% of a nanosecond

By MARK STUCZYNSKI | April 17, 2014

Have you ever been late because of problems with your watch? Good news: the National Institute of Science has your back for the next 300 million years. Their newly developed atomic clock, called NIST-F2, is designed to maintain perfect time with no decay or error. Furthermore, NIST-F2 may have many uses for GPS and other future inventions. While nothing is perfect, this clock is so precise that it only suffers from a 0.03 nanosecond displacement every day. This translates to about 1 second of inaccuracy over 100 million years.

Large subsurface ocean exists on Saturn’s moon

By SEAN YAMAKAWA | April 17, 2014

In 2005, NASA gathered information that suggested that a vast sea of water underneath the frozen surface of Saturn’s moon, Enceladus, spewed water vapor into the atmosphere. Images captured by the Imaging Science Sub-system (ISS) camera of NASA’s Cassini spacecraft featured parallel, linear ridges on the surface of Enceladus’ southern region.

Urban soil exhibits dangerous pollution levels

By REGINA PALATINI | April 17, 2014

There is currently a global soil crisis. An entire third of all soil is degraded, and declines in the quality and amount of soil will greatly impact the current food supply. It is easy to assume that most soil in gardens is healthy and safe, but is all garden soil really the same?

Early risers have lower body mass index

By ELIZABETH LIU | April 17, 2014

There might be more advantages to being an early bird other than getting the worm — scientists have discovered that people exposed to bright light before noon had significantly lower body mass indexes (BMI) than people who get most of their light exposure later in the day.

Some E. coli species are responsible for cancer

By JOEL PALLY | April 17, 2014

With over 10 trillion bacteria living in our gut, the human digestive system is more of an ecosystem than a series of organs. As human hosts, we hold crucial symbiotic relationships with many of our bacterial residents. In return for much needed nutrients and a protected living environment, much our healthy flora provides necessary digestive and immune functions. However, much of the activity of the estimated 500-1000 species of bacterial inhabitants of our gut is largely unknown.

Surgeons fail to screen for depression in patients

By Catie Paul | April 17, 2014

Past studies have shown that surgical patients suffering from depression often have longer recuperation periods, more postsurgical complications and more difficulty complying with their medication schedules after leaving the hospital than surgical patients without symptoms of depression. Compounding this information, a recent study conducted by the Hopkins School of Medicine has found that most orthopedic surgeons do not screen well enough for depression and anxiety in patients prior to surgery.

Hopkins chastises stroke patient misdiagnoses

By SAMHITA ILANGO | April 17, 2014

Over the past few years it has become increasingly evident that emergency physicians overlook tens of thousands of strokes each year. These missed diagnoses are not equally distributed among the population, but ER doctors disproportionately miss strokes of women, minorities and younger patients.

Nature inspires an ‘unbreakable’ encryption code

By JOSH SCARALIA | April 17, 2014

Has a friend of yours ever hacked your Facebook account? Imagine now that it wasn’t your friend. What if someone you’d never met before, someone from across the world hacked your Facebook account? If your Facebook account getting hacked doesn’t scare you, maybe this will: what if it was your car key that was hacked? Your cell-phone? How about your bank account?

Hopkins fails to reawaken dormant HIV virus

By MARK STUCZYNSKI | April 10, 2014

From the perspective of medication, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is the most dangerous when it’s asleep. While active subsets of the virus can be destroyed with antiretroviral agents, dormant viral particles can accumulate within the T cells of the immune system without detection. These dormant particles significantly compromise the T cells’ abilities to recognize and destroy infectious cells in the body. With dormant strains of HIV, the T cell is about as effective as shampooing your hair with dirt.

Pluripotency article retracted from Nature

By SEAN YAMAKAWA | April 10, 2014

In January, Haruko Obokata of the RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology surprised and excited the world with her publication of stimulus-triggered fate conversion of somatic cells into pluripotency. In the publication, Obokata presented results of the first successful trial of inducing pluripotency, the ability to become a variety of cell types, in adult somatic stem cells by using sublethal doses of acid. If other scientists could reproduce her results, this research would make pluripotent cells easily obtainable for developmental research and disease therapy.

Untrained volunteers can burden relief efforts

By TONY WU | April 10, 2014

saster, it is heartwarming to see an army of volunteers trying to help victims recover. These volunteers do a significant amount of work: They clear debris from roads, move food and other supplies to accessible areas and offer words of kindness in moments of despair. Many of them, such as those working for the Red Cross, are specifically trained for their tasks. Some, however, arrive on the scene without any preparation. A recent study suggests that these untrained volunteers may not be as helpful in disaster situations as we would like to believe. In fact, because these untrained volunteers often act spontaneously, they might even harm the relief efforts.

Hopkins undergraduates build novel genome

By SUNNY CAI | April 10, 2014

It is certainly more difficult to make foods from scratch than to purchase their ready-to-eat counterparts. Creating pancake batter and then grilling them to the perfect golden-brown requires a lot more effort than popping a couple of frozen pancakes in the toaster. Squeezing fresh oranges to make orange juice takes more energy than pouring a glass of orange juice from concentrate.

Austism diagnosis rate is increasing drastically

By JOAN YEA | April 10, 2014

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has become an epidemiological challenge in recent years. This is partially due to the greater awareness of this disease and, subsequently, the increased probability of its being diagnosed in borderline cases. However, some of the clinical challenges associated with autism are due to its ever broadening definition.

FarmLogs app provides agricultural data access

By Catie Paul | April 10, 2014

It’s official: There is now an app for everything. That’s what you may think when you discover FarmLogs, a new app specifically targeted to farmers. This unconventional creation was founded by high-school friends Jesse Vollmar and Brad Koch.

Hopkins discovers protein to fight virus

By ELLI TIAN | April 10, 2014

Researchers at Hopkins have identified a protein that helps control cytomegalovirus (CMV). This virus, which may seem unrecognizable from its name, causes one of the most common viral infections among humans. In fact, the CMV infection is so common that there is a 50 to 80 percent chance that you will have it by the time you are 40 years old.

Student proposes font change, saves millions

By REGINA PALATINI | April 10, 2014

Whether you already have your own printer or plan to get one once you move out of on-campus housing, you are likely to face the harsh reality of outrageous ink prices in the near future. Black and white and color ink cartridges cost a pretty penny and can sometimes exceed the price of a printer itself.

Hopkins study correlates age with alcoholic drink preference

By SUNNY CAI | April 3, 2014

Walk around the periphery of the Hopkins campus on any Friday or Saturday night, and you are likely to see flocks of underclassmen scurrying into one of many fraternity houses. For most of these students, their mission upon arriving at their destination is simple: obtain and consume alcohol.

Students host annual AIDS Awareness Banquet

By SAMHITA ILANGO | April 3, 2014

AIDS Alliance, Hopkins’ AIDS awareness club on campus, held an annual banquet not only to satisfy the Indian food cravings of students all around, but also to raise awareness about AIDS in the Baltimore community. This past Friday, in one of the Charles Commons ballrooms, club president and senior Bryan Kohrs assembled his team to put together an unforgettable and educational banquet. At the banquet, the club emphasized the prevalence of AIDS in our local community.

Bloomberg discovers link between ADHD, obesity

By Catie Paul | April 3, 2014

The diagnosis of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, is on the rise in the U.S. From 2003 to 2011, the rate of ADHD diagnosis increased approximately 5 percent per year. Today, ADHD medication, often in the form of stimulants, is the second-most prescribed medication for children. A recent study by researchers at the Bloomberg School of Public Health has found a link between the stimulants prescribed for ADHD and childhood obesity.

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